(WFXR) On Wednesday morning, Kroger Health announced a partnership with the healthcare subsidiary of rideshare company Lyft, Inc. to provide access to discounted rides to and from coronavirus vaccination appointments.
This partnership is part ofLyfts Vaccine Access Programand Kroger Healths continued efforts to vaccinate Americans, especially those with limited access to transportation.
All you have to do is follow this link to schedule a vaccine appointment. In certain markets, you will receive the appointment confirmation with a Lyft ride code providing $12per ride, covering travel to and from each scheduled appointment. Then, you can request your ride to a nearby Kroger Family of Pharmacies or The Little Clinic location using the free Lyft app.
With only around 50% of the country fully vaccinated, our partnership with Lyft creates greater accessibility to the vaccine and helps remove transportation barriers. With the new Delta variant on the rise, its more important than ever that we push forward with our goals to achieve herd immunity and improve vaccine equity, saidColleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health. Our Kroger Health practitioners have administered more than six million doses so far, and were committed to doing even more to help people live healthier lives and protect the communities we serve.
Kroger Healths partnership with Lyft will provide access to discounted rides in communities across the country, including Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
Making sure people can get to their vaccine appointment is critical to beating COVID-19, and were proud to partner with Kroger Health to help people across the country access reliable transportation, saidMegan Callahan, President of Lyft Healthcare, Inc. Addressing the problem of transportation insecurity is our top priority, and this partnership only strengthens our ability to support equitable vaccine access in communities that need it most.
For those who cannot schedule their appointmentsonline or need even more flexibility, Kroger Health also offers walk-in vaccinations nationwide.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) While there was a 68% increase in the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in South Dakota, there was also a notable increase in the number of new people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Aug. 4, there were 357,714 people fully vaccinated in South Dakota, an increase of 2,564 and roughly 366 new people each day. In addition to those fully vaccinated numbers, Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said the Department of Health saw more than twice as many people receive their first dose of the vaccine compared to the previous week (July 20 through July 27).
Thats the kind of thing we want to see happening across the state again, Malsam-Rysdon told KELOLAND News. This is a very welcome sign to see more people choose to become vaccinated.
This is a very welcome sign to see more people choose to become vaccinated,
This week, 956 people received their first dose, compared to just 449 June 26 through July 3.
Vaccines are readily available across the state and thats changed dramatically in the last few months, Malsam-Rysdon said. Its more convenient than ever to get your COVID-19 vaccine.
Current president of the South Dakota State Medical Association Dr. Kara L. Dahl said the biggest way to tackle COVID-19 is by getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
We would like the general public to realize that the Delta variant is in South Dakota, said Dahl, who is an emergency medicine physician at Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center and became the SDSMA president in June. It is very important if you are not vaccinated to become vaccinated.
Dahl highlighted 96% of physicians in the United States are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Thats a number I wish was highlighted more, Dahl said. Physicians in this country are made up from all types of people, we come from all types of backgrounds and nationalities.
Both Dahl and Malsam-Rysdon stressed people should speak with personal doctors about any concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Malsam-Rysdon said people should seek reputable sources for any questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine.
A lot of people need to have a discussion with their physicians, Dahl said.
When it comes to full authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine, Malsam-Rysdon said the latest shes heard is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is likely to receive full authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in September and the Moderna vaccine has also applied for full FDA approval.
There are some trials happening right now to determine the safety and effectiveness of those vaccines for those kids under the age of 12, Malsam-Rysdon said, adding approval for that age group has been roughly been set as sometime this school year.
In South Dakota, Dahl said 98% of COVID-19 cases and 95% of COVID-19 hospitalizations were among unvaccinated persons from January to June.
Malsam-Rysdon called current hospitalizations for COVID-19 preventable.
We really want people to have those facts and consider getting vaccinated for themselves and for their families, Malsam-Rysdon said.
The start of school less than two weeks away for some South Dakota school districts. College students for South Dakotas public colleges start on Aug. 23 and Malsam-Rysdon urged all parents to consider the COVID-19 vaccine.
