"We're going continue to make progress, it might not be as fast as the first 50% (of the population vaccinated), I think that it's going to be slower. But I think we're going to continue to get there," said Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response.
Experts say the US is facing some major challenges when it comes to getting more shots into arms, including vaccine hesitancy.
What a gradual return to normal will look like
Experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci estimate between 70% to 85% of the country needs to be immune to the virus -- either through previous infection or from vaccination -- to suppress its spread.
But even before hitting those percentages, the country will reach a point where Covid-19 cases will begin going down dramatically as more people get vaccinated, Fauci said.
But it's not there yet.
"Right now, we're averaging about 60,000 cases per day," Fauci told CNN on Sunday. "As we get lower and lower and lower, you're going to be seeing a gradual diminution of the restrictions and a more progressive moving towards normality."
It will be a gradual return to normal, as Americans can begin enjoying outdoor activities, travel, sporting events, theaters and restaurants "little by little," Fauci said.
"The past trends, when we saw cases start to decline, we were somewhat skeptical because we knew a lot of those declines were a result of behavioral changes, people pulling back more, taking more precautions and then as soon as we sort of let our guard down, we saw cases surge again," he said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."
"Right now, the declines that we're seeing we can take to the bank," Gottlieb added. "I think we could feel more assured because they're being driven by vaccinations and greater levels of population-wide immunity -- not just from vaccination but also from prior infection."
More guidance could be coming
"In the next few days very likely, the CDC will be coming out with updating their guidelines of what people who are vaccinated can do and even some who are not vaccinated," he told CNN.
While the Covid-19 safety risks appear to be much lower outdoors, it's still important to consider several factors when deciding whether to mask up or not, one expert said.
"You do have to consider the rate of viral transmission in your community, the vaccination rates in your community and what kind of outdoor setting you're in," Dr. Richina Bicette of the Baylor College of Medicine told CNN Sunday. "A packed concert where people are shoulder-to-shoulder is going to be riskier than an outdoor volleyball game where you have a large area and people spread apart."
Some Americans are missing their second shots
As more shots are making it into arms, a growing number of Americans seem to be missing their scheduled second dose, according to data from the CDC.
About 3.4% had missed that second appointment back in March. About 8% of Americans have missed it now, the data show.
But it's not an exact count.
If a person got their two Covid-19 vaccine doses from different reporting entities -- for example, first from a state-run clinic and then from a local health clinic -- the two doses may not have been linked together, a CDC spokeswoman said.
Confidence in J&J vaccine fell before pause lifted
Confidence in the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine lowered after a pause was put in place by the CDC and FDA, according to a poll released Monday by ABC and the Washington Post.
"Fewer than half of Americans see the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine as safe and barely more than a fifth of those not yet vaccinated would be willing to take it," found the poll, even though overall intentions to get vaccinated have risen since January.
The poll found that 73% of unvaccinated respondents said that they were unwilling to get the J&J vaccine and 41% said that it was very or somewhat unsafe.
That left 22% of unvaccinated respondents who said they would be willing to get J&J's vaccine if it were put back in use.
The number of respondents who saw the J&J vaccine as very or somewhat safe was 46%, compared with 71% who saw the Moderna vaccine as safe and 73% who viewed the Pfizer vaccines as safe.
Fauci: US has 'moral responsibility' to help India
The US has a "moral responsibility" to help India and the rest of the world to fight the pandemic, Fauci told CNN on Sunday.
"The United States and India are the two countries now that have suffered the most. They've been allies of ours. They've been people that we have over the decades and decades had strong collaboration and cooperation with."
"Getting them vaccinations is certainly on the table" and being discussed as a possibility, Fauci said Sunday.
Helping India matters to the US for several reasons, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told MSNBC on Sunday.
"First and foremost because we are human beings and we should care about what happens to other human beings around the world," Murthy said.
Secondly, he said, the uncontrolled spread of the virus in other parts of the world increases the chances of further mutations and variants of the coronavirus that could eventually pose a problem to vaccines, he said.
"And that means that those viruses, those mutant viruses, those new variants, could travel here to the US and cause real challenges here," he added.
CNN's Jessica Firger, Naomi Thomas, Rashard Rose, Barbara Starr, Elizabeth Cohen and Maggie Fox contributed to this report.
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As expectations grow that messenger RNA-based vaccines such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna will dominate the Covid-19 vaccine market, analysts say there will be room for smaller players alongside those two firms.
