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Alaska on Wednesday reported 42 new coronavirus infections identified over two days, and no new deaths, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services. The health department now updates its coronavirus dashboard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Alaskas average daily case counts have been trending down significantly statewide, and the states current statewide alert level is low.
By Wednesday, roughly 54% of the states population age 12 and older had received at least their first dose of the vaccine, while 49% of residents 12 and older were considered fully vaccinated.
Alaskas most-vaccinated region as of Wednesday was Juneau, with 70% of its eligible population vaccinated as of Wednesday. The states least-vaccinated region was the Mat-Su, where just a third of its 12-and-up population had received a dose.
On Wednesday, there were 15 people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 hospitalized around the state, including five who were on ventilators.
No new deaths were reported Wednesday. In total, 366 Alaskans and seven nonresidents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic reached the state last spring. Alaskas death rate per capita remains among the lowest in the country, though the states size, health care system and other factors complicate national comparisons.
Over the last two days, there were 40 new cases reported among Alaska residents, including 18 in Anchorage, four in Fairbanks, three in Hooper Bay, two in Craig, two in North Pole, two in Palmer, two in Wasilla, and one each in Eagle River, Homer, Juneau and Wrangell. Three were reported in a smaller community or communities in the Copper River Census Area.
Two new nonresident cases were also identified in Fairbanks and Anchorage.
The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to extend their two-tiered COVID-19 protocols into training camp and the preseason, maintaining severe restrictions on unvaccinated players but removing almost all of them for those who are fully vaccinated.
In a memo distributed Wednesday, teams also received details on fan and media access to training camp and preseason games as well as a fine schedule for players who violate specific protocols. But the most pressing issue was how the NFL and NFLPA would treat players and coaches who either decline to be vaccinated or are not fully vaccinated -- with "fully vaccinated" defined as being at least two weeks past their final shot -- when camps open next month.
The NFL decided earlier this year not to make vaccines mandatory for players, and a number of high-profile players have said in recent weeks that they have not yet received a shot. While those players will still be allowed to participate in practices and games, the memo outlines a set of protocols that will essentially create two teams within each organization.
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Per the memo, any player who is not fully vaccinated will continue to be subject to:
Daily testing, mask wearing (including in the team facility) and physical distancing
A quarantine if he has a high-risk exposure to someone with COVID-19
Significant restrictions when traveling, including required isolation in the team hotel and relegation to a separate team plane
A prohibition of meals with teammates
A prohibition on social, media and marketing sponsorship activities
A ban on gathering with more than three other players away from the team facility
A requirement to wear personal protective equipment to visit a nightclub or indoor bar that has more than 10 people in it
A ban on attending indoor concerts or other entertainment events.
A five-day delay between first reporting to training camp and participating fully in activities.
Vaccinated players will face none of those restrictions. They will be required to be tested once every 14 days.
The memo also directed teams to keep fans a minimum of 20 feet from players and key staff members during training camp. That means no autographs or photographs will be allowed. Fully vaccinated media members will have access to physically distanced in-person interviews, but postgame locker room access will be limited to team and NFL media, or NFL Films.
Of the more than 600,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19, a disproportionate number are Black. Growing research suggests that a key to understanding why lies in examining where many of them spent their final days: in the hospital.
A new study published on Thursday, and believed to be the largest of its kind so far, finds that for Black patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, the quality of the hospitals they are admitted to may play an outsize role in determining whether they survive. Hospitals mattered more than any other individual traits like age, income, or other medical conditions.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, comes after a brutal year in which the coronavirus pandemic and a reinvigorated civil rights movement collided to highlight racial and economic disparities in healthcare. While the virus killed fewer people in white, wealthy enclaves, it crushed communities of color with low incomes and the chronically underfunded, effectively segregated hospitals that served them. Black people account for about one-third of COVID-19 deaths in the US, even though they make up only about 13% of the population.
Its not surprising that Black patients may live [near] and therefore go to hospitals that have fewer financial resources and therefore have a harder time providing optimal care, David Asch, a University of Pennsylvania professor of medicine who led the study, told BuzzFeed News. There are a variety of elements of our historical past that have tended to create white neighborhoods and Black neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods. This is the legacy of our nations racial history.
