When teenagers were given the green light to start getting the COVID-19 vaccine, JackKoksal was one of the first in line.
This wasn't really a surprise Koksal's mother, Beth, works for a public health coalition in Garden City.
But Koksal didn't need any urging from his parents in order to be convinced to get the vaccine.
"It's an easy call for me to get the vaccine because, why not? Why wouldn't I?" Koksal said. "Why wouldn't I get it if I can help prevent the spread, you know, especially when I have a lot of people in my life that are vulnerable."
Now that he's been vaccinated, Koksal has become the de facto expert for his friends and classmateson what to expect if they get the shots.
"There's a couple kids who are way for it and there's a couple kids who are way against it," he said. "Most everyone else lies in the'maybe I'll get it.' It is just whatever floats their boat."
Soon, more Kansas youths will be able to follow Koksal's path if it floats their boat.
Wednesday a panel of advisers for the Centers for Disease Control gave their formal recommendation to administer the Pfizer vaccine to those ages 12 to 15 years.
More: Kansas to open Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents 12 and older
Kansas announced hours later they would follow suit for the 160,000 youths in that age group, with some counties already distributing doses.
But the announcement will prompt a new set of considerations for parents and teenagers. The ability to have a more normal school experience sits in the distance as a carrot for hesitant families.
"These are children, and really, we don't want them to ever get sick," said Gretchen Homan, a Wichita pediatrician and president-elect of the Kansas chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "If we can help, we'dprotect them from everything. And we definitely don't want them to get COVID."
The news has been welcomed by public health officials in the state, as Kansas has seen its vaccination rate slow in recent weeks.
"Currently, we'realmost at a standstill as far as ourdemand," said Julie Gibbs, administrator of the Riley County Health Department."We've met our demand.Now we're just having a few people that are signing up and trickling in."
The hope is the expanded eligibility will give the state a boost in its quest for herd immunity, which experts peg as requiring upwardof 80% of the population be vaccinated.
But, much as the state has struggled with vaccine hesitancy for adults, it will likely also have to counter uncertainty from parents many of whom haven't gotten the shots themselves.
Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation bears this out.
Only threeout of every 10 parents said they would seek out a COVID-19 vaccine for their child as soon as it is available. A quarter of parents said they weren't going to seek out the shots for their child and an additional 25% said they were taking a wait-and-see approach.
More: Vaccination rate slows, is blamed for COVID-19 clusters at nursing homes
Concerns from parents, Homan said, largely center on whether the vaccine is safe and what potential side effects could pop up.
She underscored, however, the safety and effectiveness of the shots.
A study conducted on the Pfizer vaccine among 2,260 adolescents 12 to 15 found the shots were 100% protective against symptomatic disease and that they actually prompted a more effective antibody response among teens than adults.
Homan noted guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics will allow the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered alongside routine childhood immunizations.
Pediatricians, meanwhile, are reaching out to families to bring them back to the fold after a year in which many may have skipped their annual checkups. A federal report shows a drop-off in preventative care for children, including a 22% drop off in routinevaccinations.
"If you haven't been in in a while it's OK," Homan said."Call and set up an appointment and plan to get caught up on things because now we have time. It's the summer, and this is a great time to do it."
More: Fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask in most settings. Here's where you do in Shawnee County.
In Riley County, Gibbs was optimistic about vaccine uptake.
A survey conducted in partnership with the local school district found 64% of parents with children ages 12 to 18 years were interested in having their child get the vaccine.
That feeds into a vaccination clinic the county is conducting next week targeted at young people. Officials hope the prospect of getting youths and teens vaccinated will be a way of enticing family members who may have been holding out.
"We're hoping that that kind of opens the gateway," Gibbs said.
Other parts of the state are taking similar tactics to begin targeting a younger population.
About 233 students at Seaman High School in Topeka have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and a collaborative mobile clinic with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Shawnee County Health Department last week vaccinated just under 50 students.
KDHE is expected to continue with similar events statewide.
