The world is in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. As WHO and partners work together on the response -- tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions, distributing vital medical supplies to those in need--- they are racing to develop and deploy safe and effective vaccines.
Vaccines save millions of lives each year. Vaccines work by training and preparing the bodys natural defences the immune system to recognize and fight off the viruses and bacteria they target. After vaccination, if the body is later exposed to those disease-causing germs, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness.
There are several safe and effective vaccines that prevent people from getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19. This is one part of managing COVID-19, in addition to the main preventive measures of staying at least 1 metre away from others, covering a cough or sneeze in your elbow, frequently cleaning your hands, wearing a mask and avoiding poorly ventilated rooms or opening a window.
As of 8 April 2021, WHO has evaluated that the following vaccines against COVID-19 have met the necessary criteria for safety and efficacy:
Read our Q&A on the Emergency Use Listing process to find out more about how WHO assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
Some national regulators have also assessed other COVID-19 vaccine products for use in their countries.
Take whatever vaccine is made available to you first, even if you have already had COVID-19. It is important to be vaccinated as soon as possible once its your turn and not wait. Approved COVID-19 vaccines provide a high degree of protection against getting seriously ill and dying from the disease, although no vaccine is 100% protective.
WHO SHOULD GET VACCINATED
The COVID-19 vaccines are safe for most people 18 years and older, including those with pre-existing conditions of any kind, including auto-immune disorders. These conditions include: hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver and kidney disease, as well as chronic infections that are stable and controlled.
If supplies are limited in your area, discuss your situation with your care provider if you:
Children should not be vaccinated for the moment.
There is not yet enough evidence on the use of vaccines against COVID-19 in children to make recommendations for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Children and adolescents tend to have milder disease compared to adults. However, children should continue to have the recommended childhood vaccines.
WHAT SHOULD I DO AND EXPECT AFTER GETTING VACCINATED
Stay at the place where you get vaccinated for at least 15 minutes afterwards, just in case you have an unusual reaction, so health workers can help you.
Check when you should come in for a second dose if needed. Most of the vaccines available are two-dose vaccines. Check with your care provider whether you need to get a second dose and when you should get it. Second doses help boost the immune response and strengthen immunity.
In most cases, minor side effects are normal. Common side effects after vaccination, which indicate that a person's body is building protection to COVID-19 infection include:
Contact your care provider if there is redness or tenderness (pain) where you got the shot that increases after 24 hours, or if side effects do not go away after a few days.
If you experience an immediate severe allergic reaction to a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, you should not receive additional doses of the vaccine. Its extremely rare for severe health reactions to be directly caused by vaccines.
Taking painkillers such as paracetamol before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to prevent side effects is not recommended. This is because it is not known how painkillers may affect how well the vaccine works. However, you may take paracetamol or other painkillers if you do develop side effects such as pain, fever, headache or muscle aches after vaccination.
Even after youre vaccinated, keep taking precautions
While a COVID-19 vaccine will prevent serious illness and death, we still dont know the extent to which it keeps you from being infected and passing the virus on to others. The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change.
Continue to take actions to slow and eventually stop the spread of the virus:
Doing it all protects us all.
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Theres nothing less reassuring than an expert warning of impending doom. Such was the news recently as Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, noted that a new Covid-19 surge may be on the way. Speaking about the uptick in cases and the rise of troubling variants, she was unusually candid, which speaks as much to her own expertise as it does to the new administrations pledge to be as transparent as possible. That may not have been what the president was after, but it did send shivers down many a spine. For leaders trying to rebuild their workforce and bring everyone back to the workplace, its another indication that they may need to craft a policy on employee vaccination, before its too late.
Encourage or require? Legal or not? This is uncharted territory, and the questions until a few months ago were theoretical. Now that the vaccine rollout has accelerated theres little time to explore them, and leaders need answers fast. And given that the pandemic may have changed the way we live and work forever, its likely this will remain an issue in one in one form or another for years to come. So lets look at some of the shoulds and coulds:
Should An Employer Encourage Employees To Get Vaccinated?
