TIJUANA (Border Report) Two COVID-19 variants have been documented in the Mexican border state of Baja California, prompting the states health secretary to predict the state and city of Tijuana will be hit by a third and much worse wave of cases.
According to Baja California Health Secretary Alonso Prez Rico, the two variants are B.1.427 and B.1.429 originating in California.
The third wave for Baja California wont be a good setting, we have to continue protecting ourselves, we cant let up, said Prez Rico. Before the end of the month, well see this third wave.
Prez Rico has said the recent influx of spring breakers from north of the border will be another factor in this predicted third wave.
Baja California is losing this war, theres an entire floor at Tijuanas General Hospital filled with patients now intubated because of COVID-19, he said. Now is not the time to start shaking hands or to go to the beach for parties, we have to keep taking care of ourselves, lets hold on a little longer.
In the last 24 hours in Baja California, there have been nine deaths and 191 new cases attributed to COVID-19.
Visit theBorderReport.com homepagefor the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.
Governor Brian Kemp declared, Georgia is open for business as his executive order removing most statewide restrictions takes effect Thursday, April 8.
ATLANTA Most of the COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place across Georgia will no longer be in effect on Thursday.
Governor Brian Kemptweeted Wednesday that Georgia is open for business after a year when small businesses, especially, struggled to stay afloat and bring customers in, while keeping the virus out.
Many welcomed the governors order. However, not everyone is rushing to change what theyve been doing, just because the state says they can.
At first, during the pandemic, Atmosphere French Restaurant in Midtown Atlanta struggled to survive.
Now, with limited seating spaced far apart outside and inside, plus with a robust take-out service, Owner Julian Sery said Wednesday that business is recovering just fine the way it is.
We probably will keep the restrictions in place for a little longer, Sery said, until we feel everybody can be safe. We want our customers to feel safe when they come here. So well see how the vaccine goes and how people, the customers, react to the changes, and well make a decision from there.
The changes, statewide, as of Thursday include:
Service employees must still wear masks, for example.
Many restaurants, bars, and other businesses are ready to increase their capacity; their customers say they are comfortable being closer to each other.
However, many others are not ready.
I think its still a little too soon, Sharalyn Daniel said at her table at Atmosphere, several feet away from other tables. "Because everyone is just starting to get vaccinated.
Even with the new executive order in place, the governor is still urging people to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.
While there is some research, Arin Piramzadian, chief medical officer of StarMed Healthcare, said there isnt much because COVID-19 is a somewhat new virus. He says, Katy Robertson is actually the first case that we know of where a mom was able to prove that the babys able to get antibodies from the breast milk.
The number of high-risk communities in Massachusetts has risen yet again this week, with nearly two dozen cities and towns added to the red zone, state data shows.
A total of 77 communities have the highest risk of COVID-19 transmission based on their average daily case counts for the past two weeks, according to the state. There were 55 communities on the list last week.
The state also reintroduced its color-coded map. Many of the red zone cities and towns are on Cape Cod and the South Shore; another group is in central Massachusetts.
A community receives a red-zone designation based on a few factors. Small communities with under 10,000 residents are placed in the red zone if they have more than 25 cases total over the last two weeks, according to the state. For communities between 10,000 and 50,000 people, a red-zone designation is given if the community has 10 or more average daily cases per 100,000 residents and if the positivity rate is greater than or equal to 5 percent. For communities over 50,000, they need a daily average of 10 or more cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 4 percent or higher.
Heres a look at each of the high-risk communities, listed alphabetically:
Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.
Great, youre signed up!
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Vancouver Canucks said 25 players and coaches have tested positive in a COVID-19 outbreak involving a variant of the virus.
The team said Wednesday that 21 players, including three from the taxi squad, and four members of the coaching staff have tested positive, and one other player is considered a close contact.
"This is a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread and its serious impact, even among healthy, young athletes," the team said in a statement.
All players and staff are in quarantine, and 19 of the 22 players on Vancouver's active roster were listed on the NHL's COVID protocol list Wednesday.
The Canucks say the team has confirmed that a variant is involved in the outbreak, and full genome sequencing is being conducted by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control to determine which specific variant.
