DENVER (CBS4) Gov. Jared Polis laid out the plan on Wednesday for getting more people the COVID-19 vaccine. He says its vitally important to ending the pandemic.
These next months are going to be a race against the virus. In order to win, we need to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate as many people as possible, especially those that are most at risk, he said.
Figuring out how and when people can get vaccinated hasnt necessarily been easy. It has been a confusing and frustrating process for many.
Wednesday, public health officials broke down the next step of the distribution plan.
Were prioritizing Coloradans age 70 and up, a group that sadly accounts for 78% of COVID-19 deaths, said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the Executive Director of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
If you are in that group, getting a shot could be tricky. If you live in a long term care facility, the federal government will be giving you a vaccine through partnerships with drug stores.
For everyone else, there isnt a single place to go get a vaccine and you cant just walk into a doctors office to get one.
Hospitals and other health systems pharmacies and community clinics and local public health agencies will be administering vaccines, Hunsaker Ryan says. This may be by appointment or drive through clinic. If youre in this age group. We encourage you to call your health care provider for further instructions.
State officials announced they are working with major hospitals statewide to get online portals going where eligible people can sign up for a vaccine.
I really expected most of the hospital capacity in the state will be on online portal systems in the next week or so, said Gov. Polis.
In addition, UCHealth and Denver Health will be contacting their patients soon who are eligible to set up appointments. The State hopes this phase will be done by March and then will begin the next phase.
We will begin vaccinating essential workers like teachers, says Hunsaker Ryan.
For more information about Colorados vaccination plan you can visit covid19.colorado.gov/vaccine.
The coronavirus is mutating
There are concerns about how fast the new Covid-19 vaccines can be distributed and reach enough of the public at large to begin to allow life to return to normal. Best estimates are three to six months. It also depends on other factors.
The coronavirus is mutating and there are now several variants cropping up both in the U.S. and around the world. Some of them do not seem to increase the infection rates of the virus, but several of them apparently do, such as one raging currently in the United Kingdom prompting a six-week shut down. And then theres another highly infection Covid-19 virus in South Africa.
The danger of mutations or variants is two-fold: Will the mutations cause the virus to spread more quickly. That is, become much more infectious, overwhelm the medical system more than they have already, and with more infected, we can expect the death rate to increase, perhaps significantly. The other alternative, and much less desirable is whether the virus becomes even more lethal than it already is, which is to say, making people have more severe symptoms and cause even more deaths.
There are ways being discussed now by our public health authorities here in the U.S. on how to get the vaccine to the public more quickly. Even if the variants are different, the evidence so far is that the immunity afforded by the current vaccines will still work on the variants found so far.
Graphic shows a diagram of the COVID-19 virus.
Right now, our Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is telling everyone to NOT modify COVID-19 vaccine dose schedule or dosage, either by extending the time between the first and second shot, or by halving the two doses. Another idea being floated is to allow the mixing of the vaccines, i.e., starting first with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and then for the second shot, using whichever is available. Both vaccines supposedly use the same methodology of using mRNA to develop their vaccines.
The UK is getting ready to try some of these strategies because the virus is really out of control in that country and completely overwhelming their national health care systems. They are dealing with the higher infectious version of the coronavirus right now and they are going bonkers trying to keep it under control.
Graphic shows a diagram of the COVID-19 virus.
The real concern with delaying a second dose is that a single shot might only give minimal or partial immunity. The second shot is supposed to make sure the patient gets the highest level of protection possible. Again, our FDA is opposed to this idea at this time, as they are for the idea of giving only half doses until clinical trials can be conducted.
There is added concern, as seen in the United Kingdom, that the number of variants of the Covid-19 virus are multiplying. The biggest concern is the several of the new variants are proving more infectious than the previous one.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and stick around. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic.
The virus that causes COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, a large family of viruses. Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surfaces.
Multiple COVID-19 variants are circulating globally
Multiple COVID-19 variants are circulating globally. In the United Kingdom (UK), a new variant has emerged with an unusually large number of mutations. This variant seems to spread more easily and quickly than other variants. Currently, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illness or increased risk of death. This variant was first detected in September 2020 and is now highly prevalent in London and southeast England. It has since been detected in numerous countries around the world, including the United States and Canada.
In South Africa, another variant has emerged independently of the variant detected in the UK. This variant, originally detected in early October, shares some mutations with the variant detected in the UK. There have been cases caused by this variant outside of South Africa. This variant seems to spread more easily and quickly than other variants. Currently, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illness or increased risk of death.