Aschs team looked at Medicare Advantage data for more than 44,000 patients who were admitted with COVID-19 to a total of nearly 1,200 hospitals across the US from January through September of last year. And they looked at the number of people who died, measured by either dying at the hospital or being sent to hospice for end-of-life care within a month of hospital admission.
In their analysis, the researchers accounted for differences in other traits like age, gender, income, and non-COVID-19 medical conditions between the groups of Black and white patients who died. Even when the other factors were equivalent, Black patients were more likely to die.
Their increased odds of dying didnt seem to be rooted in health differences, such as the chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease seen in high numbers among Black patients. Instead of individual factors, the most direct link to who ended up dying was where they were hospitalized. Black patients were on average more likely to be admitted to hospitals where patients of all races died at higher rates, the analysis found. In contrast, white patients tended to check into hospitals where survival rates were higher overall.
Black and white survival rates might basically level out, the researchers calculated, if Black patients received care in the same hospitals and in the same distribution as white patients.
There are of course many reasons why Black patients often have worse outcomes than white patients. But often one of the reasons is that Black patients, for a variety of reasons, find themselves going to hospitals that have worse outcomes for all, Asch said.
Asch stressed that the study doesnt single-handedly prove that the hospital that a Black patient checks into is the determining factor in whether they live or die. It also left open the possibility that the difference could be driven by circumstances even bigger than the hospitals themselves the states in which people got hospitalized. The study acknowledged that it was unable to disentangle one from the other, since Black patients were distributed differently than white patients across states.
But his teams finding does track with what is already known about the relationship between how segregated hospitals are and the quality of care people of color receive for other conditions, said Amal Trivedi, a professor at Brown University School of Public Health who was not involved in the study, by email.
Its a dynamic that predates the pandemic. Black patients are more likely than white patients to undergo surgery at low-quality hospitals in segregated areas. Theyre more likely to be under-treated for, and to die from, pneumonia at hospitals that primarily serve Black patients, compared to white patients at mainly white-serving hospitals.
The reasons for these differences date back to even earlier in history to the Jim Crow era and its aftermath. When Black families were legally excluded from buying homes in the suburbs and denied conventional mortgage loans, they were unable to build up generational wealth and were effectively forced into racially segregated neighborhoods. And when inner-city neighborhoods grew predominantly Black, their hospitals closed in greater proportions than those in white neighborhoods.
Many of the hospitals that still serve minority communities with low incomes were already hanging by a thread when COVID-19 hit. On Chicagos South Side, where about 1 in 5 residents live below the poverty line, Roseland Community Hospital quickly became maxed out when the virus struck last spring. We are outgunned, outmanned, underfunded, and no one is coming to help us, the head of the hospital told the Chicago Tribune in April 2020. When South Los Angeles erupted into a COVID-19 hot spot over the winter, sick patients flooded the 131-bed Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. The hospital is surrounded by a sea of chronic illness and lack of access to healthcare, the CEO told the Guardian.
In some places in the US, there wasnt even a hospital to turn to. A record 19 rural hospitals shut down in 2020, disproportionately cutting off healthcare access for Black communities in the South and Southeast while COVID-19 cases and deaths surged.
The quality of hospitals also likely affected patient care in the lead-up to the pandemic, setting people up for worse outcomes, said Ruqaiijah Yearby, a law professor who specializes in racial disparities in healthcare at Saint Louis University School of Law. This is probably some place they were going for all of their care, that left them without the proper care, and so they were more vulnerable to dying from COVID-19, she said.
Earlier studies examining racial disparities among COVID-19 deaths in hospitals have been based on smaller data sets from one or a handful of healthcare systems. The largest study until now was based on data from more than 11,000 patients across 92 Catholic hospitals in the Ascension network, a large, private healthcare system. Researchers there reached a similar conclusion to the study published Thursday, though phrased it differently: When they controlled for the hospitals where patients went, Black COVID-19 patients had basically the same chances of survival as their white counterparts.
But experts are still puzzling over which characteristics of a hospital, exactly, might be making the biggest differences. Perhaps its having a certain volume of COVID-19 cases, the number and training of healthcare staff, or access to key equipment like ventilators. Baligh Yehia, a senior vice president at Ascension, said hes attempting to tease out these granular factors in forthcoming research.
What is it about the hospital? is the next question, Yehia said.