They said an ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and contract tracing found that the outbreak was sparked by a single unidentified individual picking up the infection in a "community setting, which has since been identified by public health as a public exposure location."
Asked whether the NHL is concerned that a player or staff member broke the league's protocol and sparked the outbreak, deputy commissioner Bill Daly declined to comment.
"We are aware of the facts and are comfortable that the situation was handled reasonably and responsibly," he said in an email to The Canadian Press.
The Canucks' outbreak began March 30 when forward Adam Gaudette tested positive. The NHL postponed Vancouver's game against the Calgary Flames the following night when defenseman Travis Hamonic and a member of the coaching staff were added to the NHL's COVID protocol list. A total of six Canucks games have now been postponed.
COVID-19 increase triggers new round of restrictions in Portland, Bend - OPB
"),r.close()),!r)throw Error("base not supported");var a=r.createElement("base");a.href=n,r.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(a);var i=r.createElement("a");return i.href=t,i.href}finally{e&&e.parentNode.removeChild(e)}}());var l=i(t||""),f=function(){if(!("defineProperties"in Object))return!1;try{var e={};return Object.defineProperties(e,{prop:{get:function(){return!0}}}),e.prop}catch(t){return!1}}(),h=f?this:document.createElement("a"),m=new o(l.search?l.search.substring(1):null);return m._url_object=h,Object.defineProperties(h,{href:{get:function(){return l.href},set:function(e){l.href=e,r(),u()},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},origin:{get:function(){return"origin"in l?l.origin:this.protocol+"//"+this.host},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},protocol:{get:function(){return l.protocol},set:function(e){l.protocol=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},username:{get:function(){return l.username},set:function(e){l.username=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},password:{get:function(){return l.password},set:function(e){l.password=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},host:{get:function(){var e={"http:":/:80$/,"https:":/:443$/,"ftp:":/:21$/}[l.protocol];return e?l.host.replace(e,""):l.host},set:function(e){l.host=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},hostname:{get:function(){return l.hostname},set:function(e){l.hostname=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},port:{get:function(){return l.port},set:function(e){l.port=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},pathname:{get:function(){return"/"!==l.pathname.charAt(0)?"/"+l.pathname:l.pathname},set:function(e){l.pathname=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},search:{get:function(){return l.search},set:function(e){l.search!==e&&(l.search=e,r(),u())},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},searchParams:{get:function(){return m},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},hash:{get:function(){return l.hash},set:function(e){l.hash=e,r()},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},toString:{value:function(){return l.toString()},enumerable:!1,configurable:!0},valueOf:{value:function(){return l.valueOf()},enumerable:!1,configurable:!0}}),h}var c,s=e.URL;try{if(s){if("searchParams"in(c=new e.URL("http://example.com"))){var f=new l("http://example.com");if(f.search="a=1&b=2","http://example.com/?a=1&b=2"===f.href&&(f.search="","http://example.com/"===f.href))return}"href"in c||(c=undefined),c=undefined}}catch(m){}if(Object.defineProperties(o.prototype,{append:{value:function(e,t){this._list.push({name:e,value:t}),this._update_steps()},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},"delete":{value:function(e){for(var t=0;t1?arguments[1]:undefined;this._list.forEach(function(n){e.call(t,n.value,n.name)})},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},toString:{value:function(){return r(this._list)},writable:!0,enumerable:!1,configurable:!0}}),"Symbol"in e&&"iterator"in e.Symbol&&(Object.defineProperty(o.prototype,e.Symbol.iterator,{value:o.prototype.entries,writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0}),Object.defineProperty(u.prototype,e.Symbol.iterator,{value:function(){return this},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0})),s)for(var h in s)s.hasOwnProperty(h)&&"function"==typeof s[h]&&(l[h]=s[h]);e.URL=l,e.URLSearchParams=o}(),function(){if("1"!==new e.URLSearchParams([["a",1]]).get("a")||"1"!==new e.URLSearchParams({a:1}).get("a")){var r=e.URLSearchParams;e.URLSearchParams=function(e){if(e&&"object"==typeof e&&t(e)){var a=new r;return n(e).forEach(function(e){if(!t(e))throw TypeError();var r=n(e);if(2!==r.length)throw TypeError();a.append(r[0],r[1])}),a}return e&&"object"==typeof e?(a=new r,Object.keys(e).forEach(function(t){a.set(t,e[t])}),a):new r(e)}}}()}(self);}).call('object' === typeof window && window || 'object' === typeof self && self || 'object' === typeof global && global || {}); document.createElement("picture");
The director of the Oregon Health Authority, Patrick Allen, told OPB a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections could cause upwards of 1000 cases a day within the next month if people dont alter their behavior.