Nothing wrong with incentives. Weve seen Bolthouse Farms do it with $500 cash bonuses to those who get the vaccine. The plant has weekly vaccine drives to make it easier for the 1800 full-time hourly workers, and offers frequent educational sessions to clarify myths and overcome hesitation. Thats making an enormous difference, particularly given that 80% of the workers are Latino, who are both more likely to be hospitalized with the virus than whites, according to the CDC, but also tend to be more skeptical about getting the vaccine.
Beyond the doing-good aspect of the CEOs decision, theres also a business rationale here: less illness and less absences are likely worth more than the overall expenditure of the incentive. Other organizations who announced they would compensation workers for getting vaccinated include Dollar General, Trader Joes and Aldi who are also offering an extra four hours of pay on top of paid time off. Instacart is offering a $25 stipend for those who receive the shots so long as they meet minimum delivery quotas, which seems like more of an incentive to make those quotas, but its something.
Should an employer offer paid time off for vaccinations?
Makes sense: vaccinations benefit the whole workforce as well as the business. As well as Dollar General, Trader Joes and Aldi, Chobani got into the game. Chobani is covering up to six hours of paid time off for its employees to get vaccinated (for each of the two vaccine doses, three hours). The policy covers its 2,200 workers throughout the U.S. The paid time off means hourly workers dont need to choose between their health and their paycheck.
We saw enough of this during the height of the pandemic, and its still happening: frontline employees risking exposure and illness for fear of losing their position on the line, from manufacturing to food service to meatpacking. The surges that happened around workplaces prove what a bad management policy this is.
Can Employers Require Employees To Get The Vaccine?
In January 2021, when some of these organizations made their announcements, the vaccine rollout was still in its early stages. As of that time, no company had said they would mandate the vaccine. Even frontline workplaces schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and retails are not requiring the vaccine to come to work. A poll by Gartner found that 60% of HR leaders did not plan to require employees to get vaccinated, though they would encourage it. Under a third of HR leaders thought mandating a vaccine was ethical, and a scant 3% of respondents said they would require proof of vaccination for an employee to return to the workplace.
All well and good, but with cases rising again as of the end of March 2021, weve now been grappling with the pandemic for over a year. For frontline workers whose job involves a lot of public interaction, we simply may not have the luxury of encouragement. Theres also the question of whats driving demand and pushing adoption. Without any mandates, demand flags and adoption wanes and this is a pandemic, after all. Among the CEOs pushing for mandatory employee vaccinations is the CEO of United Airlines, who argued for it in a recent employee town hall. Some companies in Britain are already requiring vaccines a move dubbed jabs for jobs and highly criticized by UK labor groups, who argue it will discriminate against certain socio-economic groups. But considering that among the companies are two private elderly care home companies that together have a workforce numbering 20,000, and given the prevalence of viral spread and deaths, among health care, it may make sense. Essentially, depending on your industry, requiring vaccines may become the norm. If your workforce is remote, you may not be able to make the case for it.
Can And Should Employers Require Employees To Notify Them Of Their Vaccine Status?
If you have a crowded as in public or shared workplace, you probably have employees who have expressed discomfort at working near or alongside those who wont wear masks. Masks are mandated in public now, so the law is on their side. You may also have a divide happening between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. It may not be a matter of choice, but simply timing. Still, its good to know who has been vaccinated and who hasnt.
But under HIPAA, Immunization records are considered protected health information. So heres the guidance:
Whether or not an employee has received a COVID-19 vaccine may be disclosed only by a healthcare provider and thats if the employee has furnished the provider with their written authorization.
Employees can ask employees if they have gotten the vaccine, but thats all they can do ask. The only source that can provide information is the employees medical provider, with written authorization from the employee. The employee, in other words, has to consent.
