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It definitely takes a [mental] toll on you: A look back at the Flyers COVID-19 shutdown The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has invested $10.7 million in the Task Force for Global Health to help set up COVID-19 immunization programs in up to 50 low- and middle-income countries and to start a U.S. COVID-19 vaccine information program.
Both the CDC and the Task Force for Global Health are based in Atlanta.
Most of the countries that will be part of the $6.2 million global immunization program initiative are in Africa, said Dr.Joseph Bresee, the lead for the program, director of the Task Forces Partnership for Influenza Vaccine Introduction (PIVI), and associate director, global health affairs, Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The funds are part of the total $16.25 billion inCOVID-19 supplemental funding allocated to the CDCthrough three congressional acts.
The countries to be targeted expect to get their first vaccine doses in the next few weeks to a month or two, Bresee said. The first phase of the project is developing work plans for the countries to implement immunization programs based on the countries individual financial and support needs, he said. The first country wont have its work plan mapped for another week or so, he said on Feb. 19.
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ITHACA, N.Y.The number of active COVID-19 cases in Tompkins County continued its precipitous decline over the weekend, dipping below 100 for the first time since November 2020.
Active cases are now the lowest they have been since Nov. 11, when there were 73 active cases in the county. The next day, they jumped to 101, and haven't been below the 100 threshold since then. Just weeks ago cases were at their peak in the county; at this point, the hopeful peak locally came on Jan. 8, with 330 active cases.
The average number of new daily positive COVID-19 tests in Tompkins County throughout February was 16.3. That was a steep reduction from January, when the average number of new daily positive COVID-19 tests was 30.2. Hospitalizations have also continued to drop, now sitting at just three people with active COVID-19 cases who are hospitalized. There have been no new deaths reported by the health department from the coronavirus since Feb. 10.
Vaccination distribution has also stabilized, though the supply chain from the state and federal government still hampers too much progress. There have now been 10,829 people who have received at least their first shot, and 7,116 people who have received both doses, meaning they are fully vaccinated.
The European Commission has started laying the groundwork for a vaccine passport that could let European Union citizens travel this summer, it announced.
The Commission intends to publish a legislative proposal for vaccine certification by the end of March, Commission chief spokesperson Eric Mamer said.
In January, the European Union and its 27 member states agreed a set of guidelines that would form the basis of the passports, but the exact information still needs to be determined, he said.
To avoid discrimination and citizens being turned away at a border, the Commissions intention is that the passports would not only state whether or not a person had been vaccinated, but also whether this person has had recent PCR test, or can be deemed Covid immune, for health reasons i.e., antibodies, Mamer added.
Asked whether the scope of the legal proposal would extend to international travelers traveling into the EU, Mamer said: We will have to come back to you once the proposal is made, we cannot give details for the moment.
Expanding on the details of technical work currently underway to prepare the passports Johannes Bahrke, the EUs Digital Economy spokesperson said, It's a question of: how a certificate can be checked, because it's important that they are safe; and how the data is safe; what's the technical standard.
Bahrke said, all these kind of details now need to be agreed among member states based on the guidelines that are in place.
Speaking following a meeting of European Leaders last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it would be at least three months before the passports could be rolled out.
Member states will need to move fast with the implementation if we want such a green certificate to be in place by summer, von der Leyen said. They will have to ensure a quick and complete rollout in the National Health System, and in the border systems."
"Dallas County has received from the federal government, but the state has shorted us 56,000 doses," said Judge Jenkins on Sundays Inside Texas Politics.
DALLAS As the federal government began its own effort to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people in Dallas, County Judge Clay Jenkins said the state has begun reducing how many coronavirus vaccines are available for everyone else.
As we sit here on Sunday, Dallas County has received from the federal government a total of 42,000 Pfizer doses and 6,000 Johnson & Johnson doses, Jenkins said on Sundays Inside Texas Politics. But the state has shorted us 56,000 doses.
Jenkins said he didnt know where the state is diverting the doses or understand why it is happening.
The decision is not only hurting Dallas Countys most vulnerable population, Jenkins said, but it is also delaying herd immunity.
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation says if we can get the state doses back and keep the federal programs going, we can reach herd immunity by June, Jenkins said on the television program.
But the state refutes the judge's claim.
