One of the consequences of former communist-era persecution in Romania is a lack of public trust in today's governance, which is hampering the country's fight against Covid-19.
New Year, new beginnings, but not for Romania. After the holiday season, the number of Covid-19 cases in this Balkan country has doubled. In November last year, it had the world's highest per capita Covid-19 death rate. Still, the country continues to be the EU's second least vaccinated state: just 40 percent of the population has been vaccinated.
Furthermore, Romania's fight against the pandemic is further problematised by another issue, namely conspiracy theories. A book titled "Covid, The Lie of The Century", distributed by self-published Romanian author Marius Mioc, asserts: "This is not a real pandemic, but hysteria, and it is driven by politics and the want to make money."
Such outlandish assertions, combined with latent mistrust of the Romanian public towards government-run institutions, have undermined the campaign for vaccination. Some rumours circulated describing convalescents as "paid actors pretending to be intubated patients".
Speaking to TRT World, Dr Octavian Jurma, former advisor to Romania's Health Ministry, said that the main reason behind the epidemic of conspiracy theories is the prevalence of a deep-seated mindset anchored in the communist era.
At that time, he added, the regime institutionalised lies and deception, and people became accustomed to the truth not being expected from the authorities. Thus, people resorted to alternative explanations and underground rumours. As a result, "underground news" became deeply rooted in the Romanian social psyche.
Meanwhile, local media's commercial needs pushing them to exaggerate news and deploy clickbait strategies have seen them regularly give airtime to all kinds of unfounded claims. This is mainly done to generate more advertisement revenue.
Some national TV shows allowed anti-vaxxers to spread their fallacies under the guise of presenting balanced opinions. These factors have mainstreamed fake news. Moreover, as Jurma notes, some questionable policies and practices by the authorities have been the straw that broke the camel's back, paving the way for the grim health situation that Romania faces today.
"Hospitals kill people, not Covid-19"
Among the most concerning beliefs being circulated, says Jurma, is the assertion that "hospitals kill people, not Covid-19", or "I brought him fine yesterday, and now they are telling me she/he is dead". These kinds of flawed statements undermine the integrity of medical personnel and health institutions. At the same time, the fake news becomes amplified when even people whose relatives died from Covid-19 deny the pandemic.
Furthermore, the proliferation of arguments by non-specialised social media users, such as "natural immunity is better, or "vaccines make no difference", or that vaccines spread the infection, is immensely counterproductive. As highlighted by Jurma, this proves that vaccination campaigns need to be accompanied by equally strong education campaigns that educate people about the pros and cons of every step.
Due to the lack of demand for vaccines, Romania started to get rid of stocks. Last year, the government decided to donate 450,000 shots to South Korea. Additionally, the authorities sold 1.17 million doses of excess vaccines to Denmark. On Twitter, Micheal Martin, Ireland's prime minister, announced that his government completed a deal to secure 700,000 vaccines from Romania.
As the pandemic's fifth wave is on the verge of occurring, the spread of fake news has intensified. The "this is just the flu" argument has gained a new life. Some people say: "I will wait for the Omicron vaccine." Others consider the Omicron variant a natural vaccine that will end the pandemic.
A healthcare system hanging by a thread
With that in mind, hospitals are under immense pressure. When the Delta variant hit the country in October and November, Romania saw its worst days since the pandemic. The morgues of the hospitals were at full capacity. Bodies in plastic bags were lying in the hallway of the University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest.
All intensive care beds in the country were occupied at the end of October. Then, more critical patients were transferred to Poland and Hungary. In November, a German air force plane landed in Romania to take patients and treat them in German hospitals.
Romania has the lowest health spending among the EU countries, and only one state hospital has been built since the end of Communism. In a 2015 nightclub fire, 64 people lost their lives. However, only 27 of them died due to the fire. Hospital infections killed the rest. In 2018 Romania was amongst the EU countries with the highest preventable and treatable mortality rates.
Since November 2020, Romania has had three deadly hospital fires, in which 31 people died. The same year a bribery scandal over Covid-19 masks contract broke out. On top of this, the recent Global Corruption Barometer reports that Romania, alongside Bulgaria, has the highest bribery rates in the healthcare system.
