As pandemic restrictions ease, some of the estimated 57% of Americans who have not yet contracted the virus may be wondering: If I start to live more like normal going mask-free at restaurants, shopping and even parties what are the odds that I will never get COVID-19?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated that around 43% of people in the U.S., or about 140 million people, have been infected with the coronavirus, which leaves almost 60% never having had it. The estimate counts each person once, so some of the more than 140 million Americans estimated to have had COVID may have been infected more than once.
While during the omicron surge experts and public health officials cautioned that the highly contagious variant would infect many people, they dont think ending up with the virus is inevitable, at least in the near future. But, they say, its going to require a fine balance as we transition into the endemic stage of COVID-19.
From my perspective, no, its not inevitable over the next year or two, said UCSF Chair of Medicine Dr. Bob Wachter, who also hasnt gotten COVID yet. He said when case rates are low, as they are now in the Bay Area, the roughly 60% of the population that has not had COVID is unlikely to get it, since they wont be exposed very much.
Those who are vaccinated and boosted, he added, will remain relatively protected even if they do get exposed.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, agreed, adding that as long as were in the transition period into the endemic stage of the virus, theres no clear answer for whether youll inevitably get COVID in the long run but it doesnt have to be now.
Are we all going to get it? Yes, biologically, that might happen, he said. Are we at a time to embrace that philosophy? No, because the virus is still causing a lot of suffering. Almost 2,000 deaths per day is no walk in the park.
But Chin-Hong and other experts agree that with some vigilance its still possible to avoid the virus while enjoying life.
Chin-Hong said for him, that means still engaging with life, still eating indoors and all that stuff, but still having his spider sense up for risky situations. For example, if case counts are high like they were in January, Im not going to jump up and down in a crowded room, he said.
Its a fine balance between anxiety and wanting to go back to what you lost in the last few years, and that balance is tough, he added.
Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease expert at Stanford, also said that easing restrictions doesnt have to and shouldnt mean inevitable infection.
Fundamentally, I still think there are things we can get safer, he said, adding the government has an obligation to help people move more toward a normal-seeming life while staying safe by doing things like improving ventilation in buildings, especially places like schools, and to make testing and N95 masks widely available for those who need them.
He noted that for people who are risk averse, immunocompromised or otherwise trying to avoid infection altogether, a high-quality N95 mask allows you to do things like go to the gym or shop and be relatively well protected.
Experts also said there are benefits to avoiding infection for now, even if its possible you contract the coronavirus later: The longer the pandemic goes on, the more we understand about the virus, they said, which means that treatments are likely to be better and more accessible.
Delaying infections is actually an undervalued or underappreciated point, Karan said. Who knows what well have six months or a year from now, right? Well have even more things that we can offer patients.
While there are no guarantees in a pandemic, experts said, the most important thing is for people to start finding ways to return to life while staying flexible as the virus continues to fluctuate.
Even for the highest risk population, theres a balance, Chin-Hong said. Its about engaging with life and not being lonely, but also being responsible at all levels.
Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
This story will be updated.By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News StaffThree more Mainers have died and another 565 coronavirus cases reported across the state since the weekend, Maine health officials said Tuesday.
This story will be updated.
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
Three more Mainers have died and another 565 coronavirus cases reported across the state since the weekend, Maine health officials said Tuesday.
Tuesdays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 231,285, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 230,720 on Saturday.
Of those, 167,482 have been confirmed positive, while 63,803 were classified as probable cases, the Maine CDC reported.
Three men in their 60s and 70s from Androscoggin, Oxford and York counties have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 2,138.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 9,879. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. Thats down from 11,923 on Monday.
The new case rate statewide Saturday was 4.22 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 1,728.07.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old account for the largest portion of deaths. More cases have been recorded in women and more deaths in men.
So far, 4,415 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Information about those who are currently hospitalized wasnt immediately available.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Saturday was 32.99 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (22,207), Aroostook (12,168), Cumberland (47,500), Franklin (5,581), Hancock (7,138), Kennebec (22,283), Knox (5,749), Lincoln (5,040), Oxford (10,951), Penobscot (26,760), Piscataquis (2,912), Sagadahoc (4,914), Somerset (9,369), Waldo (5,888), Washington (4,154) and York (38,688) counties. Information about where an additional 13 cases were reported wasnt immediately available.
An additional 446 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Saturday, 989,710 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 77.3 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.
