Gov. Kate Brown laid into the federal government Friday, blaming its empty promises to increase COVID-19 vaccine shipments as the reason she is postponing the date older Oregonians will be eligible to get vaccinated by two to five weeks.
Instead of opening vaccinations to all residents ages 65 and older starting Jan. 23, as she announced days earlier, Brown said shed now allow Oregonians ages 80 and older to start vaccinations Feb. 8, followed by ages 75-plus on Feb. 15, 70-plus on Feb. 22 and 65-plus on March 1.
At the same time, Brown said she would move forward with her plans to prioritize the states day care, preschool and K-12 school employees -- allowing them to receive vaccinations starting as early as this week, with most eligible beginning Jan. 25.
The governors announcement Friday came after a wild 24 hours in which state officials learned a Tuesday pledge from the federal government wouldnt result in up to 225,000 more vaccine doses for Oregon. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar had promised to release the federal governments entire supply of vaccine doses, rather than holding second shots in reserve, and he also called for states to open vaccinations to residents who are 65 and older or have underlying health conditions. Azar had made no recommendations about vaccinating teachers or other school employees -- Brown did that Tuesday on her own initiative.
By Thursday evening and into Friday morning, however, many states learned the additional stockpile wasnt coming because it doesnt exist -- the federal government had already shipped out its second doses. Brown was among several governors across the country who expressed outrage over the ensuing confusion.
I am shocked and appalled that the federal government would set an expectation with the American people -- on which they knew they could not deliver -- with such grave consequences, Brown said during a news conference Friday after blasting the feds on Twitter for deception on a national scale.
Azar, responding to Browns comments during an interview on NBC News, suggested Brown failed to listen to information his agency provided and was out to score political points: Every piece of data about this is completely transparent.
At the news conference Friday, Brown received pointed questions asking why she is prioritizing teachers and other school employees before older Oregonians, who are most at risk of dying from COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, 91% of people whove died in Oregon have been age 60 or older. That age group makes up 25% of the population.
The statistics grow grimmer for the oldest Oregonians, with people 80 and older accounting for 53% of deaths but comprising only 4% of the population.
State officials at times struggled to articulate their decision, with Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen at one point incorrectly saying the age group accounted for only 30% of deaths. Allen later apologized and said he mixed up his numbers.
Brown responded that many of the seniors at highest risk of dying -- those living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities -- have already been offered a vaccination.
Statistics suggest a two-week delay rolling out the vaccine to older Oregonians could add up to at least 140 more deaths at the current rate. The numbers could be higher given the expected longer waits for those between the ages of 65 to 79.
Pressed on her decision in light of those figures, Brown said seniors are an important priority.
We have worked very hard to protect and care for our seniors, Brown said. Im absolutely committed to getting this population vaccinated as quickly as we can.
Facing a limited supply of vaccines and difficult choices, Brown said she is gravely concerned about the education of children, who are struggling academically and emotionally through online learning because the vast majority of classrooms in Oregon have remained closed since March. She said the youngest elementary students especially need to get back to in-person learning and vaccinating school staff is a necessary step. Children younger than 16 arent allowed to be inoculated anywhere in the U.S. because vaccines havent been proven safe yet in their age group.
I know of families where 12 and 13 year olds are committed, committing, attempting suicide, Brown said. I talked with the CEO and president of Salem Health on my vaccination tour this week. She is hearing of many 11 and 12 year olds attempting suicide.
The Oregonian/OregonLive asked Salem Health representative for more details about the conversation the governor had with the CEO but did not immediately hear back. The Oregon Health Authority did not report an increase in suicides among the general population in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same time in 2019, according to an OPB report last month.
Many Oregon parents and educators alike are highly concerned that students are lagging farther behind in school than their counterparts in areas of the country whove kept in-person classes in session. Research shows remote-learning students falling months behind in reading and math. The gap is more pronounced among low-income, Black and Latino children.
The governor said Oregon is home to about 100,000 childcare, preschool and K-12 educators, and that itll take only about two weeks to vaccinate all of them before moving onto seniors. In contrast, U.S. Census figures show there are about 767,000 Oregonians age 65 and older. The state estimates it will take about 12 weeks to vaccinate the entire group of seniors who live independently and have not yet been vaccinated.