Please. Look at getting your children vaccinated, its protecting them, Malsam-Rysdon said, adding theres more cases showing up in younger people. Kids can still become very, very ill. Its important that parents look at information and consider that carefully.
Vanguard signage at a Morningstar Investment Conference.
M. Spencer Green | AP
Vanguard is offering its employees $1,000 to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the company has confirmed.
The asset management giant follows Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other employers calling on workers to get the coronavirus vaccine amid growing concerns about the fast spread of the delta variant.
"Vanguard recognizes vaccines are the best way to stop the spread of this virus and strongly encourages crew to be vaccinated," Charles Kurtz, a spokesperson for Vanguard, said in a statement shared with CNBC. "As such, we are offering a vaccine incentive for crew who provide COVID-19 vaccination proof. The incentive recognizes crew who have taken the time to protect themselves, each other, and our communities by being vaccinated."
Kurtz also confirmed the company's 16,500 eligible employees have until Oct. 1 to get the vaccine, which Bloomberg first reported Wednesday.
Walgreens Boots Alliance said Wednesday that the number of vaccines it has administered has surged by more than 30% in the past few weeks in certain states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.
That number could rise as the Food and Drug Administration gives full approval, versus emergency use authorization, to the vaccines, which it aims to do for the Pfizer vaccine next month. Still, businesses like Vanguard are encouraging employees not to wait.
Are vaccine mandates legal? Here's what employers are allowed to do
Google, Biden and NY State have issued vaccine mandates for employees and federal workers. Here's how employees and unions are responding.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
As the United States struggles to convince more people toget the COVID-19 vaccine, some are wondering why pharmaceutical companies havent taken to good old-fashioned advertising.
Ever wonder why the covid vaccine isnt advertised on TV like other medicines or other vaccines? Because any medicine or vaccine advertised on TV is required by US law to mention the side affects (sic) in the ads no matter what they are, an Instagram post with more than3,800 likes reads.
USA TODAY reached out to the posts creator for comment.
Fact check: Genomic sequencing, not PCR testing, detects COVID-19 variants
While some aspects of the claim are true, its overall conclusion is false.
Its true that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers havent taken out TV ads to specifically promote their shots. But thats not because theyre afraid to share the products' side effects with the public.
Dr. Robert Califf, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, told CNBC in May that companies cant promote their products under an Emergency Use Authorization and currently, allthree COVID-19 vaccines are authorized via EUAs. Once the vaccines are fully approved by the FDA, that would change.
The vaccines will still have to be administered under the supervision of a professional whos qualified, Califf said. Its not like they can send the vaccines to peoples homes. However, they can advertise on TV and promote their products under the watchful eye of the FDA.
Once a product is FDA approved and able to be advertised, there is still a set of rules that must be followed. All product claim ads, which name a drug and discuss its benefits and risks, are required to include the name of the drug (brand and generic), at least one FDA-approved use for the drug, and the most significant risks of the drug, according to the FDA. The ads must present the pros and cons of the product in a balanced fashion, as well.
For TV ads specifically, product claim ads must include the drugs most important risks in audio form and either all the risks listed in the drugs prescribing information or a list of sources for viewers to find the prescribing information for the drug themselves.
This means that drug companies do not have to include all of a drug's risk information in a broadcast ad, the FDA website reads. Instead, the ad may tell where viewers or listeners can find more information.
Fact check: Too soon to say how many dying of COVID-19 in England were vaccinated
Vaccine manufacturers havent been hiding their products side effects, either. The most common side effectsof thePfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)shots, which are each authorized for emergency use in the U.S., are listed on the FDAs website.
We rate PARTLY FALSE the claim that the COVID-19vaccine isn't being advertised on TV because all of its side effects would be legally required to appear in the ad. Its true thatthe vaccine is not being advertised on TV currently and that the FDA requires product claim ads on TV to present the products most important risks. But the companies producing the vaccines currently cant advertise on TV because their products are not yet FDA approved, and it is not required that all risks be disclosed in TV ads if a variety of sources for viewers to find the prescribing informationis provided instead.