More clinics are scheduled over the summer targeting middle schoolers, now that that is an option,Seaman Unified School District 345 superintendent Steve Noble said at a board meeting earlier this week.
More: No masks, unrestricted play time and school visitors? Seaman superintendent paints picture of 'normal' fall
"We have seen how quickly things can change, but with the vaccinations rising, were hopeful next school year can look more like a normal school year for our kids, our families and our staff," he said.
A turn toward"normal" could include allowing families to choose if students wear masks at school, letting students mix on the playground and inside classrooms and lifting visitor restrictions and gathering limits.
Vaccinated students would also be exempted from quarantine requirements something that is particularly enticing, especially for student-athletes who have risked sitting out games if they were exposed to COVID-19.
But while this might be an effective motivation in parts of the state where schooling has been done remotely or with significant mitigation practices, many districts in Kansashave already dropped their restrictions.
In Garden City, for instance, Jack Koksal noted that masks haven't been required for some time.
"Even though we're kind of a big town, it still has a small town feel," he said."Andwe feel pretty isolated out here. So I feel like things have started already going back to normal without even talks of ... everyone in school getting vaccinated."
More: While COVID-19 cases drop in Kansas, variants continue to spread
Providers must counter teen ambivalence
Logistics for mass clinics targeted at teensare slightly more complicated than a normal mass vaccination event.
Parental consent is needed if a student is under 18 and most providers will call a parent or guardian to verify they are in fact comfortable with their child getting immunized.
Reports of turnout havebeen mixed, according to Dennis Kriesel, executive director of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments.
But that is in part because April and May are some of the busiest months in the school calendar, as students juggle the end of the academic year, plus sports, social events and college admissions decisions.
In Garden City, Beth Koksal, director of community health for Livewell Finney County,said the vaccination efforts have been targeted at certain neighborhoods, particularly those that are mixed-income, to cover as wide of a swath of the population as possible.
But she added that providers recently learned an important lesson: When it comes down to prom or getting a COVID-19 vaccination, teens are going to chose boutonnieres and fancy dresses over potential side effects.
And many young people are ambivalent about getting the shots in the first place, believing they aren't at risk for COVID-19.
"It's not that they've bought into misinformation or they just have generalized concerns about a new vaccine that came to market so quickly," Kriesel said. "It's just more of a 'Why bother? Because I'm not going to get sick anyway' or 'I might get COVID. But I won't be sick. Like, I'll feel fine. So who cares?'"
Still, 8% of all cases in the state have occurred in those ages 10 to 17 years. Nationally,at least 490 people 17 years and younger have died from COVID-19 in the United States, according to CDC data.
"Maybe they're not as astounding as the numbers for adults, but that's significant," Homan said."And as a pediatrician and a mom, that's not OK with me. If we can prevent all of those, that's what we need to do."
In some cases, however, youths are the one driving the push to get vaccinated.
"I had a conversation with a pediatrician this morning," Beth Koksal said. "And he was telling me that a lot of his adolescent patients aretelling their parents, who might be a little hesitant, 'Hey, this is something I want to do.'"
That was the case for Karla Hagemeister and her 12-year-old daughter Emily.
Hagemeister, who is the president of the Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383 school board, got vaccinated. So did her husband and 18-year-old son.
That left Emily as the lone member of the family who wasn't vaccinated. Hagemeister classified her daughter as an "independent thinker" who would make her voice heard in the process.
But there still was some deliberation in car rides to school over what the best course of action will be, with Emily also discussing the topic with her friends at school. She eventually decided to get vaccinated at Riley County's clinic next week.
"Kids, maybe we don't give them enough credit, because they talk about this kind of stuff," Hagemeister said.
Hagemeister outlined the process in a Facebook post and received questions from friends who had questions and hesitancy about letting their child get vaccinated.
The decision for her family was relatively straightforward, as it will allow them to spend more time with extended family and even take a vacation to Colorado without quarantining.
But Hagemeister said she has fielded questions from hesitant friends a position she understands.