The new study also did not examine whether, within hospitals themselves, Black and white COVID-19 patients might be treated differently by staff and if those differences affect their health. For most other health conditions, both of these scenarios matter, noted Karen Joynt Maddox, codirector of the Center for Health Economics and Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Black patients typically have worse outcomes even within the same hospital, AND Black patients typically receive care at lower-quality hospitals, so worse outcomes are due to BOTH things, she said by email.
Throughout the pandemic, Black patients have raised concerns that they are not taken seriously sometimes with fatal results, as in the case of Susan Moore, a Black doctor who was hospitalized with COVID-19 at an Indiana University hospital late last year. In a viral Facebook video, Moore complained that her white doctors were ignoring her pain and failing to treat her appropriately. After she died, an investigation concluded that while the medical care she received didnt contribute to her death, Moore did suffer at the hands of providers who lacked empathy, compassion and awareness of implicit racial bias. The hospital system has apologized for its failures and pledged to increase its diversity and equity training.
And not everyone who is killed by COVID-19 dies at the hospital. To understand why Black Americans are dying in greater numbers, researchers say there is a need to explore why many Black Americans may not feel comfortable going to a hospital in the first place and may instead be dying, for example, at home.
Its not just about ensuring hospitals in a predominantly Black neighborhood are of high quality, Yearby said. Its about ensuring its a place where those patients want to go, feel comfortable going, and that they receive the highest quality of care in those places.
MISSOURI The state of Missouri is seeing a dramatic rise of COVID-19 cases in the month of June.
Last week Missouri saw a 101% rise in cases, which led the country.
Health experts believe that the new Delta variant is a cause of the recent increase in cases.
"I think it's here," CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards said. "We have a lot of admissions, our admissions have grown dramatically."
A Wednesday news release from the Department of Health and Human Services says Missouri is "experiencing a rise in individuals contracting the Delta variant. The variant was just reclassified as a "variant of concern" by the CDC on Tuesday.
CDC data says the variant accounts for 6.8% of cases of Missouri, which is the highest percentage of the variant in the nation.
Edwards said CoxHealth hospitals, which is based out of Springfield, went from 16 COVID patients three weeks ago to 61 patients Wednesday.
Counties in south Missouri are being hit the hardest by the recent surge of cases.
"We're seeing fast growth in Taney County as well, which is where Branson is," Edwards said.
The overall state positivity rate has gone from 3.9% to 5.9% in the last month.
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DHSS Acting Director Robert Knodell says the greatest concern across Missouri is in areas with lower vaccine uptake.
With this variant being easier to spread and possibly causing more severe illnesses among unvaccinated people of all ages, vaccinations are the best way to stop this virus in its tracks," Knodell said in a news release.
Edwards also attributes the surge to people who continue to not get vaccinated.
"It's as safe as a vaccine I think we've created," Edwards said. "If you choose not to get vaccinated you're putting yourself at risk."
Hospitals throughout Missouri are filling up and having staff issues due to the increase of cases.
According to Edwards, CoxHealth hospitals are experiencing similar issues to the ones they faced in 2020.
"Even though the COVID numbers aren't as high as they were, our overall volume is as high," Edwards said.
CoxHealth hospitals are also enduring extended ER wait times, pent up demand for people with deferred care and strains on staffing.
To combat staffing issues, CoxHealth hospitals are bringing in agency nurses for additional help.
"Every area that has low vaccination rates is at risk, which includes the majority of the South, and lots of the Midwest," Edwards said.
Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said Tuesday he was glad to see only two new cases of COVID-19 reported locally. I cant remember when we only had two, he said.
A day later, the numbers were even better.
On Wednesday, the county Health Department announced only one new case part of a prolonged pattern of fewer new cases, active cases, those in the hospital and in quarantine.
To date there have been 9,285 confirmed cases, 9,120 recoveries and 157 virus-related deaths. There are currently eight active cases, two people in the hospital with the virus and 36 in quarantine.
COUNTY SEEKS RESULTS FROM AT-HOME TESTS
COVID-19 testing options have expanded over the past several months, including increased availability of several at-home kits.
The Chautauqua County Health Department is requesting that residents report any positive test results from at-home tests to the department by phone (1-866-604-6789) or email (cchealth@chqgov.com).
When an individual tests positive for COVID-19 in a clinical setting, the result is automatically reported to the local Health Department. The positive result triggers the local Health Department to conduct a disease investigation (interview) and conduct contact tracing. Isolation orders are issued, which can be provided to an employer or other official setting as proof of a prior positive result.
