Some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week include this one. Its not legit, even though it was shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
CLAIM: People may be more susceptible to serious COVID-19 illness after they have been vaccinated.
THE FACTS: An Instagram post with more than 4,000 likes falsely claims that people who receive the COVID-19 vaccine may experience more severe symptoms if they are exposed to the virus.
Studies have warned COVID-19 vaccines may result in more serious disease when exposed to the virus by way of pathogenic priming and immune enhancement, reads the post, which was shared by Joseph Mercola, a doctor who runs a natural health website.
But scientists told The Associated Press that such effects simply havent shown up in the data. Research has shown that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been proven to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 illness. It is true that some vaccines can, on rare occasions, cause more serious illnesses later, but scientists say that effect known as antibody-dependent enhancement has not been seen with COVID-19 vaccines.
Such enhancement happened with older shots and more recently with a dengue virus vaccine. There is abundant evidence that immunization-enhanced disease will not be a problem with the COVID-19 shots, Dr. Paul Offit, director of a vaccine education center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote in a report to the National Institutes of Health.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were tested on thousands of people, some of whom were later likely exposed to the virus. The effect wasnt seen in the trials.
The AP asked to see the studies mentioned in Mercolas claim, and his organization responded with links. All the studies were published before Pfizer and Moderna had released data from their late stage trials, and some of the studies specifically contradicted his claim.
Dr. Timothy Cardozo, an associate professor at NYU Langone Health, was the author of one of the studies Mercola cited.
The Pfizer and Moderna data that came out after he published his study greatly reduced his concern about antibody dependent enhancement, he told the AP in a statement. He also noted that his paper made no statement on whether COVID-19 vaccines should be taken or avoided.
Mercola did not respond to a request for a response. If Mercolas post were accurate, vaccinated people would have had more infections than the unvaccinated, said Dr. Matthew Woodruff, an immunologist at Emory University. That hasnt been the case.
We are now six months out of vaccinating those people, with continued exposure, and no emerging evidence of enhanced disease, Woodruff said.
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To keep Florida residents and visitors safe, informed and aware of the status of the COVID-19 virus, Ocala Post has provided this up-to-date information directly from The Florida Department of Health.
This COVID-19 surveillance tracker has been authenticated and will be updated twice daily by the DOH.
Best viewed from a desktop computer.
Florida has many sites that are providing COVID-19 vaccines to eligible persons, but supplies are limited and appointments may not be available at many of these sites.
The state has developed a pre-registration system to schedule COVID-19 vaccinations for priority populations. To pre-register click here. Individuals can call and pre-register if they do not have Internet access. Please find the complete list of phone numbers by county here.
The state is prioritizing persons 65 years of age and older and health care personnel with direct patient contact and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. Please be aware that some locations are only serving very specific populations, such as frontline health care workers.
This list will be updated as more sites and vaccines become available.
Securing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines is a top priority for the state of Florida. COVID-19 vaccinations will be a critical resource to preventing the further spread of the virus and allowing Floridians to return to the normal pace of life.
The states draft COVID-19 vaccination plan submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is publicly available on the Florida Department of Healths website here.
The state of Florida is committed to providing timely and important updates regarding the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Please find the latest information below.
Moderna Fact Sheet For Recipients And Caregivers
Moderna Fact Sheet For Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine
Pfizer Fact Sheet For Recipients And Caregivers
Pfizer Fact Sheet For Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine
Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Distribution for Allocation of Moderna Vaccine
Governor Ron DeSantis Provides Updates on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan
Letter Of Authorization
COVID-19 Vaccination Communication Toolkit
To keep Florida residents and visitors safe, informed and aware of the status of the COVID-19 virus, Ocala Post has provided this up-to-date information directly from The Florida Department of Health. This COVID-19 dashboard will be updated twice daily by the DOH. Best viewed from a desktop computer.
About 6,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine were potentially spoiled at the Soka University Super POD vaccination site in Aliso Viejo Wednesday due to a malfunctioning refrigerator.
It's in that range, Orange County CEO Frank Kim said of the number of doses potentially spoiled. We don't have an exact number yet.It's still possible the vaccines could be used, Kim said.
The Pfizer vaccine must be put in a special deep freezer, and then is transferred to a refrigerator to begin thawing. The next step is to mix it and let it fully thaw at room temperature before inoculations can begin. The vaccine must be used within six hours of being thawed to room temperature.
We're in discussions with the manufacturer to see what can be done with the vaccine, Kim said. Kim emphasized that none of the vaccines were used and that other doses were brought in so appointments made for Wednesday would not be affected.
Appointments at Dodger Stadium go unused as people confused about first dose appointments. Hetty Chang reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021.
