A district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for its vaccinated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local Covid-19 vaccination drive.
From next month, one lucky vaccinated villager in the Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province will be randomly chosen every week to win a young cow worth about 10,000 baht ($318.78).
The campaign, set to run for 24 weeks, has been met with enthusiasm in the town of 43,000 since it was announced earlier this week.
Our vaccine registration numbers have gone from hundreds to thousands in a couple of days, district chief Boonlue Thamtharanurak told Reuters.
The villagers love cows. Cows can be sold for cash.
More than 4,000 people in priority groups, including those over 60 years old and those with pre-existing conditions, have already registered for their shots, Boonlue said.
The town will start vaccinations on June 7, in line with the governments national rollout.
Other provinces in Thailand have also come up with creative incentives to boost registration, such as gold necklace giveaways, store discount coupons, or cash handouts.
At least 1.64 million of Thailands 66 million population have already received their first doses and more than 7 million have registered so far.
The Southeast Asian country has been hit by its biggest coronavirus outbreak so far, with the majority of its 119,585 cases and 703 deaths recorded in the past two months.
Imagine that it is 2023 or 2025, and protection from our COVID-19 vaccines is starting to wane or mutant virus strains are evading the vaccines. Can we realistically expect the entire populace to line up again in stadiums and parking lots to get a shot?
The rapid development of effective vaccines has been worthy of celebration. But were now facing a major practical question: How long will the vaccines work and can the immunity provided so far defend against new viral variants? The answer will depend on the quality of immune memory that the vaccines can produce.
Immune memory, our remembrance of germs past, is how we are protected after vaccines or natural infection. Humans develop immune memory in two primary ways: through antibodies and T-cells. Either can play the key role in protection, depending on the infectious agent, and their relative importance is still debated by immunologists. Antibodies in the bloodstream are a first line of defense against viruses and are easy to measure, so these have typically been the focus of vaccine development. But memory T-cells provide our most multifaceted and durable protection against intracellular infections like viruses.
Once a virus gets into our cells, its too late for antibodies to help. T-cells are then required to destroy the virus-infected cells and prevent serious disease or spread of the virus. Memory T-cells remember an encounter with a particular pathogen and produce a rapid response to fight the infection upon re-exposure to that pathogen.
T-cells play many other roles. They are also intimately involved in generating successful long-term antibody memory. Indeed, our most effective long-term vaccines, such as smallpox or yellow fever vaccines, have potent long-term T-cell memory in addition to persistent antibodies. Smallpox-specific T-cells are still present 75 years after vaccination!
Research on previous coronavirus outbreaks found that T-cells reactive to the virus lasted much longer and were probably more important than antibodies. After the SARS outbreak in 2002-03, no survivors had antibodies after six years whereas everybody tested had memory T-cells after 17 years. For COVID-19, antibodies also seem to wane relatively quickly.
In COVID-19, the early presence of memory T-cells that detect the coronavirus is associated with early control of infection while a robust antibody response is correlated with more severe disease. T-cell response is also more sensitive than antibody response. People who are exposed to the virus but do not develop symptoms often have reactive T-cells with no detectable antibodies.
There is another potential problem with relying on antibodies to defend against coronavirus infections, besides their short duration. Antibodies from todays vaccines selectively target a surface protein on the coronavirus, called the spike protein. But the spike is subject to mutation, which may allow it to evade antibodies. In both the first SARS and in COVID-19, the spike protein has developed many mutations and some reduce the effectiveness of natural antibodies at neutralizing the virus.
Although the prevalent current variants have not yet evaded vaccine-induced antibodies, they could. This is a prime cause for concern. Memory T-cells, in contrast, broadly attack many components of viral proteins, providing a stronger defense against disease, at least after natural infections.
Vaccines that lead to long-lived immune memory will almost certainly need to induce T-cells. Do mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) or adenovirus-vectored vaccines (Johnson & Johnson) turn on T-cells as effectively as the classic weakened live-virus vaccines like yellow fever or smallpox vaccines? We dont know. The Pfizer vaccine, for example, does generate virus-reactive T-cells but their duration and breadth against the virus are not yet known.
The journey to long-term antibody memory is also complicated. The cells that make antibodies (B-cells) undergo rapid mutations in the body in order to produce antibodies that are better able to bind to viruses or other pathogens. This happens over and over the only example of genetic evolution in our individual bodies until the final surviving memory B-cells produce very potent antibodies.
This evolutionary process requires that some viral proteins linger in the body. Recent research shows that viral proteins are visible in our intestinal cells six to nine months after natural COVID-19 infection, which allows evolution of more potent antibodies over time. But will an mRNA vaccine leave viral proteins in the body for many months? This is not known, but seems unlikely. Different vaccine technologies may result in different persistence and potency of memory for T-cells, memory B-cells and antibodies. Accordingly, the effect of current vaccines on B-cell and antibody memory is also still uncertain.
Our challenges today are clear. We need vaccines that are long-lived and employ all the protective capabilities of our immune system to overcome viral variants. T-cells are important because they play a different, additive role to antibodies in immune protection. Technologies now exist to predict early on whether protective immunity from T-cells after a vaccine will be durable, broad and high quality. These tools should be used to compare vaccines.
Many questions about immune memory and the coronavirus need to be answered by more research. Do different vaccine technologies or routes of administration (intramuscular or aerosolized, for example) affect persistence and potency of memory T-cells and antibodies? Can we tweak immune memory by adding materials (called adjuvants) that stimulate the bodys response or by targeting more than one part of the spike protein, to reduce the likelihood that variants will evade an immune response? Does measuring memory T-cells better reflect immune protection than antibodies in the blood? And is immune memory different in high-risk groups including people with diabetes, heart disease or older age?
This is only the end of the beginning for COVID-19. Harnessing the full repertoire of the bodys capacity to remember viral invaders through a vaccine that is long-lasting and effective against inevitable new variants is our best hope to defeat this disease. This has to be the goal of the next phase of vaccine development.
Marc Hellerstein is a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at UC Berkeley and in the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco.
Heres what you need to know:Video
transcript
transcript
Lets get back to life. This shutdown has caused all sorts of damage, damage that were not even aware of. Everybody points to the economic damage, and thats certain. Businesses closed, people lost their jobs, but theres all sorts of other damage that people are not yet understanding, I believe. What did it mean to keep children out of a school, out of school for a year? Effective this Wednesday, were going to adopt the C.D.C.s new guidance and regulations on masks and social distancing for vaccinated people. By the C.D.C. guidance, immunocompromised people, unvaccinated people should continue to wear a mask and social distance. But if you are vaccinated, you are safe. No masks, no social distancing. Were also going to follow the C.D.C.S guidelines that you will still need to wear a mask on public transportation, the subways, the buses, nursing homes, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, schools and health care facilities.
