(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) David McCray administers a COVID-19 shot as Salt Lake Citys west-side residents get the opportunity to get vaccinated while also picking up a new winter coat and shoes for their children, thanks to a partnership among Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Education Foundation, Salt Lake City School District, Salt Lake County Health, Operation Warm and Intermountain Healthcare at Rose Park Elementary on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021.
| Sep. 25, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
| Updated: 3:07 p.m.
During this pandemic, Ive truly appreciated is how well the Utah Department of Health compiles and displays coronavirus data. Utahs dashboard really is one of the better ones in the nation, and it shows information that a lot of states dont and Ill leave it up to you to decide whether those states are intentionally hiding their data or just ineffectually managing it.
For example, half the states, 25, compile data on breakthrough coronavirus cases. Only 15 update that data on at least a weekly basis. And Utah, fortunately, is one of those 15.
Oddly enough, counting the number of breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths times the vaccine didnt work is a really effective way of telling the story of just how well the vaccine does its job. When negative outcomes are so widely happening in one group vs. another, it becomes really, really obvious just how effective being vaccinated is.
Let me show you whats going on in our state.
Well start simply. Heres the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths per million person-days since Feb 1. (Whats a person-day? Well, its just the number of people times the number of days, which allows you to calculate the rate at which something happens to people. That makes sense as a method of comparison, because different people were vaccinated at different times.)
In other words, unvaccinated people in Utah have been between 4.4 times and 5.1 times more likely to get COVID-19, be hospitalized, or die because of it than vaccinated people in the past eight months.
OK, pretty straightforward. But thats obviously been changing, right? After all, youve heard a lot recently (including from me, by the way) about vaccine efficacy declining as time passes. Given that the majority of those vaccinated got their shots in March, April and May, five to seven months ago, arent we likely to see that gap shrink?
Not so fast! It turns out that the gap has actually been growing. In other words, were seeing the multiplier the ratio of coronavirus cases among the unvaccinated when compared to the vaccinated increase over the past month.
Why is that? Well, coronavirus spread happens exponentially. Because the vaccine prevents most cases and makes other cases more mild, the contagion coefficient is higher in mostly unvaccinated communities compared to mostly vaccinated ones.
OK, slow down. Whats the contagion coefficient? you ask.
Consider the delta variant. It has a contagion coefficient of between five and nine, meaning that, without an intervention, the average infected person would share their sickness with five to nine people. Now, lets look at some localized data.
Utahs most vaccinated health district, by far, is Summit Countys. Impressively, 82.5% of people there have received at least one dose. Meanwhile, the two least-vaccinated health districts are Central Utah (covering Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties), in which 39.6% of people have received one dose; and TriCounty (covering Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties), in which 36.4% of people have received one dose.
If a coronavirus case happens in Central Utah, about 40% of the people around the infected person will have received at least one dose of the vaccine, leaving three to five completely susceptible people. But in Summit County, 83% of the people around the initially infected person will have been vaccinated, eliminating most of the targets of spread and resulting in nearly linear case growth.
When you compare the seven-day case rates in each health district, you can see the differences:
You can see how the cases just quickly spiked in the Central Utah and TriCounty areas, while staying much flatter in Summit County. Thats because, with a much larger pool of unvaccinated targets to potentially infect, the virus spreads from one sick person to many others much more quickly.
But each area of Utah has an impact on the others, especially when it comes to coronavirus hospitalizations. As rural hospitals fill up, theyll often transfer patients to hospitals in more populated (and more vaccinated) parts of the state, hospitals called referral centers. In fact, patients are even transferred from St. George all the way to Salt Lake County, as my colleagues Erin Alberty and Scott Pierce wrote. As a result, even those in very vaccinated locations of the state may have their medical care impacted, postponed or denied by those who remained unvaccinated and made themselves susceptible to COVID-19.
Right now, our referral center hospitals are at 93.9% capacity, well above the 85% capacity limit in which intensive care units still can guarantee admission. Thats especially taxing, given a nurse and doctor shortage, as many have grown frustrated by ... well, see the above statistics ... and left the profession to seek other jobs.
