Low-vaccinated communities continue to lead the state in weekly coronavirus case rates, an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive found, underscoring how the delta variant is devouring the unvaccinated.
Oregon has seen cases fall from record levels set earlier this month. But new and presumed infections remain high, and the communities hardest hit continue to be almost exclusively in vaccine-resistant southern Oregon.
The ZIP code for Myrtle Creek in Douglas County led all of Oregon in coronavirus case rates for the week ending Wednesday, among ZIP codes with at least 40 new cases.
The area recorded 103 new or presumed infections per 10,000 residents, roughly double the worst rate for a community in the Portland area.
The vaccination rate in the Myrtle Creek ZIP code? A staggeringly small 38.2% among residents of all ages, far below the statewide average of 62.4%.
In fact, 11 of the 12 ZIP codes with the highest weekly case rates are all well below the statewide average for people at least partially vaccinated. Only the ZIP code for Lincoln City, along the Oregon coast, surpassed the statewide vaccination mark.
ZIP codes in southern Oregons Douglas and Josephine counties accounted for eight of the dozen areas with the highest weekly case rates. The ZIP codes generally run along the Interstate 5 corridor, including Roseburg, Grants Pass, Sutherlin and Winston.
Vaccination rates in each of those eight areas is below 50%.
While both ZIP codes for Grants Pass made the list of jurisdictions with the highest case rates, one of those, the 97526 ZIP code, led all of Oregon in total new cases regardless of population. It posted 256 cases for the week ending Wednesday, more than double the highest total from a ZIP code in the Portland area.
The list of ZIP codes with high new cases also skews heavy along I-5 in southern Oregon, including Medford, Roseburg, but it also includes parts of Salem. And it features Bend and Redmond in central Oregon, too.
State health officials for months have been saying the summer surge is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and Oregons record-breaking case counts flooded hospitals. More people with COVID-19 died in August than in all but two other months of the pandemic, and September could be worse.
Officials for the Oregon Health Authority did not respond to a request for comment to the newsrooms analysis comparing case rates with vaccination rates. But Patrick Allen, the agencys director, released a separate statement Thursday about the states mounting death toll, saying it marks a failure of our collective responsibility to take care of each other.
He said Oregonians could prevent more people from dying by taking simple steps to stop COVID-19 from spreading.
The COVID-19 vaccines are extremely safe and effective at preventing serious illness and death from the virus, including the delta variant, he said in the statement. I urge every Oregonian who can to get vaccinated and wear your masks when youre in public places inside and outdoors.
-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
New Jersey on Sunday reported 1,744 confirmed COVID-19 cases and four new deaths. It was the lowest number of reported daily deaths in more than two weeks. However, the state also saw its rate of transmission increase for the first time in more than a month.
The Garden States seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests is 1,728, which is 1.5% higher than a week ago and 32.5% higher from this time last month.
All of New Jerseys 21 counties are listed as having high rates of coronavirus transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is recommending people in all 21 counties wear masks for indoor public settings regardless of vaccination rates.
There were 1,104 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals Saturday night 22 fewer than Thursday night. There were 165 patients discharged from hospitals Saturday.
Of those hospitalized, 234 were in intensive care (11 fewer than a day earlier), with 119 on ventilators (six fewer).
New Jerseys statewide rate of transmission on Sunday rose for the first time since July, increasing to 1 from .99 the previous day and 1.01 on Friday. Throughout the month of August, the rate of transmission either remained the same or declined, but did not increase. Any rate of transmission number over 1 indicates that each new case is leading to more than one additional case and shows the states outbreak is expanding.
The positivity rate for tests conducted on Tuesday, the most recent day available, was 4.8%. The positivity rate on weekends tends to be higher due to fewer tests being conducted.
An early coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey has reported a total of 27,058 deaths, including 24,309 confirmed fatalities and 2,749 considered probable. Thats the most coronavirus deaths per capita in the United States.