The spread of contagious variants and the easing of restrictions on businesses and social gatherings have already led to an increase in COVID-19 cases locally and nationwide. Now, those rising case counts have triggered a return to tighter indoor dining capacity limits and restrictions on other businesses and personal gatherings in several of Oregons most populous counties.
The state moved six counties into its high risk category Tuesday, triggering stricter capacity limits on restaurants, bars, gyms, shops, and limiting private social gatherings to 8 people.
The affected counties include Multnomah and Clackamas in the Portland metro area, as well as the more rural counties of Deschutes (home to Bend), Klamath, Linn and Tillamook, expanding Oregons list of high risk counties to 14.
Gov. Kate Brown also announced a major change to the metrics the state uses to determine when to judge counties at extreme risk, which triggers an outright ban on indoor dining, among other restrictions.
That risk level will only be triggered in limited circumstances that indicate the state could be at risk of running short on hospital capacity: COVID-19 positive patients occupying 300 hospital beds or more, and a 15% increase in the seven-day average over the past week.
Three counties, Josephine, Klamath, and Tillamook, meet the states case and positivity rate threshold for being designated extreme risk but will be considered high risk instead, under the new guidelines.
The governor has described the current situation as a race between the vaccination effort and the spread of more transmissible variants of COVID-19 that have been detected across the state.
Two counties with high enough case numbers to be considered extreme risk Josephine and Tillamook have among the lowest vaccination rates in the state.
Overall, Oregons vaccination rates arent yet high enough to stop the spread of COVID-19: only about one-third of Oregonians have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 19% are fully vaccinated. Statewide, 76% of seniors 65 and over have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 57% are fully vaccinated, but rates vary widely across the state.
Allen warned that seniors in rural parts of Oregon where vaccination rates lag behind are particularly vulnerable as case counts, test positivity rates and hospitalizations all continue to rise.
Grant County has the lowest rate of vaccinated seniors, with just 23.6 % fully vaccinated, while the highest is Baker County at 87.7 % fully vaccinated seniors, according to the CDC.
Allen fears rates for seniors are leveling off at 50% or less in some rural areas.
I think that there are a lot of factors, and it is a little hard to get to the bottom of that. I dont think its because of the lack of access to vaccine. I think its a lack of concern about the disease in some cases, a perception that a lot of us have that were healthy and strong, Allen said.
Oregon was among the last states in the nation to open up vaccine eligibility broadly for people 65 and up, and in many counties, a fragmented, largely online system for signing up for appointments has been difficult for older adults to navigate.
Allen says that while the demand for vaccines still outstrips the supply in the Portland metro area, thats no longer true in parts of rural Oregon, where it takes longer for vaccination appointments to get booked up.
Statewide, the pace of vaccinations has ramped up significantly, a factor in the governors decision to open up vaccine eligibility to all Oregonians 16 and older on April 19, in keeping with a new deadline set by President Joe Biden.
Our daily average seven days a week is closing in on 35,000 people. While you still get a traffic jam when you make a new group eligible, were powering through those traffic jams faster, Allen said.
Sign up to get important news and culture from around the Northwest, delivered to your inbox six days a week.
The change comes as Oregon tries to hold off a fourth-wave of the virus.
Oregon officials are warning of a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, even as more people become eligible for vaccines each week.
Cases of COVID-19 have trended upward in Oregon and across the country, even as vaccines reach more and more people.