The governors of New York and New Jersey, both Democrats, took major steps on Monday toward fully reopening their states.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that New York will lift several mask requirements beginning Wednesday, and Gov. Philip D. Murphy said that New Jerseys public school students will no longer have the option to learn remotely starting in September. But Mr. Murphy said in recent days that his state is not lifting his indoor mask mandate for vaccinated residents.
I dont want to get burned, he said at a news conference on Monday. I dont want to go back.
Mr. Cuomos announcement was in accordance with the new guidance for vaccinated people that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week. No masks, no social distancing, he said of the policy that will go into effect for vaccinated people on Wednesday.
Masks will still be required in nursing homes, schools, health care facilities and on public transit. Unvaccinated people should continue to wear a mask, he said in a news conference at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan.
The move dovetails with the previously scheduled lifting of most capacity restrictions statewide at offices, museums, restaurants and stores on Wednesday. It was significant, however, given the longstanding restrictions imposed on one of the hardest hit cities in the United States. Illinois, Massachusetts and Ohio are among the states that are taking a similar approach to New York. On Monday, however, California said that it is keeping its rule to wear masks in all indoor settings outside of home for four weeks, until June 15.
In addition, New York Citys subway system returned to 24-hour service on Monday. There has been more than one year of overnight closings during the coronavirus pandemic to provide more time to clean and disinfect trains, stations and equipment. It was the longest planned shutdown since the subway opened in 1904.
As of Monday, 52 percent of New Yorkers had received at least one vaccine dose and 43 percent were fully inoculated.
Those in the most crowded public settings must continue to wear masks, Mr. Cuomo said, referring to students at school, public transit passengers and people in homeless shelters.
In New Jersey, some of the largest school districts have not yet reopened to all students, and many families continue to keep their children home.
New Jersey has recorded 1,263 cases of in-school transmission of the virus since schools began to reopen in September, according to the New Jersey Health Department. Less than 1 percent of the states K-12 students and teachers had a coronavirus case linked to in-school transmission, while the positivity rate among the general population was 11 percent.
New York is hosting upcoming N.B.A. playoff games inside Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where at least 50 percent of seating will be for vaccinated people, Mr. Cuomo said. Masks and social distancing will be required in the section for unvaccinated fans.
Mr. Cuomo said that the Tribeca Festival would return next month and its final night would be held at Radio City Music Hall with full capacity for vaccinated filmgoers and no masks required. The New York City Marathon will return in November at 60 percent capacity, or about 33,000 runners.
The guidance the C.D.C. issued on Thursday said that it was no longer necessary for fully vaccinated people to mask or maintain social distance in many settings. The change set off public confusion and drew objections from some local officials and labor unions, including the countrys largest union of registered nurses. A number of major U.S. retailers have already lifted mask requirements, essentially turning to an honor system that relies on unvaccinated people to keep their masks on in public.
Businesses in New York can still set individual policies and some will require masks. They do not have to do vaccination checks.
They can check, they can ask at the door, they can ask when you are seated at the table, or not, Mr. Cuomo said. There is no mandatory compliance the state is imposing on the private vendors.
The states health department is keeping its recommendation to wear masks indoors where the vaccination status of nearby people is not known. It applies to retail stores, food services, offices, gyms and fitness centers, amusement and family entertainment, hair salons, barber shops and other personal services, among others.
On Monday, CVS and Target said they would no longer require fully vaccinated shoppers to wear masks, except where its required by local laws.
Bryan Pietsch contributed reporting.
transcript
transcript
We need to help fight the disease around the world to keep us safe here at home, and to do the right thing of helping other people. Its the right thing to do. Its the smart thing to do. Its the strong thing to do. In March, we shared over four million doses of our AstraZeneca vaccine with Canada and Mexico. At the end of April, we announced that we would provide another 60 million doses of our AstraZeneca vaccine overseas. Remember, this is the vaccine thats not authorized for use in the United States yet. So were going to be sending it to folks once the F.D.A.s reviewed this, and said its safe. This is all the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the United States all of it will be sent to other countries. And today Im announcing they will also share U.S.-authorized vaccine doses of Pfizer and Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson, as they become available with the rest of the world as well. These are vaccinations and vaccines that are authorized to be put in arms of Americans and by the end of June, when we will have taken delivery of enough of such vaccines to protect everyone in the United States, the United States will share at least 20 million of those doses, that extra supply, with other countries. This means over the next six weeks, the United States of America will send 80 million doses overseas. Just as in World War II, America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against Covid-19 pandemic, our nation is going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world. Well share these vaccines in the service of ending the pandemic everywhere, and we will not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries. Well work with Covax, the international organization set up, and other partners to ensure that the vaccines are delivered in a way that is equitable and follows the science and the public health data.
President Biden, heeding widespread calls to step up his response to the pandemics surge abroad, said on Monday that his administration would send 20 million doses of federally authorized coronavirus vaccine overseas in June the first time he has pledged to give away doses that could be used in the United States.
The donation is another step toward what Mr. Biden promised would be an entirely new effort to increase vaccine supplies and vastly expand manufacturing capacity, most of it in the United States. He also put Jeffrey Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, in charge of developing a global strategy.
We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic thats raging globally is under control, Mr. Biden said in a brief appearance at the White House. No oceans wide enough, no walls high enough, to keep us safe.
With new cases and deaths plummeting as vaccination rates rise in the United States, the epicenter of the crisis has moved to India and other nations. A growing and bipartisan chorus of diplomats, health experts and business leaders has been pushing the president to do more to end what the AIDS activist Asia Russell calls vaccine apartheid.
Mr. Biden said on Monday that 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines all approved for domestic use would be sent abroad. That is in addition to the 60 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine he pledged last month, though those doses are not approved for domestic use and cannot be released until regulators deem them safe.
Hes crossed the threshold into direct donations, said J. Stephen Morrison, a global health expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which teamed up with three other health institutes on Monday to release a plan to ramp up vaccine supply. Thats an important shift.
International health activists want far more.
Donating 80 million doses of vaccines without a plan to scale up production worldwide is like putting a Band-Aid on a machete wound, said Gregg Gonsalves, a longtime AIDS activist.
Those 80 million doses amounted to five times the number that any other country had donated, Mr. Biden said, noting that taking the lead in helping the world beat back the coronavirus was a chance to reassert American authority. And unlike Russia and China, which have sought to use their vaccines as an instrument of diplomacy, the United States will not expect any favors in return, the president said.