"There's almost a risk assessment that you make for yourself as an adult or as a parent," she said. "And then there's this hyper-risk assessment that you make when you're talking about your kids. And so I think parents, understandably, want to be sure what they're doing is going to be good for their for their kid."
The Capital-Journal's Rafael Garcia contributed to this report.
New Campaign from THE CONVERSATION / LA CONVERSACIN to Address Information Needs in the Community
Join KFF and UnidosUS for an interactive web event on Thursday, May 20th for the latest insights on what is working and what barriers must be overcome in ensuring equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines for Latinos in the U.S., including new KFF survey findings from the community.
KFF analysis of state-reported data shows Hispanic and Black people have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their share of cases and their share of the population in most states. New KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor data finds that access barriers and information gaps may be contributing to lower rates. Closing these gaps will be key to mitigating long-standing health and economic disparities and the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on these communities.
Debuting at the event will be videos from KFFs THE CONVERSATION / LA CONVERSACIN campaign to reach Latinos in the U.S. with information about the COVID-19 vaccines. Developed with UnidosUS, this latest installment of the campaign features Latino doctors, nurses and promotoras / community health workers addressing common questions about the vaccines in English and Spanish.
The one-hour interactive web event begins at Noon ET / 9am PT on Thursday, May 20, with presentations, a video launch, a panel discussion and audience questions.
Welcome and Initial Remarks
Presentation of COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor Findings
Debut of LA CONVERSACIN Campaign and Discussion
May 20, 2021at 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Oregon businesses that choose to offer mask-free shopping for people who are fully inoculated against COVID-19 will likely be required to inspect each customers vaccination card and check the dates of individual shots, a top state health official said Friday.
Thats the protocol the Oregon Health Authority is expected to adopt when it issues written guidance for businesses in the days ahead. Businesses that dont want the hassle still will be allowed to require masks regardless of vaccination status.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and epidemiologist, said verifying vaccinations will be key to ensuring the safety of customers and employees. But, he acknowledged, the shift in federal mask guidance marks a radical change and likely will lead to some headaches for local stores.
Businesses have a choice about which system to implement, he said, and individuals have a choice.
Oregon is scrambling to issue new formal guidance for mask-wearing after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people generally do not need to wear masks or physically distance. Masks have been required in most circumstances across all of Oregon since July 1 and local officials are now working on the fly to develop nuanced rules covering a multitude of circumstances.
Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday announced masks would not be required for fully vaccinated people in most public settings but state officials have yet to define what that means. Someone is considered fully vaccinated if 14 days have passed since the only dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
Oregon officials appear to be using the unmasking option as an incentive to increase vaccinations statewide, while saying their plan should not violate individual privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Sidelinger on Friday said people who decide they do not want to wear masks in a store would voluntarily share their vaccination status, otherwise they would be required to wear masks.
That is not a violation of HIPAA or privacy since theyre voluntarily disclosing that information, he said.
Sidelinger said he envisioned store staff at participating businesses greeting customers at entrances to ensure vaccination status is verified. Businesses are already generally required to monitor for social distancing and mask requirements, he said, and we would anticipate that it would be a shift of how people are doing their jobs.
Sidelinger did not explicitly address if the honor system for customers would be allowed but said he envisioned a more rigorous verification process by store workers.
Right now I would anticipate that that would be seeing a card with the individuals name, the vaccines theyve gotten and the date and where theyve gotten them, he said. That could be a picture of the vaccine card or a record from their provider on their phone.
Verifying vaccination status could prove contentious, however, as viral videos of confrontations over masking requirements were commonplace during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Miles Eshaia, a spokesperson for UFCW Local 555, which represents grocery store workers at Fred Meyer, Safeway and Albertsons, criticized the state for failing to consider the burden on frontline workers.
Once again, the OHA has put essential employees in the position of enforcers of public policy without giving them the tools to protect themselves or the public, Eshaia said. Telling essential employees to be the mask police and asking customers for their medical information puts them in harms way and is insulting after months of ignoring the needs and safety of the people who put food on our tables. Oregons essential employees deserve better than they are getting from their government.