With the incredibly infectious delta variant spreading throughout the state, that number is likely to increase. The highly contagious COVID-19 strain accounted for more than 98% of cases sampled for a four-week span ending Aug. 21. In the final week of that time period, 99.7% of cases sampled were the delta variant.
At least 8,485 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to state data.
New Jersey is now reporting more than 5.69 million people who live, work or study in the state have been fully vaccinated. More than 6.2 million people have received at least one dose as the state prepares to administer third doses and booster shots to those fully vaccinated in the coming months, pending approval from the federal government.
The vaccine mandate announced by Biden on Thursday calls for all employers with more than 100 workers to require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.
There are active outbreaks at 151 long-term care facilities in New Jersey, resulting in 571 active cases among residents and 488 among staffers. Those numbers have continued to rise in recent weeks.
In all, the state of 9.2 million residents has reported 972,729 total confirmed cases out of the more than 15.1 million PCR tests conducted since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. The state has also reported 144,777 positive antigen tests, which are considered probable cases.
As of Sunday, there have been more than 224 million positive COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 4.6 million people having died due to the virus. The U.S. has reported the most cases (more than 40.9 million) and deaths (more than 659,696) than any other nation.
More than 5.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A precedent-setting New York City mandate requiring all employees and patrons of more than 30 different types of businesses -- including restaurants, gyms and performance venues -- to show proof they received the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine that took effect last month will now be enforced starting Monday, Sept. 13.
That means only vaccinated people can eat indoors at a restaurant, be a guest inside a catering hall, workout inside a gym or attend a concert.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the vaccine mandate is necessary to help end the pandemic, especially after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the delta variant is as contagious as the chicken pox.
If youre unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things. Thats the point were trying to get across, de Blasio said last month when he initiated the mandate. Its time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary for living a good and full and healthy life.
The city has provided small businesses with posters and flyers to alert customers of the new mandates.
The flyers alert patrons to the mandate and that children under 12 are exempt from the requirement, which the mayors dubbed the Key to NYC. In addition, the flyers provide information about how to get a free coronavirus vaccine.
Patrons and staff will need to provide proof of at least one coronavirus vaccination shot before entering the affected businesses. Acceptable forms of proof are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine cards, the states Excelsior Pass phone app, and the citys COVID Safe app.
There is information available on the citys website that provides businesses with best practices about checking vaccines, dealing with complaints, and the process for recognizing and reporting fake vaccination cards.
INDOOR DINING
More than 30 types of businesses will be affected by the citys coronavirus vaccine mandates.
The indoor dining guidance pertains to restaurants, catering halls, event spaces, hotel banquet rooms, bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, grocery stores with indoor dining, coffee shops and fast food or quick service with indoor dining, according to the city.
INDOOR FITNESS
The indoor fitness venues include all gyms, fitness centers, fitness classes, pools, indoor studios and dance studios, according to the city.
INDOOR ENTERTAINMENT
Indoor entertainment venues include movie theaters, music and concert venues, museums, aquariums and zoos, professional sports arenas, indoor stadiums, convention centers, exhibition halls, performing arts theaters, bowling alleys, arcades, pool and billiard halls, recreational game centers, adult entertainment and indoor play areas.
LAWSUIT DISMISSED
There has been several lawsuits brought by business owners to fight the mandates, the latest of which was presented by a consortium of Staten Island and Brooklyn business owners to strike down the citys vaccination mandate for restaurants, gyms and indoor entertainment venues. However, state Supreme Court Justice Lizette Colon rejected the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescues (I.R.O.A.R.) request for a permanent injunction to block the order on Friday.
KIDS SPORTS MANDATES
Also on Friday, just days before the start of the 2021-2022 school year, de Blasio announced that all students ages 12 and up will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus if they want to participate in high-risk extracurricular activities.
New York City has already implemented a similar policy for high school athletes, requiring all students participating in high-risk Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) sports to be vaccinated in order to compete.