Tags:COVID-19, Health
PHOTO: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Amid the staggering amount of suffering and death during this historic pandemic of COVID-19, a remarkable success story stands out. The development of several highly efficacious vaccines against a previously unknown viral pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in less than 1 year from the identification of the virus is unprecedented in the history of vaccinology. A frequently asked question is how such an extraordinary accomplishment could have been realized in such a short time frame, when timelines for other vaccines are measured in years if not decades. In fact, concern about this truncated timeline has contributed in part to the hesitancy in accepting these vaccines. What is not fully appreciated is that the starting point of the timeline for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was not 10 January 2020, when the Chinese published the genetic sequence of the virus. Rather, it began decades earlier, out of the spotlight.
Two activities predate the successful COVID-19 vaccines: the utilization of highly adaptable vaccine platforms such as RNA (among others) and the adaptation of structural biology tools to design agents (immunogens) that powerfully stimulate the immune system. The RNA approach evolved over several years owing to the ingenuity of individual scientists, including Drew Weissman and Katalin Karik, and the concentrated efforts of several biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
The discovery of an immunogen adaptable to the multiple platforms (messenger RNA and others) used for COVID-19 vaccines resulted from collaboration across different scientific subspecialities. At the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a group led by Peter Kwong had for several years used tools of structure-based vaccine design to determine the optimal structural conformation of a trimeric protein on the surface of the virus (the envelope protein) that allows HIV to bind to cells and ultimately trigger the production of antibodies that neutralize many HIV viral strains. Although this sophisticated approach has not yet led to a successful HIV vaccine, it caught the attention of another VRC investigator, Barney Graham, who was interested in generating a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Graham joined Jason McLellan (of Kwong's team) to adapt a structure-based approach to an RSV vaccine. They identified the prefusion conformation of the viral spike protein as highly immunogenic and created mutations to stabilize that conformation for successful use as an immunogen. This was a huge step toward the creation of a successful RSV vaccine.
VRC researchers and colleagues then built on the RSV advances. Graham's team, including Kizzmekia Corbett, and collaborators in the laboratories of McLellan and Andrew Ward adopted this approach of mutational stabilization of prefusion proteins in their work on the spike protein of the coronaviruses that cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). So, when the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 became available, Graham's team lost no time in joining their long-time collaborators at Moderna to develop an RNA vaccine using a stabilized, prefusion spike protein as the immunogen. Pfizer and BioNTech, where Karik was working, also used the RNA platform that she and Weissman had perfected and the immunogen designed by Graham to develop an RNA vaccine. Additional companies also used Graham's immunogen in other vaccine platforms that had been evolving for years, to make SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
SARS-CoV-2 vaccines based on the new immunogen rapidly moved to clinical trials. Several of these vaccines were tested in phase 3 efficacy trials at a time when the level of community spread of SARS-CoV-2 was extremely high, allowing vaccine efficacy endpoints of greater than 90% to be reached in a timely fashion. The speed and efficiency with which these highly efficacious vaccines were developed and their potential for saving millions of lives are due to an extraordinary multidisciplinary effort involving basic, preclinical, and clinical science that had been under wayout of the spotlightfor decades before the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the stories and recounting of this pandemic are written, it is important that this history not be forgotten, as we are reminded once again of the societal value of a sustained and robust support of our scientific enterprise.
Stars of NBC's 'Today' receiving Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush Hager, Dylan Dreyer, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Savannah Guthrie.
NBC | NBCUniversal | Getty Images
As doctors and health professionals race against Covid-19vaccination skepticism, some Hollywood producers, writers and showrunners are betting that inputting vaccines into television storylines can help curb widespread misinformation.
Shows across TV networks began integrating Covid-19 into scripts, including questions about social distancing and masking, as the pandemic spread across the U.S. last March. Now, as vaccination efforts ramp up nationwide, shows like "This Is Us" which featured arecurring character receive two doses of a vaccine in an episode last month are integrating vaccines into episodes and audiences can expect to see more vaccination plot points, says Kate Folb, director of the Hollywood, Health and Society program at the University of Southern California.
Folb is a member of a growing network of entertainment industry experts working closely with writers and showrunners to accurately depict health and medical information, and use entertainment to fight the misinformation campaigns and nationwide skepticism fueled by social media.