Oddly enough, on the epidemiological map of Europe, published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), while Europe is all covered in red, Romania is the only country that has green regions. Here comes the argument: "We have the lowest vaccination rate, but they have the highest number of cases; clearly vaccination is useless." However, as Jurma underlines, Romania has the lowest testing per million inhabitants in Europe.
"Omicron is less severe than Delta"
According to Jurma, Omicron will seriously hit the country. The consequences will be greater since many believe that Omicron is less severe than Delta. Last week, the number of infected increased and a worrying fluctuation in the vaccination rates has occurred.
On November 8, stricter measures were imposed. Still, a Covid pass plan for workers is blocked in Parliament. On the other hand, the National Audiovisual Council (CNA) - the only regulator for the audiovisual sector in Romania tried to impose fines on the outlets that spread vaccine disinformation. However, the CNA has struggled to monitor and stop the fake news. A month ago, anti-Covid-19 pass protesters tried to break into the parliament, protesting against the aforementioned passes.
Jurma predicts that even if Omicron sends 50 percent fewer people to the hospital than Delta, Romania will still have a record number of hospitalisations, ICU admissions, and death rates compared to the EU. This situation means that the fifth wave will hit Romania even harder than in October.
Overall, a bleak picture emerges. The combination of deeply entrenched distrust towards the authorities, powerful fake news in traction, and a crumbling healthcare system, could well represent one of Romania's worst health crises in centuries. Meanwhile, the preparation against this probability is weak. People still hope for the best. However, hope is not a strategy.
Source: TRT World
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) One year ago today, COVID-19 vaccinations opened up to more South Dakotans.
You may remember it was initially offered in waves to certain groups, including health care workers, nursing home residents, and first responders.
Then came people who were 80 and older or at high risk.
Mel Klein was 81-years-old when he got his first COVID-19 vaccine dose at a Sanford vaccination clinic.
The Sioux Falls man was among the first in his category in South Dakota to get the shot.
Today, the 82-year-old and his wife are fully vaccinated with their boosters.
Its kind of a security blanket. It helps you mentally I think, the fact that youve been vaccinated, Mel Klein said.
To their knowledge, they havent had COVID-19, something he credits to the vaccine.
Weve probably prevented, nationwide, over 10 million hospitalizations and over a million deaths with the vaccine so far, so its absolutely doing the job we asked it to do, Sanford Health chief physician Dr. Jeremy Cauwels said.
As the pandemic carries on, the Sioux Falls couple will remain careful.
They spend more time in the house.
Boy, I hope I live long enough to see it being back to normal, Klein said.
But for right now hes thankful for the vaccine.
Being old is certainly one of the things you keep in mind every day. Im not 50 years old anymore and some health issues pop up, so I grateful for each and every day, Klein said.
According to Sanford Healths weekly hospitalizations chart, no patients with COVID who are boosted are in the ICU or on ventilators.
Pfizer vaccine in Mexico. (Courtesy: Baja California Health Department)
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) As COVID-19 cases continue to climb across Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Department of Health says it is preparing to provide an additional booster dose to immunocompromised individuals.
While the current vaccines and boosters may be enough to protect most Americans from severe illness for the rest of the winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending a fourth dose sooner for those with a compromised immune system.
The CDC says it considers a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as part of the primary immunization schedule for the immunocompromised, adding that a fourth shot for those Americans would act as a booster dose.
Now, the Oklahoma State Department of Health says that it is prepared to offer a fourth vaccine to immunocompromised Oklahomans.
In a tweet published on Friday, OSDH said immunocompromised individuals who received their third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine in August can now schedule an appointment for a fourth dose.
To scheduled an appointment for a booster dose, visit the health departments website.
The Israeli governmentis already offeringa fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to health care workers and individuals 60 years old and older in an effort to bolster protection amid the omicron wave of the pandemic.
Preliminary resultspublishedshowed thata second booster dose saw a five-fold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person, according toIsraeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
In December, Pfizer officials announced that a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine may be needed as the omicron variant surges.