While my frustration doesnt compare to that of the medical professionals, I feel it, too. For months, Ive been explaining to folks how the vaccine works. Ive shown the data, comparing the risk of bad outcomes from the virus to the minuscule risk of side effects. For those who had a choice of which vaccine to get, perhaps paralysis by analysis, I created a guide to the pros and cons of each. I answered the frequently asked questions of those in my inbox who hadnt received the vaccine. Still, I hope and work for progress. Maybe thats irrational, but what else can I do?
It is absolutely critical that more of our state become vaccinated critical enough that essentially any policy action on the table that leads to more vaccinations is a good one. Instead of fighting progress on vaccinations, our state should support them, however possible.
Andy Larsen is The Salt Lake Tribunes data columnist. You can reach him at alarsen@sltrib.com.
Coronavirus delta variant. (File/Getty)
(StudyFinds) One protein which scientists say sends out the do not eat me signal to the human immune system may be responsible for people having more severe cases of COVID-19. Researchers from the University of Kent have discovered that higher levels of this protein on the surface of infected cells may be blocking the immune system from doing its job.
Although many patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, will only develop mild symptoms, others will experience severe and life-threatening reactions. COVID-19 is already responsible fornearly 700,000 deathsin the United States. The new findings reveal that the protein CD47 may play a major role in these deaths.
CD47 sends out a signal that prevents the immune systems defenses from accidentally destroying healthy cells. However, researchers found that when SARS-CoV-2 infects human cells, more CD47 appears on the cell surface. The team adds this is likely keeping the immune system from recognizing the infected cells as a threat. Without the immune system attacking these cells, the virus can continue to replicate and lead to more severe symptoms.
Study authors add that specific risk factors for severe COVID-19 infections like old ageand pre-existing conditions such as diabetes also show a link to higher CD47protein levels. High CD47 levels contribute to high blood pressure as well another risk factor forsevere COVID complications.
Researchers note that therapeutics which target CD47 are already in development. Their findings may help to improve their effectiveness during theCOVID-19 pandemic.
This is exciting. We may have identified a major factor associated with severe COVID-19. This is a huge step in combatting the disease and we can now look forward to further progress in the design of therapeutics, says Professor Martin Michaelis in themedia release.
These additional insights into the disease processes underlying COVID-19 may help us to design better therapies, as well as appreciation for the importance of the breadth of research being conducted. Through this avenue, we have achieved a major breakthrough and exemplified that the fight against the disease continues, adds Professor Jindrich Cinatl from Goethe University-Frankfurt.
The study appears in the journalCurrent Issues in Molecular Biology.
More than 250 coronavirus outbreaks have been reported at schools across Illinois, with several involving more than a dozen cases at educational institutions, according to statewide data.
The latest figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health show 257 outbreaks are active at Illinois schools as of Friday, including 31 in Cook County alone.
Ogle, Winnebago, Knox, LaSalle, McLean, Peoria, Mason, Sangamon, St. Clair, Will, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Cook counties all had increases in school outbreaks over the past seven days, according to the data.
The following Illinois schools are reporting outbreaks of more than 16 cases: East St. Louis Senior High School in St. Clair County, Bunker Hill Schools and Staunton Community USD #6 in Macoupin County, Carlyle School in Clinton County, Okawville Grade School in Washington County and Field School in Cook County.
Though some schools offer case trackers of their own, IDPHreleases data each weekshowing COVID outbreaks from the previous 30 days at schools across the state.
According to the health department, outbreak information is reported once an investigation is considered complete. An outbreak is defined as "those that have been identified by the local health department to have two or more COVID-19 cases who may have a shared exposure on school grounds and are from different households."
Here is a full list of school outbreaks reported by state officials.