Weve already done this for high-risk sports, and this is consistent with CDC and state guidance for young people who are involved in extracurricular activities, such as chorus, musical theater, dance, band and marching band, cheerleading, were going to have a vaccination mandate for them, de Blasio said.
FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER
A new survey from Cincinnati-based Interact for Health indicates that 56% of local adults reported that had received a COVID-19 vaccine and that an additional 7% reported that they will definitely get the vaccine.
Eighteen percent had not yet decided whether they will get the vaccine while 19% said that they definitely would not get a vaccine.
The survey was conducted in July with results released Thursday as part of the Greater Cincinnati COVID-19 Health IssuesSurvey.
These data show that the debate about COVID-19 vaccines is not simply about favoring or opposing the shot, said Ross Meyer, vice president of strategy with Interact for Health. Many still want to get the vaccine or are undecided. We need to help our friends, family members and coworkers who feel this way find reliable information about vaccination and get help with transportation and child care so they can take the time to get vaccinated.
Intent to get the vaccine among African-Americans in the region was particularly of interest, the organization said. Only 24% of African American adults reported they received a vaccine. However, 34% of African American adults said they definitely will get the vaccine, much higher than the 3% of white adults.
This suggests there are African-Americans who would like to get vaccinated but havent yet, providing an opportunity for additional community outreach, the organization said.
Reasons for not getting vaccinated
Respondents who were not yet vaccinated were asked to rank how important a variety of reasons were in their decision not to get the shot. The following reasons were ranked as very important: the desire to confirm the safety of the vaccines (72%), concern about side effects (64%) and concern about the timeline for developing the vaccines (64%). Respondents were able to select more than one concern as very important in their decision making.
Since the survey was conducted, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received full federal approval. There are two other vaccines, from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, that are also widely available free and and highly effective.
Health care providers the preferred source for information
National data have demonstrated that people are receptive to vaccine information from health care providers. Thissurveyfound similar results, showing that 55% of respondents trust their physicians a great deal to provide reliable information about the COVID-19 vaccine, followed by pharmacists (42%) and local health departments (38%).
Doctors, nurses and pharmacists have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response, said Christa Hyson, assistant director, emergency response and public information officer with the Health Collaborative. Many of them have also lent their support to efforts to increase community vaccination. As we continue our efforts to get 80% of those eligible in our region vaccinated, we need health care providers to encourage vaccination at every encounter and be ready to refer their patients for vaccination as needed.
Common barriers to vaccination
Thesurveyshowed that efforts to make vaccination accessible have made a difference. A majority of Greater Cincinnati adults reported it is very easy to find a place to get a COVID-19 vaccine that is convenient for them (70%), a place that they trust (68%) or a place that is open at a time that fits their schedule (60%). African American adults and those living in poverty are less likely to think it was very easy to find a vaccine.
-Staff report
Photo:The queue set up for COVID vaccines at a St. Elizabeth Healthcare facility earlier this year (RCN file)
Saint-Herblain (France), September 13, 2021 Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company, today announced that it has received a termination notice from the UK Government (HMG) in relation to the Supply Agreement for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001. The contract provides HMG with the right to terminate. HMG has alleged that the Company is in breach of its obligations under the Supply Agreement, but the Company strenuously denies this.
Valneva is continuing its VLA2001 development plan. Testing for the Companys pivotal Phase 3 trial, Cov-Compare, is ongoing at Public Health England (PHE). Valneva recently announced that its Phase 3 results are expected to be available early in the fourth quarter and that these results will form part of its rolling submission for conditional approval of VLA2001 with the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Subject to these data and MHRA approval, Valneva believes that initial approval for VLA2001 could be granted in late 2021.
Valneva has worked tirelessly, and to its best efforts, on the collaboration with HMG including investing significant resources and effort to respond to HMGs requests for variant-derived vaccines. Valneva continues to be committed to the development of VLA2001 and will increase its efforts with other potential customers to ensure that its inactivated vaccine can be used in the fight against the pandemic.