Some at-home COVID-19 tests are supervised by a lab or medical professional, usually via video chat, and results are either mailed to a lab for processing, or processed at home. If the test syncs to an app or is sent out to a lab, these results are automatically reported (e.g. Ellume, Lucira, Cue, Binax Now with NAVICA app).
Other at-home antigen tests, such as the Binax NOW Self Test, are simple and affordable, but do not include a mechanism to report results into the states electronic database.
Proof of a prior COVID-19 infection and recovery within the last 90 days is an acceptable form of proof to grant entry into some public events and other settings (e.g. overnight camps) in lieu of proof of full vaccination status or a negative test within an appropriate timeframe. Additionally, prior positives within 90 days can avoid quarantine when exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 case. However, the positive test showing prior infection must be documented in the New York State Electronic Clinical Laboratory Reporting System in order to count for these purposes.
COVID-19 case numbers are declining fast, but it is very important to maintain surveillance of this disease so that our community can act quickly to prevent further spread of disease.
COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in Chautauqua County. These vaccines are safe and highly effective in preventing severe disease and death due to COVID-19. The Chautauqua County Health Department urges all individuals ages 12 and up to get vaccinated. If you have concerns about the vaccine, contact your primary care provider with your individual needs. Visit chqgov.com/public-health/covid-19-vaccination-clinics to find local vaccination opportunities.
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Researchers with the University of South Florida School of Public Affairs have released results from a statewide survey that helps to better understand the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy and measures policy attitudes related to COVID-19 vaccines.
Among the key findings:
A majority of adult Floridians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but many remain hesitant about undergoing vaccination. Among those adults who have not yet been vaccinated, 35.3% say that they will probably not or definitely not get vaccinated. Another 24.3% are still undecided about whether to undergo vaccination.
The most significant drivers of vaccine hesitancy among Floridians include concerns over the potential side effects of a vaccine and fears that the vaccines were created too quickly. Three quarters of those who say they will probably not or definitely not get vaccinated (74.2%) indicated that they are concerned about the potential side effects of a vaccine. Nearly half (50.5%) indicated that they feel the vaccines were created too quickly. Only a fifth (20.6%) dont believe that the vaccines are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Most Floridians have not spoken with their primary care doctor about a COVID-19 vaccine. Only a third of respondents (32.3%) report having spoken with their primary care doctor about whether a COVID-19 vaccine is appropriate for them.
A majority of Floridians have encountered misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines in the past six months. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73.2%) reported seeing or hearing at least one of eight common misinformation themes related to COVID-19 vaccines. The most frequently encountered misinformation themes included those claiming that COVID-19 vaccines contain a live strain of the virus (42.8%), COVID-19 vaccines contain 5G Microchips (38.5%), and COVID-19 vaccines modify peoples genes and alter their DNA (36.3%).
Exposure to misinformation was correlated with a decreased likelihood of undergoing vaccination. Among those who did not report encountering any of the misinformation themes, 73.8% had been vaccinated. That number fell to 62.9% among those encountering at least one source of misinformation, while only half of those (52.2%) encountering six or more false stories reported being vaccinated.
Floridians remain divided on mandatory vaccines for students. A majority of respondents agreed that Floridas PK-12 schools should require students to be vaccinated before the fall, with 61.5% agreeing and 38.5% disagreeing. A two-thirds majority also favored mandatory vaccinations for Floridas college students (68.8%).
Floridians are also divided on mandatory vaccines for theme park visitors. Just under a third of respondents (30.5%) said that Floridas theme parks should NOT be allowed to require guests to provide proof of vaccination, while a similar number (30%) felt that proof of vaccination should be required for park entry. A plurality (39.5%) felt that the decision to require vaccinations should be left to individual parks.
Mandatory vaccines for cruises. Respondents were slightly more supportive of mandatory vaccines for cruise line passengers entering the state. A plurality of 43% said that proof of vaccination should be mandatory on all cruises porting in the state of Florida, while another 33.2% felt that the decision should be left to individual cruise lines.
Partisan differences. The survey responses included several notable partisan differences. Those who identified as Democrats were significantly more likely to have been vaccinated (73.4%, compared to 58.5% of Republicans and 56.5% of Independents). Republicans and Independents were also significantly more likely to oppose mandatory vaccinations for theme park guests, cruise line guests and students.