We want to lead the world with our values, with this demonstration of our innovation and ingenuity, and the fundamental decency of the American people, Mr. Biden said. Just as in World War II America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic our nations going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world.
Mr. Bidens announcement came not long after a World Health Organization news conference at which the director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that countries with high vaccination rates had to do more to help countries that were being hit hard by the coronavirus, or the entire world would be imperiled.
A growing and bipartisan chorus of foreign policy experts, diplomats, global health advocates and prominent business leaders are pushing President Biden to take a more aggressive stance in combating the international coronavirus pandemic by scaling up vaccine manufacturing and exporting surplus doses.
In two open letters to the president, one released last week and the other early Monday, a string of prominent names urged Mr. Biden to do more.
The first letter came from top executives including Suzanne Clark, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; former ambassadors including John Negroponte, envoy to Iraq and the United Nations under President George W. Bush; and a former defense secretary, William Cohen, who served President Bill Clinton.
The world has come to rely upon U.S. leadership at times of great strife, Ms. Clark, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Negroponte and the others wrote, adding: Today we have a generational opportunity to mobilize vaccine efforts around the world. Our friends and allies will not forget easily if we sit on surplus stockpiles of the most proven vaccines as their citizens suffer and die.
The second letter, organized by four global health institutes and signed by experts including Mark McClellan, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner under Mr. Bush, called on Mr. Biden to, among other things, name a global coronavirus coordinator and commit to sharing Covid-19 vaccine doses immediately.
Mr. Biden has promised he would restore America as a leader in global health, and the letters indicate that a broad array of leaders in multiple sectors believe he has not gone far enough.
The Biden administration has already committed $4 billion to Covax, the effort by the World Health Organization to get vaccines into the arms of people in disadvantaged nations; pledged to work with Australia, India and Japan to bolster global vaccine supply; and has said it would send 60 million doses of the American supply of AstraZeneca vaccine for global deployment.
On Monday Mr. Biden announced that the U.S. would send an additional 20 million doses of authorized vaccines abroad in June.
We need to help fight the disease around the world to keep us safe here at home, Mr. Biden said.
Those 80 million doses amounted to five times the number that any other country had donated, Mr. Biden said, noting that taking the lead in helping the world beat back the coronavirus was a chance to reassert American authority.
We want to lead the world with our values, with this demonstration of our innovation and ingenuity and the fundamental decency of the American people, Mr. Biden said. Just as in World War II America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic our nations going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world.
To further broaden global supply, Mr. Biden recently announced he would support waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.
But J. Stephen Morrison, a global health expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who helped organize Mondays letter, said suspending intellectual property rights would not help without White House leadership. The world is now in great need of high-level engagement that up to now has been conspicuously absent, his letter said.
The pharmaceutical industry opposes waiving the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as TRIPS, and the letter from the business leaders and ambassadors argued that such a waiver would make little difference and could do harm.
Global health activists, who are strongly in favor of the waiver, said they nonetheless welcomed the business approach. They see clear parallels to their work fighting the global AIDS epidemic.
It shows an unprecedented willingness of pharma and its allies in the private sector to admit what all of us having been saying for months, the private sector alone cannot and will not ensure global vaccine access, James Krellenstein, a founder of PrEP4All, a nonprofit aimed at ensuring universal access to H.I.V. prevention and treatment, wrote in an email message.
It really shifts the burden to the Biden administration, Mr. Krellenstein wrote, adding, When will they act?
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the second-in-command at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the last six years, is leaving the agency, the second time this month that a top official has abruptly announced plans to depart.
Dr. Schuchat, a low-key career C.D.C. scientist, joined the agency as a young epidemiologist in 1988 and eventually helped lead its responses to a number of public health emergencies, including the anthrax attacks of 2001 and the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. Deeply respected within the agency, she nonetheless was criticized along with other top officials there at times last year for not pushing back harder at least publicly against pressure from the Trump White House to downplay the coronavirus pandemic.
News of her departure, first reported by Politico, comes as the C.D.C. is facing fresh scrutiny for advising last week that fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks in most settings. Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the C.D.C.s new director, said the guidance was based on research showing that few vaccinated people become infected with or transmit the coronavirus, and that the vaccines appear to be effective against all known variants of the virus.
But the new guidance has caused widespread confusion, as well as concern about whether unvaccinated people would continue wearing masks when no proof of immunization is required.
Dr. Walensky said in a statement that Dr. Schuchat, the C.D.C.s principal deputy director, would leave this summer. I have enormous gratitude for Dr. Schuchats leadership and contributions over three decades, and during this very challenging period for our country, the statement said. I am especially thankful for her invaluable counsel, assistance and support in my transition into this role.
I will remain forever grateful that our paths crossed, even for just a short while, she added.
The announcement came less than two weeks after another top C.D.C. official, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, resigned after many years and roles at the agency, including as its initial lead in responding to the coronavirus.
But while Dr. Messonnier, 55, left to take a job as an executive director at the Skoll Foundation, a philanthropic organization in Palo Alto, Calif., Dr. Schuchat, 61, said she is retiring.
One longtime C.D.C. official, who requested anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said that Dr. Schuchats resignation did not immediately appear to result from any internal disagreement and that she seemed ready after 33 years to step back. But the announcement came as a surprise to many who work there.
In a statement of her own on Monday, Dr. Schuchat who was reported to be the model for Kate Winslets disease detective character in the 2011 movie Contagion said she would be leaving for a retirement that I hope will allow more time for creative passions.
I will be leaving with the greatest respect and confidence in C.D.C.s leadership and staff, and the important work we do, Dr. Schuchat said. I could not be more optimistic about the future of our agency and the prospects for our public health system.
States in the U.S. Northeast, after experiencing spikes in coronavirus infections earlier this year, are reporting significant drops in cases and hospitalizations.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have all reported many fewer cases in recent weeks as more people receive vaccinations. New York and New Jersey have also seen steady declines in cases after struggling to contain the virus earlier this spring.
Reported cases across the United States reached a high in January, and then, as vaccinations accelerated, fell through February and most of March. A much smaller overall surge peaked in mid-April, but has dropped about 32 percent over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Hospitalizations and deaths are also ticking down, even as the pace of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks.
In Rhode Island, confirmed cases have dropped 48 percent and hospitalizations have dropped 23 percent in the past two weeks. State officials attribute the fall in cases to increased vaccinations.
Its the vaccinations, Gov. Daniel McKee of Rhode Island said, adding that the vaccinations are really our focus right now.
The state announced on Friday that it would adopt the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions new guidelines eliminating most mask requirements for fully vaccinated people starting on Tuesday. Although Mr. McKee expressed concerns that unvaccinated people might stop wearing masks too, he said he hoped the C.D.C.s new guidance would encourage more people to get vaccinated and that it was not a pass for people who have not been vaccinated.