At least a dozen states already started vaccinating their elderly residents or had announced they were just about to start before confusion over Azars statements. Only two of the 12 -- Hawaii and Michigan -- are vaccinating both teachers and seniors.
In a videotaped address posted to social media, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state has vaccinated more than 500,000 people aged 65 and older, far more, he said, than any other.
Depending on the source, Florida ranks first or second among 50 U.S. states for the highest proportion of residents 65 or older. Oregon ranks 12th.
Im not going to rest until every senior that wants a shot, gets a shot, said DeSantis, whose state has not yet opened vaccinations up to teachers. ... To our seniors -- we will continue to put you first.
Despite the delayed schedule Brown outlined Friday -- pushing vaccination eligibility past Jan. 23 for seniors and school employees -- the revised timelines are nonetheless ahead of initial expectations that Oregon might not begin expanding eligibility until sometime in mid- to late February.
Officials said theyll be able to expand eligibility beyond health care workers, long-term care residents and others based on doses they have now and doses scheduled to be delivered in the weeks ahead. And Brown said shell demand answers from the Trump administration, whose empty promises are literally playing with peoples lives.
Starting next week, Allen, the Oregon Health Authority director, said Oregonians will be able to talk to someone in a call center who can answer questions about their eligibility and where they can go to get immunized.
Next Wednesday, the Portland areas largest hospital systems -- Legacy Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Providence Health & Services and Kaiser Permanente -- plan to begin jointly operating a mass vaccination center for eligible residents at the Oregon Convention Center. Its goal is to begin inoculating 5,000 people per a day.
That wont include ages 65 and older for the first few weeks.
Portland resident Raymond Becich, 76, was devastated to learn Brown is delaying vaccinations for seniors. He described Fridays news conference as a blame game.
I just cant believe I am seeing seniors in other states getting vaccinated and we are out in the cold here in Oregon, he said.
Becich, who has hypertension and diabetes, said he worries the state may postpone its timeline for seniors again.
This is very important for me, he said. Its a matter of life or death.
-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
Reporters Andrew Theen and Brad Schmidt contributed to this report.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday accused the federal government of lying and acting out of gross incompetence after learning that an expected increase in COVID-19 vaccine doses wont be coming because the federal stockpile already had been used up.
We were ready to deploy it right away, and now we know it simply doesnt exist, he said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced earlier this week that the federal government would stop holding back doses in reserve. The idea of a reserve was to ensure that every person who got a first dose could get the second one required to complete the vaccine sequence in three to four weeks.
Some raised concerns that eliminating the stockpile could leave recipients with only partial protection if logistical problems arose, but governors including Polis greeted the news warmly and planned to speed up distribution to older residents.
But the Trump administration had stopped holding back doses in December, meaning there was no stockpile to send out when Azar made the announcement, The Washington Post reported.
Polis said he learned the stockpile was gone Friday morning, during a call with Gen. Gustave Perna, who is in charge of federal vaccine distribution through Operation Warp Speed. He said he didnt blame Perna, and thought other officials in the outgoing Trump administration were acting out of gross incompetence rather than malice.
Im shocked we were lied to and there is no national reserve, Polis wrote on Twitter prior to Fridays news conference. Federal announcements that 2nd dose being held in reserve was going to be released led us to expect 210,000 doses next week, other Govs made similar plans. Now we find out well only get 79,000 next week.
Vaccinations should continue at their current pace, with second shots available for everyone, as long as manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna dont run into a supply chain problem. But the news blows up governors plans to dramatically ramp up the pace of distribution.
On Wednesday, Polis told The Denver Post that the states share of available doses could increase from about 70,000 per week to 140,000 for the next three to four weeks, or the state could receive more than 200,000 in a single week before returning to normal levels.
As is, the state is expected to receive 77,950 doses next week, and probably will get a similar amount in the last week of January, Polis said. The supply might increase in February, he said, but states dont get hard numbers until the week before a shipment arrives.
Colorado is still on track to vaccinate 70% of those who are 70 or older by the end of February, Polis said, but wont be able to accelerate that timeline without the extra doses.