If an employer requests proof of the vaccine, the employer cant also request any other medication information be disclosed. So while Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance allows employers the choice of requiring proof of vaccination from an employee, it cant also unearth disclosure of information reflecting a disability, or according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. In other words, you can ask. But be careful.
The COVID-19 vaccines have triggered a strange intersection of economic and personal imperatives, ethics, privacy laws, legislated employee protections, personal choice, and a force beyond any one of these factors namely the virus itself. Its taken more than 500,000 American lives, decimated families and communities, and had an indelible, irreversible, nearly inconceivable impact on work and life. Its not going to stop having an impact, either. Health experts project we will be grappling with this and other pandemics for years into the future.
That said, it almost seems quaint that we used to talk about the future of work as a heady mixture of possibilities, a magic carpet of technology, AI and robotics that was going to float us into the next decades. Weve got far more serious matters to deal with now, and it will be fascinating to see what policies have changed in workplaces even 12 months from now. Until then, mask up, get your shots, and stay well.
The percentage of Texans who have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine is nearing one-third, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control on Saturday.
The CDC reported 30.6% of the state's residents, more than 8.8 million have been given one vaccination and 18.2%, more than 5.2 million have been fully vaccinated.
More than 2,600 newly confirmed or probable virus cases and 76 additional deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, were reported Saturday by the state health department.
Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you
There have been more than 2.4 million total cases and 48,185 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the health department.
The rolling average of new cases per day during the past two weeks has decreased by 461.7, a decline of 12.1%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Children have been largely spared during the pandemic, mainly because the coronavirus has a harder time binding to receptors in their cells compared to those of adults.
Now theres growing concern about whether the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom could be causing more infections in children.
Lab studies suggest the B.1.1.7 variant has a mutation that makes it easier for the virus to latch onto our cells and cause an infection which could be why more kids seem to be getting the disease.
But the lab studies dont tell the full story, experts say, and its important to look at other factors at play.
The B.1.1.7 variant doesnt appear to cause more severe illness in kids, and even in the United Kingdom, the vast majority of young people who contract the variant experience mild symptoms.
Its unclear how readily young people spread COVID-19 to others, but experts agree that adults who spend time or live with kids who run a risk of exposure should be prioritized for vaccination.
Childrens sinuses are underdeveloped, and they have fewer ACE-2 receptors (the site where the coronavirus binds to our cells) than adults.
Experts widely believe this is why kids have been protected from severe COVID-19.
According to Dr. Jay Levy, a virologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, lab studies suggest that the B.1.1.7 variant can attach with more strength to the ACE-2 receptors than the earlier renditions of the virus.
If this is a virus that attaches with much more robust nature, then it can have less attachment sites and still infect, Levy said.
This theory could explain the uptick in cases amongst younger people, but other factors are likely at play.
More people have been visiting nonessential businesses and traveling between states in recent weeks.
COVID-19 may now be more widespread in communities that have lower vaccination rates and low population immunity.
Even if more children test positive than they did in previous waves, it could simply be because certain areas have a higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, as research from the United Kingdom suggests.
If children do have a higher chance of getting contracting the B.1.1.7 variant, Levy says its important to ask whether theyre now experiencing severe illness or symptoms of a common cold.
Recent data shows that B.1.1.7 hasnt changed the pediatric hospitalization rate and that severe COVID-19 remains rare in kids.
The pediatric hospitalizations rate was 1.9 per 100,000 of hospitalizations on January 1, 2021 and 1.4 per 100,000 of hospitalizations on April 1, 2021, per data sourced from the HHS Protect Public Data Hub.
There is no evidence in those under 18 that youre seeing increased severity of disease, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
A variant thats easier to contract would naturally lead to more cases and ultimately more deaths but the clinical course in illness caused by B.1.1.7 doesnt appear to be different.
I dont see it being more virulent, said Levy, noting that its unknown how many kids who get COVID-19 get really sick.
If kids experience a milder infection like the common cold, its unclear if and how they might transmit the virus to others, says Levy.