In a note published early Monday, an analyst at Guggenheim Securities initiated coverage of CureVac (ticker: CVAC), which is developing an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine now in clinical trials, with a Neutral rating and no target price.
Shares of CureVac, which went public in August, have skyrocketed in recent months. The stock is up 43.5% so far this year and is up another 1.7% to about $118 in trading on Monday.
In less than 12 months from its IPO, we believe CVAC has the potential to evolve from a research driven mRNA company to a fully integrated biopharma vaccine manufacturer and developer, assuming [its Covid-19 vaccine] succeeds in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease in its upcoming Phase 2/3 HERALD study, Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez wrote.
Messenger RNA-based vaccines are based on a novel technology that had not been used in an approved or authorized medicine of any kind before the Pfizer vaccine received U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization late last year. They work differently than the adenoviral vector-based vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and AstraZeneca (AZN), which also use a novel approach. Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have both faced manufacturing troubles and safety concerns, though regulators say the benefits of the vaccines continue to outweigh the risks.
In his note, Fernandez wrote that he expects CureVac to claim a modest share of pandemic-era sales of the Covid-19 vaccine in developed world markets.But he said that he thinks the vaccine can capture 20% of global endemic sales by or before 2024.
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We think demand for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is here to stay and mRNA vaccines will dominate the global landscape long-term, he wrote.
Fernandez estimated annual sales of between $3 billion and $3.5 billion of CureVacs Covid-19 vaccine after the pandemic, and that mRNA-based vaccines will have 65% of the Covid-19 vaccine market share in 2021 and 2022.
According to FactSet, the analyst consensus puts Modernas (MRNA) Covid-19 vaccine sales at $8.5 billion in 2025 and BioNTech s (BNTX) at $3.8 billion.
Longer-term, we see opportunity for CVAC to gain share based on its pricing discount relative to PFE/BNTX and MRNA, Fernandez wrote.
In addition to its Covid-19 vaccine, the company has a pipeline of prophylactic vaccines and cancer vaccines. The company also has a number of partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), including a collaboration on a next-generation Covid-19 vaccine.
With >$1B in cash on the balance sheet, CVAC is well funded, but the pipeline is too early (or speculative in the case of intratumoral cancer vaccines) to attribute significant value, Fernandez wrote.
For now, the stocks valuation hinges on the outcome of the ongoing Phase 2b/3 study of its Covid-19 vaccine. Fernandez wrote that he expects the vaccine to demonstrate efficacy of at least 80%.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com
Isnt the European Union also developing a system? Yes. On June 21, the E.U. is expected to introduce a certificate called a Digital Green Pass, with the aim of allowing people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel more freely. Under the proposed rules, each nation within the bloc could decide which travel restrictions, such as obligatory quarantine, to waive for Digital Green holders. But many countries, including Denmark, say they cannot afford to wait for the Digital Green Pass and are developing their own versions.
Name of card: The Green Pass
Could it get you an indoor table? Yes.
How about entry to a concert or sports game? That, too.
Anything else? The pass allows you to enter many businesses, including swimming pools, gyms, theaters and wedding halls, as well as cultural events, such as concerts, sports games and religious gatherings. Having the pass may also mean that you may not have to quarantine for 10 to 14 days after international travel.
How does it work? In late February, Israels ministry of health began offering the Green Pass to fully vaccinated residents and individuals who have recovered from Covid-19. When booking a table at a restaurant, many of the businesses began to ask, Do you have a Green Pass? Israelis can print their certificates containing a QR code, download the code onto their phones or flash the app itself.
Whats with that family? The app and other Green Pass materials feature an animated illustration of a family of three. The man is wearing shorts, a backpack and a camera around his neck, suggesting hes on vacation. His son and wife are wearing masks, but their postures are relaxed as they pull their suitcases.
Aparna Nair, a professor of science history at the University of Oklahoma who maintains a collection of vaccination certificates going back to the 1820s, said that this detail was noteworthy: They are using the design of the vaccine passport to form visual connections with life after the pandemic, essentially, the vaccine as a literal passport to the rest of the world.
These are among the steps public health officials are rolling out to overcome a major obstacle North Dakota confronts in controlling the spread of the coronavirus: vaccine hesitancy.
North Dakota, in fact, harbors one of the highest rates in the nation of vaccine hesitancy: 29% of the states residents are hesitant to take a vaccine to protect against COVID-19, including 19% who are very hesitant.