State officials are still worried about the threat of more contagious variants of the virus, he said. And even though Rhode Islands vaccination campaign is ahead of most states, Mr. McKee said that convincing people who were hesitant was still a challenge. About 57 percent of Rhode Islands population has received at least one dose, and 46 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to a New York Times vaccine tracker.
In Pennsylvania, reported cases have dropped 44 percent and hospitalizations have dropped 28 percent in the past two weeks. Cases in the state started to rise in mid-March and continued to climb for weeks before reversing course in late April.
Alison Beam, Pennsylvanias acting secretary of health, said the states vaccination effort had made great strides, which had led to the decreases. About 55 percent of the states population has received at least one shot, and 39 percent have been fully inoculated.
One of our greatest hesitancy strategies is making it really convenient for folks and weve been able to do that by spreading out the vaccine to more of our provider networks more recently because the supply has increased as well, Ms. Beam said.
With the pace of vaccinations falling, the Biden administration has been focused on door-to-door and person-by-person efforts. The Department of Health and Human Services recently started a Covid-19 community corps, a loose group of volunteers, corporations, advocacy groups and local organizations working to vaccinate Americans who may prefer to get their shots by or around people they know.
Ms. Beam cautioned, however, that coronavirus testing had also decreased in the state and she urged people to continue getting tested if they showed symptoms.
Although reported cases are continuing to drop nationwide, public health experts warn that the United States will have to continue aggressively vaccinating its population over the next few months. It is possible that the virus could surge again more widely in fall and winter, when viruses like the flu are typically dominant.
That would be a terrible shame because that will include serious cases and deaths, and thats preventable, said Dr. Sten Vermund, the dean of the Yale School of Public Health.
Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical company, said on Monday that it would move the experimental Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with GlaxoSmithKline into a late-stage trial after the shot produced strong immune responses in volunteers in a midstage study.
The findings are encouraging for a vaccine that has fallen behind in development and has so far disappointed those expecting that it would be crucial in combating the pandemic. If the vaccine can become available in the last three months of this year, as its developers hope, it could still play a central role as a booster shot as well as an initial inoculation in the developing world, where the pace of vaccination is lagging.
The vaccine hit a major setback in December, when its developers announced that it did not appear to work well in older adults and that they would have to delay plans to test it in a Phase 3 trial, the crucial test that will assess the vaccines effectiveness.
But the companies modified the vaccine and in February began testing it in a Phase 2 study that included more than 700 volunteers in the United States and Honduras between 18 and 95 years old. Sanofi said the vaccine did not raise any safety concerns and produced a strong immune response across age groups, a finding suggesting it has been successfully tweaked.
Sanofi announced the findings in a statement and said it plans to soon publish the results in a medical journal.
Sanofi and GSK are much more experienced in vaccine development than a number of their rivals that have already won authorization. The two companies used a more established approach than those deployed in other, more swiftly developed Covid vaccines. Their shot is based on viral proteins produced with engineered viruses that grow inside insect cells. GSK is supplying the Sanofi vaccine with an adjuvant, an ingredient used in many vaccines meant to boost the immune response.
Sanofi and GSKs vaccine was one of six selected for funding from Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administrations effort to accelerate vaccine development. Last summer, the federal government agreed to give the companies $2.1 billion to develop and manufacture the vaccine, in exchange for 100 million doses once the shot was ready.
Sanofi also has supply deals with the European Union and Canada. It has also agreed to supply 200 million doses to Covax, the program to deliver vaccines to middle- and lower-income countries that has been struggling with a shortfall in expected doses. Sanofi has also announced plans to help manufacture the authorized vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Sanofi said its Phase 3 trial of its vaccine would begin in the coming weeks and enroll more than 35,000 adult volunteers around the world. It will test two formulations of the vaccine, one aimed at preventing the original strain of the virus and the other aimed at the B.1.351 variant first seen in South Africa that some vaccines appear to be less effective against.
Su-Peing Ng, Sanofis global head of medical for vaccines, told journalists on Monday that the company expected it to be operationally quite challenging to enroll unvaccinated participants in the Phase 3 trial as vaccination coverage increases in many nations. Still, she said, vaccine doses were still scarce in many parts of the world, pointing to Latin America and Asia as places where the company may look to enroll volunteers.
The company said that soon after starting the Phase 3 trial it planned to assess whether its vaccine could boost immune responses in people who had been vaccinated months before with authorized vaccines. Those booster studies are expected to enroll volunteers in well-vaccinated parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.
Sanofi and GSK said last year they were preparing to be able to make 1 billion doses annually. Thomas Triomphe, Sanofis global head of vaccines, said on Monday that the companys production this year, if its vaccine were shown to work, would depend on the worlds needs.
The vaccine, he said, has potential to be a booster of choice for many nations and many different platforms.
CAPE TOWN Facing a resurgent coronavirus and plagued by delays with vaccine supply, South Africa began the second phase of its public vaccination campaign on Monday, opening appointments for people aged 60 or older.
Only about 500,000 people in the country have been vaccinated to date, and most doses have gone to health care workers in a trial involving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. South Africa is aiming to open vaccinations for people aged 40 or older in July, followed by the rest of the adult population in November.
South Africa has obtained nearly a million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and anticipates receiving around 4.5 million doses by the end of June.
The country has also ordered 3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but only plans to begin using these in the public rollout following a verification process by international regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Its going to change my life, said Zola Bisholo, who was hospitalized with Covid-19 in January, after receiving her first shot of the Pfizer vaccine at a government hospital in the Cape Town suburb of Brooklyn.
With more than 55,000 deaths and some 1.6 million confirmed cases, South Africa has been hit harder by the pandemic than any other nation in Africa. Its most recent wave of infections, in December and January, was driven by a more contagious virus variant, known as B.1.351.
The government has set a goal to vaccinate 5 million people by the end of June, South Africas health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said Sunday. Just over 4,000 people were scheduled to receive vaccines on Monday.
The expanded eligibility comes at a critical phase: South Africa is experiencing a sustained rise in cases, and officials have warned of a third wave in the coming weeks, as the southern hemisphere heads into winter.
If theres one take-home message for the general public about the coronavirus vaccines approved in the U.S., its that they are remarkably effective.
MSU Assistant Professor Morteza Mahmoudi
But Michigan State Universitys Morteza Mahmoudi is raising awareness about an important subtlety: The vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech appear to work slightly better for males than for females.