About VLA2001VLA2001 is currently the only whole virus, inactivated, adjuvanted vaccine candidate in clinical trials against COVID-19 in Europe. It is intended for active immunization of at-risk populations to prevent carriage and symptomatic infection with COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic and potentially later for routine vaccination including addressing new variants. VLA2001 may also be suited for boosting, as repeat booster vaccinations have been shown to work well with whole virus inactivated vaccines. VLA2001 is produced on Valnevas established Vero-cell platform, leveraging the manufacturing technology for Valnevas licensed Japanese encephalitis vaccine, IXIARO. VLA2001 consists of inactivated whole virus particles of SARS-CoV-2 with high S-protein density, in combination with two adjuvants, alum and CpG 1018. This adjuvant combination has consistently induced higher antibody levels in preclinical experiments than alum-only formulations and shown a shift of the immune response towards Th1. CpG 1018 adjuvant, supplied by Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: DVAX), is a component of the US FDA- and EMA-approved HEPLISAV-B vaccine. VLA2001s manufacturing process, which has already been upscaled to final industrial scale, includes chemical inactivation to preserve the native structure of the S-protein. VLA2001 is expected to conform with standard cold chain requirements (2 to 8 degrees Celsius).
Story continues
About Valneva SEValneva is a specialty vaccine company focused on the development and commercialization of prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with significant unmet medical need. The Company takes a highly specialized and targeted approach to vaccine development, beginning with the identification of deadly and debilitating infectious diseases that lack a prophylactic vaccine solution and for which there are limited therapeutic treatment options. It then applies its deep understanding of vaccine science, including its expertise across multiple vaccine modalities, as well as its established vaccine development capabilities, to develop prophylactic vaccines to address these diseases. The Company has leveraged its expertise and capabilities both to successfully commercialize two vaccines and to rapidly advance a broad range of vaccine candidates into and through the clinic, including candidates against Lyme disease, COVID-19 and the chikungunya virus.
Media & Investor ContactsLatitia Bachelot-FontaineVP Global Communications & European Investor RelationsM +33 (0)6 4516 7099 laetitia.bachelot-fontaine@valneva.com
Joshua Drumm, Ph.D.VP Global Investor RelationsM +001 917 815 4520joshua.drumm@valneva.com
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Valneva, including with respect to the progress, timing, design, data read-outs, anticipated results and completion of clinical trials for VLA2001. In addition, even if the actual results or development of Valneva are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments of Valneva may not be indicative of future results. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "could," "should," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "aims," "targets," or similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of Valneva as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations of Valneva could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties involved in the development and manufacture of vaccines, unexpected clinical trial results, unexpected regulatory actions or delays, competition in general, currency fluctuations, the impact of the global and European credit crisis, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, the cancellation of existing contracts, including but not limited to the HMG Supply Agreement, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the occurrence of any of which could substantially harm Valnevas business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made during this presentation will in fact be realized. Valneva is providing the information in this press release as of the date hereof and disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Attachment
Businesses with at least 100 employees will soon be required to mandate that employees get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing. Employers are still waiting for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an emergency temporary standard (ETS), and some key questions have yet to be answered, but employers can take certain steps now to prepare.
Here's what employers need to know.
ETS Timing
President Joe Biden announced the six-part "Path Out of thePandemic" on Sept. 9. "We're going to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America," he said.
Among other steps, the administration will require most federal employees and federal contractors to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Biden's order eliminated the option for such workers to opt for regular testing instead of vaccination. OSHA's pending ETS, however, will let private-sector employers alternatively allow "any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work," according to the White House.
When will the rule take effect? "Although the timing of when the ETS requirement will go into effect is not clear, it will likely not be a long wait," said KeithWilkes, an attorney with Hall Estill in Tulsa, Okla. The rule is expected to impact more than 80 million private-sector workers.
Ashley Brightwell, an attorney with Alston & Bird in Atlanta, said OSHA may not issue the ETS for another 30 to 60 days.