Eshaia said he expects most grocery stores will continue requiring that customers wear masks, rather than ask employees to verify vaccination cards. Fred Meyer and QFCs parent company, Kroger Co., announced Friday that it would keep mask mandates in place for now.
Sidelinger acknowledged the new guidance could put workers in a difficult position.
Thats why Im asking and hoping that Oregonians will continue to do whats right, Sidelinger said.
Sidelinger said new modeling shows coronavirus cases may decline in the weeks ahead, with the potential for 420 to 590 cases a day below the current daily average of about 650. But Oregon is in the top ten nationally for per capita spread in the past two weeks, and cases are not declining as quickly as officials would like.
That means people who are unvaccinated and lie about their status to avoid wearing a mask could not only put themselves at risk, but others, if they are infected without symptoms and unwittingly spread the virus, Sidelinger said.
I hope that no one out there is dishonest, he said. People have choices now about how they want to protect themselves and their communities, and well hope that theyll do that.
-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt
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Heres a silver lining of Michigans recent COVID-19 surge: We became Americas test bunny for the nations COVID-19 vaccines and how they perform in a surge propelled by the B.1.1.7. variant.
And, in fact, the vaccines held up very, very well, Michigan health experts say.
Exceedingly well, said Linda Vail, head of the Ingham County Health Department.
Really remarkable, said Ryan Malosh, a University of Michigan epidemiologist.
Its an incredible feat that we have the vaccines and they work as well as they do, said Josh Petrie, another U-M epidemiologist.
Experts cite numerous examples of the vaccines effectiveness.
Michigans nursing homes and prisons, two settings that experienced the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020, saw cases plummet this spring after residents in each were prioritized for vaccinations.
The proportion of cases and hospitalizations among senior citizens dropped significantly, a result of high vaccination rates for that age group.
Among younger age groups, the proportion of cases dropped for each age cohort as their vaccination rates improved.
Its really exciting to see the numbers, said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director for 19 counties in northern Michigan. You cant necessarily prove cause and effect but it is really hard to find another reason (for those trends). So its very encouraging.
To say the vaccines have exceeded expectations would be an understatement, said Dr. Liam Sullivan, a Grand Rapids infectious disease specialist with Spectrum Health.
Thats particularly true considering expectations dating back to a year ago, when scientists were hoping for quick development of a vaccine that was at least 50% effective in preventing severe disease, Sullivan said.
Most people thought, OK, were probably going to get in the 60%, 65%, 75% range, and well be ecstatic if we get that, Sullivan said. Then when the mRNA clinical trials came out and both were the mid-90s, everybody was just completely blown away by that.
The next thing was, OK, how are they going to work in the real world? Because sometimes you take something out of the clinical trial, and then you go into the real work and things change, Sullivan said. But were now seeing studies that say the effectiveness is still above 90% in the real world.
So these vaccines have exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds, Sullivan said. They are phenomenal scientific achievements, and I think its safe to say that they have completely changed the face of vaccine technology going forward.
Marcus Cheatham, head of the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, which includes Clinton, Gratiot and Montcalm counties, noted that the vaccines even held up against the surprises that came along, such as the B.1.1.7. variant thats become dominant in Michigan, he said.
Malosh makes a similar point.
I study influenza vaccines for a living, Malosh said, and 50% effectiveness is pretty good for flu vaccines. To have 95% effectiveness, even 80% after one dose, plus pretty good effectiveness against drifted strains and variants -- that kind of stuff doesnt happen with flu vaccines.
To get vaccines that are effective and safe in this amount of time -- it hadnt been done before, he said. This is really changing whats possible in terms of vaccine approvals and licensure and evaluation.
Yes, we know that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Heres why.
Real-world examples
The numbers tell the story on the vaccines effectiveness, experts say.
The most dramatic example has been Michigans nursing homes.
