As part of an effort to Bring Back Louisiana Summer and encourage people to go Sleeves Up and get their COVID-19 shots, free admission to Louisiana state parks is being offered now for anyone who has been vaccinated, Gov. John Bel Edwards and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser announced today. Vaccinated individuals can gain free entry into all of Louisianas 21 State Parks through July 31. This offer is available to all visitors from Louisiana and elsewhere who have been vaccinated, no matter when they got their shot. This offer does not extend to tour groups.
With new and improved facilities, there has never been a better time to take advantage of Louisianas beautiful state parks. Many sites also offer splash pads for kids. Visit LAStateParks.Com for a full list of sites. These perks are part of the Bring Back Louisiana Summer initiative, which will announce more fun rewards in the near future.
Louisianas state parks are beautiful, educational and now free for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19, which is a great way to help Bring Back Louisiana and celebrate our state this summer, Gov. Edwards said. I appreciate Lt. Governor Nungessers support of the Bring Back Louisiana campaign and for making admission free for the vaccinated, Gov. Edwards said. In addition to the offer of free entrance in Louisiana State Parks, a number of national companies are offering incentives to their customers and employees who take the COVID-19 vaccine. Today we announced some new perks for people who are vaccinated, but we have more announcements planned for the coming weeks, so people should go get their shots now so they dont miss out. Right now, nearly 32 percent of our population is fully vaccinated, and that number needs to keep growing.
"As we open our doors to tourists from across Louisiana and the world, we are glad to participate and offer this incentive, that will bring visitors to our beautiful State Parks, Lt. Gov. Nungesser said.
The Chronicle
The Oakville School District on Tuesday said it will return students and teaching staff back to remote learning after multiple positive cases of COVID-19 affected the districts ability to teach.
This means the school will be online-only for the remainder of the school year.
Our school has faced numerous challenges this spring with COVID, wrote Superintendent Rich Staley in a letter that was posted on Facebook. There has been quite an uptick in cases in the past two months, and now we have reached a critical mass with regards to staff who have to quarantine for two weeks and we can no longer operate with enough personnel safely.
Staley wrote that the district has received many positive results of students, staff and parents within recent past weeks. The district is working with the Grays Harbor County health department closely during this time, he said.
Its not known how or if this will affect the high schools graduation ceremony, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 12, at the football stadium.
We understand the challenges this will bring to some families, which was a major part of our consideration when deciding. During this time, we can adjust staffing in preparation for students returning as well as part of supporting the stop of COVID-19 in our community, Staley wrote.
On Tuesday afternoon, the school district said it only had one bus driver on hand to transport students home. The district said it would work with families to determine what school would look like for the next two days as it begins its transition.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of June 3, 2021, there have been 2,932,854 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 162,111 total cases and 2,807 deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 75-year old female from Monongalia County, a 69-year old female from Tyler County, a 66-year old male from Raleigh County, a 67-year old male from Harrison County, a 61-year old male from Tyler County, a 64-year old female from Harrison County, and a 49-year old male from Raleigh County.
We offer our deepest condolences as our state grieves more losses, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. We must stop COVID-19 by working toward increased vaccination for community immunity in West Virginia.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,499), Berkeley (12,719), Boone (2,163), Braxton (979), Brooke (2,231), Cabell (8,817), Calhoun (372), Clay (539), Doddridge (628), Fayette (3,523), Gilmer (874), Grant (1,297), Greenbrier (2,863), Hampshire (1,909), Hancock (2,839), Hardy (1,556), Harrison (6,045), Jackson (2,210), Jefferson (4,756), Kanawha (15,353), Lewis (1,269), Lincoln (1,554), Logan (3,228), Marion (4,577), Marshall (3,522), Mason (2,038), McDowell (1,602), Mercer (5,072), Mineral (2,940), Mingo (2,696), Monongalia (9,351), Monroe (1,187), Morgan (1,224), Nicholas (1,860), Ohio (4,286), Pendleton (719), Pleasants (957), Pocahontas (680), Preston (2,935), Putnam (5,289), Raleigh (6,983), Randolph (2,795), Ritchie (752), Roane (651), Summers (843), Taylor (1,254), Tucker (545), Tyler (738), Upshur (1,940), Wayne (3,168), Webster (532), Wetzel (1,377), Wirt (450), Wood (7,898), Wyoming (2,027).