Earlier this month, Moderna officials agreed, saying people may need a fourth shot by the fall of 2022.
Duration of Protection against Mild and Severe Disease by Covid-19 Vaccines | NEJM nejm.org
COVID-19 updates. View the latest news.
LOS ANGELES Latino health care workers in Californias predominantly Latino neighborhoods are fighting to bridge the COVID-19 vaccination gap in their community.
If we do not learn right now and create better health care for our communities, and if we do not address the social determinants of health, equity and equality, this thing will happen again and again, Dr. Ilan Shapiro, a medical director at AltaMed, based in Orange County, told Yahoo News.
According to the Los Angeles Department of Health, nearly 68 percent of the countys eligible residents are fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated Latinos countywide is smaller 55 percent, compared with 52 percent of Black residents, 71 percent of White residents, 70 percent of Native American residents and 79 percent of Asian American residents.
As the hypercontagious Omicron variant rips through regions of the U.S., the science is overwhelming that vaccinations provide the best chance, by far, of avoiding serious outcomes like hospitalization and death. California hospitals, already strained with this spike in cases, are further hampered by staffing shortages brought about by workers testing positive.
In Orange County, where Shapiro works, Latinos are the second-largest demographic but have the lowest vaccination rate: 48 percent of Latino residents have had at least one dose, compared with 69 percent of Black residents and 70 percent of white residents.
People leave a COVID-19 testing and vaccination site at a public school in Los Angeles on Jan. 5. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Medical professionals seeking to improve Latino vaccination rates have multiple hurdles. One of the most basic ones is economic.
Although the vaccine itself is available free to the public, many working-class people struggle to find time off from their jobs to both get the vaccine and then to potentially spend a day recovering from its effects.
Its the same cycle again and again and again, said Shapiro. Its actually losing a day of work, that its not that our community is not living paycheck to paycheck; they live day by day. If they do not go to their job that day, they dont get paid. Then that means that theres no food for the table.
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Loreta Ruiz, who is on the COVID-19 response team for Latino Health Access, has been working on the frontlines of getting more Latinos vaccinated. She is trying to help people overcome not only economic hurdles, but informational ones as well.
The target that were trying to approach are people who have little or no access to health care services, those who have not seen a doctor, people who have two or three jobs. Those with minimum wage, people who are monolingual. People who do not have access to technology or do not know how to use technology, and they have all these barriers that just keep adding to get access to the vaccine, said Ruiz.
One way to reduce the barriers to vaccination is to make the shots more physically accessible. Ruiz said her organization, which is based in the predominantly Latino city of Santa Ana, Calif., has partnered with local health agencies to administer vaccines through mobile clinics.
Registered nurse Sue Dillon administers a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a three-day vaccination clinic on July 29, 2021, in Wilmington, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Protesters at a rally demonstrating against the L.A. City Councils COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city employees and contractors on Nov. 8, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Ruiz also said one of Latino Health Accesss most effective strategies is sending out volunteers into communities most affected by the coronavirus. That model, Promotores (or Promoters in English), has the volunteers engage with residents on a more personal level, becoming a trusted source of information for them. Ruiz said it is crucial to have volunteers that are from the communities they are working with, especially when battling medical disinformation.
The issue is that you have misinformation in English, and you have misinformation in Spanish, said Shapiro. Its not like our community will one day go to Fox and actually double-check with CNN and figure out which news is actually correct. Were living day to day, and theres a lot to process in information. At the end of the day, my job is to give them the opportunity of information, and at least clear out any misinformation.
The inequities in not getting Latino immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, vaccinated reflect on a number of complex issues, Ruiz said, including a historical lack of medical resources in underserved communities and the lack of trust in government registries. This is all compounded by even fewer workplace protections afforded to undocumented people.
You will see, nowadays, that people are still not getting time off work to get vaccinated or to go to the doctor. Employers will not allow them to, and a lot of people will take [the hit] because theyre afraid of losing their job, said Ruiz.
