The second coronavirus vaccine dose is about building memory within your body, so there isn't a 'waiting too long' period as recognized by the CDC.
The most common COVID-19 vaccines are produced by Pfizer and Moderna right now. Both are variations of an mRNA vaccine that has to be delivered in two separate doses to be fully effective.
But three weeks ago the UK announced that it would be spacing out the second dose by up to 12 weeks in order to give the first shot to more people. And there are now reports that the first dose could possibly be halved to make the available supply go further.
THE QUESTION
What happens if you can only get half the coronavirus vaccine due to a spread out delivery time or because someone halves the dose?
THE ANSWER
According to Dr. Kawsar Talaat, an infectious disease expert and vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins, theres little risk in waiting too long, because the first dose of the vaccine causes the body to start building immunity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionrecommends that the second dose of vaccines be administered within three weeks to one month, but stated that there is no maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine.
WHY WE ARE VERIFYING
The VERIFY team received multiple viewer questions requesting clarification on what will happen if they can only get the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or if both their doses are halved.
SOURCES
Dr. Kawsar Talaat - Infectious Disease Physician and vaccine researcher at the Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Authorized in the United States
Food and Drug Administration - FDA Statement on Following the Authorized Dosing Schedules for COVID-19 Vaccines
WHAT WE FOUND
According to Talaat, clinical trials show that theres no decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccine if the person has to wait longer for the second dose. She said any dose is important because it give[s] your body a chance to develop an immune response and some early immunity memory.
The second dose of the virus then builds on that immunity. Talaat said that waiting longer for the second dose could actually lead to a stronger immune boost.
It's that memory response that you're boosting with the second dose, she said. So waiting a little bit longer probably gives you a better boost.
According to the CDC, there is no maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine. They add that if the second dose is administered outside the recommended window, there is no need to restart the series.
That means that while it may be ideal to get a second dose in the recommended window to give your body the highest level of immunity possible, delaying that second dose is unlikely to make the vaccine less effective.
So what about halving the first dose? That likely would cause the vaccine to be less effective.
Earlier this month, the FDA released a statement clarifying that halving the first dose as an attempt to vaccinate more people could potentially create more harm as making such changes that are not supported by adequate scientific evidence may ultimately be counterproductive to public health."
Talaat said that if authorities or healthcare providers want to spare doses, she recommends giving people the first dose and wait for the second dose to be fully available, saying, I'm sure that within a couple of months, we'll have much more vaccine supply. So to wait on the availability of the second dose would be better than giving people a fraction of a dose, because I don't think we have enough data for that.
When it comes to immunity vs. transmission, Talaat clarified that while the COVID-19 vaccine provides immunity, theres no data about its efficacy against transmission. It is important tocontinue to wear your mask, continue to wash your hands and social distancing, as we need to be careful until we have enough people vaccinated in our community. Thats when the spread of the virus will decrease, and were still a long way from that," she said.
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NEW DELHI (AP) India began supplying coronavirus vaccines to its neighboring countries on Wednesday, as the worlds largest vaccine making nation strikes a balance between maintaining enough doses to inoculate its own people and helping developing countries without the capacity to produce their own shots.
Indias Foreign Ministry said the country would send 150,000 shots of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, manufactured locally by Serum Institute of India, to Bhutan and 100,000 shots to the Maldives on Wednesday.
Vaccines will also be sent to Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles in coming weeks, the ministry said, without specifying an exact timeline. It added in a statement late Tuesday that regulatory clearances were still awaited from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius.
Indias ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, said Wednesday that New Delhi would supply Nepal with 1 million doses free of charge, with the first to arrive as early as Thursday.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said the government would ensure that domestic vaccine makers have adequate stocks to meet Indias domestic needs as it supplies partner countries in the coming months.
India will continue to supply countries all over the world with vaccines. This will be calibrated against domestic requirements and international demand and obligations, he said.
Indian regulators gave the nod for emergency use to two vaccines earlier this month: the AstraZeneca vaccine and another one by Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech. India kicked off its own massive vaccination drive on Jan. 17, with a goal of inoculating 300 million of its nearly 1.4 billion people.