DeKalb County 5 outbreaks
Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary School (5-10 cases)
Little John Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Sycamore Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Sycamore Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Sycamore Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Ogle County 10 outbreaks
Highland Elementary School (5-10 cases)
Highland Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Highland Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Mary Morgan Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Meridian Junior High School (Less than 5 cases)
Oregon Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Reagan Middle School (5-10 cases)
Stillman Valley High School (Less than 5 cases)
Stillman Valley High School (Less than 5 cases)
Stillman Valley High School (5-10 cases)
Winnebago County 2 outbreaks
Durand/Pecatonia Co-Op (5-10 cases)
Hononegah High School (5-10 cases)
Henry County 3 outbreaks
Cambridge Elementary School (5-10 cases)
Central Junior High School (Less than 5 cases)
Geneseo High School (Less than 5 cases)
Knox County 5 outbreaks
Abingdon Avon Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Galesburg High School (5-10 cases)
Hedding Grade School (5-10 cases)
Knoxville High School (Less than 5 cases)
Steele Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
LaSalle County 7 outbreaks
LaSalle Peru High School (Less than 5 cases)
Leland CUSD 1 (16+ cases)
Lincoln Junior High School (5-10 cases)
Northlawn Junior High (5-10 cases)
Northville Elementary (5-10 cases)
Seneca Grade School (Less than 5 cases)
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School (Less than 5 cases)
Livingston County 3 outbreaks
Chatsworth School (5-10 cases)
Prairie Central East (5-10 cases)
Saunemin Grade School (5-10 cases)
McLean County 5 outbreaks
Benjamin Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Bloomington Junior High School (Less than 5 cases)
Hudson Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Ridgeview Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Trinity Lutheran School(Less than 5 cases)
Mercer County 3 outbreaks
Mercer County High School (5-10 cases)
Mercer County High School (5-10 cases)
Mercer County High School (5-10 cases)
Peoria County 2 outbreak
St. Jude Catholic School (Less than 5 cases)
St. Philomena School (Less than 5 cases)
Rock Island 3 outbreaks
Andalusia Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Bicentennial Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Rock Island High School (Less than 5 cases)
Greene County 1 outbreak
North Greene Elementary School (5-10 cases)
Logan County 1 outbreak
Northwest Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Macoupin County 7 outbreaks
Ben-Gil Elementary School (Less than 5 cases)
Bunker Hill Schools (16+ cases)
Carlinville High School CUSD #1 (Less than 5 cases)
Gillespie CUSD #7 (Less than 5 cases)
Mount Olive School (Less than 5 cases)
North Macoupin Schools (11-16 cases)
Staunton Community USD #6 (16+ cases)
Mason County 2 outbreaks
Havana High School (Less than 5 cases)
Midwest Central CUSD #191 (11-16 cases)
Sangamon County 18 outbreaks
Auburn School Pre-K (Less than 5 cases)
Ball Charter School (5-10 cases)
Chatham High School (Less than 5 cases)
Iles School (Less than 5 cases)
Jefferson Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Lamphier High School (Less than 5 cases)
Pleasant Plains Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Pleasant Plains Middle School (5-10 cases)
Pleasant Plains Middle School (5-10 cases)
Pleasant Plains Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Pleasant Plains Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Scott County 1 outbreak
Winchester Grade School (5-10 cases)
Clinton County 1 outbreak
Carlyle School (16+ cases)
Madison County 9 outbreaks
Alton Middle School (Less than 5 cases)
Central Elementary (Less than 5 cases)
Nurse Therese Brennan on the phone with a parent in her office at Rogers Park Elementary School on Friday Sep. 17, 2021. (Matthew Faubion/Alaska Public Media)
It was shortly after 9:30 a.m. at Rogers Park Elementary School last week and nurse Therese Brennan was on the phone with a parent, telling her she couldnt accept a result from an at-home COVID-19 test.
He does need to get the PCR test or molecular one, she explained. They work better.
Brennan or Nurse T as her students call her is getting a lot of questions from families about the coronavirus, including about testing, symptoms, possible exposure and when to quarantine.
Its her 13th year as a school nurse, and she said shes busier than ever.
The coronavirus has transformed her job at the Anchorage School District. As the city wades through its worst coronavirus surge yet, driven by the super contagious delta variant, Brennan has become a go-to source of information for her schools families. Shes checking emails from them all the time before she goes to bed, first thing in the morning, on the weekends.
People think of these questions, you know, in the middle of the night, she said. So Im working more. It is a lot more busy. But there just needs to be a lot of communication.
Her sentence was punctuated by a dinging noise on her laptop.
Another email.
Listen to this story:
School nurses like Brennan across the district are in the middle of a complicated balancing act trying to manage COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, plus all their other typical tasks, like giving out medication, monitoring diabetic students and testing students hearing.
The school nurses are working extremely hard, said Jen Patronas, the districts senior director of Healthcare Services. They are working tirelessly.
By Thursday evening, about a month into the school year, the district had tallied roughly 1,750 cases or about 3.5% of all staff and students. And about 1% had an active COVID-19 infection.