The pharmacists who arrived at work at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to begin the process of preparing the vaccines noticed the refrigerator had malfunctioned, Kim said. Aside from the disappointment with the potentially spoiled doses, the county on Wednesday received good news in a continued downward trend in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The Orange County Health Care Agency reported 454 new cases of COVID- 19, raising the cumulative total to 240,220. It's all moving in the right direction, Kim said of the case and hospitalization rates. But I'll wait a week to see if there are Super Bowl issues... We'll see how the next week looks.
Officials are concerned about a bump up in cases due to Super Bowl gatherings last Sunday. The county also logged 35 more fatalities, raising the death toll to 3,451. The death reports are staggered because they come from a variety of sources and are not always logged immediately.
January was the deadliest month for COVID-19 in Orange County with 893 fatalities. In December, the death toll stands at 853. That means about half of the county's fatalities since its first death on March 19 happened in December and January.
The plan to reopen schools is set to be announced later this week, but some parents aren't rushing to send their kids back to class just yet. Kim Baldonado reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021.
Of the deaths logged Wednesday, seven were skilled nursing facility residents, raising the total to 879 since the pandemic began. Three were assisted living facility residents, raising that total to 380.
The adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 people dropped from 39 last Tuesday to 29.7 this week, and the test positivity rate on a seven-day average, with a seven-day lag, dropped from 10.9% last week to 9.4%.
The county's Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate, which measures the cases in highly affected, needier parts of the county, declined from 13.9% last week to 12.4%. The numbers for the state's color-coded tier framework are updated on Tuesdays.
To move to the less-restrictive red tier from the top purple tier in the state's coronavirus regulatory system, the county has to improve to 4 to 7 new daily cases per 100,000 and a 5% to 8% positivity rate with a health equity quartile at 5.3% to 8%.
The number of coronavirus patients in county hospitals decreased from 1,058 on Tuesday to 1,009 on Wednesday, and the number of patients in intensive care decreased from 324 to 310, according to the OCHCA.
The county's state-adjusted ICU bed availability remains at zero, and the unadjusted figure increased from 10.2% Tuesday to 12.1% Wednesday. The state created the adjusted metric to reflect the difference in beds available for COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients.
The OCHCA also reported 19,850 tests Wednesday, bringing the total to 2,817,697.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) Just this year, the U.S. Department of Labor recorded three mining deaths.
While none of them are related to COVID-19, supporters of the COVID-19 Mine Workers Protection Act explained that its one more threat miners face below the ground.
The bill was recently re-introduced in congress and is led by West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.It would require coal operators to issue an emergency temporary standard and provide the necessary PPE.
The United Mine Workers of America is backing the bill, writing: Without an industry-wide, enforceable standard, miners are left to the whims of coal operators regarding protective measures that are employed at the mine to limit exposure to the virus.
But not everyone in the coal industry thinks this bill is necessary.
Mine operators all across our state have done everything humanly possible to prevent the spread of covid; everything from staggering shifts from the time they enter the mine, theyve been spacing all of the miners, steam cleaning all of the pieces of equipment in between shifts, said West Virginia Coal Association president Chris Hamilton.
Hamilton explained last year the Mountain State had its lowest number of mining deaths at two, and theyre not aware of any COVID-19 cases contracted in West Virginia mines.
The average miner, when you see them coming out of the mine or the working place, he almost looks like hes wearing a space outfit I mean very little skin is exposed, he said.
But the UMWA stated that more than 500 miners have contracted the virus in the past 11 months, and the extent of infection at non-union mines is not known because the DOL does not keep track.
That was the day that Sam, their oldest of three children, came home. The 15-year-old had endured the scare of his and their lives, having nearly died from a rare response to COVID-19.
Its one that had landed him in the hospital for 15 days, 11 of them spent in the intensive care unit and 36 of those hours with Sam hooked to a ventilator.
Younger siblings Max (13) and Gabby (12) met Sam at the doorstep that Friday, arms out to hug their beloved brother, yet knowing not to do it too tightly due to his still fragile state.
It felt so good to be home, Sam said. And it also felt so good to see our dog, Pepin. Id been dreaming about her when I was gone. When she saw me, she started whining really loud.
Sam Evenson skates on his familys backyard rink on Monday, February 8, 2021, at his home in Rochester. (Traci Westcott / twestcott@postbulletin.com)
Sam had been and continues to battle Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, a rare and life-threatening response to COVID-19 that has affected a scattering of children across the country.
The first symptoms were a sore chest, neck and throat, then a fever that zoomed from 99 degrees to 103 in two days, pushing him to the hospital.
It was followed by a 15-day nightmare for him and his family, one that was only lessened by the care he received at Mayo Clinic, attention that left Alex and Alyssa stunningly impressed and grateful. Sams doctors and nurses were dealing with a condition they and the rest of the world had never seen before, brought on by a 100-years pandemic.
And they continue to do it, testing and evaluating Sam as he slowly distances himself from this living nightmare.
I was pretty scared when I was in the hospital, because nobody wants to die, Sam said. A few of the nights, Id just sit up crying because I didnt know what was going to happen to me the next day, or even the next hour. The doctors werent sure what was going on with me.