Could a kids mild infection spread and cause a severe illness in an at-risk adult?
Its possible, but we dont know that, Levy said. Its also entirely possible that childrens immune systems may be robust enough to control the virus and prevent a lot of mutations from spreading.
One thing is clear: Quick vaccination of adults who are around children is crucial.
Those people whom [kids] go home to should be vaccinated, Gandhi said.
States have prioritized vaccination for those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, according to Gandhi.
We have to protect the vulnerable, especially if children are out more and they live with the vulnerable, explained Gandhi.
Were well on our way. The CDC shows that 77 percent of seniors 65 and older have been vaccinated, and states have been directed to expand eligibility to all adults by April 19.
K-12 educators in every state are eligible to get the shot, and over 80 percent of teachers and staff have received a vaccine dose.
Both Israel and the United Kingdom were hit hard by the B.1.1.7 variant, but when they ramped up vaccinations, COVID-19 cases plummeted.
The United States isnt there yet, with only 25 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated.
We will be there by fall when the schools open, Gandhi said.
Children have been largely spared during the pandemic, mainly because the coronavirus has a harder time binding to receptors in their cells compared to those of adults.
Concern is growing that kids can contract the B.1.1.7 variant more easily, but theres no evidence to suggest the variant causes more severe symptoms in kids. Quickly vaccinating adults who are around and live with kids is crucial.
A COVID-19 vaccination clinic is being held for New Britain residents this weekend and walk-ups are welcome.
A specialized transportable vaccination center will be at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The clinic will administer Johnson & Johnson vaccines and the vaccines are specifically for New Britain residents, officials said.
Walk-ups are welcome.
The clinic is being put on by Griffin Health, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Conn. Dept. of Public Health, the New Britain Health Dept., the New Britain Emergency Management and the New Britain Mayor's Office in an effort to make the vaccine available to more New Britain residents, according to Griffin Health officials.
By phone: Call Connecticuts Vaccine Appointment Assist Line at 877-918-2224, seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for scheduling at select sites.
Online: Schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment inVAMS, the Vaccine Administration Management System.
(KTVX) Youve done it youve waited to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, you refreshed web pages until you got an appointment, and you showed up, getting a quick prick in the arm.
You may be ready to pop the champagne or crack open a beer and celebrate, but hold on for a moment.
Can you even drink alcohol after you get the COVID-19 vaccine? What about before?
Health officials have confirmed that you shouldnt take painkillers before getting a shot to prevent symptoms, but, if your doctor agrees, you can use them afterward if needed.
We know there are side effects after the vaccine the CDC says you may experience fever, nausea, body aches, headaches, chills and other similar symptoms after you receive both your first and second dose.
If you arent familiar, some of those symptoms are similar to a hangover.
But there is no advice from the CDC regarding drinking alcohol before or after getting your dose. In Russia, a scientist caused a stir when she recommended Russians stop drinking alcohol two weeks before getting the vaccine, then three weeks after the second. Another Russian scientist was interviewed and recommending you dont drink alcohol for three days after each injection, according to Forbes.
While there is no firm answer, most health officials advise against drinking because of the symptoms that may occur after you get your dose.
Vaccine side effects include muscle aches and pains and feeling under the weather. Compounding that with the side effects of alcohol runs the risk of making you feel worse,Tania Elliott, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone Health, tellsHealth.
Having a glass of wine or a pint of beer after your vaccine appointment could make the side effects a bit worse, Dr. William Greenough III, M.D., professor emeritus of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, tells Bustle.
While its true that chronic, heavy drinking and binge drinking can suppress your immune system, Richard Kennedy, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and co-director of the Vaccine Research Group, says an occasional drink including one after your second dose, wont have an effect.
Ultimately, while having a drink after getting either of your doses wont make your recovery any harder, health officials agree that instead of having alcohol, you should focus on staying hydrated and taking care of yourself in case of symptoms of the vaccine.