Both vaccines use tiny orbs, or nanoparticles, to deliver their active ingredients to cells in our immune systems. For years, Mahmoudi has been studying how and why nanomedicines therapies that use nanoparticles can affect patients differently based on their sex and he believes this could be a factor with the vaccines.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has also drawn attention to sex differences because its rare blood-clotting side effect has affected predominantly female recipients. The J&J vaccine, however, uses modified adenoviruses rather than nanoparticles to help teach our immune systems to fight off the coronavirus. That said, Mahmoudi has shown in earlier work that viruses can transfect the cells of males and females differently.
Now, hes focusing on the nanomedicine component. Hes published three peer-reviewed papers calling attention to the role of sex in nanomedicine studies, both in general and as they relate to coronavirus vaccines.
We need to monitor these sex differences and report them to the scientific community and the public, said Mahmoudi, an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and the Precision Health Program. It can be very helpful in developing future strategies and as we prepare for future threats.
To develop those future strategies, researchers must better understand what causes patients of different sexes to respond differently to nanomedicines, Mahmoudi said. To that end, Mahmoudi is advocating for systemic changes in how nanoparticles are used and studied in medicine with an article published May 20in the journal Nature Communications.
In the article, he outlines four large challenges in researching the role of sex in nanomedicine performance along with strategies to mitigate them moving forward.
For example, researchers may not have sufficient resources to perform their studies in cells or other samples taken from males and females. Yet these researchers and others may still interpret their results as being equally applicable to all sexes. To prevent this from happening, Mahmoudi is calling for researchers to be more transparent and share sex-specific limitations of studies and conclusions.
We need to be more careful about the science that gets out, Mahmoudi said. Weve witnessed that there has not been a robust consideration of sex in nanomedicine, but we need to consider sex because it is important.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, most of the research interest and funding in nanomedicine had been focused on its use in treating cancer. But nanomedicines performance in this realm has been lackluster. Less than 15% of nanomedicines that have entered clinical trials made it through the final phase and none have proven to be better than the standard of care, Mahmoudi said.
In addition, he said, when nanomedicines are robustly studied in females, its often because the therapies are being studied in diseases that mainly affect females, such as breast and ovarian cancers.
Our analysis of the 41 completed clinical trial studies of therapeutic nanomedicine products revealed that 21 studies were stratified by sex because they concerned pathologies primarily found in females, Mahmoudi said. Of the remaining 20 studies involving 851 males and 430 females, none provided sex-stratified results or indications.
Mahmoudis team detailed these findings and more in an article published online on May 4 in the journal Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.
Despite their shortcomings in cancer therapies, nanoparticles have been greatly effective in helping provide protection against the novel coronavirus. Yet there is still evidence that the vaccines work differently for males and females.
On the one hand, the vaccines have been really good news for nanomedicine, Mahmoudi said. But we didnt solve the problems that we saw with them in cancer treatments.
To be clear, the differences in vaccine efficacy are small, but they are measurable. In the case of the vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, clinical trials showed it was 95.4% effective at preventing COVID cases for males, compared with 93.1% for females. For the vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech, the numbers are 96.4% for males and 93.7% for females.
Both vaccines use nanoparticles based on lipids, which are fatty molecules that form tiny spheres in water, kind of like bubbles. The pharma companies then pack these tiny lipid-based particles with the vaccines active ingredients and essentially use the nanoparticles as delivery vehicles to ship the vaccines payloads to our immune cells.
Working with researchers at Sapienza University of Rome, Mahmoudi designed an experiment to test whether lipid-based nanoparticles could be a reason behind the difference in vaccine efficacy for males and females. The team published its results on May 13 in the journal Molecular Pharmacology.
The team added lipid-based nanoparticles with similarities to those used in the vaccines to blood samples taken from 18 patients, eight male donors and 10 female donors. The researchers then observed how well or how poorly immune cells within the blood adsorbed those nanoparticles. The team found a significant difference between men and women for one cell type called natural killer cells.
This colorized image shows a closeup of a microscopic natural killer cell. Credit: National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
These cells are responsible for finding other infected cells cells that are producing the virus and they can kill them, said Mahmoudi. What we found is that natural killer cells respond to lipid-based nanoparticles in a sex-specific manner.
Namely, natural killer cells from female donors took up fewer nanoparticles than natural killer cells from male donors. Based on this model system, then, it is plausible that the immune systems of males and females would respond differently to the vaccine.
But Mahmoudi and his colleagues also showed that the difference could be eliminated by first putting the nanoparticles in a donors plasma, the cell-free portion of their blood sample. Mahmoudi believes this is because proteins in the plasma can bind to the lipid-based nanoparticles, giving the nanoparticle a biological coating or corona.
I think of the corona as acting like a new passport for nanoparticles, it tells the cells how to respond to nanoparticles, he said.
What this suggests, then, is that if there are differences in the vaccines performance based on a patients sex, doctors and researchers should be able to do something about it. But theyll need more research and data to fully understand the cause of and remedies to these differences, Mahmoudi said. Thankfully, though, the data available to the community is growing every day.
The clinical trials were performed with tens of thousands of patients. We know that the differences are there and that we need to monitor them, he said. Now we have millions of people getting the vaccines. Thats millions of data points. We need to go out there and get them.
Health officials have pointed out, however, that such successes are largely contingent on getting the United States fully vaccinated as quickly as possible. And right now, the rate of vaccination is slowing.
The average daily pace of coronavirus vaccinations is down almost 50% from its April peak, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Thursday.
Over the past week, about 1.8 million vaccine doses have been administered each day, a 46% drop from the peak rate of nearly 3.4 million per day in mid-April.
One expert told CNN that the health community is worried about what lies ahead. Clusters of unvaccinated people may become infected with Covid-19 as they move indoors to beat the summer heat, particularly in the South, noting that a similar situation happened last year.
"If we have large numbers of unvaccinated people in those states, we may very well see a surge in those states, so I think a lot of us are worried about that," Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday.
Yet the rate of inoculations nationwide is uneven, with some states far outpacing others.
The eight states with the fewest vaccine doses administered per capita are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Georgia and Tennessee, according to the CDC.
The states with the most administered per capita are Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, New Mexico and New Jersey. Washington, DC has a rate of vaccination that would qualify in the top eight if it were a state, according to the CDC.
Good news continues to emerge from places ahead of the national vaccination average. For the first time since March 2020, there are no Covid-19 patients at San Francisco General Hospital, the largest primary care facility in the city, hospital spokesperson Cristina Padilla told CNN.
San Francisco celebrated its one millionth dose of the vaccine this week. As of May 19, 76% of the eligible San Francisco population has been vaccinated, according to the city's department of public health.
"There is no doubt we still have a long road of recovery ahead, and we will tackle each phase with the same dedication and care that we always do," Padilla said.