Shapiro told Yahoo News that with the latest surge in Omicron cases, he is seeing more Latinos in the area visit his clinic to get vaccinated. Ruiz said that although theres a lot of work left to do, she feels hopeful for the future.
Ruiz also stressed that vaccinating more people, regardless of whatever sparked their initial hesitation, is needed to achieve better health outcomes.
The people who cannot afford working from home, the people who have to be on the frontlines, these are our people, these are Latinos, she said. The people that keep the U.S. economy going and have not missed one day of work since the pandemic started.
About 100,000 Ukrainian citizens have received COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
This was discussed at a conference call chaired by President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrinform reports with reference to the Presidents press service.
"Volodymyr Zelensky pointed out the importance of conducting a clear explanatory campaign among citizens on the need for a booster shot. To date, almost 100,000 Ukrainians have received the third dose," the Presidents Office informs.
As noted, the vaccination rate is on the rise compared to the Christmas holiday week. According to the Health Ministry, 552,000 people got vaccinated last week, and 29.37 million shots have been administered since the start of the vaccination campaign.
In particular, 15 million Ukrainians have been vaccinated, of whom 14.28 million have received two COVID-19 vaccine doses.
In turn, Minister of Health Viktor Liashko said that mobile vaccination teams started working in rural areas, a modular vaccination center was set up at the Stanytsia Luhanska entry-exit checkpoint on the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine.
The President underscored the need to equip such a center at the Novotroitske entry-exit checkpoint in Donetsk region.
As reported, Ukraine reported 5,072 new COVID-19 cases over the past day.
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As COVID-19 case counts continue to rise across Canada, it is clear that were far from out of the woods with this pandemic. While much is still unknown about the Omicron variant, it seems very likely that existing vaccines will offer protection against severe cases of COVID-19, and Canada is rapidly administering booster shots in an effort to help to bolster immunity.
While vaccination coverage against COVID-19 is relatively high (76.49 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated at the time of writing), there remains a substantial group of Canadians who are either unvaccinated, or only partially vaccinated against COVID-19.
At this point in the pandemic (more than six months after most Canadian adults became eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine), should we declare this level of vaccination coverage as the vaccine ceiling? Our research suggests the answer is no.
As defined by the World Health Organizations Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), the term vaccine hesitancy is used to describe a delay or refusal of vaccination, despite availability of vaccination services. The range of reasons why some Canadians remain unvaccinated is wide, including (but not limited to) concerns about personal freedom, health concerns and the belief that COVID-19 is not as serious a health threat as its made out to be.
Much of the existing research on vaccine hesitancy has focused on identifying personal or demographic factors associated with vaccine hesitancy, such as age, gender and socio-economic status. Our research investigated the role of timing in vaccine uptake.
Given the unique nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccines, not all Canadians gained access to a vaccine at the same time and many around the world are still waiting for access. As a result, people had to start thinking about their vaccine decisions in hypothetical or future contexts. Because of this, we sought to understand how thinking about COVID-19 vaccine availability along different timelines might influence a persons vaccine decisions.
In December 2020 (just prior to broad vaccine availability in Canada), we asked Canadian survey respondents about their impending vaccine decisions. Each participant was presented with one variation of the question:
If a coronavirus vaccine was available to you (today, or in one month, or in six months, or in one year), would you get vaccinated, or not?
In analyzing results from this experiment, we found that the proportion of most enthusiastic participants (those who selected Yes, as soon as possible as a response) increased substantially as the proposed date of vaccine availability became more distant.
Even more interesting was our finding that the proportion of hesitant people decreased as the proposed date of vaccination moved further into the future. The proportion who responded that they would Wait some time before vaccination, and the proportion who responded, No, I would not get a coronavirus vaccine, both decreased as vaccine availability became more distant in time.
This has important implications for Canadian policy-makers. While the swift uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine might be the ideal scenario for squashing case counts, these findings suggest that those who are hesitant arent necessarily going to refuse the vaccine altogether.
This finding may also be useful for countries that are much further behind on mass vaccination efforts, as it suggests a delayed vaccine rollout might encounter less hesitancy and have faster uptake.