And yet another variant recently emerged in Nigeria. CDC also is monitoring this strain but, at this time, there is no evidence to indicate this variant is causing more severe illness or increased spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Currently, the health authorities feel that, even with the variants coming forth, that the existing vaccines will continue to provide some protection and that they can modify the vaccines to counter any new variants.
Related
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) -- Elizabeth City State University officials say they've partnered with Sentara Albemarle Regional Medical Center and Albemarle Regional Health Services to provide ultra-low temperature freezers for COVID-19 vaccine storage.
The vaccine requires negative 112-degree Fahrenheit freezers to properly store the vials before use, according to ECSU dean of the School of Science, Aviation, Health and Technology, Dr. Kuldeep Rawat.
Youngstown City Health District asks people who qualify for Phase 1B to fill out a form on its website so the department can continue to plan for the next phase of vaccinations.
YOUNGSTOWN Youngstown City Health District is expected to administer 500 Moderna coronavirus vaccinations by the end of this week to people who qualify for Phase 1A.
Health Commissioner Erin Bishop said over five days, about 350 vaccinations have been administered to Youngstown Fire Department firefighters, Americal Medical Response EMS employees and residents and staff of congregate settings, such as rehab facilitiesand mental health centers.
Phase 1A includes healthcare workers and personnel, EMS responders, people with developmental disabilities and mental health disorders and residents and staff at congregate living facilities including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, psychiatric hospitals and Ohio veterans homes.
A lot of the group homes we are tackling this week [and] our schedule is filling up for next week, Bishop said.
The health department will vaccinate residents and caregivers in these congregate care facilitiesthis week:
ByFriday, about 500 of the 800 doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine the health department received will be administered.
Last week, the health department vaccinated about 120people including Gateways to Better Living residents and staff. Bishop said the health department will continue vaccinating group homes and recovery housing next week.
The health department is working on plans for Phase 1B vaccinations, Bishop said.
Phase 1B is focused on vaccinating Ohioans who are age 65 and older and people living with severe congenital, developmental or early-onset medical disorders. The phase also includes adults working in schools so students can return in-person by March 1.
Youngstown City Schools returned from winter breakMonday and will continue with remote learninguntil plans are made for vaccine distribution for teachers in the school district.
CEO Justin Jennings said the school district wont make anyone get the vaccine if they dont want it. There will eventually be plans for teachers to get the vaccine if they want it so schools can return in-person.
Jennings said there have not been conversations about Phase 1B with the health department and the school district yet.
Youngstown City Health District asks people who qualify for Phase 1B to fill out the coronavirusvaccination form on itswebsite.
Bishop said the form will help the health department plan for the right amount of staff and vaccinations for the next phase. When the health department can start vaccinating Phase 1B, people who filled out the form will be contacted to schedule an appointment at a vaccination clinic.
We're asking people to sign up so that when we're ready to go, we have this list, Bishop said.
Bishop said the department is also asking people who are registered nurses to volunteer their time to help administer vaccines. Youngstown City Health District only has two nurses on staff.
Additional nurses will also help when people have to return for their second dose of the vaccination after 28 days, Bishop said.
"So we are hoping that anyone wants to donate some time and be a part of public health history and vaccinations, they could contact the health department," Bishop said.
Bird flu has been reported among wild geese in Himachal Pradesh, crows in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and ducks in Kerala. In Haryana, around one lakh poultry birds have died mysteriously in the last few days.
Avian influenza or bird flu is a highly contagious viral disease caused by Influenza Type A viruses, which generally affects poultry birds such as chickens and turkeys. There are many strains of the virus; some of them are mild and may merely cause a dip in egg production or other mild symptoms among chickens, while others are severe and lethal.
Here are a few contacts that might come in handy for you in emergency situations:
COVID-19 related queries / emergencies / clarifications: 104 (toll free); +91-80-4684-8600/6669-2000 | Find your nearest fever clinic and testing Covid-19 facility here | Home Quarantine-related queries: Telegram messenger/WhatsApp - +91 97777 77684, Voice call - 080 45451111 | BBMP control room: 080-22221188 | In case of power disruptions, contact BESCOM: 1912. If the water supply is hit in your area, contact BWSSB: 1916
Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus January 6 Highlights
Nurse Janet Gilleran prepares to treat COVID-19 patient Mike Mokler with bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody drug from Eli Lilly, at the Respiratory Infection Clinic of Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Dec. 31, 2020. Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Nurse Janet Gilleran prepares to treat COVID-19 patient Mike Mokler with bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody drug from Eli Lilly, at the Respiratory Infection Clinic of Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Dec. 31, 2020.