There have been a lot of questions about the vaccine and what you can do before or after getting your shot. Here are a few frequently asked questions, answered:
If you have been fully vaccinated, the CDC says you can resume travel at low risk of getting or spreading COVID-19. Because of this, those who are fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine can travel safely within the U.S. without getting tested before or after travel unless their destination requires it and they do not need to self-quarantine.
New research suggests the protection theModerna vaccinegives against COVID-19 lasts for at least six months. Research on the Pfizer vaccine has found the same results. Both vaccines have only been available in the U.S. for six months.
The CDC recommends that peopleavoid pain medicinelike Tylenol or Ibuprofen prior to getting the vaccine. The chance that over-the-counter medications will affect your immune response is unlikely, the Utah Department of Health says, but it is still not known for sure if they can impact the vaccines effectiveness.
Its widely known that the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines tend to come with more side effects than the first, including tiredness, headaches, chills, fever, nausea and muscle pain. With the first dose, your body begins building its initial immune response, including producing antibodies.
But with the second shot a.k.a. the second exposure to the virus the big guns of your immune system react.
How long should I wait to get the vaccine after having the virus?
According to Jenny Johnson, Public Information Officer with the Utah Department of Health, people who have had COVID-19 can safely be vaccinated.
The only rule about being vaccinated after being infected with the virus, she says, is that people must havecompleted the quarantine period and be symptom-free.
There is no reason why someone should not get the vaccine after being infected, Johnson says.
Can I donate blood after receiving the vaccine?
You can, but the American Red Cross says it isimportant to note which type of vaccine you got.
Phillies Rhys Hoskins wants the COVID-19 vaccine, but unsure if team can reach vaccination threshold The Philadelphia Inquirer
Katharine Lee got her COVID-19 vaccination early on in the United States rollout. So did a friend of hers they got their shots on the same day. They compared notes, curious to see what the side effects would be. Lee, a research fellow in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, says that they both had one surprising symptom: they both started their period soon after they took the vaccine.
It wasnt a symptom that was on the list, she says. I expected that my arm would be sore, or that I might have a fever or a headache, but this just wasnt on the list.
Lee reached out to Kate Clancy, who studies the menstrual cycle at the University of Illinois, to share the observation. When Clancy got her vaccination, she also had an unusual period. So she posted on Twitter asking if other people did, too and watched dozens of responses roll in.
It made us want to capture those experiences, Lee says. So this week, the pair launched a formal study to collect data about the relationship between the COVID-19 vaccines and the menstrual cycle. Its not a side effect that clinical trials checked for, and its not included on the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions vaccine health check-in.
There isnt much research on how vaccination affects menstruation. But vaccines do stress the immune system, and the menstrual cycle sometimes responds to those types of changes. The menstrual cycle is really dynamic, and it responds to tons of things, Lee says.
Theres also a potential relationship between the nanoparticles used in the COVID-19 vaccines and changes in bleeding patterns. In some people, the nanoparticles end up creating a temporary immune reaction that kills off platelets, a type of blood cell involved in clotting, Clancy says. They regenerate quickly, but if someone has a bleeding event like a period just after they get a shot, it could make it heavier. Shell be collaborating with Anirban Sen Gupta, a platelet researcher at Case Western Reserve University, to try to understand that potential mechanism.
If it turns out that there is a relationship between the vaccines and the timing of a persons menstrual cycle, that doesnt mean theres something wrong or dangerous about the vaccines themselves. It would most likely be a temporary side effect, and probably wouldnt have effects on fertility, Lee stressed. It wouldnt be that different from other side effects that crop up with the vaccines, like a fever or headache. But its important to have a full understanding of what kinds of reactions the vaccinations can cause so that people are as informed as possible about what they might experience.
It really sucks to be surprised by your period, Lee says. Its nice to know that it could happen, in the same way that it is knowing that you might have a fever and headache.