These vaccines being sent to neighboring countries are being sent as grants and Indias Foreign Ministry said the vaccines were not part of COVAX, the U.N.-backed global effort aimed at helping lower income countries obtain the shots.
With nations making their own plans and not waiting for COVAX, some experts fear that Indias gesture of goodwill may inadvertently undermine the struggling initiative, which has yet to deliver any of the promised 2 billion vaccines to poor countries. Although COVAX has announced new deals to secure vaccines in recent weeks, it has only signed legally binding deals for a fraction of the needed shots.
WHO said earlier this week it hopes vaccines bought by another global initiative started by the Gates Foundation, GAVI, might start being delivered to poor countries later this month or next. The U.N. health agencys Africa chief, however, estimated that the first COVID-19 vaccines from that initiative might only arrive in March and that a larger roll-out would only begin in June.
Of the more than 12 billion coronavirus vaccine doses being produced this year, rich countries have already bought about 9 billion, and many have options to buy even more. This means that Serum Institute, which has been contracted by AstraZeneca to make a billion doses, is likely to make most of the shots thatll be used by developing nations.
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Associated Press journalists Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Hidalgo County Health Authority Ivan Melendez says coming into COVID-19 units nowadays feels like going through a nonlinear version of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
You cry, he told the Tribune. Theres a lady that Im taking care of that Ive known since I was a child. We grew up together, and I know shes going to die. Its the same thing: We got together for Christmas. Now were seeing the ramification of it.
Across Texas, hospital intensive care units are being battered as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in a post-holiday surge. Dozens of facilities have reported that their ICUs have been at or above 100% capacity for weeks, leaving staff overworked and stretched thin.
More than 50 Texas hospitals are currently reporting that their ICUs are 100% full or higher, and a dozen of them have been full for more than half of the 24 weeks since hospitals began reporting that information in July, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For example, Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen and HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center in Houston have been over 100% for 23 and 22 weeks, respectively.
Though statewide hospitalizations due to COVID-19 seem to be stabilizing, there is still cause for concern, said Chris Van Deusen, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Across Texas, there are around 600 available ICU beds a fraction of the couple of thousand that were open in the spring as the pandemic began.
Van Deusen said the pandemic has seemed to hit different regions in waves. Currently, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas are seeing significant spikes in COVID-19 cases, according to DSHS data.
Health officials in Laredo have sent emergency alerts pleading with residents to stay home because local ICUs have reached capacity within the past month. Currently, COVID-19 patients take up almost half of that regions hospital capacity, according to DSHS data the highest percentage in the state.
Many cities have had to divert patients to other hospitals as their local ICUs overflow, in addition to expanding and converting available beds to treat ICU patients.
Melendez said counting available ICU beds doesnt give the full picture at Texas hospitals because they are constantly adjusting to accommodate more patients. If an ICU is technically full, he said, many hospitals can still convert some available beds or units outside of that ward to give patients ICU care.
Hendrick Health Chief of Staff Stephen Lowry said his hospital in Abilene has used both diversion and bed conversion. Currently, the facility is operating at 160% capacity, which is down from a peak of 180%, he said.
Hendrick Health is the regional referral center for 24 surrounding counties, but Lowry said the hospital hasn't been able to meet the areas needs because they dont have any more space for new patients; they created all the new space they could in the spring before the pandemic struck.
Its really frustrating, Lowry said. You hear stories from out in the community, or family members that may have relatives in one of these outlying cities, and theyre having trouble getting their loved ones into a higher level of care because not just Hendrick, but a lot of other facilities around the state are full and unable to accept the transfers.
Texas Health Fort Worth, one of Tarrant Countys busiest hospitals, reported hitting 100% ICU capacity on Jan. 8, according to HHS data. The hospitals president, Joseph DeLeon, said like many other medical centers, the Texas Health Resources network has tried to relieve the pressure by canceling non-critical outpatient procedures.
But so far, measures that helped during the summer COVID-19 surge havent worked as well in the winter, DeLeon said.
We thought, Well, OK, now we have some experience from back in July, we kind of know what it's going to look like. But the second surge was different. There were many more critically ill patients this time around, DeLeon told the Tribune. This time, we have had much more stress on the staff, much more stress on the physicians ... it was just a test of endurance.