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Such is the case of Boone, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Wetzel counties in this report.
Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Hampshire, Jefferson, Lincoln, Mingo, Morgan, Putnam, and Wirt counties.
Barbour County
9:00 AM 11:00 AM, Barbour County Health Department, 109 Wabash Avenue, Philippi, WV
3:00 PM 7:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV
Berkeley County
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Ambrose Park, 25404 Mall Drive, Martinsburg, WV
Boone County
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Jeffrey Community Center, 18044 Spruce River Road, Jeffrey, WV
Hampshire County
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Hampshire County Health Department, 16189 Northwestern Turnpike, Augusta, WV
Jefferson County
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV
12:00 PM 5:00 PM, Shepherd University Wellness Center Parking Lot, 164 University Drive, Shepherdstown, WV
Lincoln County
Mingo County
10:00 AM 2:00 PM, Delbarton Fire Department, County Highway 65/12, Delbarton, WV
Morgan County
11:00 AM 4:00 PM, Valley Health War Memorial Hospital, 1 Health Way, Berkeley Springs, WV
Putnam County
Wirt County
9:00 AM 5:00 PM, Matheny Funeral Home, 448 Juliana Street, Elizabeth, WV
Whether we would develop immunity to COVID-19, or how long that would last if we did, has been a mystery since the early months of the pandemic.
However, two new studies are helping us better understand how our immune systems adapt to infection, and what that might mean for vaccination.
The studies, published in May, find that infection-induced immunity might last months or longer. But experts believe vaccination may lengthen the duration of this immunity.
Another important finding from both studies is that many people who have recovered from COVID-19 and later receive an mRNA vaccine (like the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine) may not need booster shots.
Both studies examined people exposed to the coronavirus roughly a year earlier.
According to one study, published in Nature, immune cells located in our bone marrow keep a memory of the coronavirus and are able to create protective antibodies to prevent reinfection.
The other study, which is not yet peer-reviewed, found these immune cells can mature and strengthen for about a year after infection.
The data suggest that immunity in convalescent individuals will be very long lasting and that convalescent individuals who receive available mRNA vaccines will produce antibodies and memory B cells that should be protective against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, the study authors wrote.
According to Dr. Miriam Smith, chief of infectious disease at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, Northwell Health in New York, our immune systems include B cells, which are a type of white blood cell (WBC) responsible for humoral immunity.
They originate and mature in the bone marrow, then migrate to the spleen and lymph nodes, she told Healthline. B cells become activated in response to an antigen, a virus, or bacterium.
Smith explained that B cells have receptors on their surface that can bind to these pathogens.
With help from the T cells, another component of the immune system, the B cells will differentiate into plasma cells to produce antibodies that will trap the virus or bacterium invader and allow other cells (macrophages) to destroy the invader, Smith said.
She said that after infection, the memory B cells stay around, so if that same virus or bacterium invades again, the immune system remembers and reactivates to fight it off.
Its still important for those people to be vaccinated, said Dr. Len Horovitz, pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Their immunity, as far as we know, may not be long-lived more than the 11 months that were documented.
He explained that this means people whove had the disease cannot rely on previous infection to achieve immunity the way people could with measles, mumps, and rubella, and those arent necessarily permanent immunity, but lets say lifelong, he added.
According to Horovitz, reinfections dont necessarily mean a milder case of the disease.
It can be milder, it can be the same in degree of severity, and it can be worse, he explained. So, theres a lot we dont know.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reinfection means someone got sick once, recovered, and then got sick again. The CDC emphasizes that although uncommon, reinfection can happen with COVID-19.
We do not know the exact rate [of reinfection], Horovitz said. We know it can occur, we know that its not common, but its not rare.
If reinfection is possible, Horvitz pointed out, then you can spread it to other people.
He said this means people who contract another infection will not contribute to herd immunity.
So, it is important if youve had COVID not to rely on the fact that youve had it and probably wont get it again, Horvitz said. And you need to be immunized because the antibodies that you get from infection are different from the antibodies that you get from immunization. Theyre two different measurable antibodies.
These new studies also suggest that a majority of people who have recovered from COVID-19 and were later immunized with one of the mRNA vaccines will not need booster shots to maintain protection against the virus.