The state reports 239,615 people had received their first dose as of midnight Thursday, and 48,008 had received both doses. According to the Associated Press, at least 4.7% of Colorados population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The clash over the pace of the governments COVID-19 vaccine allotments threatens to escalate tensions between the Trump administration and some states over who is responsible for the relatively slow start to the vaccination drive against the scourge that has killed over 390,000 Americans.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said he was among several governors deceived by federal officials about availability of a strategic supply of doses.
This one is so far beyond the pale to be almost unimaginable, he said. Whos going to be prosecuted for this? What are the states to do when theyve been lied to and made all their plans around this?
Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, said governors were told explicitly on Tuesday that they would be provided additional doses. Northam, a Democrat and a doctor, had moved quickly as a result to announce that the state would expand vaccine eligibility.
But Michael Pratt, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that states may have been confused in their expectations but that there has been no reduction in doses shipped to them.
Pratt said doses that were being held in reserve to provide second shots were released last week. Its unclear, however, if they all shipped prior to the Trump administrations announcement early this week that states should open up vaccination to more people. He said states are getting the required second doses they need and the number of first doses is stable.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The move to prioritize smokers over essential workers like teachers has received some criticism, though the phased rollout is in line with federal guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control that place smoking on a list of conditions "that cause increased riskof severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19."
"While ACIP makes recommendations, we understand that there will be a level of local adaptation. Thephased vaccine recommendationsare meant to be fluidand not restrictivefor jurisdictions.It is not necessary to vaccinate all individuals in one phase before initiating the next phase; phases may overlap," CDC spokeswomanKristen Nordlund said in a statement to CNN.
"This meansideally hitting a sweet spot that maximizesgetting vaccine into arms while also being mindful of the priority groups -- especially because these are people who are higher risk forcomplications from COVID-19 or are more likely to be exposed to the virus because of their jobs," Nordlund said.
Teachers still waiting in line for the vaccine
Educators in New Jersey are disappointed and frustrated that they've been pushed back in line, Bergen County Education Association President Sue McBride told CNN.
"From what I'm hearing, it's just another round of frustration and another round of difficulty, you know, our educators and our education support professionals have working contact with the students and with their colleagues in their school buildings," McBride said.
"The idea of having a vaccine that enables to, hopefully, give some peace of mind. And some hope, and some movement in a positive direction is valued. You know, and a much anticipated thing to happen."The New Jersey Educators Association continues to maintain the necessity of vaccine access for educators to get schools closer to a sense of normal.
"We've said from the beginning the educators should receive priority access to the vaccine. It's an important step toward a safer return to in-person learning. We have been in constant communication with state officials regarding educators' access to vaccination. We have reiterated to them the need to do whatever is necessary to expedite that access even in light of revised federal guidelines from the Trump administration and a slow federal rollout of the actual vaccine," NJEA communications director Steve Baker told CNN.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced this week an expansion of the rollout to those with underlying medical conditions, including smokers, but said essential workers like teachers are next.
"And just be very clear to our emergency first responders, to our police officers, to our firefighters, and to our teachers, you're on deck. The next time we have an update, I expect it will be to announce that the vaccine will become available to you," Tate said at a press conference Tuesday.
CNN did not immediately hear back for comment from the Mississippi Department of Health.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has defended the decision, saying it wouldn't be a matter for conversation if the federal governmentprovided states with more vaccine doses.
"I get it, I understand the optics here, and that attacking folks who took up the habit of smoking and are now addicted may be politically expedient," Murphy said at a news conference Friday. "But at this time we are stuck in a position where we have to prioritize a limited federally distributed vaccine doses based on medical fact and not on political want. We need to save lives. And we need to protect our hospitals, by the way, from a patient surge."
Murphy added that "teachers are in the on-deck circle" and any teachers younger than 65 with chronic health conditions are currently eligible for the vaccine.
Teachers are also included in the next eligible sub-phase, New Jersey Department of Health spokeswoman Donna Leusner told CNN, but smoking is understood by health officials to be a health risk for state residents.