Cynthia Simmons is Arlingtons public health authority and an emergency room physician at Medical City of Arlington, which has been at or near 100% capacity for weeks. She said Texans should understand that if they get into car accidents, have heart attacks or face other non-COVID-19 emergencies, a full ICU at the nearest hospital could mean there may not be enough resources available.
We're at a point now where we have so much COVID in our community, it's so easily spread, that the same things we've been talking about from public health measures from day one are really important now, Simmons said. I'm aware that people are tired of that. But it's really, really important at this juncture at this time, that we continue those measures to help save the capacity in our hospitals.
Simmons added that people should not delay care if they need it because emergency rooms are adept at managing both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, even when theyre full.
Simmons and other Texas health care workers have expressed hope for the future after Texas vaccination process began on Dec. 14. Tens of thousands have gotten a second dose already, though millions of people who are now eligible are still waiting for Texas to receive enough doses to vaccinate the health care workers, long term care residents, people over 65 and those with certain health conditions who comprise groups 1A and 1B.
But the ICU bed crunch is far from over. Though hospitalizations are not currently increasing at Decembers higher rates, a more contagious COVID-19 variant, identified in Harris County on Jan. 7, could cause hospitalizations to rise more sharply as it spreads. While it may not make people sicker or affect the death rate, the mutation means the virus could spread faster and infect more people, said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
As a result, more hospitalizations, more capacity issues, Love said. For the next three to four weeks, [its] absolutely critical for us to monitor and try to get the word out to people to please do what they need to do to tamp down the spiral.
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, like the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, appears to induce rare anaphylactic reactions in a small number of people who receive the vaccine, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest.
As of Jan. 19, there have been 15 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of Modernas vaccine and 45 confirmed cases of anaphylaxis after receipt of the Pfizer vaccine, the CDC said in a statement to STAT. That works out to a rate of 2.1 cases per million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 6.2 cases per million doses of the Pfizer, according to the agency.
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be life-threatening if not treated quickly.
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Early monitoring of both the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines indicate that anaphylaxis following vaccination is a rare event, and although anaphylaxis is serious, it occurs shortly after vaccination (usually within minutes), is readily diagnosed, and effective treatments are available, the agency said via email.
It noted that the rates at which anaphylaxis is reported following vaccination is likely to change as more vaccine doses are given. In fact, they already have. The first report on U.S. cases of anaphylaxis following administration of the Pfizer vaccine suggested it occurred at a rate of 11.1 cases per million doses given.
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In a report published Friday on anaphylaxis cases among people who received the Moderna vaccine between Dec. 21 and Jan. 10, the CDC detailed 10 cases, all of which occurred in women. During the period of study, more than 4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered.
In Fridays report, six of the 10 people who developed anaphylaxis were hospitalized and four of them needed to be intubated to assist their breathing. None of the people died, the CDC reported. To date there have been no reports of fatal cases of anaphylaxis associated with Covid vaccines in the United States.
All 10 of the people who developed anaphylaxis were given epinephrine, the drug in EpiPens that is used to combat severe allergic reactions. The CDC has said that those administering Covid vaccines need to be equipped to treat anaphylaxis, including having epinephrine injections on hand.
Anaphylaxis occurred quickly in the people affected, with the median time to the start of symptoms being 7.5 minutes. People who receive Covid-19 vaccines are supposed to be monitored for 15 minutes after the injection, with that period extended to 30 minutes for people with a history of severe allergies or anaphylaxis.
Nine of the 10 people had a history of allergies and five of them had previously experienced an anaphylactic reaction.
This story has been updated with additional data and comment from the CDC.
If you took one look at the Facebook group Vaccines Exposed, it seemed clear what it was all about. It was a group opposed to deadly vaccinations, with over 13,000 members on a platform known to harbor anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. Some of its followers recent posts included a video falsely claiming the COVID-19 vaccine will kill people and a post claiming children are having cancer injected into them. #facts. Standard anti-vaxx fare.