That reluctance stands in the way of the single most effective way to end the pandemic and restore life to normal accepting vaccines that studies have shown are safe and highly effective in preventing illness from the virus, according to medical experts.
Only Wyoming has greater reservations about COVID-19 vaccines: 31% are hesitant, including 17% very hesitant, as measured in surveys by the Census Bureau and compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Minnesota, by comparison, is much more accepting of the vaccines, with 11% hesitant, and even South Dakota is less resistant than its sister state, with 22% hesitant, according to the surveys.
The North Dakota Department of Health has set a goal of vaccinating 70% of the states residents, the level medical experts believe is the minimum required to halt the spread of the virus by achieving herd immunity.
We knew that was going to be a lofty goal, said Molly Howell, North Dakotas immunization director. I think its going to take a bit of work, a bit of time.
As the week wound to a close, the state was getting close to giving half of the population at least one dose.
This week North Dakota gave a soft launch to a $1 million education campaign called Lets get the vax together to encourage residents to get the shot. But public health officials arent relying on ads and public service announcements alone to sway the reluctant.
The campaign to boost vaccination runs along two parallel tracks: convenience and persuasion.
Around the state, public health units and private providers are making it more convenient for people to get the jab, with expanded walk-in availability and efforts to bring the vaccines into primary care clinics.
Public health officials have experimented with pop-up vaccination clinics in Walmart stores in Bismarck and Mandan, and are encouraged by the results. On the first day, between 60 and 70 customers were vaccinated, said Kylie Hall, project coordinator for the Center of Immunization Research and Education at North Dakota State University.
Similar pop-up vaccination clinics will be conducted at Walmarts around the state on select dates, targeting busy periods, she said. These little pop-up events, I think, are helpful, Hall said.
Public health units statewide are working with employers, who can request vaccination clinics or vaccination education sessions in their workplaces to make getting a shot convenient for workers.
Another strategy will be to offer vaccines at large events and gatherings, such as sporting events and concerts.
Besides making it easy to get a shot, major efforts will be made to address concerns that prevent people from getting vaccinated.
To do that, public health officials are planning community talks in a variety of settings, including town halls and smaller groups, to give people the opportunity to hear from health experts about vaccine safety and effectiveness.
We know from years of data that people trust their health care providers the most, Hall said.
North Dakota was able to significantly increase uptake of the human papillomavirus vaccine by organizing teams of physicians who traveled around the state and briefed clinical providers, who in turn passed along the information to their patients.
A similar effort will be made to increase acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, in tandem with sending speakers to address city councils, school boards and church councils in an effort to create vaccine acceptance ripple effects, Hall said.
Administering vaccinations in stores and at public events will help to normalize getting the jab, which will increase acceptance, said Carrie Anne Platt, an associate professor of communication at NDSU who has researched and published on overcoming vaccination hesitancy.
People naturally have concerns about new vaccines for a new disease, Platt said. Its normal as a human to be fearful about stuff, she said.
Health professionals should discuss those fears with their patients in a straightforward way, not treating concerns as silly, Platt said. The most effective approach is a conversational one, she said.
Dr. Richard Vetter, chief medical officer at Essentia Health in Fargo, said he asks unvaccinated patients what their concerns are and tries to answer questions about safety and effectiveness.
Unfortunately, he said, a lot of myths and pieces of misinformation are circulating on social media, and overcoming that is an ongoing challenge, Vetter said.
Many young women are worried the vaccines could impair their fertility, a myth without a shred of evidence, and some believe the vaccines track the location of those who have been injected, apparently because of photographs showing boxes of the vaccine with delivery tracking tags.
People trust those in their social circles, and that can be a problem if theyre exposed to false information, Platt said.
We look to people around us for social norms, she said. Knowing which myths are circulating in a certain community is going to be very important for reaching a certain population.
Those who were eager to get vaccinated have by and large gotten their shots. Now the challenge is to reach those who are not highly motivated or who have concerns, said Dr. Doug Griffin, chief medical officer at Sanford Health in Fargo.
Its a bit like technology, he said, with early adopters and those who wait.
Sanford now accepts walk-ins at all times at the community vaccination center in the former Gordmans store in Fargo, and will be making the vaccine available in certain clinics.
Now that the vaccine supply pipeline is flowing, hesitancy looms as the primary challenge that must be overcome to control the pandemic, Griffin said. I think were all struggling with it.
North Dakotans, by their nature, are not always quick to follow what experts tell them, Vetter said.