We also asked open-ended questions about what Canadians would wait for, before getting the vaccine. What we found is that many Canadians who said they were waiting for some time to pass were couching their true concerns (for example, waiting for a certain number of other people to be successfully vaccinated first) within the more broad category of timing.
It may be useful to remember this finding when having conversations with folks who might be vaccine hesitant. Offering space for people to elaborate on their vaccine concerns might help bypass default responses and reveal alternative reasoning that has the potential to be addressed.
In some cases, these concerns might even be addressed with empathetic listening, by input from trusted experts or from evidence that speaks to the values and beliefs of those who have questions.
Read more: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy can be overcome through relatable stories and accessible information
As recent Omicron surges remind us, vaccination alone is not a silver bullet in the fight against COVID-19. However, it remains an important tool in mitigating the spread and severity of the disease, and the United Nations Foundation still positions vaccine equity as our best exit strategy for the pandemic.
It seems nearly certain that there will remain a group of Canadians who choose to never receive a COVID-19 vaccine. However, our findings suggest that it is unwise to assume that all Canadians who have not yet been vaccinated will never do so. They may just be waiting.
Do you have a question about COVID-19 vaccines? Email us at ca-vaccination@theconversation.com and vaccine experts will answer questions in upcoming articles.
Noozhawk created this frequently asked questions page to revisit COVID-19-related informationand public health recommendations, and connect Santa Barbara County residents to local resources.
This news article will be updated occasionally, and the date of the most recent updatewill be noted in this introduction section.
To start with, here are some resources for finding information about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 disease, vaccination, testing, public health recommendations and guidelines, and Santa Barbara County data.
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department COVID-19 informationathttps://publichealthsbc.org/
Public Health COVID-19 vaccine information page athttps://publichealthsbc.org/vaccine/
Public Health COVID-19 testing information page athttps://publichealthsbc.org/testing/
Public Health COVID-19 isolation and quarantine information page (including what to do if you test positive) athttps://publichealthsbc.org/dont-feel-well/
Santa Barbara County Community Data Dashboard athttp://sbcdashboard.org/
California COVID-19 data is athttps://covid19.ca.gov/
Read more stories in the Noozhawk Coronavirus section athttps://www.noozhawk.com/coronavirus
Sign up for Noozhawk's free, weekly email newsletter about local impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic athttps://www.noozhawk.com/subscribe
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has a list of symptoms which range from mild symptoms to severe symptoms. The symptoms may appear two-to-14 days after exposure to the virus, according to the CDC.
People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
"Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions such as heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness," according to the CDC.
If someone is showing any of these signs,seek emergency medical care immediately, the CDC says:
Trouble breathing
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
New confusion
Inability to wake or stay awake
Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone
"This list is not all possible symptoms. Please call your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you," the CDC says.
People should get tested if they have COVID-19-like symptoms, says Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious diseases specialist at Cottage Health who is very involved with the countys public health response to the pandemic.
Testing is recommended for people who have a known COVID-19 exposure (close contact with someone who has tested positive).
Some people also need to be tested for work, school, travel, events, or visiting at-risk friends or family.
There are different kinds of testing, including antigen tests (used in rapid, at-home tests) and molecular/PCR testing (used at the free, public clinics and some other sites).
People who have COVID-19-like symptoms and test positive for COVID-19 with the at-home testsdo not need to take a PCR test as confirmation, she said. They should take that as confirmation they have COVID-19 and are infectious, and should isolate. (More information below on what to do if you test positive.)
As Noozhawk has reported before, there are a lot of different testing options locally, and the one you choose will depend on availability, what type of test you need, and the cost.
Publicly run sites in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Goleta and Santa Barbara offer free PCR testing, and have hundreds of spots available each day. Public Health is expanding the hours of these locations due to recent testing demand, and some of the locations can handle walk-ins as well as appointments.
The county website athttps://publichealthsbc.org/testing/ updates the testing locations, hours, and sign-up information frequently.
Testing is also available at doctor's offices, urgent care clinics, and private clinics, and testing pop-ups that may or may not charge an out-of-pocket cost for the test.