It was so convincing, Facebook removed the group January 15 for violating the sites community standards. But Vaccines Exposed was really a honeypot group run by vaccine advocates hoping to attract the attention of anti-vaxxers and people on the fence. When those folks posted something that furthered the anti-vaxx cause, pro-vaxx members responded and tried to persuade them to question their beliefs. It wasnt always a gentle exchange.
In this community, there are people whose goal is purely to educate, said David Litton, a pro-vaccine member who used a fake account to participate in Vaccines Exposed, and is a podcaster and Twitch stream host who covers conspiracy theories online. Then theres a spectrum between that and people who are just trying to dunk on anti-vaxxers for being stupid.
For example, in response to that video falsely claiming the COVID-19 vaccine would kill people, one member asked why we arent seeing this in the thousands of trial participants, another queried why the original poster chose to trust individuals with no science background over experts, while yet another asked, referring to the original poster: why do we allow these people to breed?
[Answers To All (Or At Least Some) Of Your COVID-19 Vaccine Questions]
These skirmishes between pro- and anti-vaccine users arent limited to Vaccines Exposed; all of Facebook is a battlefield. And while those confrontations arent unique to Facebook the anti-vaxx movement is as old as vaccines themselves the site has created an ecosystem that, intentionally or not, has allowed this battle to flourish. And while the social media giant has made efforts to curb the spread of misinformation, it hasnt been enough to end the battle for hearts and minds. As the American public attempts the most extensive vaccination campaign in half a century, that battle is all the more relevant.
The recently greenlit COVID-19 vaccines represent our best chance at ending the pandemic, so its particularly jeopardous to have the American public spending time fighting over a basic fact: vaccines are safe, effective and necessary for public health. While the new COVID-19 vaccines dont have the benefit of decades of research demonstrating their safety and efficacy like other vaccines, many of the common narratives being spread about the COVID-19 vaccines come from existing anti-vaxx beliefs that have been debunked. Its true that researchers dont yet know for sure if the vaccines prevent people from spreading the virus, but we do know, for example, that mRNA vaccines dont change your DNA. The latter is an anti-vaxx belief so prevalent, it led one Wisconsin pharmacist to allegedly tamper with vials of the vaccine.
The preexisting conflict between anti-vaxxers and pro-vaxxers has now seeped into the much broader discussions about the COVID-19 vaccine on Facebook, according to a November report from First Draft News, a nonprofit organization that provides investigative research to newsrooms tracking and reporting on mis- and disinformation. (FiveThirtyEight has partnered with First Draft in the past.)
Our research shows how seamlessly old narratives can be repurposed to fit new contexts, said Rory Smith, a research manager at First Draft and a co-author of the report. When demand for information about a topic is high but the supply of credible information is low, you get a data deficit, and that deficit will quickly be filled up with misinformation.
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The researchers found that familiar tropes about vaccines, such as the idea that they are unnecessary and just a way for big pharma to make money, have been applied to the COVID-19 vaccine as well. But COVID-19 is, naturally, a much more widely discussed topic, so much of the conversations about vaccines online is now about the COVID-19 vaccine specifically, allowing anti-vaxx narratives to reach audiences who might not otherwise come across them. In fact, leaked audio recordings of anti-vaxx leaders, first noted in a report by the U.K.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, shows that they strategized to use this exact scenario anxiety and confusion about the new COVID-19 vaccines to sow misinformation to a wider audience.
Data from CrowdTangle, a social media tracking tool, reveals examples of anti-vaxx ideas seeping into COVID-19 vaccine conversations across Facebook, including in otherwise unrelated spaces. In a recent search for the word vaccine among Facebook groups, I was able to find dozens of examples of discussions in unrelated groups, many of which inevitably had anti-vaxx misinformation in the comment sections.
The anti-vaxx movement has done so well on Facebook in part because it is controversial, and controversy helps make Facebook a lot of money. In 2019, 98 percent of Facebooks revenue was from advertising $20 billion in all. Facebooks advertising is so valuable because it can be microtargeted, based on the data Facebook collects on its users. To collect more and better data (and to expose users to more ads), Facebook needs its users to be active and engaged: liking posts, sharing links, joining groups and commenting. One surefire way to keep people engaged is to expose them to content that provokes an emotional response, like a post claiming the vaccine youre planning to give your toddler will cause him or her to develop autism.