Theres an independent mindset in North Dakota, he said, adding that health professionals maybe havent done a good enough job in explaining the vaccines high level of effectiveness and safety.
I got my COVID-19 Vaccine stickers. Forum News Service file photo
Much of the resistance is coming from younger people who believe they dont need the vaccine. Thats not a safe assumption, Vetter said. Hospitals now are seeing more patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s, he said, and even those who have mild or asymptomatic cases can develop long-term symptoms, including chronic shortness of breath, fatigue, forgetfulness or heart palpitations.
The risk of developing those symptoms is much higher than having an adverse reaction to the vaccine, Vetter said.
Jason Jensen, a professor and executive director of the Institute of Policy and Business Analytics at the University of North Dakota, said surveys indicate high levels of vaccine hesitancy that will be hard to overcome.
A UND survey of 1,600 residents from Sept. 23 to Nov. 24 asked respondents to rank their likelihood of getting vaccinated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 extremely unlikely and 10 extremely likely.
The average response was 5.2, but the most frequent response was 1, extremely unlikely, at 27%, with 41% in the 1 to 4 response range, indicating significant reluctance, Jensen said.
The survey was done just as Pfizer was announcing its vaccine, and doesnt reflect attitudes months after vaccines have been available.
That level of hesitancy means officials will have a tough time vaccinating 70% of the population.
Those who shun the vaccine are not only exposing themselves to unnecessary risk, but they also place others at risk, including elderly relatives or those who have compromised immune systems, Hall said.
If you arent choosing to get vaccinated, you are choosing to get COVID, she said. If youve already had it, you might get it again. If unvaccinated, You could be that link in the chain leading to someone getting sick.
By getting vaccinated, Hall said, You can be that spot where the virus cant go any further.
There's been a lot of talk about "herd immunity" these past several months what it is and how we get there. If it's even possible to get there.
The idea of it involves inoculating a critical mass of people somewhere close to 80 percent of the population so that the spread of disease is significantly hindered.
Right now, we're nowhere close to that magic number. As of April 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported just more than 25 percent of the U.S. population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. And even accounting for the percentage of people who developed some level of immunity to the disease after surviving the virus, this country won't be reaching herd immunity anytime soon, if ever.
But vaccinating children will get us closer.
Dr. Andy Atz,chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, estimated that 20 percent to 25 percent of the entire population is under the age of 18. If achieving herd immunity requires at least 80 percent of the population to develop immunity, that target will remain unattainable until at least some children become eligible for the vaccine.
As it stands now, though, the federal government hasn't approved a COVID-19 vaccine for use among most children. The only children currently eligible for a vaccine are those who are at least 16 years old, and even then, those teenagers are only permitted to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. While the government will likely approve both the Moderna and Pfizer shots for children older than 12 soon, it could take several more months before the Food and Drug Administration makes more of these vaccines widely available to the youngest patients through an emergency use authorization.
In the meantime, enrolling children into a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine will allow many families to bypass that long wait.
Already, hundreds of parents have expressed an interest in signing their children up for one of these trials at MUSC, Atz said.
"The demand is huge," he said.
In the Lowcountry, Coastal Pediatric Associates was one of few sites in the country selected to study the effects of the Moderna vaccine among 12- to 17-year-old patients. Moving forward, that research will encompass younger patients, too, and Atz said he anticipates MUSC will start enrolling children in a trial for the Moderna vaccine soon.
Three different age cohorts will be studied: 6- to 12-month-olds; 2- to 6-year-olds; and 6- to 12-year-olds, and several different doses will be tested within each age group. Enrollment will start slowly and eventually ramp up later this summer and fall, Atz said.
The research really boils down to determining the correct dose of the vaccine to give these different age groups, he said. The vaccines have already been administered to tens of millions of adults, and they're very likely very safe for children, he said. But kids are considered a vulnerable population, and determining the precise amount of vaccine they should receive, based on their age, is an important part of the process.
"We know theres a huge difference between a 6-month-old and an 11-year-old, and thats why wed expect the dose to be different," he said.
The process is moving more slowly than many families would like, though there are medical ethics to consider.
The MUSC Shawn Jenkins Childrens Hospital has been selected to participate in a clinical trial that will allow some children to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. File/Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff
In a March article published by Pediatrics, the medical journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, experts explained that children need to be handled with care when it comes to clinical research, primarily because they can't provide legal consent.
