WASHINGTON The U.S. Army announced updated COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests as of Apr. 13, 2022.
As of April 13, 2022, the Army has separated 255 Soldiers for refusing the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six Regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,330 general officer written reprimands to Regular Army Soldiers for refusing the vaccination order.
As the Army accesses and discharges Soldiers and continues to refine data tracking processes, the vaccination percentages will vary slightly.
For details on Army National Guard vaccination rates, please contact the National Guard Bureau, NGBMediaDesk@mail.mil.
The Army is not releasing further details on U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard refusals and exemptions prior to the June 30, 2022 completion goal for each component.
For additional information on Army vaccination rates, contact the U.S. Army Media Relations Division at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-ocpa.mbx.mrd-press-desk@army.mil.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The St. Joseph County Department of Health announced that the office hours for its COVID-19 vaccine clinic in downtown South Bend will change on Monday.
New hours will allow visitors to get COVID-19 vaccinations on the ninth floor of the County-City Building on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments for a vaccination can be made by visiting here.
COVID-19 vaccination, though highly effective against severe or fatal disease, does not offer full protection against infection. There are currently 3 vaccines available in the US: Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2), Moderna (mRNA-1273), and Johnson & Johnsons-Janssen (JNJ-78436735). One study, presented this week at theSociety for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Conference 2022(SHEA), explored the demographic characteristics and disease outcomes of COVID-19 breakthrough infections by type of vaccine received.
The investigators included a total of 85 fully vaccinated patients with a documented COVID-19 breakthrough infection from February-September 2021. Breakthrough infection was defined as SARS-CoV-2 detection 14 days after receiving all initial doses of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine. The investigators collected patient demographics and hospitalization information, such as length of stay and oxygen needs.
Participants were recruited from 2 hospitals in Southeast Michigan, and classified by non-severe, severe, or critical disease. Patients were classified as severe if their oxygen saturation level was 94% on room air or if they required supplemental oxygen, and critical if they developed respiratory failure, including mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
A total of 85 breakthrough infections were identified in the study cohort. The average age of the patients was 69.9 years, and 51.8% were female. At 85.9% (n=73), severe disease was the most common type of breakthrough infection, followed by non-severe disease (n=7; 8.24%). A total of 9 (10.6%) deaths occurred in the cohort.
Most patients received the Pfizer-BioNTech (n=38; 44.7%) or Moderna (n=35; 41.2%) vaccine. Severe illness was more common among participants who received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination regimen (n=33/73; 45.2%), and patients with critical disease were more likely to have received the Moderna vaccine (n=4/5; 80.0%).
Moderna vaccine recipients had the longest time in between COVID-19 infection and vaccination (181.9 43.1 days) and Janssen vaccine recipients had the shortest time between testing positive and receiving the vaccine (91.0 61.1 days). The investigators concluded that COVID-19 breakthrough infections were uncommon among fully vaccinated persons, but increased with time after vaccination.
The study, SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections among Hospitalized Patients in Southeast Michigan, was presented on April 12 during theSociety for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Conference 2022(SHEA).
Beacon Health System has received $4.8 million in grants to provide education and other services to encourage vaccinations among Hispanic, Black, and Amish residents in St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, and LaPorte counties.
The grant money, provided by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, will be used to operate mobile vaccine clinics, hire additional non-clinical, bilingual community health workers, and create outreach efforts to educate residents about the vaccine.
The outreach is a collaboration with the Saint Joseph Health System and other community partners, such as public health departments and universities.
While COVID-19 numbers are trending in a direction that we are all excited to see, we want to be certain that everyone has the opportunity to make educated and informed decisions about vaccination, said Kimberly Green Reeves, Director of Community Outreach, Beacon Health System. We all must continue to do our part to remain healthy in our communities. It is important that we remain vigilant, especially now.
Residents interested in learning more about COVID-19 vaccines or where to find a vaccine clinic can visit CovidSmart.org for educational materials, video stories from local residents, and a calendar of clinics.
Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases The Lancet
MEDFORD, Ore. - The OHA COVID-19 vaccination site at the Merrick in Medford will be moving to the Jackson County Expo starting Thursday, April 21.