The ETS can remain in place for six months. "After that time, it must be replaced by a permanent OSHA standard, which must undergo a formal rulemaking process involving a typical notice-and-comment period," according to law firm Fisher Phillips.
Start Planning
In light of the news, Brightwell suggested that employers start encouraging all employees to get vaccinated to make compliance easier once the rule goes into effect.
Ian Carleton Schaefer, an attorney with Loeb and Loeb in New York City, said covered employers need to quickly ramp up their infrastructure in terms of policies, administration and tracking.
Employers also need to decide whether they will mandate vaccination or allow weekly testing as an alternative. "For some employers, collecting and tracking weekly test results may burden them such that they decide to adopt a mandatory vaccination policy," according to Fisher Phillips.
Notably, employers will be required to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated and recover from any side effects. Businesses will also have to consider the costs associated with confirming negative test results for unvaccinated employees.
"Regarding the tests themselves, while insurance may cover the cost of tests, several states have laws predating COVID-19 requiring employers to pay for mandatory medical tests or reimburse employees for any such testing," Fisher Phillips said.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay nonexemptemployees for the time spent undergoing testing during the workday. "This likely includes required testing occurring on employees' days off if such testing is necessary to perform their jobs safely and effectively during the pandemic," according to the firm.
Be Ready for Accommodation Requests
OSHA's rule will almost certainly affirm that employers must accommodate employees who refuse to be vaccinated based on a medical exemption or sincerely held religious belief, said Paula Ketcham, an attorney with Schiff Hardi in Chicago.
Erika Todd, an attorney with Sullivan & Worcester, noted that when an employee requests a medical exemption, an employer is entitled to require a reasonable amount of verification to confirm that the employee does have a bona fide medical reason not to be vaccinated. "At the same time, employers must maintain the confidentiality of any medical information they obtain when discussing an exemption," Todd added.
She said religious objections are protected even when they are not supported by a formal religious group, and employers should seek further verification only in rare circumstances if there is a specific reason to doubt that the employee's objection is religion-based. "Notably, political and philosophical objections are not protected by federal anti-discrimination law," she said.
Mixed Reactions to Rule
In addition to potential legal risks, the main concerns employers have had in 2021 regarding vaccine mandates include resistance from employees, the potential impact on company culture and employee morale, and the possibility of losing employees in a tight labor market, according to research from law firm Littler Mendelson.
"The administration's approach will help equalize the playing field and take some pressure off employers who have been concerned about moving too fast or too early in this important area," said Devjani Mishra, an attorney with Littler in New York City.
Schaefer also said the government mandate alleviates some issues surrounding vaccination policies for covered employers that are competing for talent.
Some people have raised concerns about requiring vaccination for those with natural immunity due to a past COVID-19 infection. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, is still urging people who already had the coronavirus to get vaccinated and pointed to the results of a recent study highlighting the risk of reinfection. "The study of hundreds of Kentucky residents with previous infections through June 2021 found that those who were unvaccinated had 2.34 times the odds of reinfection compared with those who were fully vaccinated," the CDC said."The findings suggest that among people who have had COVID-19 previously, getting fully vaccinated provides additional protection against reinfection."
Legal challenges to OSHA's ETS are expected. "Many legal experts have argued that the executive order exceeds President Biden's powers under Article II of the Constitution," noted Stephanie Gaston, an attorney with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Houston.
OSHA has the authority to issue emergency temporary standards only if it can show both of the following factors:
According to the Congressional Research Service, "[I]n the nine times OSHA has issued an ETS, the courts have fully vacated or stayed the ETS in four cases and partially vacated the ETS in one case."
Questions Remain
"The details of what the ETS will include are scarce at this point, leaving many questions unanswered," Fisher Phillips said. How will the 100-employee threshold be counted? Will employers be required to collect proof of vaccination? What type of testing will be required? Will remote employees be covered?