Thank you for supporting our journalism.You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of China's Sinovac Biotech vaccine for the coronavirus disease in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
SANTIAGO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Chile will begin administering a booster shot to those already innoculated with Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday, after studies showed the initial two doses lose some effectiveness after several months.
Chile launched one of the world's fastest mass inoculation campaigns against COVID-19 in February and has now fully vaccinated more than 60% of its population, predominantly with Sinovac's (SVA.O)CoronaVac.
"We have decided to start a reinforcement of the vaccination of those who have already received both doses of the vaccine Sinovac," Pinera said in a televised address.
The country will begin administering an additional dose of Oxford's Astrazeneca (AZN.L) vaccine on Aug. 11, beginning with citizens over 55 who received their shots before March 31.
Chile joins the United States, Germany, France and Israel in giving booster shots, despite a plea by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people around the world can get their first shot. read more
Health subsecretary Paula Daza said domestic and international studies suggested the boosters would help reinforce immunity, but that Chile had already donated vaccines to its neighbors and would continue to help as needed.
"We are always analyzing the recommendations, and obviously the possibility of cooperating with other Latin American countries," she said.
The death toll in Chile from the pandemic stands at 35,806 and there have been about 1.6 million confirmed cases in total.
Data released by the Chilean government on Tuesday suggested CoronaVac's effectiveness at preventing symptomatic infection among its recipients fell from 67% when measured between February and April, to 58.5% when measured again at the start of July.
Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero, Editing by Angus MacSwan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
(FOX 9) - Due to a recent increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, Minnesota is now around 33,000 shots away from hitting Gov. Tim Walzs 70% vaccination rate goal for people 16 years of age and older.
The seven-day rolling average for new first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine is 5,100 a day, up from 2,900 in mid-July, according to the latest Minnesota Department of Health data.
Due to a recent increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, Minnesota is now around 33,000 shots away from hitting Gov. Tim Walzs 70% vaccination rate goal for people 16 years of age and older.
About 69.2% of Minnesotans ages 16 and up have at least one dose of the vaccine and 65.8% are fully vaccinated.
A vaccine mandate for First Avenue and other concert venues it owns took effect on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the number of new daily COVID-19 infections has been increasing since mid-July. MDH reported 878 new cases on Thursday and the seven-day rolling average test positivity rate is up to 4.2%. It had been below 2% in mid-July. Anything over 5% is concerning for health officials because it indicates a high rate of community transmission.
Hospitalizations and ICU cases are also on the rise. Non-ICU hospitalizations for COVID-19 have gone from below 100 in mid-July to 189 patients currently hospitalized with the virus. ICU cases have quadrupled, from around 20 to over 80.
MDH says the highly contagious delta variant now makes up the majority of cases in Minnesota. The delta variant is contributing to a surge in coronavirus infections nationwide.
As of Thursday, 59 counties in Minnesota are considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have substantial or high risk of transmission of COVID-19, areas which the CDC recommends all peopleincluding those who are already vaccinatedwear masks indoors.
Minnesota's offer of $100 Visa gift cards for newly vaccinated people is off to a more popular start than the smaller June incentives. A total of 12,200 people have applied since the claim form opened on Wednesday. It runs through Aug. 15 but is limited to the first 24,330 submissions.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears tight end Jimmy Graham vented about the NFLPA on a variety of topics Thursday, including the union's proposal to increase the frequency of COVID-19 testing for vaccinated players and the addition of a 17th regular-season game.
"I've been in the league going on 12 years now, and it's been kind of frustrating at times with them [the NFLPA]," Graham said. "I'm not going to hold back. I'm a grown man. And I wish somebody would talk to me and speak to me like a grown man and let me have a little bit of say in some things. I'm about to go onto Week 17 playing for free as well. How does that make any sense? Who even petitioned for that? I certainly didn't."