In 2020, the states long-term care facilities reported 21,400 COVID-19 cases and almost 4,900 deaths among residents.
Vaccinations in nursing homes began the last week of December. Its estimated that about 80% of residents agreed to be vaccinated.
By mid-March, cases had fallen 96% and deaths by 99% compared to the beginning of January, according to the Health Care Association of Michigan, which represents nursing-home operators.
Even during the statewide surge in April, case counts at nursing homes stayed low -- peaking at 15 new cases a day compared to 210 cases a day at the height of the fall surge. In past four weeks, 52 nursing homes residents have died from COVID-19. That compares to more than 1,900 in December.
Its like a miracle, says Melissa Samuel, CEO and president of HCAM.
COVID-19 cases in Michigan nursing homes drop 96%, deaths drop 99% since late December
Theres a similar story among Michigan prisons. Like nursing homes, the congregate living situation in correctional facilities means that COVID-19 can spread like wildfire.
In December during the fall surge, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported 8,317 coronavirus cases and 36 deaths.
Since then, 60% of inmates have agreed to be vaccinated. In April, there were 525 cases and four deaths reported by MDOC, thats 94% drop in cases compared to December and a 89% decline in deaths.
While an increase in the number of people with natural immunity may have been a factor in both nursing homes and prisons experts note that previous outbreaks didnt seem to lessen the impact of the surge in December. They also note that both prisons and nursing homes dont have static populations -- there is constant turnover in both settings.
I think you can attribute the drastic decline in cases to vaccination, Malosh said.
Both of those examples should tell you something, he added. One is that the vaccines really do work. Another is we can get back to achieving something approximate to normal if we can get a high enough proportion of people vaccinated.
Another sign that vaccines work: The drop in cases and deaths among Michigan senior citizens, the age group first given broad access to vaccines.
During the 12 months of the pandemic, those 70 and older comprised 12% of COVID cases in Michigan. By April, that dropped to 5%.
And even as the B.1.1.7. variant spiked cases among younger adults and children to record highs in Michigan during April, cases dropped among those 60 and older compared to December. Moreover, the degree of change by age cohort follows the trendline of vaccinations by age.
Source: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Deaths also plunged among senior citizens in the recent surge compared to December. There were 961 COVID-19 deaths in April among among Michiganders age 70 and older; a 64% drop from the 2,657 in December.
Incidentally, experts say that if Michiganders want to see the impact that widespread vaccination can have the general population, they should look to Israel, a country with about the same population as Michigan.
In mid-January, Israel was averaging more than 8,400 new cases a day, higher than Michigans peak seven-day average. Since then, Israel has vaccinated 60% of their total population. They are now averaging 43 cases a day, and no longer have a mask mandate.
As of May 12, Michigan was averaging 2,139 new cases a day. About 45% of the total population, which includes children, are now partially vaccinated and 35% are fully vaccinated.
Breakthrough cases
While experts say they are impressed by the effectiveness of the vaccines, they are not perfect.
No vaccine is 100% effective. The 95% efficacy rate of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines means that an unvaccinated individual is 19 times more likely to get symptomatic COVID-19 compared to a vaccinated person with the same exposure to the virus.
Michigan health officials have been tracking breakthrough cases involving fully immunized people. Breakthrough cases are defined as confirmed COVID-19 occurring in people two weeks beyond their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or their single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Michigans latest numbers as of May 4:
Breakthrough cases, hospitalizations and deaths were expected, health officials say. But the relatively low numbers during a surge in which a more contagious and lethal variant took hold is considered highly encouraging.
Vail said its likely that as investigators look closely at cases in which fully immunized people were hospitalized or died, youd find a good number of people who already were quite ill.
Most of the breakthrough cases that we know about are very, very mild cases, she said.
New technology
The effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is attributed to a new vaccine technology thats been under development for a decade, but never before deployed.
To trigger an immune response, most vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. The mRNA vaccines take a different approach. They get our bodies to produce a protein that is part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That creates an immune response which protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.