Brightwell thinks it unlikely that the ETS will apply to remote workers under the "grave danger" requirement. If employees are not exposed to anyone in the workplace, the risk of contracting COVID-19 is not work-related.
At the region's biggest hospital, Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene, 97% of COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated and all of the intensive care unit beds are filled. Education Images/Universal Image via Getty Images hide caption
At the region's biggest hospital, Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene, 97% of COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated and all of the intensive care unit beds are filled.
Jeremy Smith and his wife Sheena are on a four-wheeler, leading me up a dirt road on the 20 acres of mostly undeveloped land they live on near Sagle, in the Idaho panhandle. We stop near a big grove of trees and get out. It's beautiful.
"We've got some Douglas fir. This is a grand pine. This is a maple," Smith says as he walks along a private trail.
Smith and his extended family have been hunkering down here since the pandemic began. They are a minority in this very conservative part of Idaho. They take COVID-19 seriously and wear masks. And unlike 65% of the people in Bonner County, they're fully vaccinated.
"We've done everything we possibly could to stay healthy," Smith says.
Which is why they are so frustrated about the situation in North Idaho. Earlier this week, state public health officials activated crisis standards of care for at least 10 hospitals across ten Northern Idaho counties because of an unprecedented surge of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
This means health care facilities are overwhelmed and are now rationing care for everyone, regardless of their diagnosis.
"If we get hurt and go in now, our health care is almost certain to be compromised," Smith says. "It's really frustrating."
Hospitals are cancelling most surgeries, warning of long wait times, and urging people to avoid risky activities that could land them in the emergency room because, bottom line, there might not be a bed available.
Smith says his elderly, handicapped father has had to put off back surgery.
"He's going to be in pain until Christmas because of other people's choices, not because of anything we've done wrong," he says.
Smith is angry, but understands what's going on. Many people in this part of Idaho have long been skeptical of authority, and any kind of government information. He's not surprised it has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation.
"This is a place that is very attractive to people who have an independent, self-sufficient mindset," he says. "The idea that if anything comes along, you can just take care of it."
Driving around, you see a lot of yellow Gadsden flags that say "Don't Tread On Me." And since the beginning of the pandemic there have been loud protests against shutdowns, mask requirements and the vaccine.
"You don't plunge a whole entire civilization into an experimental vaccine," says Branden Sing, who lives in the city of Sandpoint.
The Food and Drug Administration fully approving Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in August hasn't swayed him to get a shot. He thinks the pandemic has been hyped up and that the vaccines were rushed.
"If you attach a death count clock on TV to any crisis it's going to be a fearfully driven situation," he says. "There's going to be a lot of people making a lot of mistakes."
Sing says he has friends and family who have had adverse side effects from the vaccine. His mother-in-law, for instance, recently had a brain aneurysm caused by a spike in high blood pressure.
"I think my mother-in-law is a victim of the vaccine," he says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says dangerous or deadly side effects from COVID vaccines are extremely rare.
But again, Sing and many others in North Idaho don't trust those agencies. Instead, some are taking supplements and non-FDA approved medications to combat the virus. Sing believes COVID-19 isn't that big of a deal for people who keep their immune systems healthy.
But there are a growing number of people here who aren't faring well. In the past week, 18 people have died in North Idaho from COVID-19 and there are currently more than 550 people hospitalized across the state. At the region's biggest hospital, Kootenai Health, 97% of COVID patients are unvaccinated and all of the intensive care unit beds are filled.
Part-time North Idaho resident Ed Crosby's brother-in-law, who recently took a hard fall and hit his head, had to wait two days for an ICU bed to open up at Kootenai Health.
"He had to spend two days laying in the ER not getting the care that he really needed," Crosby says. "It made me extremely angry."
The surge is also stressing out health care workers in the region as hospitals become overwhelmed.
"We are just seeing a huge influx of very actively sick people," says Kelli Hansen, a nurse at Bonner General Health, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Sandpoint.