Many doses of the monoclonal antibody drugs that treat mild to moderate COVID-19 are sitting unused around the country. There are logistical problems with providing these drugs and skepticism over whether they work. But two major health systems have had good success in deploying these medications, and they're reporting hopeful results.
Monoclonal antibodies, manufactured by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, have been available since just before Thanksgiving. The Food and Drug Administration authorized them for emergency use after studies suggested that they reduced the risk of hospitalization among people at elevated risk. That includes people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions such as obesity.
The drugs are antibodies engineered to bind to the coronavirus so it can't enter human cells. President Trump received a dose of the Regeneron product before it had been authorized for emergency use and his administration bought more than a million doses to distribute to hospitals around the country.
But uptake has been spotty, partly because of the difficulties of administering it. People eligible for the drug have active infections, so it's important to treat them without exposing other patients. And each treatment, by infusion, takes an hour, followed by at least another hour of observation, and that process requires staff time in the midst of a pandemic surge.
"When you add all this up, it's really a logistical challenge to deliver this therapy to a lot of people, says Dr. Howard Huang, at Houston Methodist Hospital. Nominally the hospital's medical director of lung transplantation, he has been part of an effort to overcome those challenges. He says one strategy has been to open clinics around Houston. Doctors affiliated with the hospital are encouraged to identify and refer eligible patients for treatment.
"At this point we're doing about 50 to 70 infusions a day," he says. There has been a push to treat people as quickly as possible after infection. "From the time they call in to being infused, it's usually less than two days."
That timing is important, because even though patients are eligible for treatment within 10 days of their first COVID-19 symptoms, the drugs appear to be more effective early in the course of the disease.
And while medication sits unused in many locations across the country, Huang says that's not the case at his hospital.
"Right now, we're constrained more by the drug supply." The federal government has allocated 32,000 doses of the antibody medicine to the state of Texas to date, and it's up to state officials how to distribute them. Huang says Houston Methodist uses its allocation as fast as it gets it.
Many doctors nationwide aren't so enthusiastic about these drugs, though. Treatment guidelines issued by the National Institutes of Health say there's actually not good evidence to know whether they work. That's because the Food and Drug Administration relied on studies of just a few hundred patients to grant emergency authorization.
"These are very small numbers that, under normal conditions, nobody would ever publish in a journal like the New England Journal of Medicine," Huang says. "But yet this is headline news. Welcome to COVID time, right?"
But doctors are gaining experience. Houston Methodist has treated more than 1,100 patients as of Jan. 4, Huang says.
"We're seeing results that are comparable to the clinical trials by Eli Lilly and
Regeneron," he says. About 6% or 7% of patients who are treated end up in the hospital or emergency room. Based on the earlier studies, he suspects 15% of the most at-risk patients, if untreated, would have ended up in the emergency room or a hospital bed.
Doctors affiliated with the Mayo Clinic are also encouraged by their experience. As of Jan. 5, they had dosed more than 2,000 patients, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida.
Dr. Raymund Razonable at Mayo says the clinic, headquartered in Rochester, Minn., had been involved in clinical trials of these antibodies so was attuned to their potential benefit. The staff started planning how to administer it well before the drugs were available, he says. One strategy was to move some medical practices out of their spaces so they could be repurposed expressly as infusion centers for COVID-19 patients.
Razonable has done a preliminary analysis of the first 1,018 patients, and he also finds lower than expected hospitalization rates.
"More importantly there is some signal that it is also reducing death," he says, "But again, these are preliminary analyses. We have to make sure this is all vetted by peer review. But this is what we're seeing. That's why we're happy."
Unlike a clinical trial, this real-world experience doesn't have a randomized comparison group, so doctors can't say for sure that these patients are faring better. The NIH treatment advisory committee, which is currently ambivalent about the value of these drugs, will evaluate new data as it comes in, so it could revisit its recommendations when the Mayo results become available.
These encouraging findings may be swaying doctors who weren't sure they wanted to refer their patients for treatment. Razonable says patients are also becoming less skeptical.
"Initially there were more 'declines' than 'accepts,' but now we're actually seeing more 'accepts' than 'declines,' " he says.
And even though it takes a lot of person-power to provide this treatment, Razonable and Huang believe they're actually reducing the overall workload, by keeping patients out of the hospital.
You can contact NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris at rharris@npr.org.
Although it struggled to contain an outbreak around Melbourne in midyear and an outbreak at years end on Sydneys northern beaches, Australia is generally considered to have responded effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences. With a total population of 25 million, Australia has experienced just over 28,000 cases and over 900 deaths as of December. The number of COVID-related fatalities per capita currently stands at 35.6 per million residents.