As of Tuesday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 79,339,497 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 960,314 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
Rick Devereaux| OPINION COLUMNIST
Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world for the past two years has often been viewed through a political lens, particularly in our own country.Individual perceptions about the seriousness of the disease, the merits of mask policies, school closures, treatment regimens, and the efficacy of vaccines have been influenced more by ones political tribe or ideology than science or expert judgment.
For instance, a November 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that unvaccinated adults were three times more likely to lean Republican than Democrat.In essence partisanship mattered more than any other demographic factor in predicting whether someone got the vaccine.
What makes this so discouraging is the stark contrast between the lethality of COVID-19 and the ease of preventing its most severe manifestations.The pandemic has killed almost one million Americans, more than the 1918 flu and approaching the total number of Americans who have died in all of its wars.This horrific reality is dumbfounded by the fact that the vast majority of these deaths could have been prevented.The vaccines that have been widely available over the past 12 months effectively prevent hospitalizations and death in all but a tiny portion of the population.Yet despite this, over one third of Americans and Buncombe County residents remain unvaccinated, choosing to believe misinformation in their political or cultural news feeds over experts and science.
Because of this politicization of various COVID-19 mitigation strategies and vaccinations, many civic organizations and nonprofit groups have shied away from taking a stand, choosing against wading into a controversial area that might produce unintended consequences for membership or fundraising.
One organization that has rejected such caution is Rotary International, the global service organization comprised of 1.2 million members in over 200 countries.While understanding that many of its U.S. members remain unvaccinated, Rotary recently released a statement providing unambiguous support for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Rotary sees the decision to vaccinate as a humanitarian and civic imperative, asserting that global vaccination is the path to ending the pandemic and the emergence of new variants.Rotary clubs around the world have been charged to set good examples by being exemplary role models and redoubling their efforts to support COVID-19 vaccination.
Rotarys statement is all the more significant given its conservative nature, the business orientation of many of its members, and a historical tendency to avoid controversy.
So why did Rotary come out with such a strong stance?
Its simple. For the past 35 years, Rotary has been in the forefront in promoting vaccinations to fight disease, highlighted by its signature campaign against polio. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotarys $2.1 billion in donations from its members, combined with its global vaccination distribution program, has driven down polio cases by 99.9%, saving an estimated 19 million children from permanent paralysis.Rotary and its partners are nearly at the finish line in this fight against polio.Only five cases of wild poliovirus were reported globally in 2021, all contained to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Rotary knows that vaccinations work and maintains that we can apply the lessons we have learned in fighting polio to the efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this strong Rotary International position, Rotary is not monolithic.While support for this position likely varies among Rotarians in our region, the two largest clubs in Western North Carolina are on board.The Rotary Club of Asheville, the oldest and largest club in the region, is proactively promoting the policy, even funding a billboard campaign due to launch on March 14.
Club president Katherine Morosani says, Our club stands proudly with Rotary in promoting COVID-19 vaccines for every eligible person. Vaccines worked to crush polio; they can do the same for COVID-19. Keith Logan, president of the Rotary Club of Hendersonville states, The data show that vaccinations reduce the likelihood of infection, severe illness, and death while having low risk.The best way to get past the pandemic is for everyone to be vaccinated.
We all need to heed the call of Rotary International, public health officials, and the experts to get vaccinated now against COVID-19.Despite declining infection rates, over 2,000 Americans still die each day from this disease, and the threat from future variants continues to loom.Like polio, there are treatments but no known cure for COVID-19. Our best defense is vaccination.
Major General Rick Devereaux is a retired Air Force officer and the secretary and past president of the Rotary Club of Asheville.
The first overseas trials of the Turkovac vaccine against Covid-19 will be held in Azerbaijan next week, Healthcare Minister of Turkiye Fahrettin Koca said this week.
According to Koca, all preparations for the third testing phase have been completed in Azerbaijan.
Last week, we started using Turkovac in all our hospitals, Report.az quoted Koca as saying.
Currently, the number of Turkovac vaccines has exceeded one million, and their production is increasing day by day. I think that in two months, we will easily reach 1-1.5 million per month, he added.
According to data compiled by the Turkish government, the national vaccine is being used in all 81 provinces of Turkiye.
The phase one trials of Turkovac started in November 2020, with the second and third phases have been rolled out in February and June 2021, respectively. The phase three studies proved the vaccine to be at least as effective as Chinese CoronaVac, the efficacy of which is said to be 100 percent against severe Covid-19.