Several school districts have contracted with local testing providers and have free testing available for their students and staff.
At-home, rapid tests have been in short supply recently, but are typically sold at local pharmacies and other stores. Public Health and school districts expect to start getting regular shipments of these tests to provide to community members, for free.
Santa Barbara County's Public Health Department did a one-day giveaway of 14,000 at-home rapid test kits in early January and plans to make more available once they start getting shipments from the federal government.
All the isolation and quarantine recommendations for the public are on this page: https://publichealthsbc.org/dont-feel-well/
There are different guidelines for healthcare workers, Public Health says.
In general, anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should stay home and avoid other people for at least five days.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health page also has recommendations for people who have been exposed to someone who tested positive, or suspect they may have COVID-19.
Read more about that here:https://publichealthsbc.org/dont-feel-well/
Public Health officials and medical professionals are recommending that people think about wearing more protectivemasks, such as N95 and KN95 masks and surgical masks, rather than cloth masks, for better protection during the current surge in cases.
Santa Barbara County suggests wearing surgical masks, double-masking with a surgical mask and cloth mask on the outside of it, or N95/KN95 mask if available. Public Health officials also recommended double-masking during the 2020/21 winter surge in cases.
This winter's surge involves a more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus and the county is reporting never-before-seen numbers of new positive casesas of mid-January.
The state and county public health departments have mask mandates in effect, but have not indicated any other pandemic-era restrictions will be implemented during the current surge in novel coronavirus cases.
Instead, individual institutions are deciding whether to close or change their service models.
Some libraries and museums have closed, events have been canceled or moved to virtual formats, and some colleges have pushed classes online at the beginning of their winter terms, including UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College.
As of January 2022, there is a local and statewide mask mandate in effect for public, indoor spaces. Vaccinated and unvaccinated people are required to wear face coverings to reduce the risk of spreading the virus in these spaces.
California's color-coded tier of restrictions was eliminated in June 2021, but there is avaccination-or-test requirements for 'mega events' more than 500 people indoors.
There are also vaccination mandates for certain workplaces, including healthcare facilities, and vaccination-or-test requirements for visitors to healthcare facilities and skilled nursing homes.
You can view the county's health officer orders here.
COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots of the vaccines are widely available in Santa Barbara County and the rest of California.
Visit the Public Health Department vaccine pageas a starting spot to find providers (pharmacies, doctor's offices, county-run pop-up clinics) and a time that works for you.
Vaccination opportunities are also available on the state's MyTurn page, where you can directly book appointments for some providers.
The graphic explains which COVID-19 vaccines are approved and available for each age group in the United States.
The pediatric Pfizer vaccine is a smaller dose, and the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department has been holding vaccination clinics at schools and other youth-focused organizations since kids became eligible to get shots in November.
The CDC recommends adults receive the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines over the Johnson & Johnson vaccinebecause of concerns of rare blood clots called thrombosis, with thrombocytopenia syndrome found in some individuals who received the shot from Johnson & Johnson.
People 16 and older are eligible to receive booster shots for the COVID-19 vaccines, depending on the timing of their primary vaccine series.
"Mix and match" boosters have been approved, which means you can receive the booster dose of your choice. The CDC recommends Pfizer and Moderna boosters over Johnson & Johnson booster shots.
According to MyTurn, the California online vaccination sign-up portal, booster eligibility as of January 2022 is:
Ages 12-17:A booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine is available to people who received their second dose of Pfizer at least five months ago.
Age 18 and older:May receive a booster dose of their choice if the minimum time has passed since completing their primary vaccine series:
Pfizer - Received second dose at least 5 months ago.
Moderna - Received second dose at least 5 months ago.
Johnson & Johnson - Received single dose at least 2 months ago.
People vaccinated for COVID-19 outside the United States may be eligible for booster doses, according to the CDC. More information is available here.
The Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus appears to bemore contagious than the Delta variant, which became the dominant strain in California in summer 2020 due to its contagiousness.