For a federal system of government in which subnational governments have primary responsibility for the delivery of both health and education services to their citizenry, the country moved quickly to limit inbound arrivals from overseas, quarantine arrivals, mobilize the health system, raise community awareness, and implement lockdown arrangements. The most significant lapse in Australias disciplined approach was the disembarkation of 2,700 passengers from a cruise ship in Sydney before COVID-19 test results had been returned, some of which came back positive. Despite this incident, public trust, and confidence in the governments handling of the crisis has remained high throughout, mainly due to strong working relationships established quickly and effectively at the outset of the crisis between state and federal government agencies and representatives.
Three key innovations stand out from the Australian experience as particularly effective and integral to the countrys success in flattening the curve:
Disclaimer: As is the case with all Brookings publications, the conclusions and recommendations presented in this article are solely those of its authors and do not reflect the views of the Brookings Institution, its management, or its scholars.
City councilmembers are hoping the site is ready to go this weekend.
HOUSTON Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said members of the citys health department, police department and special events office were working to set up another public COVID-19 vaccination site.
Its my hope that we can set up a supersite on this coming Saturday, Turner said.
Turner also told council members hes hoping to eventually use mobile clinics and even vaccinate some people at their homes. However, he said those ideas all depend on more vaccine doses arriving from the state.
The Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 vaccine map shows the hospitals, doctor's offices and pharmacies where vaccines have been delivered. As of Wednesday afternoon, it showed the east side of Houston mostly empty.
That area is largely home to African-Americans and Hispanics, two of the communities hardest hit by COVID-19.
Councilmember Robert Gallegos District I includes large sections of the east side.
During the testing for COVID-19, we ran into the same issue, Gallegos said.
Gallegos said his office is watching the issue closely. He said he understands its early in the process and finalizing plans takes time.
We need to make sure we get locations that are in our neighborhoods to provide these vaccines so that way those that dont have transportation, it would be easier to go to, for example, like a Krogers or a CVS or a Walgreens in the neighborhood, he said.
Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazzs District D also includes many neighborhoods in southeast Houston.
I havent gotten a lot of pushback or concerns about the vaccine because I think (constituents) know that it takes time, Evans-Shabazz said. Access, basically, is based on the supply. We dont have a lot coming.
Evans-Shabazz has already received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
I wanted to be a leader because I know that there is a lot of apprehension that people have about taking a vaccine in view of some historical things, Evans-Shabazz said.
At The Luke Church in Humble, Senior Pastor Dr. Timothy W. Sloan is hoping to boost the African-American communitys confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine through a conversation with the nations top infectious disease expert.
Sloan recorded a virtual interview Wednesday afternoon with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Ive come to a point where I feel comfortable (with the vaccine), Sloan, whose wife is a physician, said. I admit that I struggled in the beginning based on the historical lens that Im looking at it through.
During the roughly 15-minute interview, Fauci acknowledged the African-American communitys concerns and hesitations over slights and past mistreatment by the government medical establishment.
We have to recognize that it occurred, and we have to emphasize that situations have been put in place, safeguards have been put in place that this could never happen again, he said.
Fauci also addressed concerns over the speed of vaccine development and methods of safety evaluation.
Were saying this vaccine is safe and that its highly efficacious, Fauci said. The entire process was transparent and independent.
The Luke Church will air the interview with Fauci on Sunday morning during virtual services and on Jan. 13 during a virtual town hall.