Patronas said given the spread of coronavirus in the community, those totals arent surprising.
We actually expected the numbers to be a little bit higher, she said. But I think that students being in school, where were structured, we have mitigation measures, were masking universally, except for when were eating and drinking, is actually helpful, because its a safe place for students to be.
RELATED: Alaska reports record 1,330 new COVID cases and 7 deaths
Districtwide, since the school year started, the virus has prompted five classrooms to temporarily transition to online learning. No entire school has had to stop in-person learning, according to a district spokeswoman.
Patronas said nurses play a big role in keeping the virus from spreading through schools.
They help with COVID-19 testing, plus responding to infections, she said. If a student tests positive, the nurse helps track down their close contacts, like who they were sitting next to at lunch.
Even though students considered close contacts dont have to quarantine anymore, they still must get notified of the possible exposure, said Patronas.
On top of that, she said, school nurses are on the lookout for symptoms.
Before COVID, the school nurses main role was to keep kids in school, or to get them back into class as quickly as possible, she said. And now their role has changed significantly to: If theyre sick, lets get them home as quickly as possible.
To track the students who have COVID-19 or who may have it, the district has a massive database that shows who has tested positive, who is quarantining, who is a close contact and who has provided proof of a negative test.
Patronas said the system is working well.
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As COVID-19 overwhelms the citys hospitals, she said she doesnt feel like schools are nearing any sort of breaking point. But, she said, school nurses are having to prioritize more, focusing on caring for students who are ill or injured first.
And the other things that we typically put a lot of priority on, like making sure immunizations are up to date, making sure that the students have vision and hearing exams, were telling them to just put those on the backburner for right now, she said.
Back at Rogers Park Elementary, nurse Brennan said the school has had roughly 10 COVID-19 cases in the past month. Like Patronas, she said she also thinks face masks are a big help.
Im so happy with our teachers, theyre so wonderful about getting the kids to keep their masks on, she said. And that said, Im really happy with the kids being so awesome about keeping their masks on.
Between calling parents and answering emails about COVID-19 last week, Brennan also talked to a student with a stomachache, another with an earache and another with a scratchy throat who she decided to send home. Plus, she called in a trio of students to test their hearing.
That all happened in about an hour, as she tried to fit everything in.
Nothing has been cut out yet just, you know, maybe things take a little bit longer, she said. And so we need to give ourselves grace and give each other grace and just get through these things a little bit slower than we normally would.
Even with the additional work and busy days, Brennan said the word shed use to describe her job is exciting. Shes happy to be back in school with students.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 230.6 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.72 million. More than 6.03 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
More than half of Australia's adult population are now fully vaccincated against COVID-19, in a milestone towards the easing of restrictions.
The European Medicines Agency hopes to decide in early October whether to endorse a third booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Viet Nam has pushed backed the reopening of the resort island of Phu Quoc to foreign visitors until November. It comes as insufficient vaccine supplies mean they failed to hit targets to vaccinating locals.
South Korea has recorded its highest ever number of confirmed daily COVID-19 cases - 2,434.
Novavax and its partner, the Serum Institute of India, have applied to the World Health Organization for emergency use listing of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine.
Yemen has received its third batch of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.
Image: Our World in Data
A World Health Organization panel has recommended the use of Regeneron and Roche's COVID-19 antibody cocktail for patients at high risk of hospitalization and those severely ill with no natural antibodies.
The treatment has already been granted US emergency use authorization. It's currently under review in Europe, while Britain approved it last month.
While acknowledging costs associated with the treatment, the WHO panel said that given the recorded benefits of the therapy, "the recommendations should provide a stimulus to engage all possible mechanisms to improve global access to the intervention and associated testing".
In a separate statement, the WHO called on Regeneron to lower prices and distribute the treatment equitably worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The agency also urged the firms to transfer tech to help make biosimilars.
Each of our Top 50 social enterprise last mile responders and multi-stakeholder initiatives is working across four priority areas of need: Prevention and protection; COVID-19 treatment and relief; inclusive vaccine access; and securing livelihoods. The list was curated jointly with regional hosts Catalyst 2030s NASE and Aavishkaar Group. Their profiles can be found on www.wef.ch/lastmiletop50india.