How some states are fighting vaccine hesitancy
The importance of getting vaccinated was demonstrated in additional CDC data, which showed less than 1,400 hospitalized or fatal Covid-19 cases in fully vaccinated people as of May 10, a minuscule percentage given 115 million people at that time had completed their vaccinations. Only 223 of the severe breakthrough cases were fatal, the CDC said.
With the successes seen in high-vaccinated areas as well as the efficacy of the vaccines, states are pulling out all the stops to get more people on board.
The Washington State Department of Health announced that two of its four Covid-19 mass vaccination sites will close on May 28 and that the focus will be on mobile vaccine clinics for greater outreach.
"This transition isn't closing a door to vaccine opportunity but opening several new ones that will allow for more equitable vaccine access in the future," Washington Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah said in a statement.
New Yorkers who get vaccinated next week from Monday to Friday will be given a lottery ticket with a chance to win as much as $5 million, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who described declining vaccination rates as "troubling news."
Starting on Tuesday, the Maryland Lottery will randomly select a vaccinated Marylander for a $40,000 prize every single day, Gov. Larry Hogan announced.
Those states are following Ohio's example. Gov. Mike DeWine last week was the first state leader to announce lottery drawings in a bid to get more people inoculated, and vaccination rates have since picked up, the Ohio Department of Health said on Thursday.
Ohio will hold five drawings with a prize of $1 million each for people 18 and older, and will hold five drawings for full college scholarships for people under the age of 18 who are vaccinated.
A give-and-take with masks at school
The relaxations of restrictions continued this week, yet the reaction has varied regarding rules for schools.
Rhode Island, with one of the highest rates of vaccinations per capita, announced many reopening measures effective Friday.
"The number of Rhode Islanders fully vaccinated and those with at least one dose -- more than 400,000 Rhode Islanders -- puts the Ocean State in a strong position to reopen safely on May 21, a week earlier than originally planned," Gov. Dan McKee said. Mask requirements at schools and youth sports, however, remained intact and subject to change at a later date.
"Kids thankfully don't get as sick as adults, but kids do get sick. We've seen a lot of hospitalizations and unfortunately even a few deaths in kids from this disease," Jha said.
"We are in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century. We actually have a ticket out," he said. The answer was getting people vaccinated and wearing a mask indoors if you're not vaccinated, he said.
"Let's move on with our lives. And the fact that we're fighting these things is incredibly frustrating, because we're fighting ourselves, not just the virus anymore," Jha said.
Differing expectations for booster timeline
Meanwhile, to combat the threat of variants as well as the general decrease in one's immunity over time, booster shots may be required in the future. But experts are split on if and when that will happen.
People should prepare to have a booster shot within a year, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Thursday.
"We have to see how long the protection lasts. We know it lasts at least six months," Murthy told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, adding that the most important thing right now is for people to get vaccinated and help those around them do the same.
"I really believe that this is our time to rise again, and we're going to do that by getting vaccinated, protecting ourselves and stepping up to protect one another," Murthy said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the timeline for needing a booster shot is currently unclear.
"We're preparing for the eventuality that we might need boosters, but I think we've got to be careful not to let the people know that inevitably, X number of months from now, everyone's going to need a booster. That's just not the case," Fauci said to The Washington Post at a live event. "We may not need it for quite a while."
California to lift restrictions
Meanwhile, states are continuing to do away with Covid-19 restrictions, including California, which -- after more than a year of lockdowns -- announced Friday it would drop all business capacity limits and social distancing requirements when the state fully opens on June 15.
However, while California will mostly return to a state of pre-pandemic normalcy, it will keep mask mandates in place for those who remain unvaccinated and require vaccine verification for some very large gatherings.
Over 35 million vaccine doses have been administered to date in California and the state continues to push availability, bringing efforts deeper into communities and incentivizing the shots. In one such effort, the Los Angeles Lakers are offering a chance to win a pair of season tickets to adults who get their first shot this weekend.
"Californians who want a vaccine should have a fairly easy time getting on at this point," said state Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly.
Vermont is also trying to incentivize its residents so more will get vaccinated. According to a news release from Gov. Phil Scott's office, nearly 75% of eligible Vermonters have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Now, he's promising to lift any restrictions if the state hits 80%.
"Let's keep our momentum going. Let's finish strong. Let's continue to show the nation, and the world, what this brave little state is capable of," the governor said.
CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht, Alexandra Meeks, Deidre McPhillips, Andy Rose, Theresa Waldrop, Rebekah Riess, Melissa Alonso, Lauren del Valle, Maggie Fox, Lauren Mascarenhas, Yon Pomrenze, Jen Christensen, Virginia Langmaid and Michael Nedelman contributed to this report.
(Update: Adding governor's, state Treasury news releases with more details)
Scholarships, smaller prizes in each county also part of the 'Take Your Shot, Oregon' campaign
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) Oregon, closing in on its COVID-19 vaccination goal, on Friday joined a wave of states across the country by offering a chance at a big prize in this case, a $1 million lottery jackpot to encourage those too busy or hesitant to get the shot that they said will help the state end its recent surge and get back to more normal lives.
Gov. Kate Brown said Oregon has made real progress tamping down the latest virus surge, with 285 hospitalized patients, the lowest since last month, and a half-dozen counties that have cleared the 65 percent 16-and-over residents with at least one vaccine dose. The state goal is 70 percent of adults by the end of June.
Every single day, we are getting closer to ending this chapter of the pandemic, she said. With summer around the corner, and life starting to return to normal, I think were all excited. but were not there just yet.
At present, 63 percent of adults have received at least one vaccine dose and to get to the goal of 70 percent by the end of June, the governor said we will need to pull on every lever we have. So if youve been waiting, or just havent gotten around to it yet, were going to give you an extra incentive: How about a chance to win $1 million?
Along with the top prize in the Take Your Shot, Oregon" campaign, there will be $10,000 lottery winners in each of Oregons 36 counties. Oregon Lottery rules dont allow anyone under 18 to participate in the cash drawings, but a special drawing for five $100,000 Oregon College Savings Plan scholarships will be held for vaccinated children ages 12 to 17.
Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack said everyone who's gotten or gets a vaccine dose by June 27 will be entered into the drawings.
There will be a random drawing, and winners will be notified to either claim their prize or opt out. The drawing will be June 28, with winners announced the following week. The money being given away, totaling $1.86 million, comes from federal coronavirus relief funds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1aAwHGwT8k
To protect privacy, lottery officials will only get ID numbers for each vaccinated resident. The lottery will draw from those numbers, then notify the OHA of the winners. The names of those who accept the money will be made public. Those who have medical or other reasons for not receiving the vaccine won't take part in the drawings.