"Yes, the issue has been raised. Nicotine is one of the most powerful addictions. Smoking put individuals at higher risk for more severe disease. If an individual who smokes gets COVID, they get sicker much quicker. Our goal is to save as many lives as possible and to promote vaccination among the highest risk groups. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the US as well as in NJ (except for Covid 19). We encourage anyone who smokes to quit," Leusner said in a statement to CNN.
Smoking and Covid-19 from a public health standpoint
An estimated 2 million smokers in New Jersey make up the largest population qualifying for the vaccine under the list of underlying medical conditions, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a news conference Wednesday.
Prioritizing smokers is a matter of public health, not a judgment of personal choices, said Dr. Albert Rizzo, the chief medical officer of the American Lung Association.
"It's a population that we know is at risk, whether it was a good choice, or a bad choice to become a smoker. They are smokers, they're at risk of getting sick, and needing medical services, so if we can keep them healthy that helps society in general," Rizzo told CNN.
Rizzo, a pulmonologist in the Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, says it's difficult to rule out all smokers in favor of smokers who have additional diagnosed respiratory diseases.
"We can make arguments on either side, but we do know that smoking by itself, whether you have chronic bronchitis, but no COPD, or really just have a cough but no shortness of breath, put you still at risk," Rizzo said. "And I think most people from a scientific standpoint says if you inhale, tobacco vapors and nicotine and tar, all those things inflame your airway and put you at risk whether or not you've reached the point of developing COPD or not."
Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape'sCoronavirus Resource Center.
Among the multiple vaccine candidates around the globe, next up in the arsenal against COVID-19 is likely the single-dose Ad26.COV2.S vaccine in development from Johnson & Johnson/Janssen, infectious disease experts predict.
And it got closer this week with promising interim phase 1/2a trial results, published online January 13 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
A single Ad26.COV2.S dose was associated with S-binding and neutralizing antibodies in more than 90% of the participants. The finding was observed in both adults age 18-55 years and participants 65 and older, as well as for participants given low-dose or high-dose vaccinations.
The results also suggest a durable vaccine response. "The take-home message [includes] a high neutralizing antibody responder rate to a single dose of our Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 vaccine candidate. In addition, we see that these responses and antibody titers are stable for at least 71 days," senior study author Hanneke Schuitemaker, PhD, global head of viral vaccine discovery and translational medicine at Johnson & Johnson in Leiden, the Netherlands, told Medscape Medical News.
If the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product gains FDA emergency use authorization (EUA), it could significantly boost the number of overall immunizations available. Less stringent storage requirements only regular refrigeration vs a need to freeze the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines is another potential advantage. The Ad26.COV2.S vaccine can be refrigerated for up to 3 months at 36-46 F (2-8 C).
"Phase 1-2 trial data on the J&J vaccine. If it works as well as the mRNA options, it will have substantial advantages," Jeremy Faust, MD, an emergency room physician affiliated with Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, tweeted on January 13.
Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna messenger RNA vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson product is a recombinant, replication-incompetent adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) vector encoding a full-length and stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein.
Under normal circumstances, phase 3 trial results would not be anticipated within weeks of phase 1/2a trial findings. However, the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the vaccine development process, so preclinical trials were conducted simultaneously and not sequentially. For this reason, phase 3 interim results for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are expected within weeks, and a company executive told Reuters that the rollout is on track for March.
"We hope to report data from our first phase 3 study, ENSEMBLE, in which we are testing the protective efficacy of a single dose of Ad26.COV2.S, by the end of this month or early February," Schuitemaker said.
In the meantime, the phase 1/2a ongoing, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial interim results have drawn positive reactions.
"Data is highly encouraging and supports the single inoculation approach that makes this vaccine unique," Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean for Emory University at Grady in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote in a tweet on January 13.
"Encouraging COVID vaccine data from J&J published today. Solid antibody, CD4 T cell, and CD8 T cell responses a nice trifecta of vaccine immune responses to see! And safe!" tweeted Shane Crotty, PhD, vaccine scientist and professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in La Jolla, California.
At baseline for the phase 1/2a trial, 2% of the younger group and 1% of the 65+ group were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 S-specific antibodies.
A total of 402 people in the younger age cohort and 403 in the 65 and older group received a first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Many participants also received a second dose 56 days later for a separate trial, ENSEMBLE2, designed to compare safety and efficacy between single- and double-dose regimens. Results of that trial are still pending.