Similarly, unusually heavy periods are generally something people should be concerned about they can be a sign that something is wrong, Clancy says. Knowing that its a possible effect of the vaccine could make the experience less concerning. On the other hand, if the research shows that there isnt a strong link to vaccination, it may mean that people who do have this experience need to go to the doctor to make sure there isnt something else wrong.
People are eager to share their stories on this survey, Clancy says. Within a day of launching the survey, there were already over 700 responses. Theyre hoping to better understand how peoples periods are changing and the characteristics of people having those experiences their age, gender, underlying health conditions, or other factors. Theyre also tracking the timing. Clancy says she suspects that people who get the shot just before their period is supposed to start might be more likely to see heavy bleeding.
Right now, Lee says theyre hoping the survey fills a knowledge gap around menstruation and the vaccines. People have discussed their experiences on social media, but it hasnt appeared in any scientific literature. Lee says she isnt surprised. It took until the 90s for women to be regularly included in clinical trials of any kind, and some of those lingering biases remain.
These are just not things some people think about. Its not part of their daily lived experience. I think a lot of it is related to that history, and the bias around who gets to decide whats important to consider as a side effect, she says.
When Vanessa Begaye heard in late January that clinics on the Indian reservation where she lives in Arizona were offering Covid-19 vaccinations to all adults, she rushed to get in line for her shot.
The 24-year-old is a college student, mother of two and a member of the Navajo Nation. Her grandfather, a diabetic in his 60s, died in July after he contracted the coronavirus and was put on a respirator.
Pretty much the whole Navajo Nation wanted to get the vaccine as soon as it came out, Ms. Begaye said. We all felt it was the right thing to do, to protect our families, especially our elders. Almost everyone I know has lost someone, and we all just want this pandemic to be over.
In Apache County, Ariz., where Ms. Begaye lives, about two-thirds of which is covered by the Navajo, Fort Apache and Zuni Indian reservations, 42% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. In Glacier County, Mont., home of the Blackfeet Nation, 46.7% of the population is vaccinated. In Blaine County, Mont., where one-third of the population lives on the Fort Belknap Reservation, it is 45.9%.
Overall, 34.5% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine shot, according to the CDC.
MADISON (WKOW) -- Wisconsin reported four new deaths due to COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the latest numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Deaths for each day arereported by DHS HERE.
DHS also reported 60 people were newly hospitalized.
As of Saturday afternoon, 283COVID-19 patientswere being treated in Wisconsin hospitals, down seven from the day prior.
Of those, 72 are in the ICU, down two from the day before,according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
There have been 804 positive COVID-19 tests since yesterday in Wisconsin and 3,610 negative results.
(CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL DHS DASHBOARD)
The Department of Health Servicesdashboardshows the seven-day average of positive tests.(CHART)
(App users, see the daily reports and charts HERE.)
Of all positive cases reported since the pandemic began, 569,194, or 97.4 percent, are considered recovered.
As of Saturday, a total of 3,471,590 vaccines have been administered throughout Wisconsin.
So far, 36.6 percent of Wisconsinites have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and 23.8 percent of the state has complete the vaccine series.
Vaccination numbers can change on a rolling basis as the state gets more data each day.
DHS has a county-level dashboard to assess the COVID-19 activity levelin counties and Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition regions that measure what DHS calls the burden in each county.View the dashboard HERE.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services updates the statistics each dayon its website around 2 p.m.
(Our entire coronavirus coverage is available here.)
The new strain of the coronavirus causes the disease COVID-19. Symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath. A full list of symptoms is available onthe Centers for Disease Control website.
In severe cases, pneumonia can develop. Those most at risk include the elderly, people with heart or lung disease as well as anyone at greater risk of infection.
For most, the virus is mild, presenting similarly to a common cold or the flu.
Anyone who thinks they may have the disease should call ahead to a hospital or clinic before going in for a diagnosis. Doing so gives the staff time to take the proper precautions so the virus does not spread.
Those needing emergency medical services should continue to use 911.
(County by county results are available here).