Top Last Mile Partnership Initiatives to collaborate with:
Sweden is considering giving a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines to more of its population over concerns about waning protection from two shots.
Sweden has vaccinated 83% of the population aged over 16 with one dose and 76% with two doses. The country's public health agency recently identified some 40,000 people in need of a third dose, but said on Thursday more could soon be eligible.
"There are signals from abroad that indicate the protection from the vaccination is fading after some time, especially in those who are older," Public Health Agency official Sara Byfors told a news conference. "It is important to meet that with a third dose."
Written by
Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) Early in the pandemic, Dr. Nehemiah Thrash diagnosed Riverside Healths first COVID-19 patient. The elderly woman did not survive.
Eighteen months later, Thrash, a hospitalist at Riverside Doctors Hospital Williamsburg says the novel coronavirus is writing its own rules.
Its been a drastic change in every way that we see, said Thrash. This past week I had an 84-year-old patient who came in just because he felt weak ended up having the coronavirus but because he was vaccinated he went home in 36 hours. But I have patients in their 50s who have been in my hospital for over a month now and on a ventilator for 20 days.
Doctors around the country say most patients who are hospitalized are battling the delta variant and they are unvaccinated.
Thrash says half of his patients are COVID-19 cases and todays patients are younger and sicker than the patients of 2020.
Those patients [patients of the past] kind of reminded me of my parents or grandparents Now we are seeing patients in the 40s and 50s. Im seeing my peers in front of me, Thrash said.
Thrash added the nation is seeing in real-time the making of modern medicine.
Theres conflict over when booster shots should be administered, which segment of the population should be vaccinated, and whether, for example, someone who received the Pfizer doses should get Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster doses, he said.
Thrash says the mixed messaging will cause some confusion but the public health community must effectively spread the word that the vaccine is safe and effective.
In Virginia, 62.1% of the white population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine but in the Black community, the rate is 58.4%.
This is not just the community this is my family these are my friends these are even some of my colleagues to them I would just say lets keep talking, Thrash said.
And for those who think the vaccine will make them sick?
I have treated more complications from Tylenol or acetaminophen than I have for this vaccine so lets continue the conversation, said Thrash.
As some players and teams around the league grapple with coronavirus vaccines and city legislation that could affect play, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be better able to manage their end.
General manager Sam Presti said on Friday that every player on the team is vaccinated.
Last season, the Thunder remained relatively healthy in regards to COVID-19. A couple of games were postponed due to outbreaks on opposing teams, but none due to OKC cases or outbreaks.
Presti said he recognizes there will be continued difficulties around the league with COVID-19 and its delta variant.
The disruptions in my opinion are going to come by way of the fact that the NBA isnt testing players or staff members, he said. Organizationally, were going to be surveillance testing our staff. Were not going to be doing it every day, but we are going to be testing basketball staff so we try to avoid some outbreaks.
The Thunder will require fans entering Paycom Center to either be vaccinated or show proof of a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of the game.
The Athletics Shams Charania reported 90% of NBA players are fully vaccinated and the percentage has risen as training camp approached.
While the NBA does not mandate vaccines for players, some cities requirements would prevent unvaccinated athletes from playing. For instance, the San Francisco Department of Public Health ordered that anyone aged 12 and older must be vaccinated to attend large indoor gatherings.
A stack of COVID-19 vaccination record cards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They provide proof that you've had your shot but aren't exactly wallet size at 4 by 3 inches. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle (Pa.) via Getty Images) hide caption
A stack of COVID-19 vaccination record cards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They provide proof that you've had your shot but aren't exactly wallet size at 4 by 3 inches.
Each week, we answer frequently asked questions about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." See an archive of our FAQs here.
I'm hearing of more and more activities that will require proof of vaccination: eating out, going to a concert, flying internationally and likely at some point domestically in the U.S. Do I really need to carry around that awkwardly sized paper proof-of-vaccine card?
That flimsy 4-by-3-inch piece of paper is currently the best proof we have of vaccination, says Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that's problematic.
"At the moment, you should carry the original vaccination card," says Frieden, who is now the CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofit that focuses on public health. "That's not a good thing because a) you could lose it and b) if you're immunocompromised, you're essentially telling people that because you got a third dose, so it's revealing health information." And then, he adds, there's the possibility that unvaccinated people will just get fake cards. (Indeed, NPR reported on sales of blank cards on Amazon.com, even though using one is a crime.)