A single dose was associated with a higher incidence of solicited systemic adverse events in the higher vaccine dose group. They also found that grade 3 adverse events decreased with increasing age.
Injection site pain on the day of immunization or the next day was the most common local reaction. The pain generally resolved within 24 hours. Fever was reported by 15% of the low-dose vaccine group and 39% of the high-dose cohort. Fatigue, headache, and myalgia were the most common grade 1 or 2 solicited systemic adverse events reported.
Five serious adverse events were reported, includingfour that investigators deemed unrelated to vaccination: hypotension, bilateral nephrolithiasis, legionella pneumonia, and one case of worsening of multiple sclerosis. The vaccine-related serious adverse event was a fever that resulted in hospitalization because of suspicion of COVID-19. The patient recovered within 12 hours.
"These data confirm our previous experience with vaccine candidates based on our Ad26 viral vector platform in the younger age group. The almost similar performance in older adults is promising," Schuitemaker said.
A potential limitation of the phase 1/2a trial is "the lack of representation of minority groups," the researchers note. Johnson & Johnson is working on improving the diversity of study participants "with respect to groups that seem to be affected most by the COVID-19 pandemic."
The AstraZeneca/Oxford AZD1222 vaccine in development received approval for use in the United Kingdom on December 30. The approval came afterPublic Health England said the country was facing "unprecedented" levels of infections, the BBC reported. AstraZeneca applied for European Medical Agency approval earlier this week, which could lead to more widespread use across Europe.
The status of the vaccine remains uncertain in the United States. A phase 3 trial in the US that started in August was paused for about 6 weeks in September and October after an adverse event in a British volunteer halted studies worldwide. On October 23, the FDA permitted researchers to continue the trial with approximately 40,000 participants.
There was some suggestion in the clinical trials that a half dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine was more effective than a full dose, 90% vs 62%, but some irregularities in the research require further investigation.
Although the AstraZeneca vaccine is delivered to cells by an adenovirus similar to the Johnson & Johnson product it is designed to be delivered in two doses 28 days apart, similar to the administration schedule of the Moderna mRNA vaccine.
Regardless of which vaccine product is next to gain an EUA in the United States, many experts agree the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts so far have been problematic, at a time when cases are climbing to record-breaking levels, and likely more related to logistics overadministration of the vaccine than production of the doses.
"Lots of doses being manufactured. In December 20 million, January 40 million, February 80 million and J&J hopefully soon to add to the count. The shortage is the number arms not getting vaccinated. Freezers do not get COVID. They do not need all those vaccines," Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, an infectious disease expert in Port Washington, New York, tweeted on January 12.
"Unfortunately, the rollout has not gone smoothly, partly due to a lack of resources for this distribution phase we're in," said Andrew T. Pavia, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases of University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, during amedia briefing today sponsored by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
"We're concerned about the mismatch between the number of people who are being told they are eligible and the amount of vaccine that is being distributed," he said.
Complicating the rollout is a directive from US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that states should start vaccinating everyone 65 and older as well as those with underlying conditions.
Expanding distribution to the 15% of Americans in just this age group is a big challenge, Pavia said. "We have enough vaccine maybe to vaccinate 40 million by the end of this month. There is a huge disconnect, and that creates a lot of problems."
"One of the biggest problems is we are trying to do this mass vaccination program in the middle of the biggest surge we've ever seen," Julie Vaishampayan, MD, MPH, chair of the IDSA Public Health Committee, said during the briefing. Without sufficient time for public health officials to plan for vaccinating a larger population, "people will come and stand in extremely long lines."
Trying to expand immunization access without a proportionate increase in available doses prompted Vaishampayan to share an analogy from a colleague: "We are trying to fill a lake with a garden hose. Rather than making the lake bigger, what we really need is more water."
Pavia emphasized that infectious disease experts "know the measures that work." Not using masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene, he said, "is a bit like knowing that really good shark repellents will be available in summer, so I'm going to jump into the ocean covered in blood while the great whites are swimming around."