`;articleContent = document.querySelector(".article-content");articleContent.innerHTML = articleContent.innerHTML + formbox;function waitForElement(id, callback){ var goStahp = setInterval(function(){ if(document.getElementById(id)){ clearInterval(goStahp); callback(); } }, 100);}waitForElement("JotFormIFrame-202185815209151", function(){var ifr = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame-202185815209151"); if(window.location.href && window.location.href.indexOf("?") > -1) { var get = window.location.href.substr(window.location.href.indexOf("?") + 1); if(ifr && get.length > 0) { var src = ifr.src; src = src.indexOf("?") > -1 ? src + "&" + get : src + "?" + get; ifr.src = src; } } window.handleIFrameMessage = function(e) { if (typeof e.data === 'object') { return; } var args = e.data.split(":"); if (args.length > 2) { iframe = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame-" + args[(args.length - 1)]); } else { iframe = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame"); } if (!iframe) { return; } switch (args[0]) { case "scrollIntoView": iframe.scrollIntoView(); break; case "setHeight": console.log(`case: setHeight`); iframe.style.height = parseInt(args[1]) + 15 + "px"; break; case "collapseErrorPage": console.log(`case: collapseErrorPage`); if (iframe.clientHeight > window.innerHeight) { iframe.style.height = window.innerHeight + "px"; } break; case "reloadPage": window.location.reload(); break; case "loadScript": var src = args[1]; if (args.length > 3) { src = args[1] + ':' + args[2]; } var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = src; script.type = 'text/javascript'; document.body.appendChild(script); break; case "exitFullscreen": if (window.document.exitFullscreen) window.document.exitFullscreen(); else if (window.document.mozCancelFullScreen) window.document.mozCancelFullScreen(); else if (window.document.mozCancelFullscreen) window.document.mozCancelFullScreen(); else if (window.document.webkitExitFullscreen) window.document.webkitExitFullscreen(); else if (window.document.msExitFullscreen) window.document.msExitFullscreen(); break; } var isJotForm = (e.origin.indexOf("jotform") > -1) ? true : false; if(isJotForm && "contentWindow" in iframe && "postMessage" in iframe.contentWindow) { var urls = {"docurl":encodeURIComponent(document.URL),"referrer":encodeURIComponent(document.referrer)}; iframe.contentWindow.postMessage(JSON.stringify({"type":"urls","value":urls}), "*"); } }; if (window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener("message", handleIFrameMessage, false); } else if (window.attachEvent) { window.attachEvent("onmessage", handleIFrameMessage); }});//
By now, everyone has seen countless images of people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. But once its injected into the upper arm, how does it actually interact with the body?
Dr. M. Fahad Khalid, chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and Dr. Mohammad Ali, an infectious diseases physician at Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center, say while the vaccine doesnt contain any live COVID-19 virus, it teaches the human immune system to protect against it.
Both vaccines that received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines. They are not live viruses. Instead, they work by giving your body a blueprint to create a piece of the virus that causes COVID-19, called a spike protein.
Once you receive the vaccine, your cells machinery uses the mRNA instructions to make the spike protein. This protein is then displayed on the cell surface, and the immune system sees it and responds to it. While mRNA is a type of genetic code, it never enters the center (nucleus) of your cells. That means it never converts into DNA, Khalid said. The mRNA itself is destroyed by the cells after they produce the spike protein.
The spike protein the vaccines create is the same one found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the vaccines do not contain any live virus. The spike protein itself cannot cause an infection, Ali said.
Khalid and Ali also addressed many common questions people have about both vaccines:
The vaccines were approved quickly. Are they safe? Advances in vaccinology and vaccine production allowed pharmaceutical companies to create vaccines in months. However, both vaccines followed rigorous FDA guidelines, including the normal regimen of clinical trials and Phase 1, 2 and 3 trials. Their effectiveness is tremendous, Ali said. The flu vaccine is typically 40% to 60% effective, and the COVID-19 vaccines are 94% to 95% effective.
Do people get severe allergic reactions to the vaccine? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports a limited number of incidents where people experienced a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or reaction such as hives, swelling or wheezing. The CDC recommends against people taking the vaccine who had a prior severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in the COVID-19 vaccine. People who have had allergic reactions to other vaccines should ask their doctor about taking the COVID-19 vaccine. People with nonvaccine-related allergies food allergies, pet allergies, seasonal allergies are safe to get vaccinated, says the CDC.
Will the vaccine side effects be worse than getting COVID-19? Possible side effects, such as swelling or pain at the injection site, fever, headache or muscle pain, are temporary. Those side effects arent nearly as bad as severe cases of COVID-19, which can be fatal, Khalid said.
Do I need a vaccine if I already had COVID-19? Yes. Currently, the CDC recommends vaccination even in people who have had COVID-19 in the past. This is because we do not know how long immunity to the virus lasts after someone is infected.
Do I need to wear a mask after getting the COVID-19 vaccine? Yes, you must continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing and continue to wash your hands. The vaccine protects you from getting sick with COVID-19, but researchers still dont know if individuals can still get infected and transmit the virus to others.
Is there any kind of microchip tracking in the vaccines? No. The vaccine also will not cause infertility. Theres a lot of misinformation out there, Ali said. The most trustworthy resource for accurate information is the CDC website.
Alison Enimpah, a registered nurse who provided direct care for COVID-19 patients at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, was among the earliest group of health care workers to get vaccinated. Shell receive her second dose later this month. The vaccine adds a layer of reassurance that were making forward progress in keeping ourselves and our community safe during the pandemic, she said.
TheMedical Minuteis a weekly health news feature produced by Penn State Health. Articles feature the expertise of faculty, physicians and staff, and are designed to offer timely, relevant health information of interest to a broad audience.