However, vaccinated people who didnt have a previous infection will likely require booster shots, as will the small number of people who had the disease but didnt produce a sufficiently strong immune response.
According to Horovitz, booster shots may likely help.
In fact, there was an article this week in The New York Times where they looked at the response of people whove had COVID and are vaccinated, and they had an unbelievable immune response much more than somebody who was COVID nave [hadnt had a previous infection], he said.
So, someone whos had COVID-19, gets immunized, then they never have to have a booster, he continued. They have more immunity than someone whos been vaccinated [and never had a previous infection], it would seem.
Two recently published studies have found that people who recover from COVID-19 develop antibodies that may last almost a year.
Experts say that reinfection, while uncommon, can still happen and being vaccinated with one of the mRNA vaccines (like the Moderna of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine) can significantly boost immunity.
Experts also say that people who have had COVID-19 may not require booster shots to maintain protection, since the mRNA vaccines elicit such a powerful immune response in this group.
However, experts caution that people who havent had a previous infection will likely need them.
Health authorities are trying to determine whether heart inflammation that can occur along with many types of infections could also be a rare side effect in teens and young adults after the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
An article on seven U.S. teen boys in several states, published online Friday in Pediatrics, is among the latest reports of heart inflammation discovered after Covid-19 vaccination, though a link to the vaccine has not been proven.
The boys, aged 14 to 19, received Pfizer shots in April or May and developed chest pain within a few days. Heart imaging tests showed a type of heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis.
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None were critically ill. All were healthy enough to be sent home after two to six days in the hospital and are doing doing pretty well, said Preeti Jaggi, an Emory University infectious disease specialist who co-authored the report.
She said more follow-up is needed to determine how the seven fare but that its likely the heart changes were temporary.
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Only one of the seven boys in the Pediatrics report had evidence of a possible previous Covid-19 infection and doctors determined none of them had a rare inflammatory condition linked with the coronavirus.
The cases echo reports from Israel in young men diagnosed after receiving Pfizer shots.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventionalerteddoctors last month that it was monitoring a small number of reports of heart inflammation in teens and young adults after the mRNA vaccines, the kind made by Pfizer and Moderna.
The CDC hasnt determined if theres really a link to the shots, and continues to urge that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against Covid-19, which is far riskier than the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is available to those as young as 12; the Moderna shot remains cleared only for adult use.
This kind of heart inflammation can be caused by a variety of infections, including a bout of Covid-19, as well as certain medications and there have been rare reports following other types of vaccinations.
Authorities will have to tease out whether cases following Covid-19 vaccination are occurring more often than that expected background rate.
For now, the CDC says most patients were male, reported symptoms after the second dose, and their symptoms rapidly improved.
I think were in the waiting period where we need to see whether this is cause-and-effect or not, said John Grabenstein of the Immunization Action Coalition, a former director of the Defense Departments immunization program.
A Pediatrics editorial noted that among U.S. children under age 18, there have been over 4 million Covid-19 cases, more than 15,000 hospitalizations and at least 300 deaths.
The CDC on Friday reported that Covid-19-related hospitalizations of kids aged 12 to 17 fell early this year but rose again in March and April. Possible reasons include the spread of new virus variants, more kids going back to school, or the relaxing of mask and social distancing rules, agency researchers said.
While infected kids are less likely to become critically ill than adults, the CDC data on about 200 hospitalizations from 14 states show that one-third were treated in intensive care units. The report had no mention of any heart involvement.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the hospitalizations raise concerns and urged parents to get their kids vaccinated.
Vaccination is our way out of this pandemic, she said in a statement.
The Pediatrics editorial said the heart inflammation cases warrant more investigation but added that the benefits of vaccination against this deadly and highly transmissible disease clearly far outweigh any potential risks.
Editorial co-author Yvonne Maldonado, head of an American Academy of Pediatrics infectious diseases committee, is involved in Pfizer vaccine studies, including a Covid-19 vaccine study in children.
Lindsey Tanner and Lauran Neergaard
Top Stories
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) All of Oregon's publicly funded universities will now require the COVID-19 vaccination for returning students. The final two universities to announce the decision were the Oregon Institute of Technology and Eastern Oregon University.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that all the schools will have a process for students to get legal exemptions.