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Graham initially aired his grievances toward the NFLPA on the vaccination proposal with a pair of tweets Thursday morning.
"Was basically forced into getting the vaccine. Now I'm just confused @NFLPA," Graham tweeted, later writing, "I've done everything I've been asked and now I feel like I'm being punished. If I miss a test that you are proposing every day I'll be fined a max 150K! How does this make sense. How's the punishment 100X worse than last year and I'm vaccinated now?"
The NFLPA released a memo this week that recommended testing vaccinated players and staff every day they enter the team facility. The recommendations are based on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NFLPA's medical experts. The union did not recommend that fully vaccinated players be tested on their off-days or bye weeks.
Sixty-five players and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since training camps opened, according to the NFLPA memo.
The Bears have four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list: nose tackle Eddie Goldman, long-snapper Patrick Scales, linebacker Christian Jones and offensive tackle Elijah Wilkinson.
Graham did not back down from his comments when he addressed the media after practice.
"For me, it's one of these things where, last year, I understand last year and what was happening last year," Graham said. "We all made a commitment to try to make this season happen, like that season happened, to try to make a run and win the Super Bowl. I understood what that was about. You know there wasn't a vaccine available. There was a lot less known about it, so we had to take those measures to do that."
"I thought we also had a game plan going into this season, and now we're kind of redacting and retracting on that. So it's a bit frustrating for myself, who went out and got the vaccine just so I could, you know, do the same thing and have another successful healthy season. That's all I'm going to say about that."
As of early Thursday morning, coach Matt Nagy said he had not discussed the matter with Graham but noted that the team works hard to educate players and staff about all coronavirus-related safety protocols.
"All these guys have opinions and beliefs, and I'm never going to criticize anybody for what their belief is. We all have it, and we all have the ability to voice it," Nagy said before Thursday's practice. "He [Graham] has not come to me about any of that, and Jimmy and I have a close enough relationship that if there is an issue that him and I would have that one-on-one.
"There is stuff going on every day with this, and I think everybody is figuring out the best thing to do to be safe. And not just in the sports world but in life in general; every state is a little different in what they are doing. Masks, no masks, things are certainly changing."
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The cases are mainly in areas where vaccination rates remain low, Zients said at a briefing Monday.
"In fact, seven states with the lowest vaccination rates represent just about 8- 1/2% of the US population, but account for more than 17% of cases, and one in three cases nationwide occurred in Florida and Texas, this past week," Zients said.
In the past two weeks, daily case rates have gone up fourfold, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
"There are still about 90 million eligible Americans who are unvaccinated," Zients said. "And we need them to do their part, roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. Each and every shot matters."
Vaccination rates rising with spread of Delta variant
"People are waking up to this," he said. "That's what desperately needs to happen if we are going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it is having a pretty big party in the middle of the country."
And according to Zients, vaccination rates have more than doubled in the states with the highest case rates.
"The eight states with the highest current case rates have seen an average increase of 171% in the number of people newly vaccinated, each day over the past three weeks," he said.
"Louisiana has seen a 302% increase in the average number of newly vaccinated per day, Mississippi 250%, Alabama 215%, and Arkansas 206%," Zients said.
Zients said this increase means people are understanding the risks of going unvaccinated.
"This increase in vaccination rates in states that have been lagging is a positive trend. Americans are seeing the risk and impact of being unvaccinated and responding with action. And that's what it's going to take to get us out of this pandemic," he said.
Vaccination milestone reached -- about a month late
The US by Monday had vaccinated 70% of adults with at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the White House's Covid-19 data director, Cyrus Shahpar, said on Twitter.
"Today we hit 70% of adults w/ at least one dose! +468K doses reported administered, incl. 320K newly vaccinated (vs. 257K last Monday). 7-day average of newly vaccinated highest since July 4. Let's continue working to get more eligible vaccinated!" Shahpar tweeted.