Officials at the Turkish Vaccine Institute confirmed Turkovac to fight the Omicron variant effectively.
Meanwhile, more than 13 million doses of vaccines have been administered in Azerbaijan since the start of the mass vaccination in January 2021. Over 5.3 million people have received the first dose, while nearly 4.8 million people - the second dose. In addition, around 2.8 million people have been given a booster shot.
Azerbaijans health authorities have so far authorized Chinese CoronaVac, German-American Pfizer BioNTech, Russian Sputnik V, and British-Swedish Vaxzevria (formerly AstraZeneca). The CoronaVac vaccine accounts for the largest number of vaccines used against Covid-19 in the country.
The ongoing voluntary and state-sponsored vaccination in Azerbaijan is scheduled for 2021-2022. Those who received two shots of a vaccine are eligible to receive a vaccination certificate. At the same time, those who have contracted the virus and fought it off can obtain an immune certificate.
Starting on February 15, 2022, the vaccination certificate is considered valid for six months after the second-dose completion. Earlier, the certificates were issued permanently.
According to the latestdata,Covid-19 infected nearly 789,000 people in Azerbaijan, of which more than 774,000 recovered. The virus claimed 9,500 lives in the country of ten million population.
Markian Hawryluk| Kaiser Health News
Bend, Ore.Monica Melkonianwanted the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. It was only one shot and then she would be protected against the virus. So she was thrilled when the vaccination clinic at theDeschutes County Fair & Expo CenteronApril 7had her first choice.
But onApril 13, Melkonian started experiencing headaches, a sharp pain behind her left eye. That same day federal health officials announced a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine after learning that six people had developed a rare blood-clotting disorder following their shots.
Despite her ongoing headaches, she and her husband,Stan Thomas, spent the next Saturday working around their home. He hung a ceiling fan in their garage where he works on motorcycles. She spent the day pulling weeds. They walked their lot identifying the projects they wanted to complete that summer. Late into the evening, they soaked in their hot tub, drinking champagne and margaritas, eating strawberry shortcake. They watched the moon rise and the stars come out in the darkCentral Oregonsky.
We were literally talking about how amazing our lives have been and how lucky we were, Thomas said.
Less than a week later, she was dead.
The 52-year-old woman is one of only nine people in theU.S.known to have died from vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a rare side effect of the J&J vaccine, and a victim of tragic timing. Thomas believes his wife would be alive today had the information about potential side effects been shared even a few days earlier. Instead, he is left to tell her story and protect her legacy.
Both were experts in the field of occupational health and safety and directly involved with the pandemic response. Both knew a one-in-a-million risk of the COVID-19 vaccines paled in comparison with the risks of the virus itself. And while Thomas remains steadfastly pro-vaccine and bristles at the idea of the anti-vaccine movement capitalizing on his wifes death, he questions whether health authorities have done enough to help people understand their vaccination options.
According to data compiled by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, women between ages 30 and 49 appear to be at highest risk for the complication that killed Melkonian. Federal health officials now recommend everyone take thePfizerorModernamRNA vaccines instead. Theyve left the J&J vaccine on the market to avoid undermining confidence in a vaccine that will likely play a crucial role in bringing the global pandemic to an end.
Its a decision that Melkonians death helped illuminate. Her case was presented to the experts who made that recommendation.
Now Thomas is fighting to ensure her sacrifice is not forgotten. Its easy to lose sight of the humanity hidden in the statistics of risk.
When its 8 million doses and two people are going to die from it, he said, who thinks its going to be you?
Melkonian and Thomas had met while working as fatality investigators for theOregon Occupational Healthand Safety department. He had been her mentor in 1996, overseeing her first inspections. After their respective marriages ended, their friendship turned to romance, and they got married in 2007. When COVID-19 hit, their jobs centered on the pandemic. Thomas oversaw planning for Oregons nonmedical response, while Melkonian worked for a software company that helped companies track vaccinations.
From day one, the pandemic was part of this household, Thomas said. There was no escaping it.
They talked frequently about the coming COVID-19 vaccines and the differences among them. They recognized that all three were safe and effective, and that the possibility of a bad side effect was minimal. He wanted mRNA vaccines. She wanted to be protected as soon as possible, and the one-dose J&J vaccine seemed it would accomplish that faster.