The survey included a representative sample of 600 Floridians, fielded June 3-14, 2021. Results are reported with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error +/-4 %.
A second round of results, which examines COVID-19 and hurricane preparedness, is set to be released within the next week.
The complete survey results can be found here.
Novavax, a small American company buoyed by lavish support from the U.S. government, announced on Monday the results of a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and Mexico, finding that its two-shot inoculation provides potent protection against the coronavirus.
In the 29,960-person trial, the vaccine demonstrated an overall efficacy of 90.4 percent, on par with the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and higher than the one-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. The Novavax vaccine showed an efficacy of 100 percent at preventing moderate or severe disease.
Despite these impressive results, the vaccines future in the United States is uncertain and it might be needed more in other countries. Novavax says it may not seek emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration until the end of September. And with a plentiful supply of three other authorized vaccines, its possible that the agency may tell Novavax to apply instead for a full license a process that could require several extra months.
The companys chief executive, Stanley Erck, acknowledged in an interview that Novavax would probably win its first authorization elsewhere. The company is also applying in Britain, the European Union, India and South Korea.
I think the good news is that the data are so compelling that it gives everybody an incentive to pay attention to our filings, Mr. Erck said.
By the time Novavax gets the green light from the U.S. government, it may be too late to contribute to the countrys first wave of vaccinations. But many vaccine experts expect that, with waning immunity and emerging variants, the country will need booster shots at some point. And the protein-based technology used in the Novavax vaccine may do a particularly good job at amplifying protection, even if people have previously been vaccinated with a different formulation.
They may be really the right ones for boosters, said Dr. Luciana Borio, who was the acting chief scientist at the F.D.A. from 2015 to 2017.
Last year, the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed program awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract for 100 million future doses. The company won this tremendous support despite never having brought a vaccine to market in over three decades.
In January, Novavax announced that its 15,000-person trial in Britain found that the vaccine had an efficacy of 96 percent against the original coronavirus. Against Alpha, a virus variant first identified in Britain, the efficacy fell slightly to 86 percent. In South Africa, where Novavax ran a smaller trial on 2,900 people and the Beta variant was dominant, the company found an efficacy of just 49 percent.
But the South Africa trial was complicated by the fact that a number of the volunteers had H.I.V., which is known to hamper vaccines. In addition, the study was so small that it was difficult to estimate how much protection the vaccine provided H.I.V.-negative volunteers.
With the support of Operation Warp Speed, Novavax drew up plans for an even larger late-stage trial in the United States and Mexico. But difficulties with manufacturing delayed its launch until December.
By then, the United States had authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. In February, with the Novavax trial still underway, the government authorized Johnson & Johnsons.
As it waited for trial results, Novavax partnered with other companies to start making massive quantities of its vaccine. In India, it joined forces with the Serum Institute, and in South Korea, SK Biosciences. Novavax reached an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to supply 1.1 billion doses to middle- and low-income countries.
But the companys difficulties with scaling continued, and it needed more time to develop special tests used to confirm the quality of its product.
June 17, 2021, 10:30 a.m. ET
The new results were based on 77 trial volunteers who came down with Covid-19. The volunteers who received placebo shots were far more likely than the vaccinated ones to get sick, a statistical difference that translated to an efficacy of 90.4 percent.
Its a strong result, said Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida. It puts them up in that high tier.
The vaccine showed the same efficacy in a group of high-risk volunteers people who were over the age of 65, had medical risk factors or had jobs that exposed them to the virus.
Novavax sequenced the genomes of 54 of the 77 viral samples, and found that half were Alpha, the variant that became dominant in the United States this spring.
The vaccines side effects were relatively mild. Some volunteers reported fatigue, headaches and other minor symptoms. This vaccine seems easier on the arms, said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who was a volunteer in the Novavax trial.
Novavax will apply for authorization in the United States after it finishes developing a quality control test, according to its chief executive. You have to test them every way from Sunday to show that under any conditions you get the same answer, Mr. Erck said. And that takes time.
Mr. Erck said that the company plans on making 100 million doses per month by the end of the third quarter, and 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter.
With each passing week, the United States is building a bigger supply of authorized vaccines from other companies, raising the question of whether the nation needs to give any more emergency use authorizations, or EUAs.
The law says that once you have sufficient doses, theres no need for additional E.U.A.s, Dr. Borio said.