She's surprised by how many young, unvaccinated people are getting seriously ill from the delta variant.
"These people are afraid," she says. "They can't breathe. Their anxiety goes up. That means increased pain. That means they're not sleeping well. They're exhausted. It's heartbreaking to see that suffering happening."
Hansen says her hospital is strapped for resources right now. It's also facing a staff shortage due to burnout, people getting sick, and skyrocketing housing prices that make North Idaho less affordable for nurses and other hospital staff.
But Hansen still loves the job. She also tries to not to judge patients and others for not getting vaccinated. She's worked for 17 years in Sandpoint and understands the prevailing ethos here.
"Because of the newness of this vaccine and this pandemic, there are unknowns. I can see where someone might be uncomfortable," she says. "If that's the case and they choose not to [get vaccinated], I really implore people to take those other precautions such as masking, social distancing and taking care of themselves."
But wearing masks and social distancing still isn't happening in much of North Idaho. Health officials fear that the worst may still be on its way because school just started. Most districts aren't requiring masks and there have already been reports of teachers and students testing positive for COVID-19.
The number of people getting vaccinated in Idaho has more than doubled since July, but for the last three weeks it's been flat.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
A group called One Washington is holding seminars around the state to instruct people on how to ask for a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine. KUOWs Deborah Wang attended one of their sessions this week.
S
tate employees and health care workers are among those in Washington state who will soon be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of their employment.
Although Covid-19 vaccines have proven to be effective at preventing illness or keeping it mild in breakthrough cases, a percentage of people are unwilling to get vaccinated. Washington state law provides an exception for people who have "sincerely held religious beliefs" that prevent them from getting the vaccine.
The group One Washington is holding seminars around the state to instruct people on how to apply for that exemption. The organizers are associated with a church in Gig Harbor called Harborview Fellowship. Early on in the pandemic, the church was in the news after it sued Washington state over emergency orders that prevented churches from holding in-person services.
After Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state would mandate vaccines for certain employees, One Washington organizers said they were inundated with people asking what to do. They began offering seminars in churches, and were soon drawing large crowds. In the past several weeks, they say theyve reached thousands of people around Washington state and in Hawaii, as well.
One of these seminars took place on Wednesday at Island Church on Bainbridge Island. Roughly 100 people attended surprising given the islands liberal bent. No one except this reporter wore a mask at the indoor event, despite a recent uptick in coronavirus cases among unvaccinated people.
Much of the seminar was focused on civics, rather than religion.
State Rep. Jesse Young, a Republican from Pierce County, gave a lengthy presentation arguing the state's vaccine mandate is unconstitutional. He asserted the governor does not have the power to make laws (although the governor's emergency powers are contained in state law including in RCW 43.06.220. The governor's office says it has successfully defended itself against 17 challenges to its authority to act during the pandemic).
Young cited Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made it unlawful to discriminate not just on the basis of race but of religion as well.
The law requires employers to provide "reasonable accommodation" to employees for their sincerely held religious beliefs, as long as they don't create an undue hardship on the employer.
One Washington borrows liberally from the language of the Civil Rights movement; they opened Wednesday's seminar with a quote from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
They also use language from the abortion rights movement, including my body, my choice.
When it comes to mandating vaccines, "people on the other side have conveniently forgotten they said that," said Mike Jonez, a volunteer chaplain for the Washington State Patrol who co-founded One Washington.
Jonez also denied the group is pursuing an anti-vaccine agenda.
"We are pro freedom of choice," he said.
(Public health experts counter that a number of commonly-accepted practices require people to do things in the name of the community's safety. For example, its against the law to drive your car while you are drunk.)
Many Christian leaders have urged their congregations to be vaccinated, including those in the Catholic Church. The Pope called getting the vaccine an "act of love" and suggested that it's a moral and ethical obligation. Evangelical Christians are an outlier, though, and have higher rates of not being vaccinated, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
One Washington's seminar gave general guidance on applying for a religious exemption, from how to fill out forms from your human resources department, to finding out what reasonable accommodations your employer provides.