An official at the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed. "Vaccines are coming online and I do believe vaccines will make a huge difference. But they are not here yet in enough quantities and in enough people to make that difference," said Michael Ryan, WHO executive director of health emergencies during an online media briefing January 13, held in conjunction with Emory University.
Ryan predicted that "we've got weeks if not months ahead of us in which our weapon is our knowledgewhat we know about this virus, its transmission, and stopping that transmission."
"And as the vaccines roll in, we can hopefully end this horrific pandemic."
Schuitemaker reports grants from BARDAduring the conduct of the study; personal fees and other from Janssen Vaccines and Prevention, a J&J company, outside the submitted work. Johnson & Johnson and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services funded the phase 1/2a study.
N Engl J Med. Published online January 13, 2021. Full text
Damian McNamarais astaffjournalist based in Miami. He covers a wide range of medical specialties, including infectious diseases, gastroenterology and critical care.Follow Damian on Twitter: @MedReporter.
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The state is expecting to receive 20,950 doses each week for the foreseeable future.
BOISE, Idaho The Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare (IDHW) learned Friday that Idaho will not see an increase in COVID-19 vaccine doses from the previously announced release of second doses.
However, Idaho will receive 2-5% more doses of the vaccine each week, totaling about 950 extra doses each week. The state is expecting to receive 20,950 doses each week for the foreseeable future.
The announcement comes after multiple state governments, including Oregon, were informed that they would not be receiving an increased amount of COVID-19 vaccines from the alleged "vaccine stockpile" since the mentioned stock does not exist.
Idaho is requesting a more accurate and timely estimate of vaccine doses it will receive from the federal government, according to Niki Forbing-Orr with IDHW.
Dr. David Pate, member of Idaho Gov. Brad Little's coronavirus task force and retired CEO of St. Luke's Health System, said states like Idaho not getting the expected surge in vaccine shipments creates a challenging problem with the Pfizer vaccine that requires a second dose three to four weeks after the first.
"With what vaccine we have, do we keep just pushing it out knowing that we may or may not have that second dose, or does the state need to hold back some of the vaccine or tell providers to hold on to that vaccine so that we can ensure that we have the second dose?" Pate said. "If we do the first choice you get more vaccine out but we risk that people may not get the second shot on time."
In Oregon, changes are already being made. Gov. Kate Brown addressed the timeline for seniors getting their vaccine during a news conference Friday afternoon.
"While the Trump administration pulled the rug out from under us like a cruel joke let me assure you that Oregon's priorities and my priorities have not changed," Brown said. "I remain dedicated to vaccinating our seniors quickly but this failure by the Trump administration will unfortunately cause a two week delay in beginning vaccinations for seniors."
Having to push back vaccinations comes with major implications, according to Pate.
"The longer it takes us to get vaccinated the more likely we are going to have more people get sick. Unfortunately we have already heard some of the stories that people who have died were just weeks away from when they could have gotten vaccinated and we will have more of those," he said. "Of course we have a new variant headed our way and so we are not going to be prepared for that and now it just means it will be a lot longer until we can get a sufficient number of people vaccinated so that we can hit that desired herd immunity level."
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DENVER (KDVR) In a Tweet on Friday morning, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said that, We were lied to and there is no national reserve, when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Tweet was in response to a Washington Post article posted Friday morning with the headline Vaccine reserve exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it.
Gov. Polis full tweet:
Im shocked we were lied to and there is no national reserve. Federal announcements that 2nd dose being held in reserve was going to be released led us to expect 210,000 doses next week, other Govs made similar plans. Now we find out well only get 79,000 next week.
Gov. Polis is expected to provide an update on COVID-19 at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
This is a breaking news story. We will update it as soon as we learn more.
HONOLULU (KHON2) Hawaii residents over the age of 75 are now qualified to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1B of the states tiered COVID-19 distribution plan. Several healthcare providers have already announced plans to begin administering the vaccine to these individuals. Heres everything you need to know about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
[Hawaii news on the goLISTEN to KHON 2GO weekday mornings at 7:30 a.m.]
According to the Hawaii Department of Health and government officials, vaccines are currently being distributed in tiers. The distribution layout is as follows:
The state is now in Phase 1B of the vaccine distribution plan.