One sign that the F.D.A. is changing its approach to Covid-19 vaccines came last week. An American company called Ocugen had been seeking emergency authorization for Covaxin, a Covid-19 vaccine now in use in India. But on Thursday, the company announced that the F.D.A. had recommended they instead take the standard path to a full approval, known as a biologics license application, which takes many additional months.
But because Novavax has been consulting with the F.D.A. since last year about its trials, Mr. Erck said the company might be able to continue with its plans for seeking emergency use authorization.
So far, theyve indicated that if youre in the process for an E.U.A, you can continue for an E.U.A., Mr. Erck said. Anybody could tell you that could change, but I dont know how to predict that.
Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the F.D.A.s vaccine advisory panel, said that Novavaxs highly effective vaccine would be most welcome. The more the merrier, he said. I think theres room for many more vaccines, because were going to be dealing with this virus for years, if not decades.
Novavax is preparing for that future by investigating how its vaccine could work as a booster. A new version of the vaccine contains the proteins from the Beta variant first identified in South Africa.
Researchers gave Beta boosters to baboons that had been vaccinated with the original version of the Novavax vaccine in experiments a year ago. The researchers found that the baboons immunity against Covid-19 shot up after this booster, protecting them against Beta, Alpha and the original version of the coronavirus.
When you boost, you see a very high recall response, said Matthew Frieman, a virologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a co-author of the new study. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
Dr. Frieman said the new study offered encouraging evidence that Novavax vaccines might work well as boosters. It also suggested that people getting vaccines for the first time might do well to get a blend of the original and Beta versions to widen their protection against new variants, he said.
Novavax may be used as a booster in the U.S., but it certainly will be the first vaccine a lot of people are going to see around the world, he said.
The state's top health official said Wednesday his agency was "well-prepared" to pick up the slack on COVID-19 vaccinations now that Kansas' pandemic emergency declaration expired.
But Health Secretary Lee Norman told reporters on a conference call thatthe state's prospects for hitting President Joe Biden's goal of a70% vaccinationrate by July 4 appear to be dimming, although he underscored the state would be redoubling its efforts as the summer progresses and schools return to class in the fall.
As of Wednesday,Kansas Department of Health and Environment data showed 43.4% of the state's residents had received at least one vaccine dose,as demand for jabs has slowed considerably in recent weeks.
The first two weeks of April saw more than 227,000 individuals get at least their first vaccine dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first two weeks of June saw only 79,413 doses administered, by comparison.
"I think we're doing pretty well but, to be honest with you, I think we'll struggle to get to the 70% mark by July 4," Norman said.
More: The state's COVID-19 emergency declaration has ended. Our podcast tells you what you need to know.
The Kelly administration and its Democratic allies in the Legislature have argued the move by Republicans to end theemergency declaration will make the vaccination task more difficult, with Kansas National Guard members no longer able to transfer or administer doses.
There are about 20 guard-supported events previously scheduled before the end of July, with KDHE and local agencies now set to pick up the slack.
The Kansas Department of Emergency Management has also been responsible for mobile clinics, a tool used with increasing frequency as the state moves away from mass vaccination events to a more nimble, targeted approach.
Republicans argue staffing levels in the state should have no problem supporting vaccination efforts without the emergency order in place.
"The remaining goal to make vaccines available to all Kansans who want them is one that our state can achieve without emergency measures and executive orders," House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R-Olathe,said in a statement Tuesday.
Previously: Kansas lawmakers agree to extend COVID-19 emergency but end eviction, foreclosure ban
But Norman said some issues would remain, particularly amid a record surge of personnel leavinglocal health departments. It is likely the state will rely more on contract nurses to administer vaccine doses, although demand remains high for those workers nationally.
And he added the need remains for an adequate number of school nurses when kids head back to class in the fall, with the guard no longer able to support vaccinations in that setting.
But the main challenge, Norman added, was logistics, with the guard unable to help move vaccine doses, test specimens and other items across the state. Kansas is aiming to stand up a courier service to handle some of these elements in the coming weeks to handle some of those items.
"A health agency typically doesn't run warehouses and doesn't tend to have trucks and truck drivers and those kinds of things that are required for distribution," he said. "It is a logistical matter. But I think we're in good step. ... Short of an acceleration in the number of cases, I think we're in good step to be able to do this."