You definitely hit the jackpot, Thomas recalled telling her after she got her shot. You should go buy a lottery ticket, because todays your lucky day.
It turns out it was a lottery no one wants to win. The chance of a woman her age dying from the shot was literally 1 in 1 million.
A month later, we realized once that needle hit her arm, it was a one-way ticket to here, Thomas said.
On that day working around their home, her headaches had mostly gone. They went to bed basking in the warmth of their perfect day. But at4 a.m.the next day,April 18, Thomas heard Melkonian cry out and hit the floor. She had experienced a seizure and couldnt move her right arm. Thomas suspected a stroke and immediately thought of the vaccine.
No! This isnt happening to me, Melkonian cried out as Thomas spoke with the 911 operator.
As they waited for the ambulance, they used those precious minutes to tell each other the kinds of things you say when you dont know what the future will hold. By the time the ambulance arrived, she could no longer speak.
The progression of this was just lightning-fast, Thomas said, which I am tragically grateful for.
At the St. CharlesBendemergency room, Thomas told her to squeeze his hand once for yes and twice for no, as doctors asked her questions.
The last thing that I said to her was that I loved her and asked her to squeeze my hand twice, Thomas said. She did.
They rolled her out of the room to get a CT scan, and when she returned, she couldnt respond in any way.
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Dr.Scott Rewinkel, a neurologist who specializes in clinically complex patients at the hospital, was paged about a seizure patient. He reviewed Melkonians CT scan. She had experienced several brain bleeds on the left side of her frontal lobe.
And thats an unusual spot for somebody her age and her general health, he said.
Just days earlier, Rewinkel and his neurology colleagues at the hospital had discussed guidelines for identifying and treating the very condition that had struck Melkonian. Its a paradoxical condition in which the immune system destroys the platelets needed for clotting, while leading to blood clots in the venous sinuses of the brain. The patient experiences clotting and bleeding at the same time.
Thomas thought if he could just get his wife home, shed be all right.
That was my hope: Get her back, and then therapy and everything, and we can still go have fun and live our lives, Thomas said. By Sunday night, that hope was gone.
Despite doing everything called for in the treatment guidelines, doctors were struck by how quickly her condition deteriorated. Every successive CT scan showed the bleeding spreading over more of her brain. There was one last-ditch effort they could try. They could open her skull to allow the brain to swell outside its fixed confines. But her brain had already been so damaged, she likely would have faced significant disabilities. The bleeds had hit areas of the brain associated with language and personality.
Who am I getting back? Thomas recalled asking the doctor as they weighed the procedure. What Im getting back is somebody thats going to be sitting in a wheelchair with drool running down her stomach, not knowing what shes looking at off the deck.
The doctors estimated that without further intervention Melkonian would die by the end of the week. Thomas told them to take any blood or tissue samples, to run any tests that might help doctors understand why the J&J vaccine was causing this side effect or how to reverse it.
The body is a vessel for the soul, and the soul is gone. So get what you can, Thomas said he told them.
On the afternoon ofApril 20, some 200 doctors, nurses and other staffers lined the hospital hallway as they pushed Melkonian on her final journey. Thomas, along with her son and her brother, walked behind them. Then they went outside the hospital, lowered the American flag, and raised the Donate Life flag beneath it, while inside doctors removed her organs. Her liver and right kidney went to a 40-year-old man, her left kidney to a 50-year-old man, her heart to a 40-year-old man.
Three days later, aCDCadvisory council reviewed the data on the J&J vaccine and recommended lifting the 10-day pause. The committee members felt taking one of the approved vaccines off the market would hamper vaccination efforts, and that the one-dose vaccine offered important benefits for people who might be difficult to bring back for a second shot, or for places where the super-cold storage required for the mRNA vaccines might not be available.
Then the FDA updated its fact sheet on the vaccine, advising women under 50 of the potential side effect. Rewinkel had presented Melkonians case so it could be included in the analysis.
The big takeaway is that the risk is very, very small, Rewinkel said. Its simply a game of statistics and numbers.
The odds of having a complication from a COVID-19 vaccine, he said, are incredibly small compared with the risks of the virus.
In December, the committee reviewed updated data on the J&J vaccine throughAugust 2021. After more than 14 million doses were administered, 54 total cases of the clotting disorder had resulted in eight deaths. Thats 0.00006%. TheU.S.case fatality rate for COVID-19 is 1.2%. A ninth clotting death occurred but doesnt change the death rate measurably.