Right now, getting vaccinated is easier than its ever been, the governor said, noting that local public health departments and community organizations are partnering with health care providers to improve access, so 250,000 more Oregonians can get vaccinated in the next few weeks.
We can do this, Brown said, urging Oregonians to Take Your Shot. It can save your life, and just maybe make you a millionaire.
Dr. Ashby Monk, executive director of the Stanford Global Projects Center, said he jumped out of his chair when Oregon officials came to him last month to help develop the game as an effective incentive.
Weve learned that messaging based on fear, negative consequences, or even rational arguments about science of education, these can struggle to get through to individuals who are feeling anxiety and stress, Monk said. "Its tough to cut through.
Monk said researchers have found that "one tool is surprisingly powerful: games and variable reward incentives, such as raffles, other games of chance," which he said are at the cutting edge of the science of motivation. Games have been shown, in vaccines, to enhance knowledge and improve uptake. Incentives that can change your life with big rewards do inspire people to take positive action.
Its not about convincing those opposed to the vaccines, but those on the fence or who havent made doing so a priority, officials said.
And asked about vaccine foes' labeling of such prizes as "bribery," Monk said, "It's not meant to be a bribe. It's an incentive."
About the blowback over the recent guidelines update that involves requiring a proof of vaccination to drop mask requirements, Brown rejected the term passport and said businesses do have a choice, to continue requirement masks. She also said shes heard plenty from businesses and frontline workers about the incredibly challenging guidelines, and that therell be more conversations over the next couple weeks.
The reality is, this is an interim measure until we can fully lift our safety protocol, she said.
Brown later said even after the 70 percent vaccine benchmark is reached and many restrictions are lifted, the state will continue to align with CDC masking guidance -- "which can change" -- on issues such as continuing to require masks in health care settings when around those are medically vulnerable.
News release from Gov. Kate Brown's office:
All vaccinated Oregonians 12 and older eligible for cash prizes or scholarships
One $1 million prize, 36 $10,000 county winners, and five $100,000 scholarship winners
(Salem, OR) Governor Kate Brown announced today the launch of the Take Your Shot Oregon Campaign for all vaccinated Oregonians. Oregonians 18 and older will have the chance to win $1 million or one of 36 $10,000 prizeswith one winner in each county in Oregon. Oregonians age 12 to 17 will have a chance to win one of five $100,000 Oregon College Savings Plan scholarships. All Oregonians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the draw date will be entered to win.
Vaccines are the best tool we have to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19, and our fastest way to end this pandemic, said Governor Kate Brown. The Take Your Shot Oregon Campaign is a way to thank Oregonians for stepping up and keeping our communities safe. Its never been easier to get a vaccine, so dont miss your shot to enter!
The campaign is a collaboration between the Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Lottery, and the Oregon State Treasury, and is funded with $1.86 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Act dollars. With the help of the Oregon Lottery, the Oregon Health Authority will draw names for winners in each category. No personal identifying information will be shared with the Oregon Lottery, and winners will be given the option to opt out in order to preserve patient privacy. Current employees and family members of the Oregon Lottery, the Governors Office, the Treasurers Office, and the Oregon Health Authority will be ineligible to win.
We are excited that Treasurys College Savings Plan can help with the effort to increase vaccination rates in Oregon, said State Treasurer Tobias Read. This is a win-win: get vaccinated now to protect yourself and others, and get the chance to fund your future through a scholarship that can be used for higher education and job training.
The drawing will take place on June 28, with names announced the following week. The cut off for names being added to the vaccine database is midnight on June 27.
Governor Brown made the announcement today in a press conference with Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen, Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack, and Dr. Ashby Monk, Executive Director for the Global Projects Center at Stanford University.
Additional Materials
Video Links
News release from the Oregon State Treasury:
Vaccinated Oregonians Qualify for $100,000 College Scholarships Through "Take Your Shot" Campaign Partnership
Getting vaccinated: good for your health, your pocket book, and your educational prospects
Salem, Ore.May 21, 2021 Oregonians, if youve been vaccinated for COVID-19 or are planning to, you have a chance to win one of five $100,000 college scholarships. The Oregon Treasury and the Oregon College Savings Plantodayannounced their partnership with Governor Browns Take your shot campaign, encouraging Oregonians age 12 and older to get vaccinated with the added incentive of a chance to win a scholarship award. The state is also giving away a $1 million prize and a number of other cash prizes.
If Oregonians have received at least a first dose of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines, they are automatically entered to win through the states vaccine database. With the help of the Oregon Lottery, the Oregon Health Authority will draw names of winners for both cash and scholarship prizes onJune 28, with names being announced onJuly 6.
We are excited that Treasurys College Savings Plan can help with the effort to increase vaccination rates in Oregon, said State Treasurer Tobias Read. This is a win-win: get vaccinated now to protect yourself and others, and get the chance to fund your future through a scholarship that can be used for higher education and job training.
Scholarship prize dollars will be placed in Oregon College Savings Plan accounts with the Oregon Treasury serving as the account owner, and the individual prizewinner designated as the beneficiary. Oregon College Savings Plan accounts are simple to manage and flexible. Funds can be used at most U.S. higher education institutions and many abroad, including trade school, community college, and apprenticeships.
Managing these scholarships fits perfectly with the mission of the Oregon College Savings Plan, said Michael Parker, Executive Director for the Oregon Treasury Savings Network. We are committed to making higher education more accessible and affordable to communities statewide by offering year-round incentives to make it easier for Oregonians with dreams for the future to save and to save early.
Popular Oregon College Savings Plan incentives include theirBaby GradandKinder Gradprograms, which provide a $25 match to accounts opened for a child prior to their first birthday and for Kindergartners aged 5 or 6 years old. Oregon also offers a refundabletax credit(worth up to $300) for higher education savings, allowing more families to benefit from saving for college.
For more information about the campaign and available cash prizes, please visitGovernor Browns State of Oregon homepage.
###
The Oregon College Savings Planis a state-sponsored savings program that comes with special tax advantages and can be opened by just about anyoneparents, family, friends, even future students. The money saved in the Oregon College Savings Plan grows tax-free and can be used for qualified expenses at any accredited, post-secondary institution or trade school. To learn more and to open an account, please visitwww.oregoncollegesavings.comor call 866-772-8464.
The Oregon Treasury Savings Network,part of the Oregon State Treasury, was launched inJanuary 2001to administer the Oregon College Savings Plan. It has since expanded to administer the Oregon ABLE Savings Plan and national ABLE for ALL Savings Plan, and the first state-run retirement program, OregonSaves.