What we saw at Reddit was that conflict and controversy generated the most attention, said Ellen Pao, the former CEO of Reddit and a Silicon Valley vet who now runs Project Include, a nonprofit diversity consulting organization. These networks are rewarded for engagement. And when people get heated over something, they stay either to engage or to watch.
A Wall Street Journal investigation last year uncovered how teams within Facebook tasked with addressing the sites disinformation crisis cited the platforms design as the root of the problem. An internal company presentation from 2018 included slides that said Facebooks algorithms exploit the human brains attraction to divisiveness, and, if not altered, would surface more and more divisive content in an effort to gain user attention and increase time on the platform.
And at a congressional hearing in September, Facebooks former director of monetization, Tim Kendall, made similar observations.
Social media preys on the most primal parts of your brain. The algorithm maximizes your attention by hitting you repeatedly with content that triggers your strongest emotions it aims to provoke, shock and enrage, Kendall said in his opening statement. This is not by accident. Its an algorithmically optimized playbook to maximize user attention and profits.
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More recently, Facebook has made public statements and efforts to tamp down on the spread of anti-vaxx misinformation specifically.
We are committed to reaching as many people as possible with accurate information about vaccines, and launched partnerships with WHO and UNICEF to do just that, said Andrea Vallone, a spokesperson for Facebook. Weve banned ads that discourage people from getting vaccines and reduced the number of people who see vaccine hoaxes verified by the WHO and the CDC. We also label Pages and Groups that repeatedly share vaccine hoaxes, lower all of their posts in News Feed, and do not recommend them to anyone.
Still, misinformation finds a way. You can do these takedowns but that hasnt necessarily stopped the flow of misinformation, and we cant forget about the long tail of misinformation, said First Drafts Smith. There are all of these hundreds of thousands or millions of posts that might not get that many interactions but collectively make up a lot of misinformation.
COLLEEN TIGHE
A typical post in the Facebook group Whats Happening In Aurora, IL? garners a handful of reactions. Its an 81,000-member community group about, well, whats happening in Aurora, Illinois. Posts often resemble classifieds: someone looking for bakers in the area to make a cake, someone posting a job opening, someone offering second-hand maternity clothes. But a recent post showing the first local health care worker to receive the COVID-19 vaccine drew more than 1,200 reactions and nearly 900 comments, including this one:
Anti-vaxx theories were prominent among the responses, suggesting the vaccine is dangerous and questioning the speed with which it was produced. Both of those doubts were common threads First Draft found in its report. Its just one example of anti-vaxx beliefs bleeding into otherwise neutral spaces on Facebook.
Theyre the same claims pro-vaxx advocates have been battling for years. But the battles dont all play out the same way. In one private Facebook group called Vaccine Talk, nearly 50,000 pro-vaxxers, anti-vaxxers and people on the fence are encouraged to pursue carefully controlled, civil and evidence-based dialogue though even in this group, some anti-vaxx and on-the-fence members told me they felt attacked or condescended to by pro-vaccine members. C.I.C.A.D.A. (which stands for Community Immunity Champions and Defenders Association), meanwhile, deploys pro-vaccine users to comment sections overrun with anti-vaxxers.
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Take this Facebook post from a childrens hospital in Rochester, New York, showing one of its doctors receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The post began to attract anti-vaxx comments, such as people questioning the ingredients of the vaccine (in reality, the ingredients are minimal, common and safe) and claiming doctors are only advocating for vaccination to make money (profits are not the motivation for recommending the COVID-19 vaccine). So a C.I.C.A.D.A. member posted in the group, sending up a flare, saying the hospitals social media team was overwhelmed. Now, the post is flooded with supportive messages, photos of other health care workers getting their shot, and praise for the good example set, burying the anti-vaxx comments and attacks.
Support doesnt necessarily mean engaging with the anti-vaccine people; in fact, we encourage people not to do that, said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine law at UC Hastings College of the Law, and a member of C.I.C.A.D.A. It can mean coming in and providing positive comments. [The group is] there to prevent people from being intimidated into not posting about vaccines.