The vaccines do not contain any virus, so it cannot give individuals COVID-19. It does not and cannot change your DNA in any way. And, in fact, whats injected breaks fast down and leaves the body within 24 to 48 hours, Sullivan said.
While doctors and other medical experts are thrilled that a safe and highly effective vaccine is now available, theyre disheartened by various disinformation campaigns that have made people hesitant to get inoculated.
Even though millions of people have been vaccinated in the U.S. and its clear that the vaccines are both safe and effective, theres an organized campaign by a small number to persuade others not to get vaccinated, Cheatham said. And theyre having some success in undermining what we need to do to protect folks.
I think is a huge problem and we have to really take it on as a matter of urgent public policy, he said.
Morse said its clear that the vaccines work and that theyre safe.
The wait and see period is over, she said. I am frustrated there is so much hesitancy. ... (The data) is just extremely encouraging and promising, and we would hope it would encourage more and more people to get vaccinated.
More on MLive:
I feel lonely: Michigan women navigate pregnancy, motherhood during a pandemic
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Youre fully immunized against COVID-19. So why do you still need to mask?
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - The Fraterville disaster is considered one of the worst mining accidents in our nation's history.
On May 19, 1902, a mining explosion in the Fraterville community of Anderson County claimed the lives of 216 miners. News 2's Alex Corradetti spoke with Nashville Historian David Ewing about the devastating event.
The Spokane Regional Health District says no, it's not.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) only governs those in the healthcare sphere (Your doctor, hospital, etc.) It doesn't apply to the average person or businesses, nor does it provide someone protection from ever having to disclose their health information.
To be clear, a vaccine card would qualify as protected health information. However businesses, airlines, restaurants, etc. are nothealthcare providers, so they are not governed by HIPAA laws.
Institutions rarely have the right to force someone to get vaccinated, but they do have the right to ask you to provide proof of vaccination before they serve you. Those businesses requiring proof of vaccination can also allow unvaccinated people to do something else besides get a vaccine.
Here is the explanation we received from SRHD in its entirety:
Heres a general explanation of how HIPAA works, using the COVID-19 vaccination as an example:
The COVID-19 vaccine increases your freedom because it allows you to travel where you want to go, shop where you want to shop, and do what you want to do.
Asking about a persons vaccination status is not a HIPAA violation.
HIPAA only governs certain kinds of entities your clinician, hospital, or others in the healthcare sphere. It does not apply to the average person or to a business outside healthcare. It doesnt give someone personal protection against ever having to disclose their health information.
Institutions rarely have the right to require you get vaccinated, but if you want to work somewhere in particular, or want others to provide you services (such as schools, or businesses, or travel), they have the right to ask you to provide proof of vaccination first.
Entities that require proof of vaccination can also choose to allow unvaccinated people to do something in lieu of getting a vaccine.
A vaccine card would qualify as protected health information, but an airline, retailer or restaurant are not healthcare providers. HIPAA also doesn't protect medical information that a patient shares about themselves. However, an entity or business still has to follow state privacy and identity theft policies.
2 large North Texas COVID-19 vaccination sites closing down this week
Friday is the last day for Denton Countys mass vaccination clinic at Texas Motor Speedway, and Saturday will be the last day to get a vaccine at The Potters House in Dallas.
Two large North Texas COVID-19 vaccination sites are shutting down operations this week.
Friday is the last day for Denton Countys mass vaccination clinic at Texas Motor Speedway, and Saturday will be the last day to get a vaccine at The Potters House in Dallas.
The city of Dallas and Denton County said theyll be focusing on smaller, pop-up vaccine sites and their homebound vaccination programs to reach out to those who couldnt make it out to one of the mass vaccination sites.
"If theyre willing to come out here and get vaccinated, Im willing to be here to do my part," volunteer Paul Carter said.
Carter has been out at Texas Motor Speedway nearly every day since Denton Countys mass vaccination clinic opened in February, volunteering to help get others vaccinated.