They warned people not to fall into any "potentially trapping questions," like whether you have taken medicine or vaccines before. They claim you do not have to "prove" your religion to get an exemption.
"Religion is like a black box," Jonez said. "You just have to have it. You don't need to show it."
The organizers played a video of a woman named Michelle who they said had successfully applied for a religious exemption.
In the video, Michelle suggested that people NOT use the argument that they oppose the vaccines because fetal cells may have been used in their development, because that might change with future vaccines.
In her application, Michelle quoted the Bible: My physical body is a holy temple of my Lord Christ and Savior." She went on to write: "I will not put anything into my body that would violate my religion or my conscience before God.
Finally, the presenters asked people to make a proclamation of faith by inviting Jesus into their lives. They then provided a QR code that would allow them to download a letter from the church with an "affirmation of faith."
Its unclear whether this approach will work.
Every employer has its own process for religious accommodations. The state of Washingtons religious exemption request form asks employees to assert two things:
1) That that you have a sincerely held religious belief or religious conviction that prevents you from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and
2) That you have never received a vaccine or medicine from a health care provider as an adult.
These questions present a high bar, and few Christians, other than Christian Scientists, would likely qualify under this standard.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded one-year supplemental grants totaling $1.67 million to five institutions, including Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), to explore potential links between COVID-19 vaccination and menstrual changes.
Lauren Wise, professor of epidemiology at BUSPH, and a team of researchers at BUSPH and Boston University School of Medicine (MED), received $300,000 to examine the potential impact of COVID-19 vaccines on menstruation among participants in the BUSPH-based Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO).
PRESTO is an NIH-funded ongoing study that enrolls women trying to conceive, and follows them from preconception through six months after delivery. Since the study's inception, women have reported data about their typical menstrual characteristics while not using hormones, and PRESTO questionnaires have been updated to include questions on COVID-19 infection, vaccination, and pandemic-related stressors. The questionnaires are available in English and Spanish.
For the study, Wise and colleagues will analyze menstruation data collected during up to six menstrual cycles from bimonthly online questionnaires and from Kindara.com, a menstrual charting app. The researchers will examine the association between COVID vaccination and cycle irregularity, cycle length, intensity of bleed, duration of bleed, intermenstrual spotting/bleeding, and pain associated with menses. Two sets of analyses will be performed: one that compares menstrual factors between vaccinated and unvaccinated participants, and one that compares menstrual factors among vaccinated participants before and after vaccination.
Given PRESTO's ongoing prospective data collection throughout the pandemic, recruitment of non-contracepting women from all 50 U.S. states, and prospective collection of menstrual data, the study is uniquely-positioned to analyze data on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and menstruation and provide essential information to the scientific community and the public on vaccine safety."
Lauren Wise, principal investigator, PRESTO
Some women have reported experiencing irregular or skipped menstrual periods, bleeding that is heavier than usual, and other menstrual changes after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Numerous factors-;including COVID-19-related infection and stress, and lifestyle changes-;can cause temporary changes in the menstrual cycle, which is regulated by complex interactions between the body's tissues, cells and hormones.
The supplemental grants are funded by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health.
Other members of Wise's team in the Department of Epidemiology at BUSPH include research assistant professor, Amelia Wesselink; doctoral student, Sharonda Lovett; senior data analyst, Tanran Wang; postdoctoral associate, Mary Willis; research assistant, Martha Koenig; and professors Kenneth Rothman and Elizabeth Hatch; as well as MED researcher Rebecca Perkins, associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology.
If you are a visitor of this website:
Please try again in a few minutes.
There is an issue between Cloudflare's cache and your origin web server. Cloudflare monitors for these errors and automatically investigates the cause. To help support the investigation, you can pull the corresponding error log from your web server and submit it our support team. Please include the Ray ID (which is at the bottom of this error page). Additional troubleshooting resources.