Students who attend class fully online and who dont engage in any on-campus activities will not be required to be vaccinated.
OIT made its announcement Wednesday afternoon, and EOU followed on Thursday.
EOU President Tom Inkso said during a board meeting in May that many students and faculty were split on the decision to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. In a survey, the majority of faculty at EOU were in favor of a vaccine mandate, while the majority of students were against one.
Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/oregon-coronavirus-pandemic-health-coronavirus-vaccine-4ba1ea48f3f111e0869248b4716705a3
Coronavirus / Education / News / Oregon-Northwest
Francis Collins:
You know, I think it was a confusing time back then, Judy.
First, let me say I do think we need to get answers here. An investigation is very much needed.
What was happening, though, back in February and March of 2020 were, a number of different theories were being floated. One that was particularly prominent was the idea that this vaccine I mean sorry this virus was actually engineered intentionally, that it was a product of bioweapon manufacture.
That, when you looked at the actual letters of the code of this virus, was not tenable. And there's a paper published about that in "Nature Medicine" by Kristian Andersen and others that I got very engaged in reviewing.
So, unfortunately, that particular conspiracy didn't seem supportable. And so the idea that it was, on the other hand, a lab accident, where they were studying this virus, which maybe did occur in nature, but it got loose in the lab, that theory didn't get nearly as much attention perhaps as it should have.
I will tell you, it was always on my mind. I know it was on Tony Fauci's mind. But none of us ran to the microphone to say, we need to worry about the fact this could have been a lab leak.
It at the present time, we have no more data or less data to support that. Suddenly, it's emerged in a lot of people's minds as, oh, that's the leading explanation.
I don't know how to say that. I still think a natural origin is the most likely explanation of how SARS-CoV-2 came to be.
Health authorities are trying to determine whether heart inflammation that can occur along with many types of infections could also be a rare side effect in teens and young adults after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
An article on seven U.S. teen boys in several states, published online Friday in Pediatrics, is among the latest reports of heart inflammation discovered after COVID-19 vaccination, though a link to the vaccine has not been proven.
The boys, aged 14 to 19, received Pfizer shots in April or May and developed chest pain within a few days. Heart imaging tests showed a type of heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis.
None were critically ill. All were healthy enough to be sent home after two to six days in the hospital and are doing doing pretty well, said Dr. Preeti Jaggi, an Emory University infectious disease specialist who co-authored the report.
She said more follow-up is needed to determine how the seven fare but that its likely the heart changes were temporary.
Only one of the seven boys in the Pediatrics report had evidence of a possible previous COVID-19 infection and doctors determined none of them had a rare inflammatory condition linked with the coronavirus.
The cases echo reports from Israel in young men diagnosed after receiving Pfizer PFE, +0.46% shots.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors last month that it was monitoring a small number of reports of heart inflammation in teens and young adults after the mRNA vaccines, the kind made by Pfizer and Moderna MRNA, +5.56%.
The CDC hasnt determined if theres really a link to the shots, and continues to urge that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, which is far riskier than the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is available to those as young as 12; the Moderna shot remains cleared only for adult use.
This kind of heart inflammation can be caused by a variety of infections, including a bout of COVID-19, as well as certain medications and there have been rare reports following other types of vaccinations.
Authorities will have to tease out whether cases following COVID-19 vaccination are occurring more often than that expected background rate.
For now, the CDC says most patients were male, reported symptoms after the second dose, and their symptoms rapidly improved.
I think were in the waiting period where we need to see whether this is cause-and-effect or not, said John Grabenstein of the Immunization Action Coalition, a former director of the Defense Departments immunization program.
A Pediatrics editorial noted that among U.S. children under age 18, there have been over 4 million COVID-19 cases, more than 15,000 hospitalizations and at least 300 deaths.
It said the heart inflammation cases warrant more investigation but added that the benefits of vaccination against this deadly and highly transmissible disease clearly far outweigh any potential risks.