"COVID was so dramatic and has killed so many people and made so many more sick. This was really something we should get behind and try to protect everyone, as many as we possibly can," Carter added.
Since opening, the site at TMS has gotten nearly 400,000 shots in arms.
The county has a record of about 17,000 shots in a single day, but that number has now gone down to 8,000 shots administered on the last day.
Denton County officials said it makes sense to move toward mobile clinics.
"Well have smaller boutique style clinics, with faith based organizations, different pockets of our community that need outreach that werent able to get out here," Denton County Judge Andy Eads explained.
Denton County Public Health officials said theyre also adjusting their vaccine orders from the state to match the projected need.
The county is now allowing people to schedule their own appointment times that are convenient for their schedules, which will give officials a better idea on how much vaccine is needed.
"Its actually kind of an emotional day because theres been so many lives saved out here at this operation," Eads added.
Like TMS, the numbers have also been falling at the city of Dallas vaccination clinic at The Potters House.
The city said at its peak, the site vaccinated about 2,000 a day, but now the number has dwindled down to just a few hundred per day.
RELATED: COVID-19 vaccination site at The Potter's House in Dallas to close
The site administered nearly 54,000 shots, and the city said it will now focus on smaller vaccine clinics, targeting hard to reach neighborhoods and underserved communities
The city of Dallas said those who got vaccinated at The Potters House who still need their second Moderna shot can now go to Fair Park to finish their vaccination.
That site is still operating and has not announced any plans to wind down operations.
The pharmaceutical industry is distributing talking points, organizing opposition, and even collecting congressional signatures in an attempt to reverse President Joe Bidens support for worldwide access to generic Covid-19 vaccines.
The behind-the-scenes moves, revealed in documents obtained by The Intercept, come as the U.S. last week announced that it would support the World Trade Organization proposal, led by India and South Africa, to temporarily waive enforcement of intellectual property and patent rights on coronavirus vaccines. Without a radical expansion in vaccine manufacturing capacity, many developing countries will not achieve mass vaccination rates until 2023 or 2024.
The waiver request, which was unexpectedly endorsed by Bidens administration on May 5, is designed to provide legal immunity for drug firms to copy the formulas of existing vaccines to supply low-cost vaccines to low-income countries, much of which are facing delays that could prolong the pandemic.
On Wednesday, Jared Michaud, a lobbyist with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group that represents Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and other major drug firms, sent an email laying out the industrys role in coaxing lawmakers to push back against a waiver.
Reps. Buddy Carter and Vern Buchanan are leading the attached letter to President Biden expressing concerns with the Administrations support for waiving IP protections related to COVID-19 vaccines under the WTO TRIPS waiver, wrote Michaud. We urge you to contact offices and ask them to sign onto this letter.
The unreleased letter warns the Biden administration that sharing vaccine know-how would cost American jobs and allow China to profit from our innovation. It currently has 29 co-signers, all House Republicans, including Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. The call for more signatures would close by the end of the week, Michaud added.
Michauds email also noted that the industry believed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., was leaning toward being the Senate champion on these efforts, but this is not yet final.
The email, sent to a team of consultants working for PhRMA, included three sets of talking points to advance the pharmaceutical industrys agenda. One of the documents laid out potential national security concerns and suggested that lawmakers should argue the waiver could empower Russia and China. The waiver proposal, the document said, would allow China to gobble up vaccine supplies and technology.
Another talking points document, listed as confidential not for public distribution, called for reinforcing the argument that waiving intellectual property will undermine the global response to the pandemic and compromise vaccine safety. The metadata for the document shows that the PDF document was created by Megan Van Etten, an international public affairs specialist for PhRMA.
The documents make clear that the industry has leaned on allies to stress that drug companies are voluntarily Supporting India During the Coronavirus Crisis already.
The email and documents provide a window into the type of lobbying work done to protect the monopoly rights that drug companies currently enjoy over vaccine production and pricing. Industry lobbyists and special interests often ghostwrite congressional legislation, speeches, and letters, and guide the actions of lawmakers behind closed doors, but this influence is rarely publicly admitted.