"Dallas County is not being shorted doses. They just arent being allowed to get doses from the state in addition to the doses from federal government because that would make their total allocation higher than their proportion of the states population," said Lara M. Anton, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.
"One of the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panels directives is to distribute vaccine equitably to counties. When the federal government set up the three FEMA supported vaccination sites, they allocated doses directly to those counties. DSHS adjusted the amount allocated to Dallas County by the state to keep their allocation aligned with their proportion of the states population," she added.
Dallas County providers were allocated 43,325 first doses two weeks ago, 45,690 first doses last week and 61,120 for next week, according to the Texas DSHS.
Jenkins said Dallas County receives 21,000 Pfizer vaccines a week from the Biden Administration for the 17 most vulnerable and disadvantaged ZIP codes.
Starting this week, Dallas County is expected to begin receiving 6,000 Johnson & Johnson doses every week for residents in jail, mental health facilities and the homeless population, Jenkins said.
The judge also faced questions why the county has had several days with hundreds or thousands of vaccines available for residents in certain ZIP codes but no one in line to receive them.
Jenkins said management of the entire operation has smoothed out since the beginning.
But on Saturday, Jenkins again tweeted that vaccines were available for people needing second doses because no one was there.
We were having to catch up people for second doses who were on an old operating system. Now were on a new operating system. You get an appointment. The wait times are about 10 minutes and thats a good thing, he said.
The first box of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine departs from a facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., on Monday. The company is set to distribute its first 3.9 million doses across the U.S. this week. Timothy D. Easley/Getty Images hide caption
The first box of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine departs from a facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., on Monday. The company is set to distribute its first 3.9 million doses across the U.S. this week.
Johnson & Johnson has begun shipping nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine across the U.S., officials said Monday, and is expected to further scale up supply in the coming weeks and months.
"We think literally within about the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving shots in arms," Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson's CEO and chairman of the board, told NBC's Today.
Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the vaccine over the weekend, making it the third to receive authorization in the United States. It's also the first single-dose vaccine to receive the blessing of U.S. authorities and the only one that does not require ultracold storage.
Johnson & Johnson's addition to the vaccine arsenal will be limited at first, but company officials expect to scale up production in the coming months. Gorsky said the company is committed to delivering 100 million doses by June and "up to a billion" by the end of 2021.
"When we say 100 million doses by June, that means 100 million vaccinations, patients that will have been treated," he said. "So we're excited. We're going to work hard to make sure that we follow through on all those commitments. ... We think it's really important for our country and the world."
Jeff Zients, the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator, said at a briefing Monday that 3.9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed to states, tribes, territories, pharmacies and community health centers this week, starting as early as Tuesday.
"We're getting these doses out the door right away to ensure vaccines get into arms as quickly as possible," Zients said.
This number represents the entirety of Johnson & Johnson's current inventory, and supply will be limited in the ensuing weeks. He said the company expects to deliver some 16 million additional doses by the end of March, "predominantly in the back half of the month."
The vaccine is being allocated based on population, just as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are, he added. The federal government will continue to monitor distribution to ensure all three are offered in a "fair and equitable" way, he said.
"We're focused on execution, and that includes the important work of ensuring that we continue to increase overall vaccine supply, increase the number of vaccinators and increase the number of places Americans can get vaccinated," Zients said.
Other public health officials at the briefing praised the vaccine as an addition to the country's arsenal in the fight against COVID-19 and as one that offers increased flexibility.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outlined several advantages of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Namely, it can fully inoculate people who may not be able or willing to return for a second dose, and easier storage and transportation mean it can be delivered to and administered at more community settings.
"Having multiple types of vaccine available, especially ones with different dosing regimens and different storing and handling, offers more flexibility," she said.
Public health guidance urges eligible individuals to opt to receive whichever vaccine is available to them first guidance that officials stressed repeatedly on Monday.
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, the head of the White House's COVID-19 health equity task force, acknowledged that some people might prefer a certain vaccine but urged them to be flexible.
"If people want to opt for one vaccine over another, they may have to wait," she said. "Time is of the essence. Getting vaccinated saves lives."
An international study found Johnson & Johnson's vaccine to be 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, in contrast to Pfizer's and Moderna's higher figures of 95% and 94%. But it also determined the vaccine prevented COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths after 28 days, which officials say is equally important.