Using the entertainment industry to relay public health information is not a new phenomenon. Major networks including ABC, CBS and NBC in the 1980s are credited with raising awareness toward a nationwide designated driver campaign by inputting posters and references into shows like "Cheers" and "L.A. Law."
"People in fact do believe what they see on TV and it's imperative that we provide accurate information," says Neal Baer, a doctor and writer and producer on shows like "ER" and "Designated Survivor."
Writers, health professionals and advocates are grappling with how to tell vaccine stories that cater to a range of opinions, concerns and viewpoints, all while maintaining both viewers and ratings.
According to a February study from Pew Research Center, 19% of adults had already received at least one dose of a vaccine, while another 50% said they would definitely or probably get vaccinated. Despite growing optimism toward vaccinations, those numbers differ when broken down by race and ethnicity.
When surveyed in November, 42% of Black adults said they would get vaccinated, compared to 63% of Hispanics and 61% of white adults. Now, about 61% of Black adults say they plan to get vaccinated or already have, while 70% of Hispanics and 69% of whites agree, according to Pew data.
While polling indicates growing trust toward getting vaccinated, there's no single reason why people are still hesitant, and in addition to race, other factors that result in higher levels of skepticism include politics (GOP affiliation), religion (white evangelicals) and geography (rural Americans). Seventy-two percent of respondents to the Pew study cited concerns about side effects; 67% expressed worry centered around the fast development and testing of the vaccines; while another 61% noted a lack of knowledge of how they work.
"We've been looking at how to tell stories about vaccine hesitancy, but it is not a monolithic one-idea problem," Baer says.
This fall, October 13, Facebook CIO Atish Banerjea, Bank of America Chief Operations and Technology Officer Cathy Bessant, WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani and Estee Lauder CFO Tracey Travis will talk building a resilient future and more.Register now.
Some of the distrust and skepticism toward vaccines and the medical system in the African-American community, for example,dates back to the infamous 20th century Tuskegee study on syphilis. In recent months, African-American medical associations and professionals have ramped up efforts on social media to promote the vaccine for a group that's been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.
According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor Survey, about a quarter of Black adults said they are more likely to take a "wait and see" approach to getting vaccinated versus more than half who said that in December. For the Latino community, where language barriers and lack of trust in government have been factors, just 18% said they would "wait and see," down from 43%. Among white adults, those taking a wait and see approach dropped to 16%, down from 36%.
"There's still a chunk of hesitancy out there. About 10 -15% of Americans are pretty dead set against getting vaccinated and probably another 15% is pretty skeptical so we've got to work on that. In terms of herd immunity, there's no doubt that ... we probably need to be well above 70%, probably in the eighties or ninety percent," Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNBC's Meg Tirrell at the CNBC @Work Summit on March 30.
As of 6 a.m. Thursday 19.4% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated while about a third has received at least one dose, the CDC reports. Convincing more Americans across broad cross-sections of society to be vaccinated without pushing too hard is critical to herd immunity goals, according to public health experts.
"I think the best way to persuade people is to persuade people, it's not to necessarily mandate it, and again, there are a chunk of people who are skeptical, more in the wait and see category, and I think they can be encouraged," Jha said.
Technology companies are doing more to fight vaccine misinformation on social media, one of the primary contributors to vaccine concerns. Last month, Facebook announced it would label posts about Covid-19 vaccines and launched a nationwide tool to offer information and help users locate vaccines. The announcement came following harsh criticism from lawmakers for enabling the spread of vaccine conspiracies and misinformation on its platform. Twitter said in December it would mark and in some cases remove posts about vaccine misinformation.
Ongoing studies suggest that what audiences see on television informs their knowledge and attitudes, making it an effective platform to disseminate and relay public health information.
An early 2000s study from KFF, for example,found that integrating storylines related to emergency contraception and human papillomavirus on the hit show "ER" drastically increased awareness. The proportion of viewers who said they knew about HPV nearly doubled in the week after the episode aired, while those who could correctly define HPV and its link to cervical cancer tripled.