One bit of good news for the state is a move from the Food and Drug Administration to extend the shelf life for millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses.
A KDHE spokesperson last week said the state had roughly 56,000 J&J doses in inventory, which were previously set toexpire in the "next couple of weeks."
Dennis Kriesel, executive director of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, noted state officials had become more comfortable with doses potentially expiring or spoiling once they are sent to counties as long as it means some individuals are getting vaccinated.
"Early on in the pandemic, there was a lot of concern about wasting a single dose because demand was so high. ... The approach is different now," Kriesel said.
Previously, when the state sent doses to counties, it was in larger packages, with a hesitancy to send smaller numbers of doses. Now, officials say the state will break down those containers of Moderna and Pfizer shots, with the potential to ship individual vials of vaccine.
This is especially important for more remote counties, which often lack the capabilities to store the Pfizer vaccine even though it is the only shot currently authorized for children 12 and older.
"If you're living in Overland Park and see drive-through (clinics) where you can get vaccines, maybe the perception is 'Oh they're out there, they're everywhere," said Kristie Clark, a family physician in Jetmore."But for rural communities, it can be very hard."
And the state is making a more concerted effort to get doses to doctor's offices, with officials long believing physicians are best positioned to make the case for residents to get vaccinated.
Both the Kansas Association of Family Physicians and the Kansas Association of Pediatricians, are set to receive state-funded grants to help doctors jump through administrative hoops to get vaccine doses in their offices.
More: Food System Analysis approved by Shawnee County commissioners to address food access issues
Physicians note they encounter vaccine hesitant individuals all the time but often find they are able to win them over with persistence.
"We've got to get people in the offices and have the shots there," said Allen Greiner, medical officer for theKansas City, Kansas, Wyandotte County Unified Government Health Department.
As the push for vaccinations continue, Norman and Gov. Laura Kelly say they are keeping close tabs on Missouri.A recent spike ofcases in the Show-Me-State has seen some counties become full-blown hotspots, particularly in areas frequented by tourists.
Officials acknowledge the potential for spread to Kansas but hope the state's progress on vaccinations will make a dent on any risk to the state.
"I watch the numbers very closely to see where Kansas is and what, if anything, might be coming to get us again," Kelly told reporters Wednesday.
A new survey by Willis Towers Watson released this week indicates that nearly 72% of U.S. employers do not plan on requiring Covid-19 vaccination prior to re-entering the workspace. This is a fascinating finding, especially as the trajectory of vaccination numbers in the U.S. has been on a steady decline.
Although case counts in the U.S. have also been declining since the mass rollout of vaccines began for the general public, many experts fear that not enough people are getting vaccinated quickly enough, given the rising presence of variants and viral mutations worldwide.
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To add to the list of things to consider, many companies are planning to reopen in the coming months and are grappling with a challenging decisioncan and should offices require employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19? And if so/not, what does this potentially entail?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 03: A sign at a gas station alerts customers that a business in Queens, ... [+] which had one of the highest infection rates of coronavirus in the nation, is closed. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Given just how unprecedented this pandemic has been, Covid-19 brought with it many gray areas across different aspects and has completely upheaveled all sense of what normal is. One of the most critical issues that experts are confronting is the question of liability when it comes to requiring vaccinations in the workplace. Scholars on both sides of the aisle were equally perplexed when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated in a guidance updated as of May 2021 that The federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, subject to the reasonable accommodation provisions of Title VII and the ADA and other EEO considerations discussed below. The EEOC does add that In some circumstances, Title VII and the ADA require an employer to provide reasonable accommodations for employees who, because of a disability or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance, do not get vaccinated for COVID-19, unless providing an accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the operation of the employers business.
Albeit this official recommendation by the EEOC, it is noteworthy to recognize that just because there is a government sanctioned guidance or law, it does not mean that the law will not be broken or challenged. In fact, one can likely expect that over the course of the next decade, there will be hundreds if not thousands of court cases regarding Covid-19 and all of its related issues, many of which will undoubtedly involve workplace issues.
The confusion for companies is straightforward: how will employees react if they do mandate vaccines? Will employees be unhappy, regardless of what the EEOC says? And if companies decide not to mandate vaccines and leave the choice completely upto employees, what does this entail? What happens if there is a massive breakout of infection at a workplace? Can companies be held responsible for not doing more to protect employees in the office?