Frieden and others are advocating for national guidelines for a more secure, accurate and flexible system to prove you're vaccinated.
"The frank truth is, mandates and vaccine passports have become a political third rail, and the administration is understandably reluctant to take action in this area," he says. "But the result is that mandates will be harder to enforce and less secure."
So if you don't want to tote your paper card everywhere, what are the options? Depending on where you live, you might be able to go digital at least, if you stay close to home.
New York, for example, uses an app called Excelsior Pass.
But when Frieden pulled up his Excelsior Pass recently, he noticed it had just expired, six months after his second dose. To extend it, he had to download an upgrade to the app. Also, downloading information on the spot can pose security and privacy issues, just like a credit card, "where some Big Brother knows about the customer, the shopkeeper and the transaction," points out Ramesh Raskar, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab associate professor not to mention hassles. Many users complain the app gets stuck on a blank blue screen.
And there is no guarantee that other states will be able or willing to use the app from your home state. Most current credential systems can only be verified by the apps in the state by which they're issued. So unless you happen to be traveling to a state that uses the same one, it probably won't get you far.
"A lot has to happen for everything to go right," Raskar says.
This includes your phone not dying as you're waiting in line.
"Technical issues such as a dead or lost phone are always concerns," says Henry Wu, director of Emory TravelWell Center and an associate professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine. And that's not the only potential digital flaw. "Even if you are enrolled in one of the digital vaccine certificate or passport systems, I would still always carry the original card during travel since no [digital] vaccine passport system is universally recognized," he says.
Some states, such as Hawaii, have apps designated for visitors to show proof of vaccination more easily while they're in the state, but others have banned vaccination verification apps altogether, considering them government overreach. Alabama's governor, for example, signed legislation in May that bans the use of digital vaccine credentials. Here's a state-by-state rundown of digital options compiled by PC Magazine.
An easier, cheaper and more secure electronic option would be for states to send residents a QR code that links to their vaccine status, says Raskar, who is also the founder of PathCheck Foundation, which creates software for vaccine credentials and exposure notifications apps. Israel, India, Brazil and China all use QR-based systems. QR codes use encrypted signatures, or electronic fingerprints, so they can't be copied and used for other names (although if someone stole your driver's license as well, they could presumably use your QR code).
You can store a QR code where you wish: literally on a piece of paper, as a photo on your phone, even within a fancy app.
However, that QR code technology can so far only be used within the city, state or country issuing it. Now that the U.S. has said it will allow vaccinated people from other countries to fly in, that proof will likely have to be in hard copy format for the time being. Check with your airline before traveling: Some accept apps that store a copy of your vaccine card.
"I do see a complicated challenge ahead of us, with documents from around the world to verify, and no current national digital vaccine passport standard that could help facilitate the process before travelers depart," Emory's Wu says. "I'm not sure we have even decided which vaccines we will accept as of yet." (And that's been a point of controversy elsewhere: The European Union, which does recognize a digital vaccine passport, only accepts certain vaccines.)
There's another possibility for Americans traveling abroad. If you have an International Certificate for Vaccination and Prophylaxis (ICVP, or "yellow card," a World Health Organization travel document), Wu suggests asking your vaccination provider to add your COVID-19 shots. "When traveling overseas you might encounter officials who are not familiar with our documents, so being able to prove your status in multiple ways can be very helpful," he says.
The bottom line: Don't lose that card (though, if you do, rest assured that your state retains the official record). Getting a replacement might not be easy, depending on the state. Also, instead of laminating it, consider a plastic sleeve vaccine holder: That way, it'll be easier to update if you get another shot.
Sheila Mulrooney Eldred is a freelance health journalist in Minneapolis. She's written about COVID-19 for many publications, including Medscape, Kaiser Health News, The New York Times and The Washington Post. More at sheilaeldred.pressfolios.com. On Twitter: @milepostmedia.
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In total, Pennsylvania recorded 33,421 cases during the week, 9,117 of which were in children, and 7,944 of those were in school age children. There are 12.8 million people in the state, 2.8 million of which are children and 18-year-olds, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Morning Call analysis. There are 2.11 million children age 5 through 18.