Tomorrow Saturday, April 16, will be the last day for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Merrick location. Starting this Thursday, April 21, the vaccination site will be move the the Jackson County Expo. The hours will be Thursday to Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This will be a drive-through style vaccination site and you should plan on entering through gate 1.
Follow@KDRV12on Facebook and@KDRVon Twitter for the latest news, sports, and weather in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
The risk of developing inflammatory heart conditions after Covid-19 vaccination is relatively low, two large studies found, especially when compared with the heart-related risks from Covid-19 disease itself and from vaccines against other diseases.
One study, an analysis of 22 previous studies, found that the risk of the conditions including myocarditis in people who received a Covid-19 vaccine wasnt significantly different from that for non-Covid-19 vaccines such as those against flu, polio and measles. And the heart risk associated with Covid-19 shots was lower than the risk after smallpox vaccination. The results of the analysis, which included data on the effects of more than 400 million doses of various vaccines, were published online Monday by The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
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COVID-19 vaccine technology doesnt just fight viruses it can combat cancer.
Duke researchers find potential in a cancer vaccine based on the same messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology used by COVID-19 vaccines to combat a type of breast cancer that over expresses a protein called HER2, according to a recent Fox 8report.
"It is a product which is RNA nucleic acid which encodes a specific protein and then that can be encapsulated in something we like to call a lipid nanoparticle, which is really a little fat bubble, and that can be injected into your body and sort of teaches your body what to go after immunologically," said Dr. Zachary Hartman, assistant professor in the departments of surgery, pathology, and immunology at Duke University School of Medicine,
Hartman works in the lab at Duke thats spearheading the research.
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A healthcare worker administers a booster dose of a COVID 19 vaccine at a temporary vaccine center in Guatemala City, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Dr. Herbert Kim Lyerly, who runs the lab, has been at Duke for almost 40 years, seeing first-hand how cancer therapy has evolved from chemotherapy, with its myriad side effects, to targeted immunotherapy, per the report.
"Think about that: in my career, a complete reversal of fortune for immunotherapy to be something to being considered an outsider, not likely to ever work, to being the most prominent form of cancer therapy and the development of new cancer therapeutics in the world, today," added Lyerly, George Barth Gellar professor of cancer research and professor of surgery, immunology and pathology at DukeUniversity.
According to Clinical CancerResearch, the HER2 protein, which is associated with aggressive tumor growth, goes on overdrive in 20% to 30% of breast cancers, so treatments are targeted against this protein, but drug resistance limits its use, said Lyerly.
So in 2019, the Duke researchers found potential in a phase 1 clinical trial with a vaccine that induced anti-tumor growth in seven of the 22 patients who had recurrent breast cancer, with two continuing to survive at the time of the published research, according to an updated July 9, 2019 pressrelease.
He told Fox News, "We have been working on this [vaccine mRNA] technology for many years. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the potency of the approach."
Although the current vaccine, which is a synthetic mRNA vaccine, is directed against breast cancer, it can be used for other cancers that express the HER2 protein, including lung cancer, stomach, and esophageal cancer, Lverly added.
An employee shows the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital in New York, U.S., December 21, 2020. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
"Vaccines stimulate the immune system, specifically killer T cells, that now are active and react to seek and destroy tumor cells. It programs the immune system to not ignore the tumor cells, but to recognize them as bad guys to kill them," Lyerly told Fox News.
He assuages some peoples concern that mRNA technology can be harmful by explaining the context of how mRNA vaccines work in our body during the pandemic, per the newsoutlet.
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"You have mRNAs billions of mRNA copies in your body, right now. And so, to be concerned that the introduction of an mRNA coding of a viral protein is going to be harmful to you, again, doesnt make a lot of sense to me, because if you happen to be infected with a coronavirus, youre going to have a thousand times more mRNAs from the virus invading yourbody."
Vaccination is the best way to protect against COVID-19, he added, who disclosed to Fox News that he has equity in AlphaVax, a biopharmaceutical company that has patents on mRNA vaccines.
A person receives a COVID vaccine (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But although the studys vaccine works to a certain degree on its own against breast cancer, the tumor can recruit "backup strategies" to stay alive, according to a 2020 Duke pressrelease.