HUNT VALLEY, MARYLAND - MARCH 21: A Maryland Cleaning and Abatement Services employee performs a ... [+] preventative fogging and damp wipe treatment at an office building on March 21, 2020 in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked more proactive measures at businesses to combat the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided relatively robust guidance for businesses and employers regarding preventing the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace, including specific recommendations on how to Prevent and Reduce Transmission Among Employees, testing in the office, and maintaining Healthy Business Operations.
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But all of this takes significant time, effort, coordination, and money. Workplaces are not only feeling pressure to keep up with the recovering economy and booming demand for services, but now they must invest a significant amount of resources in a new Covid-19-era workplace. Employee safety campaigns and training sessions will have fully renovated meaning to them. Workplace sanitation will require physical investment to ensure social distancing, proper ventilation, and adequate cleanliness, among other things. There will also have to be significant investment for testing employees, providing for flexible work schedules, and preparing for contingencies incase of infection breakouts or other public health scenarios. And if this is what it takes to protect employees, then companies should undoubtedly make these initiatives a top priority. But how will employers know how much is enough? What standard should companies use to prepare, given that this entire situation is unprecedented?
Although there are perhaps no specific right or wrong answers to these issues, it is critical to note that these are the somewhat paradoxical questions that companies (and schools, institutions, and likely every other organization worldwide) are facing, especially at a time where the economic and job market is already relatively fragile. Indeed, the conundrum emerges in balancing the safety of employees while also giving them autonomy over their own healthcare and lifestyle choices. Certainly, this enigma will likely be the source of a significant amount of debate and litigation in the coming months and years, as both workers and organizations struggle to navigate relatively uncharted seas.
The content of this article is not implied to be and should not be relied on or substituted for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment by any means, and is not written or intended as such. This content is for information and news purposes only. Consult with a trained medical professional for medical advice.
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Protecting the health and safety of those in the custody of the state is the responsibility that the state assumes when it imprisons someone. It has been proven that the health of imprisoned persons impacts the health and well-being of the entire community, and effective health care in jails and prisons has been proven to generate health benefits in the community.
This is a phenomenon referred to as community dividend.
As we are now 15 months into this pandemic and its many mutations, the way that Hawaii addresses congregate settings is crucial for the health of everyone in every community. The growing outbreak at the Hilo jail just made that painfully clear.
Staff enter and exit jails and prisons multiple times a day. This increases the likelihood of transmission and places people with nowhere else to go in great jeopardy while increasing the states (taxpayers) liability.
Vaccinating people who live in congregate settings is common sense and sound public health policy that protects our communities in Hawaii from COVID-19 and its many mutations. Congregate environments where people are living and breathing on top of each other are petri dishes for infection.
The growing outbreak of this airborne virus at the Hilo jail is disturbing not only for the people who live and work there, but for the community whose homes are right across the street.
We have been told by many people inside and their families that jails and prisons appear to be making it up as they go along. The messaging is therefore confusing and inconsistent.
We have learned that the lack of trust in taking the vaccine is not just from the people who are imprisoned but from staff as well. Some have said that the department has shown that it cares little about them, so why should they believe that the department suddenly cares about them now?
A good way to build trust is for the department to show that they care about their staff and the people entrusted to their care. There are things that can be done to start the trust-building process while stemming the spread of the virus:
Other jurisdictions have found ways to encourage their imprisoned persons to take the vaccine. North Dakota provides educational information about vaccines, including holding town hall discussions where medical experts answer questions. The agency believes that full transparency is the key to winning people over.
Ohios incarcerated are given information about the vaccine in one-on-one meetings with health care providers before they decide whether to get the vaccination.
In fact, four jurisdictions (Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia) have a 70% vaccination rate and recently Illinois reported vaccinating 69% of its incarcerated people.
In Hawaii, we learned that the Department of Public Safety doesnt keep track of vaccinations and therefore cannot report the percentage of imprisoned people who are vaccinated.
When a person gets vaccinated in the community, they receive a card listing the dates of their first and second shots as well as the vaccine received. Since this seems to be standard public health protocol, one would assume the department does know who has gotten vaccinated. We have since learned that imprisoned people who get vaccinated do get a card, however, the facility puts it directly into the persons file.
Transparency and clear messaging is crucial, especially during a public health crisis that affects the entire community.
For the health and safety of all, lets remember that prison health is public health.
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