"All three vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing what we care about most, and that's very serious illness and death," Nunez-Smith said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, also noted that the vaccine is 72% effective against moderate to severe infection in the U.S. and 85% effective against severe COVID-19 globally. He pointed out that the clinical trial was conducted in the U.S., South America and South Africa, places with different infection dynamics and virus variants.
Gorsky offered a similar explanation on Today, assuring viewers they can trust they're getting a safe and effective vaccine.
"When we conducted our clinical trials in October 2020 to about January of 2021, this was during the time when the incidence rate of the virus was really just about at its peak," he said. "We also conducted our trial around the world, so 40% of our patients were in Latin America and about 15% were in South Africa, where over 90% of those patients were infected with the South African variant that we didn't even really fully understand or appreciate earlier in the year."
At the briefing, Walensky described the trials for COVID-19 vaccines as the "largest-scale clinical trials of any vaccine," made possible by the high amount of disease circulating and the high volume of participant interest. All of the available data, she said, show that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and highly effective.
"The most important thing you can do is to be ready to get the vaccine that is available to you," she said. "It will help protect us all from COVID-19."
Walensky also warned, for the second consecutive time in a briefing, that progress on reducing case numbers may be stalling. The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is leveling off at a concerningly high number, she said, following weeks of declining cases and deaths.
She cited data showing that cases reported to the CDC have increased by 2% a day to about 67,200, based on a seven-day average, with deaths also up by 2% to nearly 2,000 per day. Noting that these latest figures may look low compared with the winter peak, Walensky said they are still too high, and she implored Americans not to "be resigned."
"Please hear me clearly," Walensky said. "At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained."
She said she is "really worried" about states rolling back public health measures, and she urged Americans to continue following public health guidance to prevent a potential fourth surge brought on by more infectious variants. While vaccination is key to ultimately ending the pandemic, Walensky said, much of the population is still waiting.
Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the White House said the current seven-day average has returned to 1.7 million shots per day, following disruptive winter weather.
For immediate release: Monday, March 1, 2021
Boston, MAMost pregnant women and mothers of children younger than 18 years old say they would receive a COVID-19 vaccine and vaccinate their children, according to a survey conducted by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The research indicated that vaccine acceptance was highest in India, the Philippines, and all sampled countries in Latin America, and it was lowest in Russia, the U.S., and Australia.
The results were published online on March 1, 2021 in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
Vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed around the world, but until now researchers have had little data about global COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. To assess pregnant women and mothers stances on whether to vaccinate themselves and their children, a team led by Harvard Chan Schools Julia Wu, research scientist in the Department of Epidemiology and a principal investigator of the Human Immunomics Initiative, conducted an online survey administered by the Pregistry website between late October and mid-November 2020.
Almost 18,000 women in 16 countries responded to questions about a hypothetical safe and free COVID-19 vaccine with 90% efficacy. Overall, 52% of pregnant women and 73% of non-pregnant women said they would receive such a vaccine, and 69% of all women surveyed said they would vaccinate their children.
Vaccine acceptance varied by country. Acceptance in India, the Philippines, and Latin American countries was above 60% among pregnant women and above 78% among non-pregnant women for themselves; more than 75% of mothers indicated they would vaccinate their children. Vaccine acceptance in the U.S. and Russia was lower (below 45% among pregnant women and below 56% among non-pregnant women for themselves) and similar to countries with very few COVID-19 cases, such as Australia and New Zealand. This phenomenon in the U.S. and Russia could be due to COVID-19 denial, according to the researchers.
Wu and her team asked the survey participants about various topics related to vaccinations and COVID-19. The strongest predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among the women surveyed included confidence in COVID-19 vaccine safety or effectiveness, worrying about COVID-19, belief in the importance of vaccines to their own country, compliance with mask guidelines, trust in public health agencies and health sciences, as well as attitudes towards routine vaccines. Pregnant women who were reluctant said they had concerns about exposing their developing baby to possible harmful side effects, the vaccine being rushed for political reasons, and the lack of safety and effectiveness data in pregnant women.
Our study confirmed that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is multifaceted, said Julia Wu, who is senior author of the paper. The perceived threat of COVID-19, level of trust in public health agencies, and existing pre-COVID 19 vaccine attitudes play key roles shaping vaccine acceptance and confidence. Vaccination campaigns should be tailored to alleviate these specific concerns.