Vaccines Exposed, the honeypot group, took a more radical approach, luring anti-vaxxers into an ostensible safe space, only to pull back the curtain on a less sympathetic crowd. One administrator, who asked not to be named, told me she hoped the group might reveal to the anti-vaxx-curious the flaws in many of the claims against vaccination. But the interactions in the group werent always constructive, with pro-vaxxers sometimes mocking or ridiculing the anti-vaxx posters.
Group member Litton defended the more combative method, noting the people he affiliates with avoid explicit trolling (things like doxxing or threatening), and that humor even at someones expense can be an effective strategy in battling misinformation.
But the deception required to draw in members in the first place makes it unlikely the honeypot group will persuade anti-vaxxers, according to Rachel Alter, a research affiliate at the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
If your goal is to change peoples minds, you dont want to start out by tricking them right off the bat, Alter said. People arent going to stick around long enough. Theyre going to see whats going on and get defensive or leave.
[How To Know When You Can Trust A COVID-19 Vaccine]
Research on how people form and change beliefs suggests that a gentler approach is more effective. People tend to see attacks on their beliefs as attacks on them personally, and we are all biased against information that challenges our existing worldview. Asking questions, sharing stories and lowering the temperature by avoiding insults can make people more susceptible to new ideas, according to Karin Tamerius, a former psychiatrist who founded Smart Politics, a program that trains people on how to have productive conversations with people they disagree with. Tamerius based her program on existing research into beliefs and persuasion and said changing views is a long, difficult process that is unlikely to occur through a single Facebook interaction.
This is ultimately the problem at hand. Best intentions and science-backed strategies are great, but the battle continues to spread because Facebook is designed for just that.
Industry researchers believe there are other efforts Facebook could make to reduce the impact of the anti-vaxx movement on the site. Last year, nonprofit research group Ranking Digital Rights released a report on how algorithmically driven advertising structures have exacerbated the disinformation epidemic by increasing its spread, and recommended social media sites look at changing these systems rather than moderating content to curb the spread. People will always post nonsense on the internet. The platforms we use dont need to be designed to lead people to it.
And despite all of Facebooks efforts, many users are still being exposed to misinformation at precisely the moment in time we need them to be well-informed.
CORRECTION (Jan. 22, 10:52 a.m.): An earlier version of this article included the incorrect name for Ellen Paos nonprofit. It is Project Include, not Project Inclusive. Separately, an earlier version described Karin Tamerius as a former political psychologist. She is a former psychiatrist with training in political psychology.
Vaccines offered through unexpected texts, emails or phone calls? Don't fall for it.
As we all hope for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, many people are understandably focused on the COVID-19 vaccine. Scammers know that. And while you're dreaming about hugging loved ones, going to concerts or just feeling safe inside a grocery store, they're busy crafting vaccine-related phishing campaigns to trick you into handing over personal information, money or access to your device.
Last month, the FBI issued a warning urging people to be cautious when opening emails and texts from unknown senders who promise information on getting a vaccine. So did theFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network, a division of the US Treasury Department. Police in Florida, the UK and other jurisdictions say they're seeing the scams pop up, too. In the English county of Derbyshire, law enforcement officials say scammers sent out texts with links to a site that painstakinglyimitated the look of UK's National Health Service. The goal was to steal personal and financial information, authorities said.
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Scammers are also buying ads offering to sell vaccines directly to internet users. They likely just want to steal your credit card information, but even if they did send out something purporting to be a vaccine, it would be extremely dangerous.
Online scammers have for years used crises and major events to con people. The pandemic has created an appealing situation because the entire world is aware of the disease and the hardship it's caused in everyone's lives. From a criminal's perspective, it's a great opportunity to get lots of people to act against their better judgment. Scammers seized on this opportunity as soon as the pandemic took hold, offering snake oil cures that never materialized in exchange for credit card numbers or hacking their target's computers.
Now vaccines give scammers another lure for their targets.
"These attacks prey on our desire for information in times of uncertainty," said Tony Pepper, CEO of cybersecurity firm Egress. The scams, Egress says, can be "incredibly convincing," particularly to older people, who are at the top of lists for getting vaccines and may be waiting to hear from medical authorities.