The committee considered whether the now ample supply of the mRNA vaccines meant the J&J vaccine could be pulled, but decided to leave it in place. Instead, the panel recommended the mRNA vaccines over the J&J shot. The J&J shots are still being given and more than 18 million shots have been administered in theU.S.
Thomas inquired about aFederal Emergency Management Agencyprogram to help with burial costs for people who died of COVID-19 but was told his wife was not eligible because her death certificate didnt list COVID-19 as the cause of death. To Thomas, such rules seem to ignore her death as part of the full toll of pandemic fatalities.
Shes a hero of the times that were living in, in this pandemic, in this world which we are faced with today, he said, for the legacy of the work she did, and doing her societal obligations, and giving her life for it.
Thomas is also upset that the risks of the various vaccines werent communicated earlier and more clearly.
Theyre not taking time to explain the acceptable risk, he said. Theyre not taking time to communicate what shots are good for what age groups."
Maybe officials didnt know of the risk before Melkonian got her shot rare side effects often emerge only when a vaccine is administered to large numbers of people. In the clinical trials of the J&J vaccine, one person developed that side effect and survived.
Thomas would have preferred a more nuanced public health message, explaining the differences among the vaccines and how women ages 30 to 49 were at higher risk of complications from the J&J vaccine. Although Melkonian was a few years older than that range, her husband feels she would have heeded such a warning.
It was an absolute failure to some degree, he said. The fear of scaring everybody away from the vaccines overran the ability to educate the public correctly.
A couple of weeks after Melkonian died, Thomas still hadnt been vaccinated. He called up a friend who was helping to run the countys vaccine clinic. He knew her from years of working withDeschutes County Search and Rescue.
I cant go get a shot where Monica got her shot, he said he told her. I cant go in there.
She arranged for him to get his first vaccination shot at the search-and-rescue teams building. Several friends showed up to support him. One made breakfast. They did their best to keep his mind off the circumstances, but his mind was awash with conflicting thoughts.
My wife, my best friend, my soulmate is dead because of whats happening to me right now, he recalled thinking. I know people are going to look at me and go, Youre an idiot!
He figured people would second-guess his decision to get vaccinated after her death. Ive got friends that refuse to get a shot and theyre losing their job because they dont want to get a shot. And theyre like, But look what happened to Monica, he said. They use her as justification.
However, he said, he still believes in COVID-19 vaccines and that his choice was made before his wife died. He is now among the more than 200 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
(KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.)
WASHINGTON The U.S. Army announced updated COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests as of Mar. 3, 2022.
As of March 3, 2022, the Army has not involuntarily separated any Soldiers solely for refusing the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As previously announced, Army officials have issued guidance for the mandatory initiation of separation for Soldiers who refuse this lawful order.
To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six Regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,183 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.
2022-03-04
It has now been 63 weeks since the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent out to states, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in human history. As of March 3, 691,748,065 doses of the vaccine have been sent out across the country equivalent to 210.7% of the U.S. population.
While the initial distribution of the vaccine took longer than federal projections had indicated, in recent months the U.S. has made great leaps in the worldwide race to administer vaccinations and some states are faring far better than others. Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states limited shipments of the vaccine as well as funding and tasks them with distributing the vaccine in accordance with relatively loose federal guidelines.
Each state has developed its own rollout plan, prioritizing different age groups and classes of essential workers. The mix of policies and logistical challenges across the country has led to wide variations across states in both the percentage of vaccines that have been administered and the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
In Wisconsin, 89.0% of allocated vaccines have been administered to residents as of March 3, greater than the national average of 80.1% and the largest share of all states.
The administered doses amount to 169.7% of the state population, in line with the 168.8% national figure and the 21st largest share of all states.
While a majority of Americans remain unvaccinated due to a lack of supply, there are some who have no plans to receive a vaccine at all. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of U.S. adults 18 and over who have not yet received the vaccine will either probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine in the future. In Wisconsin, 74.8% of adults who have not yet received the vaccine report that they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine in the future, the 10th largest share of any state. The most common reason cited for not wanting a vaccine is being concerned about possible side effects. Other commonly cited reasons include not trusting COVID-19 vaccines, believing they don't need a vaccine, and not trusting the government.