Other Harvard Chan School researchers include Malia Skjefte, Michelle Ngirbabul, Oluwasefunmi Akeju, Daniel Escudero, and Sonia Hernandez-Diaz.
This research was funded by the Human Immunomics Initiative at Harvard Chan School and Pregistry, LLC and co-sponsored by the COVID Collaborative.
COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Pregnant Women and Mothers of Young Children: Results of a Survey in 16 Countries, Malia Skjefte, Michelle Ngirbabul, Oluwasefunmi Akeju, Daniel Escudero, Sonia Hernandez-Diaz, Diego Wyszynski, Julia W. Wu, European Journal of Epidemiology, online March 1, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10654-021-00728-6
image: Shutterstock/M M Vieira
Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings.
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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to peoples livesnot only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as Americas oldest professional training program in public health.
The sign-up process for COVID-19 vaccination in the Portland metro area has changed. Here are the top vaccine facts for Monday, March 1.
How to get a COVID vaccination in Oregon
As of March 1, everyone in Phase 1A and groups 1-5 of Phase 1B is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon. That includes:
The sign-up process for COVID-19 vaccination in the Portland metro area changed again on March 1. Rather than hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to find thousands of appointments, eligible people will be notified when a dose is available for them. The state will use the information people have submitted at the state's Get Vaccinated Oregon tool as an invitation system. The names of eligible people in the metro area will be gleaned from the Get Vaccinated Oregon database and their information will be sent to the state's partners at the Oregon Convention Center, one of Oregon's mass vaccination sites.
Clark County will receive major vaccine supply increase
Less than a week after the Clark County health officer voiced frustration about the lack of COVID-19 vaccine doses compared to similarly sized counties in Washington, Clark County said Monday that many more doses are on the way this week.
Clark County has received an average of 4,175 first doses of the vaccine from the Washington State Department of Health through 11 weeks. On Monday the county said it will receive 14,140 first doses this week.
2,400 COVID vaccine appointments gone in 10 minutes for OHSU drive-thru site
Gov. Kate Brown made all Oregonians 65-69 years old eligible for the vaccine starting March 1. They join more than 200,000 seniors in the greater Portland area aged 70 and older who are eligible and still trying to secure their first COVID vaccine shots.
The OHSU COVID 19 website posted 2,400 appointments for their Portland International Airport drive-thru clinic Monday morning at 9 a.m. They were available for anyone who was eligible. All appointments were snapped up in 10 minutes.
By the numbers: Vaccinations, cases and deaths in Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) expects Oregon to receive 34,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. The vaccine received authorization for emergency use by the federal government, making it the third available for use in the U.S. and the first single-dose vaccine.
OHA said as of Monday, 986,816 first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given in Oregon. 1,241,415 doses of vaccine have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
The number of known COVID-19 cases in Oregon during the pandemic is now up to 155,787. The states pandemic death toll is now 2,212 people.
Oregon Convention Center vaccination site turns low-tech to schedule senior appointments after website is overwhelmed
On Monday, March 1, operators at the call center for the Oregon Convention Center mass vaccination site will begin calling 1,900 people in the greater Portland area who qualify for COVID-19 vaccination shots. Its a major change from the mass scramble of past weeks that culminated last Thursday with 400,000 people trying to access the mass vaccination scheduling site. They were trying to get just 500 appointments and caused chaos within the site.
Instead, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has already sent the site coordinators the list of names of those who qualify. The state is requiring people to register on the site getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
VERIFY: Current evidence suggests it's OK to breastfeed after COVID-19 vaccine
With both COVID-19and the vaccinesto fight it being so new, theres still a lot of research being conducted to study effects and get data. Theres some confusion because of that. One common question: Should women get vaccinated for COVID-19 while they're breastfeeding or are about to start breastfeeding an infant?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says on its advisory last updated February 4 there is no need to avoid initiation or discontinue breastfeeding in patients who receive a COVID-19 vaccine and adds theoretical concerns regarding the safety of vaccinating lactating individuals do not outweigh the potential benefits of receiving the vaccine.
VERIFY: Are fully vaccinated people still getting COVID-19?
There are rare cases in which fully vaccinated people are still getting COVID-19. In fact, thats expected because no vaccine is perfect. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95% effective, which means that there will be some people who might end up getting sick even after they receive the vaccination.