Major television networks during the 1980s are also credited with joining a nationwide Harvard School of Public Health designated driver campaign aimed at curbing drunk driving.
According to a recent survey conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, appealing to concerns about protecting loved ones could motivate some Covid-19 skeptics. The study, which interviewed 1,074 people nationwide about their attitudes toward the pandemic, found that those who see social distancing as a violation of their rights and freedoms responded more positively when it put a loved one at risk.
We are working as fast and furiously as we can to get the message out.
Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk
Refraining from controlling language like "you should" or "you better," respecting their concernsand affirming and "agreeing with them as much as possible," can also be an effective way to communicate reasons to get vaccinated with this group, says Ken Resnicow, one of the authors of the study.
Resnicow says vaccine skeptics generally break down into two groups, the "wait and see" group, which includes many minority communities including Blacks and is generally more responsive to new information, and the "hard no" group,populated by both white Republicans and evangelicals, who often view getting a vaccine or masking up as a threat to religious freedom.
"Information is not going to persuade them," Resnicow says. "That 'hard no' group won't be necessarily moved by efficacy or safety data because the fundamental objection is much more emotional," and built on ongoing views of government and religion.
Helping writers and television shows communicate persuasive messaging is the mission of Cultique, a company that advises the entertainment industry on cultural issues. Linda Ong, its CEO and founder, says one way to do that is by modeling behavior. The technique is as simple as explicitly depicting a character looking for more vaccine information or as subtle as showing a character elbow bumping or running inside for a mask, which can be an effective tool for those on the edge, Ong says.
Ong kickstarted the "Be a Protector" messaging campaign back in January aimed at encouraging industry professionals to help model safe Covid-19 behavior. Michigan, Yale, USC's HHS, The Ad Council and the Creative Coalition a nonprofit that works with actors, directors and entertainment industry workers to educate on social issues are among the groups that have already signed onto the program.
"Someone who hasn't studied science for twenty years would rather hear a story," says Sten Vermund, dean at the Yale University School of Public Health who is working with the group. "Those of us in science need to do much better with storytelling."
Arsenio Hall, left, Danny Trejo and Magic Johnson pose for a photo after they all got vaccine shots on the rooftop of parking structure at USC as a part of a vaccination awareness event at USC on March 24, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Gina Ferazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
The Creative Coalition is currently working with writers from shows like "New Amsterdam" and "Grey's Anatomy" to fight vaccine hesitancy, says the organization's CEO Robin Bronk. Much of the work disseminating information across, cable, digital and streaming channels involves briefings, Zoom meetings and providing raw data for writers to implement into storylines.
Some organizations are betting on publicity events with influential celebrities to rally support for the vaccines. In March, Dolly Parton turned her vaccine into a public service announcement when she received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and sang a vaccine song to the tune of "Jolene." BET, in an attempt to sway Black audiences, aired a half-hour TV special in January featuring actor and director Tyler Perry asking questions and receiving a vaccine.
The Creative Coalition, in conjunction with the Yale University School of Public Health, will debuted a series of short public service announcements in an attempt to sway public opinion, the first of which featured Morgan Freeman and aired April 5.
"It's abouthow you use the power of entertainment andarts for social good,"Bronk says. "We are working as fast and furiously as we can to get the message out."
Are some COVID-19 vaccines more effective than others?
Its hard to tell since they werent directly compared in studies. But experts say the vaccines are alike on what matters most: preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
Luckily, all these vaccines look like theyre protecting us from severe disease, said Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, citing study results for five vaccines used around the world and a sixth thats still in review.
And real-world evidence as millions of people receive the vaccines show theyre all working very well.
Still, people might wonder if one is better than another since studies conducted before the vaccines were rolled out found varying levels of effectiveness. The problem is they dont offer apples-to-apples comparisons.
Consider the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, found to be about 95% effective at preventing illness. Studies for those shots counted a COVID-19 case whether it was mild, moderate or severe and were conducted before worrisome mutated versions of the virus began circulating.
Then Johnson & Johnson tested a single-dose vaccine and didnt count mild illnesses. J&Js shot was 66% protective against moderate to severe illness in a large international study. In just the U.S., where theres less spread of variants, it was 72% effective. More importantly, once the vaccines effect kicked in it prevented hospitalization and death.