"As a result, minors are less able to protect themselves from being exposed to excessive research risks," the authors wrote. "A common way to satisfy these requirements is to enroll minors only after there is evidence of safety and efficacy in adults. Yet, waiting until safety and efficacy have been established in adults could substantially delay an effective pandemic response."
Atz said the process of enrolling children in the next phase of the trial will be "very regimented." It will start slow, with small numbers of children in each age group. Researchers will observe these patients closely to determine what is likely the safest and best dose, and when that is accomplished, the trial will scale up in a rapid way, probably sometime around August.
That means more waiting. But in the meantime, Atz advised, there is something very effective that parents can do to protect children from COVID-19: "They can get vaccinated themselves."
Reach Lauren Sausser at 843-937-5598.
As Rowan County Public Health transitions from mass vaccinations, please know that our number one priority continues to be making sure our community gets vaccinated. As we move forward, we will now focus on targeting more local businesses and areas throughout Rowan County where access may be an issue. In the meantime, as more of our citizens get vaccinated, we ask that you remember to still practice the 3Ws when going out in public. In closing, please also remember that vaccines cannot save lives unless communities get vaccinated--do your part to help make our community healthy again,
CVS, Walgreens to resume administrating Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
Updated: 5:27 AM EDT Apr 26, 2021
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RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE. DOUG: AND THIS WEEK THAT EFFORT WILL GET ANOTHER BOOST, AS THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE GETS BACK IN CIRCULATION. THE EYEOPENERS JENNIFER EAGAN IS LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE WITH WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THAT CHANGE. JEN? JENNIFER: BOTH WALGREENS AND CVS TELLING US THOSE SHOTS WILL RESUME THIS WEEK. THE GLOBE REPORTS MASSACHUSETTS IS EXPECTED TO RECEIVE ABOUT 4,000 DOSES OF J&J SHOTS THIS WEEK. THE STATE RE-AUTHORIZED THE USE OF THE VACCINE FRIDAY NIGHT, NOT LONG AFTER THE PAUSE WAS LIFTED BY THE CDC. FEDERAL HEALTH LEADERS HOPING THIS WHOLE PROCESS, WILL ACTUALLY INCREASE CONFIDENCE IN THE VACCINES. >> THE CDC AND THE FDA ARE THE GOLD STANDARD IN SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF THE VACCINE. PEOPLE SHOULD REALIZE THAT WE TAKE SAFETY VERY SERIOUSLY. JENNIFER: HEALTH REGULATORS HAD RECOMMENDED THE PAUSE, AS THEY INVESTIGATED RARE BUT SERIOUS CASES OF BLOOD CLOTS IN WOMEN WHO HAD GOTTEN THE J&J SHOT. THAT WAS LIFTED ON FRIDAY, AFTER A WARNING WAS ADDED TO HELP WOMEN DECIDE IF THEY WANTED TO TAKE THAT SHOT. MASSACHUSETTS IS ONE OF MORE THAN 30 STATES NOW RESUMING USE OF THE J&J VACCINE
CVS, Walgreens to resume administrating Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
Updated: 5:27 AM EDT Apr 26, 2021
CVS and Walgreens will resume administering Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine this week.
CVS and Walgreens will resume administering Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine this week.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) The university will reopen its COVID-19 Campus Vaccination Clinic on Tuesday.
The clinic is open for the entire community who is 18 and older.
The CDC completed its review of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and released the pause, allowing UNCW to resume their vaccination clinic.
We encourage members of the university community to be vaccinated before the end of the semester to help protect yourself, family and friends, the university wrote in a news release. With the one-dose vaccine, you are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after you receive it.
RegistrationInformationAppointments are now open for this week for those ages 18 and older. To register,visit here.
OnThursday,the clinic will have extended hours over lunch and into the early evening to makeiteven more convenient for those that may work or have class during the day.
You will need to provide your name, email address,date of birth, employee orstudent ID number (if applicable) and mobile phone number to register. In the ID section, Seahawk family members should provide the first and last name of their student, faculty, staff or retiree relative.Community members should enter community member.
After receiving thevaccine,you will need to remain in the Burney Centerfor 15 minutes.
Free visitor parking is available in Lot M near Burney Center. See the Visitor Parking webpagefor directions and more details.
This week in coronavirus numbers: Tennessee vaccination pace plummets by 41% The Tennessean
Even after a COVID-19 vaccination, pandemic anxiety may persist. Heres how you can cope as Connecticut reopens. Hartford Courant