The CDC reported Sunday that 816,203 additional doses were administered, the fifth straight day the agency recorded more than 700,000 shots in arms. The current seven-day average of doses administered is 662,529 per day, the highest average since July 7.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attributed the increase to two likely factors: trusted leaders coming out in support of vaccines and people seeing how much better vaccinated communities are faring against the virus, he told CBS on Sunday.
In Florida, where nearly 1 in 5 new Covid cases across the US are reported, chief clinical officer for AdventHealth Central Florida, Dr. Neil Finkler, said none of his patients thought they would get the virus.
"The Delta variant has proven to be so highly contagious that even the young and the healthy, including pregnant patients, are now starting to fill up our hospitals," said Finkler.
The race to get people vaccinated
"I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country, not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said.
But things are still likely to get worse for the unvaccinated, Fauci warned.
"We're looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we're seeing cases go up," he told ABC.
And while the unvaccinated will likely experience the brunt of this pain and suffering, Fauci noted the choices of the unvaccinated impact the overall community situation.
"When you have unvaccinated people getting infected, you're propagating the dynamics of the outbreak, which ultimately impacts everybody from the standpoint of having to wear masks, from the standpoint of the safety of kids in schools, from the standpoint of being able to open up everything the way we were when we were normal," he said.
To address the overall impacts, many officials have been increasing vaccination efforts in undervaccinated communities.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday his state is seeing "a significant increase" in vaccination rates, particularly in rural areas.
"I think ... fear of the Delta variant is certainly one of the causes," DeWine told CNN on Sunday.
Ohio is now focusing outreach efforts to the "undervaccinated" Medicaid population through incentives like $100 cash awards for getting the shot, DeWine said.
The state's "Vax-a-Million" lottery program also played a major role in reversing a downward trend in vacation rates, he said.
"We think well over 100,000 extra people were vaccinated, at a minimum, because of that," DeWine said. "It was very, very successful. It was something that worked and, you know, we are glad we did it."
Despite the state's progress on vaccinations, "We have room to grow," DeWine said.
Hospitals overwhelmed with patients
The surge of Covid-19 patients in hospitals could have an impact on others who need medical care, doctors said.
In Austin, Texas, "our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for COVID," Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said in a statement.
"If we fail to come together as a community now, we jeopardize the lives of loved ones who might need critical care."
In Mississippi, Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased significantly -- including among younger patients, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. All 88 beds in the University of Mississippi Medical Center's intensive care unit had filled up by Friday, according to data from the state's health department.
And in Louisiana, "we're becoming victims of the unvaccinated," said Dr. Christopher Thomas, a critical care physician at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.
"We currently are overwhelming our bed capacity. We're creating burnout for our teams. And honestly, we're beginning to impact the rest of the health care for the community."
The facility has 23 patients wating for a transfer into the hospital for an ICU bed, Dr. Catherine O'Neal, the hospital's chief medical officer, said Monday.
"We no longer think we're giving adequate care to anybody, because these are the darkest days of the pandemic."
At the Louisiana hospital, 97% of Covid-19 patients in the ICU were unvaccinated, Thomas said. As of Friday, the average age of Covid-19 patients in the ICU was 48.
"That means there are children -- with parents -- who are now in the hospital," he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong timing for when the doses were administered when discussing the rate of daily vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the additional doses Sunday, but it's not clear when they were all administered.
CNN's Holly Yan, Aya Elamroussi, Nadia Kounang, Virginia Langmaid, Deidre McPhillips, Maggie Fox, Gregory Lemos and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
Daily Data Reportfor Connecticut
Latest Update: August 3, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Reporting schedule: The State of Connecticut's COVID-19 metric report is issued once per day, every Monday through Friday, usually around 3:00 p.m. The report that is issued each Monday contains combined data that was collected on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Open data portal:Supplemental data on COVID-19 in Connecticut can be found on the state's open data portal,data.ct.gov,in the COVID-19 data portal. Data presented on the open data portal is available in its rawest form.
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