To determine how states are doing with the vaccine rollout, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of vaccines administered within a state as a percentage of the number of vaccines distributed to that state by the federal government as of March 3. Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 3 came from various state and local health departments and were adjusted for population using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. Data on the percentage of adults who probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine and their reasons for not getting one came from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, conducted from December 29, 2021 to January 10, 2022.
2022-03-04
It has now been 63 weeks since the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent out to states, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in human history. As of March 3, 691,748,065 doses of the vaccine have been sent out across the country equivalent to 210.7% of the U.S. population.
While the initial distribution of the vaccine took longer than federal projections had indicated, in recent months the U.S. has made great leaps in the worldwide race to administer vaccinations and some states are faring far better than others. Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states limited shipments of the vaccine as well as funding and tasks them with distributing the vaccine in accordance with relatively loose federal guidelines.
Each state has developed its own rollout plan, prioritizing different age groups and classes of essential workers. The mix of policies and logistical challenges across the country has led to wide variations across states in both the percentage of vaccines that have been administered and the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
In Illinois, 83.2% of allocated vaccines have been administered to residents as of March 3, greater than the national average of 80.1% and the 13th largest share of all states.
The administered doses amount to 172.3% of the state population, in line with the 168.8% national figure and the 20th largest share of all states.
While a majority of Americans remain unvaccinated due to a lack of supply, there are some who have no plans to receive a vaccine at all. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of U.S. adults 18 and over who have not yet received the vaccine will either probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine in the future. In Illinois, 71.0% of adults who have not yet received the vaccine report that they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine in the future, the 20th largest share of any state. The most common reason cited for not wanting a vaccine is being concerned about possible side effects. Other commonly cited reasons include not trusting COVID-19 vaccines, not trusting the government, and not knowing if the vaccine will work.
To determine how states are doing with the vaccine rollout, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of vaccines administered within a state as a percentage of the number of vaccines distributed to that state by the federal government as of March 3. Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 3 came from various state and local health departments and were adjusted for population using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. Data on the percentage of adults who probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine and their reasons for not getting one came from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, conducted from December 29, 2021 to January 10, 2022.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also effective in reducing symptomatic COVID-19 in a socially vulnerable community, where viral transmission is high and access to healthcare might be limited. This is the conclusion of astudyperformed in a group of favelas in Brazil, and co-led by ISGlobal, a centre supported by the la Caixa Foundation, and theOswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil(Fiocruz).
A large number of people in low- and middle-income countries live in densely populated slums or favelas, often withlimited resourcesto respond to the stress caused by a pandemic such as COVID-19. We know that socially vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic they aremore exposed to the virus and are more likely to die if they get sick says ISGlobal researcherOtavio Ranzani, but studies estimating vaccine effectiveness in these populations are lacking, he adds. Moreover, few studies have assessed vaccine effectiveness against the Gamma variant, which circulated mainly in Brazil and Latin America, and is able to partially escape recognition by vaccine-induced antibodies.
In this study, Ranzani and colleagues in Brazil aimed to test the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in a socially vulnerable population, at a time when bothDeltaandGammawere the predominant variants circulating in the country. To do so, they focussed on the community ofComplexo da Mar, the largest group of slums inRio de Janeiroand one of the areas with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Thanks to the efforts of civil society, NGOs and the local community, afree testing strategywas implemented for the 140,000 residents living in the area. In addition, amass vaccination campaignbetweenJuly and October 2021managed to cover 93.4% of adults with two doses, an action that was led by the projects ongoing in Complexo da Mar and supported by the Secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro.
The research team linked the community-program testing database with the vaccination campaign database to perform their analysis, which included 10,077 PCR tests (64% from symptomatic individuals, and 36% from people who had no symptoms, with an average age of 40). After adjusting for certain factors such as age, sex and comorbidities, they found that theprotection against symptomatic COVID-19 was 31% after one dose and 65% after the second dose. Our estimates are in accordance with other studies of effectiveness of this vaccine with these variants of concern, and confirmthe need of administering the second dose, saysFernando Bozza, senior author from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The analysis, however, did not allow to estimate vaccine protection against severe disease. ISGlobal and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation have an ongoing memorandum of agreement and further studies are expected.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
People
Vaccine effectiveness of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 against COVID-19 in a socially vulnerable community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a test-negative design study
9-Feb-2022
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As we enter the third year of the coronavirus pandemic it would appear that everyday life is slowly resuming. Mask mandates are lifting, adults are heading back into workspaces and the vaccine is readily available to anyone who is eligible. While this normalcy might be encouraging for some adults, parents are still apprehensive and confused as to what these changes in pandemic protocol mean for their children.