Editorial co-author Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, head of an American Academy of Pediatrics infectious diseases committee, is involved in Pfizer vaccine studies, including a COVID-19 vaccine study in children.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Baltimoreans are going to have to keep wearing face masks indoors through at least the middle of the summer.|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland's latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||Mayor Brandon Scott on Friday announced more than 55% of city's adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine -- that's a 1% gain in the span of one week -- about 4,400 additional doses administered."We are making steady progress toward our goal of 65% of the adult vaccination before the health commissioner lifts the mask requirement for indoor spaces," Scott said.Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said the city will keep its indoor mask order in place until at least 65% of adults have received at least one or the single-dose vaccine."Reaching our 65% benchmark to lift the indoor mask mandate, as well as a longer term goal of 80% of all residents being vaccinated by early 2022, means that we need to acknowledge the difference between earlier vaccination efforts and where we are today," Dzirasa said. "There are more transmissible variants and we're keenly aware of the possibility of a fall or winter surge of coronavirus cases if we don't reach a majority of the city's residents with vaccines. This summer is the time to get vaccinated."If the city continues at its current pace of vaccinations, Dzirasa said she estimates it could be mid-July when the city reaches its goal."We're happy that people are getting vaccinated. We want more folks to get vaccinated, and I think that's clear," Scott said. "We are taking the vaccine to those communities, working with people so that we're eliminating every excuse to allow people to get vaccinated."Watch the mayor's news conference in its entirety:And Baltimore City is not alone, according to Dr. Bill Moss, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health's International Vaccine Access Center."The pace of vaccination in the United States has decreased," Moss said.Moss said the pace is slowing down as mass vaccination sites close and mobile clinics take over, racing to reach the vaccine benchmarks from City Halls 65% to President Joe Biden's 70% by July 4."That is an arbitrary benchmark. It doesn't have biological significance, but it's an important one," Moss said.Dzirasa said the city will continue to launch pop-up and mobile vaccination sites through the summer."The pop-up and mobile sites planned for the summer will see our success measured in the hundreds and thousands per week, and less so in the ten-thousands," Dzirasa said. The mayor said the city is focused on getting the vaccine to homebound and vulnerable populations.There were no clear plans detailed Friday by city leaders to boost the number or frequency of mobile clinics and pop-up sites, but they did announce the city's large-scale vaccination clinic at Baltimore City Community College is closing.
Baltimoreans are going to have to keep wearing face masks indoors through at least the middle of the summer.
|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland's latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||
Mayor Brandon Scott on Friday announced more than 55% of city's adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine -- that's a 1% gain in the span of one week -- about 4,400 additional doses administered.
"We are making steady progress toward our goal of 65% of the adult vaccination before the health commissioner lifts the mask requirement for indoor spaces," Scott said.
Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said the city will keep its indoor mask order in place until at least 65% of adults have received at least one or the single-dose vaccine.
"Reaching our 65% benchmark to lift the indoor mask mandate, as well as a longer term goal of 80% of all residents being vaccinated by early 2022, means that we need to acknowledge the difference between earlier vaccination efforts and where we are today," Dzirasa said. "There are more transmissible variants and we're keenly aware of the possibility of a fall or winter surge of coronavirus cases if we don't reach a majority of the city's residents with vaccines. This summer is the time to get vaccinated."
If the city continues at its current pace of vaccinations, Dzirasa said she estimates it could be mid-July when the city reaches its goal.
"We're happy that people are getting vaccinated. We want more folks to get vaccinated, and I think that's clear," Scott said. "We are taking the vaccine to those communities, working with people so that we're eliminating every excuse to allow people to get vaccinated."
Watch the mayor's news conference in its entirety:
And Baltimore City is not alone, according to Dr. Bill Moss, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health's International Vaccine Access Center.
"The pace of vaccination in the United States has decreased," Moss said.
Moss said the pace is slowing down as mass vaccination sites close and mobile clinics take over, racing to reach the vaccine benchmarks from City Halls 65% to President Joe Biden's 70% by July 4.
"That is an arbitrary benchmark. It doesn't have biological significance, but it's an important one," Moss said.
Dzirasa said the city will continue to launch pop-up and mobile vaccination sites through the summer.
"The pop-up and mobile sites planned for the summer will see our success measured in the hundreds and thousands per week, and less so in the ten-thousands," Dzirasa said.
The mayor said the city is focused on getting the vaccine to homebound and vulnerable populations.
There were no clear plans detailed Friday by city leaders to boost the number or frequency of mobile clinics and pop-up sites, but they did announce the city's large-scale vaccination clinic at Baltimore City Community College is closing.