The news is increasingly better. But its still not always what Sam wants to hear. At least not yet.
Im realizing now that I should never take anything for granted, ever again, the Rochester Century freshman said.
This is a hockey-loving and craving boy whod do anything now to be back on the ice. Its there that he longs to rejoin so many of the guys he grew up with, them playing their final season together on the Rochester Bantam A VFW team, a collection coached by his dad.
Sam Evenson skates on his familys backyard rink on Monday, February 8, 2021, at his home in Rochester. (Traci Westcott / twestcott@postbulletin.com)
But Sam cant do it. Not yet. Sam is recovered enough to safely be living at home. But hes not safe enough to be going end to end with his teammates. When that door will finally open again is a great unknown. His heart, which like his spleen and liver were affected by this COVID-19 fight, isnt ready for much yet.
Sam is progressing, Alex said. His heart (which became enlarged) is back to normal size now, which is good. But its still only operating at 70%, and for now they are worried about that. Sam cant allow his heart rate to go over 120 beats per minute. Its that rare deal where you see college basketball players sometimes drop over and die (during intense exercise).
Its 70% now, but well see where it is a month from now. With this new deal, theyre just monitoring it so close.
Sam is doing his best to return to as normal and fulfilling a life as he can under the circumstances.
Sam Evenson gets ready to skate on his familys backyard rink on Monday, February 8, 2021, at his home in Rochester. (Traci Westcott / twestcott@postbulletin.com)
Others are also doing their best to make that happen for him. A Rochester Bantam A teammate, Franky Goodman, wrote an essay about Sams battle with COVID-19. It was part of a contest he entered and it ultimately won the top prize a backyard hockey rink.
Goodman knew where that rink needed to go. Its been assembled in the Evensons yard, Sam now taking advantage of it in increments.
While the young defensemen cant actively join his teammates yet, he does make sure hes around them. At practices, hes been given the green light to push pucks, tossing them into the corner of the rink for his teammates to chase down. He also sits on the bench next to his guys during games.
Those guys are always waving to me as they come off the ice, Sam said. They were so supportive of me when I was in the hospital and they still are. Im just hopeful to be back out there with them in four or five weeks. But that would probably be a miracle.
Sam Evenson skates on his familys backyard rink on Monday, February 8, 2021, at his home in Rochester. (Traci Westcott / twestcott@postbulletin.com)
Joint statement by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 10 February 2021 Of the 128 million vaccine doses administered so far, more than three quarters of those vaccinations are in just 10 countries that account for 60 per cent of global GDP.
As of today, almost 130 countries, with 2.5 billion people, are yet to administer a single dose.
This self-defeating strategy will cost lives and livelihoods, give the virus further opportunity to mutate and evade vaccines and will undermine a global economic recovery.
Today, UNICEF and WHO partners for more than 70 years call on leaders to look beyond their borders and employ a vaccine strategy that can actually end the pandemic and limit variants.
Health workers have been on the frontlines of the pandemic in lower- and middle-income settings and should be protected first so they can protect us.
"COVAX participating countries are preparing to receive and use vaccines. Health workers have been trained, cold chain systems primed. Whats missing is the equitable supply of vaccines.
To ensure that vaccine rollouts begin in all countries in the first 100 days of 2021, it is imperative that:
We need global leadership to scale up vaccine production and achieve vaccine equity.
COVID-19 has shown that our fates are inextricably linked. Whether we win or lose, we will do so together.
Media contacts
Najwa MekkiUNICEF New YorkTel: +1 917 209 1804Email: nmekki@unicef.org
Farah DakhlallahWHO GenevaTel: +41795006566Email: dakhlallahf@who.int
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) The South Dakota Department of Health announced six new deaths due to COVID-19 as active cases dropped below 2,200 on Wednesday.
According to the latest update, 175 new total coronavirus cases were announced bringing the states total case count to 109,580, from Tuesday (109,405). Total recovered cases are now at 105,614, up from Tuesday (105,352).
Active cases are now at 2,151, down from Tuesday (2,244).
Six new COVID-19 deaths in South Dakota was reported on Wednesday. The death toll is at 1,815. The new deaths were five men and one woman in the following age ranges: 60-69 (2) and 80+ (4).
Current hospitalizations are at 109, the same from Tuesday (109). Total hospitalizations are at 6,397.
Total persons negative is now at 300,061, from Tuesday (298,972).
There were 1,264 new persons tested reported on Wednesday. Wednesdays new person tested positivity rate is 13.8%.
The latest seven-day all test positivity rate reported by the DOH is 6.7%. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesnt release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily. The latest one-day PCR test positivity rate is 8.1%.
Vaccine tracking is now being reported by the state. As of Wednesday, 60,812 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 68,729 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered to 89,050 total persons.
According to the South Dakota Department of Health, 21,619 people have received the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, while 18,872 people have completed the Pfizer vaccine series.