Reached for comment, a PhRMA spokespersonacknowledgedthe lobbys role in advancing the congressional letter but not for writing it.
While we had no role in the drafting of this letter, we support efforts to educate the Biden administration on the harmful consequences of its decision to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines including the risks that it will undermine our ability to get shots in arms in the developing world and the need to work together on solving the real problems we face in providing global access to vaccines, said Brian Newell, the managing director for strategic communications for PhRMA.
The drug industry has been vocal in its opposition to the Biden administrations move to embrace the WTO waiver. This decision will sow confusion between public and private partners, further weaken already strained supply chains and foster the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines, said Stephen Ubl, the president of PhRMA, in a statement to reporters.
Months before the decision, at least 100 lobbyists employed by the drug industry, including several through PhRMA, had worked to undermine support for the waiver.
Earlier this year, PhRMA lobbyists petitioned the Biden administration to issue trade-related sanctions against countries that violated patent rights over vaccine technology. In a letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, PhRMA attorneys asked the Biden administration to pursue a variety of enforcement initiatives and use all available tools and leverage to ensure Americas trading partners for any county that issues a compulsory license for the creation of generic Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
Other lawmakers have joined the industrys push against sharing vaccine technology. In March, a Senate Republican letter led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., argued that the waiver would crush American jobs, end our progress in developing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments and worsen the pandemic. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also sent his own letter in opposition to the waiver.
A small number of Democrats have also echoed the drug lobby in opposing the waiver. Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., two business-friendly centrist lawmakers, circulated a letter last month in opposition to the waiver. Howard Dean, the formerDemocratic National Committee chair and Democratic presidential candidate, now working at a law-lobbying firm that serves the drug industry, argued publicly against the waiver, calling it a ruse to benefit Indias own industry at the expense of patients everywhere.
PhRMA is one of the most influential industry groups in Congress. The group spent over $24 million on federal lobbying last year and is one of the biggest corporate players in election spending. The industry group did not respond to a request for comment.
The group has long shaped drug policy not only domestically but also in the international arena. PhRMA led the push in the late 1990s to pressure South Africa President Nelson Mandela to drop efforts to break patent laws and allow for the importation and manufacture of generic HIV/AIDS medications, which at the time cost an annual $10,000-$15,000 per patient.
The industry appears to be reprising its role in protecting the patent monopoly currently held by a small number of pharmaceutical companies, which stands to reap billions of dollars in profits from vaccine sales. Despite the Biden administrations unexpected reversal in support of the WTO waiver, drugmakers hope to weaken the waivers backing, slow negotiations, and delay any decision on the production of generic vaccines.
Here's a reason not to skip the second dose of the two-dose coronavirus vaccines -- a new study says that a single dose may not be enough to protect you from variants.
Heres a reason not to skip the second dose of the two-dose coronavirus vaccines a new study says that a single dose may not be enough to protect you from variants.
There was a big differential between one-dose protection and two-dose protection that is much more disparate than weve seen with the typical COVID strains, said Virginia vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula about a study in the New England Journal of Medicine from last week.
You go from north of 80% effectiveness against these variants to more like 20% effectiveness with just one dose, Avula said.
And he said variants are definitely here.
The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that 66% of the new cases in the United States right now are the U.K. variant, he said.
He said another 10% are the variant first identified in Brazil, and yet, another 3% are the variant first identified in South Africa.
Avula is troubled that 6.7% of Virginians who have gotten one dose of the vaccine have not received their second dose within the CDCs recommended 42 days.
To that end, efforts are shifting to medical providers.
Previously, you had to go back to the location where you got your first shot to get the second. For some, that location was not easy to get to nor convenient. When there was a tight supply, those second doses were earmarked to the site where a first dose was administered.
Now that supplies are more readily available, health care providers are asked to encourage patients to come in and get that second shot.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
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