So the researchers are now in the part of the research that tests whether a new treatment works, called aPhase 2 trial, that combines the vaccine with an immune checkpoint inhibitor called pembrolizumab, which when used alone showed limited benefit against breast cancer but when combined with the vaccine, carries a "one-two punch," the press releaseadded.
"By working in tandem, the vaccine primes the immune system and the checkpoint inhibitor then rallies the T-cells to action, resulting in pronounced tumor reduction and long-term tumor-free survival," the press releasesaid.
"I think that within my lifetime we will see cancer as a more managed disease," saidHartman.
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"Were going to turn the dial and be able to treat more and more of these kinds of cancers in the coming years and decades to where its not quite the same sentence it was 20 or 30 years ago. I dont think well ever be able to rid the world of cancer, but I think we will be able to prevent a lot of cancers and then a lot of cancers that well be able to catch early and treat, well have very effective treatments."
Boston The Baker-Polito Administration is partnering with local businesses across the state to host free, family-friendly COVID-19 vaccination clinics and offer giveaways for getting vaccinated during April school vacation week, April 18-22. With the support of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), these clinics will be held in 10 cities and towns at various locations, including trampoline parks, zoos, bowling alleys, and the Six Flags New England amusement park, to encourage a family-friendly atmosphere in which eligible individuals of all ages can get vaccinated and boosted.
The clinics build on the success of vaccination clinics held earlier this year during February school vacation week, when more than 2,000 vaccinations were administered to children and adults in communities most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
The clinics are part of DPHs Vaccine Equity Initiative to increase awareness and access to the COVID-19 vaccine and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic among the hardest-hit populations and communities.
The best protection from COVID-19 infection remains vaccination and staying updated on all of the vaccine doses you are eligible for, said Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke. These events are a convenient way for the whole family to get up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, and we thank the businesses and local partners for joining us to offer vaccination at these family-friendly locations.
At participating locations, individuals receiving a first or second vaccine or a booster dose will receive a giveaway such as free admission tickets or an hour of trampoline or bowling time, depending on the specific location. In a special partnership with Six Flags, any Massachusetts resident who gets vaccinated at the Six Flags clinic will receive two admission tickets, free parking, and a meal.
April Vacation Family Clinics:
Municipality
Location
Schedule
Giveaway
Everett
Everett City Clean Up Day @ Rivergreen Park
April 23
$25 gift card
Lawrence/ Methuen
1 Broadway Street, Methuen
April 21-April 24
$25 gift card, prizes and ice cream
Malden
Mixer eSports Cafe
April 22-24
1 hour of free game play
Swansea/ Fall River
Get Air Trampoline Park (Parking Lot)
April 21-23
1 hour of free jumping
New Bedford
Buttonwood Park Zoo (Parking lot)
April 23 and 24
2 free entry passes
New Bedford
Wonder Bowl
April 22 and 23
1 hour of free bowling
Springfield
Eastfield Mall
April 20
$25 grocery gift card, free food, music and games
Springfield
Bounce! Trampoline Park
April 21
1 hour of free jumping
Springfield
Interskate 91
April 22
1 hour of free skating
Agawam and Western MA
Six Flags
April 22, 23, and 24
2 free entry passes + free parking and 1 free meal, snack, and drink (MA residents only)
Brockton
FunZ Trampoline Park
April 21-23
1 hour of free jumping
Brockton
Arnone School
April 19-22
$25 grocery gift card
Lowell
Khmer New Year Celebration, Clemente Park
April 23
$25 grocery gift card
Lowell
Nibbana Caf
April 23 and 24
$25 Nibbana gift card
Chelsea
Playground and Archery Games@ Boston Playground
April 20, 21, and 22
1 hour of free play voucher
Massachusetts leads the nation in COVID-19 vaccine administration, with over 82% of eligible residents (5+) fully vaccinated, and over 53% of eligible residents (12+) having received a booster.The best way to protect against severe illness from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted and remain up to date on shots.
To see a full list of these special clinics and giveaways, visit www.mass.gov/KidsClinic.
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