Current qualifications for a COVID-19 vaccine:
The following Phase 1B essential workers are currently qualified for the vaccine:
Workers whose duties must be performed on-site and require being in close proximity to the public or coworkers, are at substantially higher risk of exposure and are essential to the functioning of society with special attention to life and safety first.
City and County of Honolulu
Kaiser Permanente:
Koolau Medical Office (First floor)
Moanalua Medical Center (Fourth floor Diamond Head Rooms 404 and 406)
Honolulu Medical Office (First floor)
Waipio Medical Office (First floor)
For further questions about Kaisers COVID-19 vaccine efforts, call 1-855-550-0951.
Hawaii Pacific Health:
Queens Health Systems/ Queens Medical Center:
Maui County
Maui Health:
Hawaii County (Big Island)
Kona Community Hospital:
Kauai County
Kauai Medical Clinic at Wilcox Medical Center:
What to bring with you to your COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
For all other questions related to the COVID-19 vaccine, call the states COVID-19 vaccine call center at 586-8332.
Dr. Richard Vetter, the chief medical officer of Essentia Health in Fargo, said the best thing to do if you want to take the vaccine, but are sick with COVID-19 or any other disease, is wait until you've fully recovered.
"As long as you're asymptomatic, we would still proceed with vaccination, because the recommendation is that we try to get as close to 100% of the population vaccinated (as we can)," he said.
Vetter also said if you've gotten another vaccine, like for the flu or shingles, to wait for two weeks to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
A full recovery from the virus could mean a person has antibodies in their system to protect against future exposures, but some doctors, like Dr. Doug Griffin, the chief medical officer at Sanford Health, said they may not be enough to protect you.
"What we don't know about the antibodies is what level of antibodies can give you immunity and for how long they'll last," he said.
Even with that level of uncertainty, Griffin said, both doses of the vaccine would provide an extra line of help, especially if for those who had the virus.
"Some people have said their side effects (after getting the shot) were more severe, but many others have been no different," he said.
While most are still in line to get the jab in the arm, Vetter and other experts believe it'll be worth the wait, whether someone has caught the virus or not.
"When you do get a potential exposure in the future, your body has that natural ability to respond in a way to protect yourself," Vetter said.
Even though experts are encouraging getting the COVID-19 vaccine, Vetter said, the only people who shouldn't get it are those who have a history of allergic reactions to any kind of shot.
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But that study, Apoorva said, did not consider lax enforcement of safety standards in schools like not requiring masks.
Schools were open without precautions, she said. They didnt take into account all those other factors. That fueled a lot of fear about this variant being more contagious in kids, and that somehow the protection that kids seem to have didnt exist with the new variant. That did not turn out to be the case.
Although there were a lot of infections in schools, contact tracing added complexity to the story. Data from about 20,000 people infected with the new variant including nearly 3,000 children under 10 showed that young children were about half as likely as adults to transmit the variant to others.
The variant is more contagious, but its more contagious across all age groups, Apoorva said. If kids were half as likely to be infected before, theyre also half as likely to be infected now.
We already know how to make schools relatively safe, Apoorva said.
A mask mandate is a must, she said, as is physical distancing. Good ventilation matters open windows will get air circulating and even an inexpensive air filter can make a big difference. Extensive testing and contact tracing is key. The new variant will result in more infections in children unless schools shore up their precautions, experts told Apoorva.
We know that these measures work, but only if theyre actually enforced, she said. That becomes that much more important with this variant because its so much more contagious.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, echoed the need for mitigation (with masks, distancing, ventilation and cleaning), testing and appropriate quarantines. She also prioritized reasonable accommodations between teachers unions and districts, as well as vaccinating adults who work in school buildings.
Thesixth meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) took place onThursday, 14 January 2021 from 12:15to16:45 Geneva time (CEST).
Proceedings of the meeting
Members and Advisors of the Emergency Committeewere convened by videoconference.
The Director-General welcomed the Committee, expressed the need for global solidarity in addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic, and emphasized the need for protection of the most vulnerable. He thanked the Committee for their continued support and advice.