AstraZenecas two-dose vaccine used in many countries has faced questions about the exact degree of its effectiveness indicated by studies. But experts agree those shots, too, protect against the worst outcomes.
Around the world, hospitalizations are dropping in countries where vaccines have been rolling out including Israel, England and Scotland regardless of which shots are given. And the U.S. governments first look at real-world data among essential workers provided further evidence that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly protective -- 90% -- against infections whether there were symptoms or not.
___
The AP is answering your questions about the coronavirus in this series. Submit them at: FactCheck@AP.org. Read more here:
Can I take painkillers before or after a COVID-19 vaccine?
I got the COVID-19 vaccine. What can I safely do?
Will the coronavirus ever go away?
TAMP, Fla. (WFLA) Floridians as young as 16 can now get the COVID-19 vaccine, and trials are underway to get shots into the arms of children as young as six months.
But 8 On Your Side found some Tampa Bay area parents who dont want this vaccine getting near their children.
Tami Spicer is not an anti-vaxxer.Like many parents, she always made sure her girls received required vaccinations.But not this time.
Why? Tami, like some others believe, the drug companies rushed the COVID-19 vaccines. Tami fears an unknown danger lurks out there.
I wear my mask. I socially distance. I use my hand sanitizer, she explained.
The Pasco County mom knows coronavirus is deadly. She and her girls follow CDC guidelines but she wants answers before she allows anyone in her household to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
I just, I dont want anything to happen to me, said Tami. I love them and I just, I want to be here.
Tami worries researchers, drug makers and the government rushed development and approval of the vaccines.
Is it going to mess my daughter up? Is she going to be able to have kids? said Tami. I felt like people like me mothers, and people who are worried need to have some answers.
While 100,000 people, some as young as 16, were in the initial trials last summer, drug makers are only now starting to test the vaccine on pre-teens, toddlers and babies. Last week, Pfizer wrapped up a study involving approximately 2,000 in the 12 to 15 age bracket.
Dr. Charlie Sand, an emergency physician at St. Josephs Hospital-turned COVID-19 advisor for Hillsborough County and the state, explained the findings.
Kids down to 12 not only were they 100% protected, there were no side effects, other than maybe sore arm, Dr. Sand said.
Those initial results, according to Dr. Sand, hold great promise.
Would you let your teenage children get vaccinated? Investigative Reporter Mahsa Saeidi asked.
I would let my child of any age get vaccinated, he said. Id be comfortable going down to six months old.
Theres a lot of misinformation out there like the vaccine has the live COVID-19 virus, the shot alters your DNA or the vaccine tracks you with a microchip.
All of this is false, according to scientists.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines basically give instructions to your cell to manufacture a protein found on the outside of the virus. Your immune system makes antibodies to fight off this protein, which means, if COVID-19 shows up, youll fight it too.
Johnson and Johnsons shot, a viral vector vaccine, works in a similar way.
According to Dr. Sand, getting vaccinated is safer than risking infection. But Tami wonders about complications three, five and even 10 years down the road from now.
How can you say that will not happen? asked Saeidi.
Cant. We cant But what we can say is, so far, we havent seen it in nine months, said Dr. Sand. Pretty much most the majority of bad side effects from a vaccine happen in the first six weeks historically. And weve made it to nine months.
How dangerous is coronavirus for our youth?
State records show 571 kids age 4 and under were hospitalized and one died.
In the 5 to 14 age group, 563 were hospitalized and five died.
In the age bracket tracking those 15 to 24 years old, more than 2,150 were hospitalized and 44 died.
My decision [about vaccinating] could change if there was enough information, said Tami.
We know the short-term side effects of the vaccine for adults: sore arm, fever and nausea. Sixteen and 17-year-olds are now getting shots too but data regarding their side effects is not yet available.
While Dr. Sand says theres no evidence this vaccine causes issues long-term, COVID-19 does. So-called long-haulers experience problems like stroke, kidney failure and memory loss.
Pediatric studies will be completed later this year.