Santa Barbara County has been reporting record-breaking numbers of new cases in January 2022.
In the first two weeks of January, the county reported 13,019 new positive cases, which represents 20.5% of the total cases reported during the entire pandemic.
Even though thehospitalization rate seems lower for people infected with the Omicron variantcompared to previous variants of the virus, the county is reporting far more cases than ever before.
If you multiply a small percentage by a very large number, you still come up with a scenario where hospitals are strained, and not just to take care of COVID-19 patients but also to take care of other diseases,Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said on Jan. 11.
We want to hear from you. Send your COVID-19-related questions to [emailprotected] and let us know how we can provide helpful, useful reporting to the Santa Barbara County community.
Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
When the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes State in South Sudan, WHO State Polio Officer Dr Jiel Jiel was prepared. In support of the Ministry of Health, and in collaboration with partners, he had been working for weeks to help coordinate the vaccine rollout, using skills gained from working to eradicate polio.
He explains, For the COVID-19 rollout, the implementing partner turned to us, as they know we have experience in delivering vaccines. The expertise from the top to the bottom of the polio team was utilised.
In countries where the polio programme has a large footprint, staff provided exceptional support to the initial stages of COVID-19 pandemic response. Since then, polio teams have been assisting with COVID-19 vaccination. Their contributions including to vaccine logistics, social mobilization, surveillance, training and data management demonstrate their wide skillset and their ability to help make progress on broader health priorities.
In the African Region, over 500 polio eradication staff assisted with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 2021. 39% of that workforce reported spending between 20 50% of their time on COVID-19 vaccination efforts, whilst 37% reported dedicating more than 50% of their time. Staff balanced this work with resumed polio vaccination campaigns, which were paused to protect against possible spread of COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic.
Their efforts demonstrate the potential for the polio workforce and assets to contribute in the long term to strengthening health systems and building back better. The polio transition process aims to leverage the skills, relationships and reach of the polio workforce in an integrated manner to make progress on a range of health priorities - especially essential immunization, vaccine-preventable disease surveillance and emergency response. The indispensable work of the polio workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that sustaining this network is a good investment for national and global health priorities.
Dr Eshetu Wassie, a National Polio Officer in Ethiopia, explains that the polio workforce is well positioned to assist with reaching health goals.
The polio experience has helped to bring the WHO workforce together, as COVID-19 required a multisectoral response. This was easier to organize through the polio platform, which was used to bringing partners together.
Polio staff have undertaken a wide range of tasks. In Nigeria, ensuring the availability of both COVID-19 and polio vaccines has reduced the number of visits families need to make to health facilities, whilst in Cameroon, polio staff have developed communications and advocacy materials to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake. In many countries, the polio workforce have supported the collection of data on Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) for COVID-19, and have used their experiences in polio eradication to help coordinate effective rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in different contexts.
In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the polio workforce in Somalia helped to rollout COVID-19 vaccines throughout 2021. Mohamud Shire, a Senior Polio Eradication Officer in Somalia, explains, Some of the polio volunteers worked as vaccinators, whilst others were social mobilizers. Regional and District Polio Officers were supervisors of the vaccine rollout. And it helped that communities know and trust us.
In the South East Asian Region, the integrated immunization and surveillance networks used their experience of introducing new vaccines, including Inactivated Polio Vaccine, to help ensure a smooth rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. In India and Nepal, support provided by the network has included capacity building, campaign monitoring and contributing to guideline development. In Bangladesh, polio and measles campaign microplans were used to conduct a successful pilot of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. In Indonesia and Myanmar network support included dissemination of guidelines and cold chain monitoring.
With populations in low-income countries around the world still un- or under-vaccinated against COVID-19, and health systems under severe strain, the continued support of the polio network is likely to be critical to recover from the pandemic. Looking ahead, Dr Jiel Jiel underlines the importance of transitioning and sustaining the polio workforce in polio-free contexts so that they can contribute to health systems recovery, If we were not present, it would be more difficult for the health system to reach the vaccine coverage that is desired.
WHO staff have built up our skills, we have institutional memory and you can rely on us to produce results.