Representatives of the legal department and the Department of Compliance, Risk Management, and Ethics (CRE) briefed the members on their roles and responsibilities. The Ethics Officer from CRE provided the Members and Advisers with an overview of the WHO Declaration of Interest process. The Members and Advisers were made aware of their individual responsibility to disclose to WHO, in a timely manner, any interests of a personal, professional, financial, intellectual or commercial nature that may give rise to a perceived or direct conflict of interest. They were additionally reminded of their duty to maintain the confidentiality of the meeting discussions and the work of the Committee. Each member who was present was surveyed and no conflicts of interest were identified.
The Secretariat turned the meeting over to the Chair, Professor Didier Houssin.Professor Houssin also welcomed the Committee and reviewed the objectives and agenda of the meeting.
The WHO Director of the Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment Department provided an overview of the evolution of the pandemic and the progress made on the implementation of the 30 October 2020 Temporary Recommendations. WHO continues to monitor the global risk level of the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO assessed the global risk level as very high due, in part, to recent reports of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
A representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland presented on the new SARS-CoV-2 variant which is causing increased transmission but not severity of COVID-19. A representative of Denmark presented on the SARS-CoV-2 mink variants and their response which has resulted in these variants no longer circulating in human populations. The WHO Technical Lead for COVID-19 Response and an Emergency Committee Member from South Africa provided an overview of the variant detected by South Africa. The WHO Technical Lead then shared a global overview of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and variants as well as plans to develop and implement standard nomenclature for variants that does not reference a geographical location.
The WHO Director of the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Department presented the current status of the COVID-19 vaccine landscape and introduction. The Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) noted available guidance including WHO SAGE Roadmap for Prioritizing Uses of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Context of Limited Supply and the Interim Recommendations for Use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (BNT162b2) under Emergency Use Listing. The Director of Air Transport Bureau of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) shared their COVID-19 activities related to testing and vaccination, including the Manual on Testing and Cross Border Risk Management Measures (Doc 10152) which provides countries with risk management strategies for international travel. The WHO Unit Head of the IHR Secretariat provided an overview of the legal provisions as well as the scientific, ethical and technological considerations for vaccination certificates related to international travel.
The Committee recognized the challenges posed by some manufacturers delayed submission of vaccine data to WHO. These data delays impact WHOs ability to provide emergency use listing which ultimately affect equitable vaccine access. The Committee strongly encourages manufacturers to provide data to WHO as rapidly as possible.
The Committee unanimously agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic still constitutes an extraordinary event, a public health risk to other States through international spread, and continues to require a coordinated international response. As such, the Committee concurred that the COVID-19 pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and offered advice to the Director-General.
The Committee recognized WHOs and States Parties progress in implementing the previous Temporary Recommendations from the 5th meeting of the Emergency Committee. The Committee noted that these recommendations remain relevant and had acquired additional urgency given the evolution of the pandemic and the continued need for a coordinated global response. The Committee advised on extending the previous Temporary Recommendations and provided additional advice to the Director-General.
The Director-General determined that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to constitute a PHEIC. He accepted the advice of the Committee to WHO and issued the Committees advice to States Parties as Temporary Recommendations under the IHR.
The Emergency Committee will be reconvened within three months,at the discretion of the Director-General.The Director-General thanked the Committee for its work.
Advice to the WHO Secretariat
SARS-CoV-2 Variants
COVID-19 Vaccines
Health Measures in Relation to International Traffic
Evidence-Based Response Strategies
Surveillance
Strengthening Health Systems
Additional Temporary Recommendations to State Parties
SARS-CoV-2 Variants
COVID-19 Vaccines
Health Measures in Relation to International Traffic
Evidence-Based Response Strategies
Refine evidence-based strategies according to WHO guidance to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 using appropriate public health and social measures, including strategies that address pandemic fatigue.
Surveillance
Increase investment in surveillance and sequencing capacities to detect and report early emergence of variants and assess abrupt changes in transmission or disease severity to increase understanding of the evolution of the pandemic.
Utilize the WHO SARS-CoV-2 global laboratory network, leverage GISRS and other laboratory networks for timely reporting and sharing of samples; support other State Parties, where needed, in timely sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 virus specimens.
Strengthening Health Systems
Continue to strengthen public health infrastructure, system capacities, and functions for COVID-19 response and to enhance universal health coverage.