New COVID-19 vaccine type is on the way, but may not mean people can pick their shot OCRegister
With more than 1 million Connecticut residents now vaccinated, tens of thousands of people 55 to 64 years of age began scheduling and receiving COVID-19 shots Monday as the state proceeded with its age-based rollout of the vaccine.
Phones and websites were busy and most available appointments were filled within a few hours, Gov. Ned Lamont said during a virtual news briefing at which he defended his approach to the effort, which differs from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that call for prioritizing those with underlying medical conditions and working in certain essential jobs.
Age prioritizes public health, Lamont said.
Roughly 500,000 people were eligible to begin pursuing some 130,000 vaccine doses Monday, ensuring that some would be unable to get appointments. Lamont said more vaccine and more appointments will become available each week and that Connecticuts vaccine supply will be bolstered this week by more than 39,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the CDC approved Sunday.
Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna varieties already in use, the J&J vaccine requires only one, not two, doses and does not have to be refrigerated.
Lamont said he was confident those55 to 64 would be able to schedule vaccination appointments in the next three weeks. Told that some had been given appointments as late as April or May, he said they should plan on keeping them. If people are able to schedule earlier or more convenient appointments, they should be sure to cancel their original ones, Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said.
The governor reported that 627,788 first doses and 336,155 second doses of the COVID-19 vaccinehad been administered in Connecticut, a total of 963,943 doses. He said the number doesnt include vaccinations administered by the Veterans Administration or by federally recognized Indian tribes that receive vaccine allotments directly from the federal government, meaning the overall total is in excess of 1 million doses.
Connecticut ranks among the top five states in the nation in vaccine distribution. Among state residents 75 and older, 75% have been vaccinated, while 52% of those 65 to 74 have gotten a shot, Lamont said.
In addition to those 55 and older, prekindergarten-to-grade-12 school staff and professional child care providers were newly eligible for vaccinations this week. Previously, health care personnel, medical first responders and residents and staff of long-term care facilities and certain other congregate settings were eligible. Going forward, eligibility will extend to those 45 to 54 on March 22; to those 35 to 44, April 12; and those 16 to 34, May 3.
Connecticuts streamlined rollout is designed to increase the speed with which the vaccine reaches those who are most likely to develop severe illness and dieif they contract COVID-19 namely, those who are older and enable the state to better target underprivileged communities that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus disease, Lamont said.
While the vast majority of Connecticuts 7,600 COVID-19 deaths have occurred among the 65-and-older population, those 55 to 64 are 20 times more likely than those in their 30s to suffer complications, require hospitalization and die if they contract the disease, he said.
Working with federally funded health centers, hospitals, pharmacies and local health departments, Connecticut officials will reach out aggressively while allocating 25% of the states vaccine allotment to communities in the 50 most disadvantaged ZIP codes based on poverty levels, housing density and the prevalence of multigenerational housing, Lamont said.
Lamont reported that 2,680 new COVID-19 cases had been detected in the state since Friday, a period in which results of 114,157 new tests had been gathered, for a positivity rate of 2.35%. Hospitalizations had fallen by 34 to 417, and 29 additional deaths associated with the disease had pushed the toll since the pandemic began to 7,651.
In New London County, hospitalizations totaled 29.
Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, which reported it had 13 COVID-19 patients and Westerly Hospitalfour, announced Mondayit was modifying its patient visitation guidelines to allow one visitor per patient per day for adults over the age of 18. Visiting hours are 1 to 8 p.m.
L+M cited a downward trend in hospital admissions, positivity rates and the number of asymptomatic patients as well as the vaccination of a majority of its health care workers in deciding to easerestrictions that had been in place since the fall.
Patients in the Emergency Department at L+M and at Pequot Health Center in Groton also may be accompanied by one person. Visitor restrictions will remain in place at L+Ms outpatient ambulatory facilities. Exceptions will be made in the case of patients who require the presence of a visitor for communication, mobility or other needs. Visitors will not be allowed to enter the hospital if they exhibit any of the following symptoms: fever, chills, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
Facemasks will be provided to all patients and visitors if they are wearing non-medical masks. Only medical-type paper masks are acceptable for single masking. Additional masks may be worn over the patient's or visitors original mask. Those with a medical mask under a cloth mask will not require additional masking.
b.hallenbeck@theday.com