MISSOULA U.S. Army and Marine veteran Kent Stewart -- who drove from Polson to Missoula to receive his first dose of the Moderna vaccine -- became the 10,000th Montana veteran to receive a COVID-19 vaccine from Montana VA Health Care System (MTVAHCS).
Since COVID-19 vaccines became available, veterans have also received COVID-19 vaccines through their local community providers.
I have been an anti-vaxer since 2003. I got sick from the anthrax vaccine, which almost killed me, said Stewart. My kids were scared. My wife was scared and now since time has passed, I want to set an example for my family to try to get them to quit being such anti-vaxers. It took me a lot of soul-searching myself to do this -- a lot of research. Maybe, I can set an example for my family and for the community and for Veterans in general.
Montanas elected leaders joined MTVAHCS staff in sending a thank you message to vaccinated Montana veterans. Watch the thank you videos here and here.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, veterans have shown Montana what leadership looks like. At first, this was by taking proactive steps to keep themselves and their communities safe, even though taking actions to physically distance and wear masks were not the easiest possible decisions, said MTVAHCS Executive Director Dr. Judy Hayman. Today, we celebrate the leadership of the 10,000 veterans who have done their part to end the pandemic and protect themselves, their loved ones, their healthcare teams, and their communities.
Since late December, MTVAHCS has administered just under 19,000 COVID-19 vaccinations and overcome the logistical challenges of administering vaccines to Montana veterans, including vaccine freezer storage, transporting vaccines, staffing vaccine clinics, winter roads, and finding local sites to host COVID-19 vaccine events.
MTVAHCS has hosted vaccine clinics at 13 sites across Montana. After being selected to lead a Veterans Health Administration national pilot program to bring vaccines to rural veterans, MTVAHCS used fixed-wing aircraft to transport vaccines to veterans and driven vaccines directly to homebound veterans.
Montana veterans (enrolled and unenrolled), their spouses, and caregivers who have not yet received their COVID-19 vaccine are eligible through MTVAHCS. Under the SAVE Lives Act, the VAs legal authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines expanded to include all Veterans, regardless of their VA health care enrollment status, as well as Veteran spouses, caregivers, and some beneficiaries.
To schedule an appointment:
Veterans can follow COVID-19 vaccination updates at MTVAHCSs webpage, via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Veterans who have questions about receiving the vaccine can send a secure message here or call (877) 468-8387 (Option 2) to set up a time to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine.
Any veteran who has received a COVID-19 vaccine from a non-VA provider is encouraged to notify their MTVAHCS healthcare team to have their records updated.
President Biden said Friday the U.S. will provide Covid-19 vaccines to 550,000 South Korean troops working in close contact with American forces in the region.
Mr. Biden made the announcement during a news conference at the White House with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Both leaders also said they would forge a partnership on vaccine manufacturing, but stopped short of providing details.
We, with advanced capabilities, have an obligation to do everything we can to provide for protection of the entire world, Mr. Biden said, while adding he saw the potential to produce another billion vaccine doses from the second half of 2021 and into 2022.
Mr. Moon said there would be a comprehensive partnership between the two countries to boost manufacturing of the vaccine and its materials. Covid-19 vaccine supply has been a priority for Mr. Moon during his four-day visit to Washington, with less than 3% of the South Korean population fully vaccinated.
A senior administration official said the vaccines for South Korean service members would be donated and that Mr. Bidens decision was part of an effort to protect U.S. troops working in close quarters with their counterparts on the Korean peninsula.
As more people are getting vaccinated across the commonwealth, some are wondering how long this immunity will last. Some medical experts say another dose maybe necessary within 12 months of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Right now, experts are researching natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. Some professionals say additional doses of the vaccine may be necessary.
Six month into vaccine distribution, experts are working to learn more about how long the vaccine is effective.
Were going to have to wait for more information and more data, but I think theres an assumption that if it doesnt provide lifelong, that likely within a year or nine to 12 months, a second dose or a booster would be needed. said Emily Shears, Epidemiologist at UPMC Hamot.
Char Barringer, Director of Community Health Services at the Erie County Department of Health, says other viral vaccines require boosters or multiple shots.
Vaccine for measles, mumps, needs a booster. The vaccine for chicken pox, also a viral illness, needs a booster. I wouldnt be at all surprised if COVID needs a booster. Barringer said.
Barringer says researchers are currently learning so much about the COVID-19 virus and the vaccine.
We know with the flu, its every year because there are different variants. We know there are different variants with COVID-19. As a public health person, I wouldnt be surprised if it becomes an annual vaccine. We just dont know yet. Barringer said.
Medical experts say an additional shot may be necessary before we enter when people tend to spend more time indoors.
As immunity wanes, we would be concerned as we go back indoors where we know it seemed to be more effective at spreading. The good news is that our mitigation efforts like masking and distancing, we have shown to be very effective. Shears said.
Shears says we saw how effective masking is as there were little to no flu cases this past flu season.
One-quarter of Larimer County residents age 12-15 have now had at least one dose of Pfizer vaccine, according to the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment.
The countys COVID-19 dashboard reported Friday that 3,694 members of that age group, 25.1% of that population in the county, have had a vaccination with the one vaccine approved for their use.
The seven-day rate of COVID-19 tests coming back positive dropped to 2.4% on Friday, falling from 3.5% the day before and entering the low-risk category.
Also still in the low-risk category, the seven-day case rate per 100,000 residents fell to 74, down by two since Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized rose slightly to 30, and use of intensive care units for all conditions reached 90% in county hospitals on Friday, putting that measure in the high-risk category.
The ongoing list of COVID-19 cases since March 2020 grew by 32 cases, reaching 26,642.
Fourteen of the new cases were among Loveland residents, 12 from Fort Collins, two from Berthoud and one each in Estes Park, Livermore, Timnath and Wellington.
Ages ranged from a 1-year-old Fort Collins boy to a 91-year-old Loveland woman and a 92-year-old Wellington man.
The cases spanned all age ranges, with seven in children, seven in teens, four in people in their 20s, five in their 30s, four in their 40s, two in their 50s, a 76-year-old and the two nonagenarians.
The number of deaths due to the virus in Larimer County continues to hold at 247, and the countys overall risk rating remains medium.
Overall, 46.1% of all county residents are now fully vaccinated.
The health department reported 338,513 doses of vaccine have been administered to county residents. Among ages 16-plus, 183,294 or 61.8% have had at least one dose.
The county has set a goal of reaching 65% of that age group having had at least one dose by May 25.
Information about COVID-19 can be found at larimer.org/coronavirus.
Information about vaccines is available at larimer.org/covidvaccine.