As early as November, researchers at cybersecurity firm Check Point noticed a significant increase in website domain names that reference vaccines. Scammers typically register a new domain name related to their con when setting up a phishing campaign, to serve as a place to lure their targets.
The websites may contain legitimate-looking web forms meant to steal payment or health care information, or they might host malicious software that installs on your device when you visit. Malicious software, or malware, can leave you vulnerable to ransomware attacks, pop-up ads that make your device unusable and other intrusive attacks from hackers.
You'll typically encounter a vaccine scam by way of a compelling message designed to get you to respond. The Check Point researchers have found emails with subject lines including "pfizer's Covid vaccine: 11 things you need to know." That message contained a malicious file that would've infected recipients' computers with malware if opened.
If you search online for information about vaccines, you might later see ads on various websites for vaccine doses you can order online. Scammers buy these ads because they know you're interested in vaccines, just as legitimate retailers might show you rain-boot ads for days after you search for wet-weather gear.
The vaccine ads are another scam meant to collect your financial information. Researchers at fraud detection firm Bolster found an ad claiming to sell the Sinovac vaccine from China, but the business was clearly fraudulent. Registered in Panama, the website listed phone numbers shared by other businesses, including a waterless car wash service and a talent management agency.
Even if the company sent something claiming to be a vaccine, direct sales of the real COVID-19 vaccine are nearly impossible because of how costly it is to maintain the right cold temperature range for the package at all times.
The FBI urges people to be wary of any email, text message or phone call that comes from a sender you don't recognize and offers information about the coronavirus vaccine. As with any message from an unknown sender, don't click, download or share your password. Get your information about vaccines from official sources, like state and local health departments, the Food and Drug Administration and your doctor.
Next, be mindful that your health information can also be used for medical identity theft. Give out your insurance or health information only to professionals you know and trust, and monitor your insurance claims to make sure no one else is using your health insurance. What's more, don't trust strangers who send unsolicited messages offering Medicare benefits, coronavirus tests or vaccines in exchange for your personal data, including your Medicare information. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, that's another scam that's become common in the pandemic.
Finally, whatever you do, don't inject vaccines bought on the internet.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
If you are getting another vaccination, because in pregnancy there are a few others you end up getting. There should be at least a two-week window between vaccinations. So, lets say you are getting the flu vaccine, you have to wait two weeks before you get the COVID-19 vaccine.
by: News Channel 11 Staff
A medical staff member prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
WISE, Va. (WJHL) According to a press release Saturday morning, the Cumberland Plateau along with the LENOWISCO Health Districts will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to those 65 years and older starting Monday, Jan. 25.
The press release warned that the vaccine supply continues to be limited.
The state will continue receiving around 100,000 doses per week from the federal government likely through the end of February, the release stated and the vaccine allocation will be based on population.
The Cumberland Plateau and LENOWISCO Health Districts each account for 1% of the states population, thus resulting in the allocation of 1% of the states vaccines, despite surging COVID-19 cases within Southwest Virginia.
This allocation is made available for health systems, local health departments and community partners. The announcement on Saturday revealed that this roll-out is a substantial reduction compared to previous vaccine allocations to the health district.
Although second doses arent included in this allocation, the release said they will be available in time for those who received the first dose.
Health systems, health districts and community partners in far Southwest Virginia will prioritize those most at risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19. Deaths from COVID-19 have been highest in our older populations. We will focus on vaccinating these groups, while continuing to vaccinate smaller numbers of Phase 1b essential workers. As Governor Northam said, it is critical that those who are at highest risk are protected first. So, we must ask many people to wait for a vaccine. We know this is hard. We know everyone wants to be vaccinated quickly, and we wish there was enough vaccine for everyone right now. We will continue to vaccinate our community to the best of our ability with the resources we have available.
Certain Phase 1b priority groups, including manufacturing, will experience a delay in receiving their vaccines due to the decreased vaccine supplies.
Those with medical concerns are urged to speak with their providers prior to their vaccine appointments.
For more information, CLICK HERE.
For details on COVID-19 vaccinations in LENOWISCO Health District, CLICK HERE.