I have one kid in Kindergarten and another who is 3, and Im scared everyday, said Sara Sutton, a single mom and medical writer in Durham, NC. I have no choice but to send them to school and daycare so I can work, and Im just ready for them to be vaccinated. That will provide me so much relief.
Keeping young children and adolescents safe has been an exhausting daily exercise for parents throughout the coronavirus pandemic. And the recent news surrounding vaccine efficacy in adolescents has only added more uncertainty to the conversation.
A recent (yet to be peer reviewed) study collected by health officials in the state of New York found that there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the PfizerBioNTech coronavirus vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, compared to older adolescents or adults. And the FDA announced on Feb. 11 that they would postpone their discussion all together around approval of a vaccine for children under five.
Ive kind of gotten over my physical exhaustion, or at least adapted, said Sutton. But my mental exhaustion from this pandemic is worse than its ever been. I just dont know what to do for my kids. Theres no direct answers.
In October of 2021, the FDA approved a two-dose primary series of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Shortly after the emergency authorization, over 6 million children in the United States received at least one dose, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Health officials in New York state conducted a study of those vaccinated to better understand the vaccines efficacy in children. They found that the vaccine does prevent severe illness in children, but offers next to zero protection against infection, even within a month after full immunization, according to the data. The data, which was collected during the winter 2021 Omicron surge, is a key player in this equation according to Dr. Robert Frenck, Director of the Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center.
A lot of the cases in adolescents occurred during the time that Delta was the predominant strain, said Dr. Frenck. While many, perhaps most, of the infections in five to 11 year olds occurred during Omicron. So in a way you are comparing apples to oranges, as we know that Omicron is much more contagious than Delta.
Just weeks before the data surrounding five to 11 year olds was released, the FDA announced in a rare move that they would be postponing their meeting to discuss approval of a vaccine for children ages six months to four years old. They cited that they wanted to wait to evaluate data from a series of three doses instead of two. These findings are not expected to be released until April at the earliest.
While the percentages are not high, children have died and are still dying of COVID, and God forbid that is your child. Youre done Thus, my advice is to please vaccinate everyone who can be vaccinated.
In short, no. Doctors agree that some vaccination is better than no vaccination. Dr. Noah Greenspan, a cardiopulmonary physical therapist, said while he can understand this thinking on an emotional level, on a scientific level there are other factors to consider. While the percentages are not high, children have died and are still dying of COVID, and God forbid that is your child. Youre done, he said. Obviously, nobody wants their children to get sick, even mildly sick. It is crucial to also recognize that long COVID exists and is not necessarily based upon the severity of the acute illness. This means that even if the acute illness is mild, you can still go on to develop long Covid.
According to the CDC there have been at least 970 deaths involving COVID in children under 18. While this is a low number in comparison to the over 900,000 American adults who have passed from COVID, Dr. Frenck argues that less than 25 percent of children ages 5-11 are fully vaccinated, which leaves a large remaining group of kids susceptible.
Thus, my advice is to please vaccinate everyone who can be vaccinated, he said.
When it comes to finding credible and reputable information regarding COVID vaccination, doctors recommend speaking directly with your childs physician or pediatrician. They will be the most up to date with your childs specific health and needs, and can provide you with their expert tailored advice. The amount of misinformation or pseudoscience available online can be overwhelming and misleading, but Dr. Frenck recommends visiting CDC.gov or the American Academy of Pediatrics website for credible information.
The general consensus is that while research shows vaccine efficacy might be low in children, vaccinations are still working and are keeping people safe. In my opinion, anyone who can be vaccinated should be vaccinated, said Dr. Noah Greenspan.
As more people remain unvaccinated, the virus will continue to spread and mutate and we will see new variants form, like we saw with Delta and Omicron. Dr. Frenck says that preventing infection is not the right marker, but rather focusing on prevention of moderate to severe disease.
The best way to minimize the likelihood of new variants is to have a very high immunization rate so the virus has no one to infect, he said. As I like to say, Covid is an equal opportunity infector. It does not care if you are female or male, young or old, your race, your religion or political affiliation. Its just looking for a susceptible host to infect. Vaccination is our best way to prevent COVID.
Before you go, check out our favorite natural products to soothe your kids cold symptoms:
