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The Mothership co-owner Ricky Ramirez, shown pouring a cocktail early this year at the Bay View bar, has returned to serving carryout only during the surge of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin.(Photo: Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Ricky Ramirez started worrying before the November election, when Wisconsin's COVID-19 cases began their astronomical rise.
The co-owner of the Mothership bar, at2301 S. Logan Ave. in Bay View, said he worried that interacting with customers coming from points far and wide could sicken him and his employees. And COVID-19 began hitting closer to home, as well.
"With our friends getting sick and our friends getting positives just the worry you see in your employees' faces every day before you turn on the open sign," he said, made him consider the risks of serving drinks inthe bar.
It reached what Ramirez called a boiling point in a weekly meeting with beer and spirits vendors: the concern that he wouldn't be able to sell what he was buying, the speculation that the city might order a lockdown because of the ballooning cases.Im sorry, I just cant do this right now," he recalled saying.
So the Mothership made a pre-emptive move: It put itself on lockdown last week, shutting down indoor seatingand switching to carryout only, something that several other bars and at least one restaurant havedone recently. It's reminiscent of the lockdown ordered by Gov. Tony Evers in March to flatten the curve, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
"I think its a good time for somebody to do something," Ramirez said. Namely, take a step back and figure out, as an industry,what we can do to help each other stay alive this winter. Its going to get bad." He's turned to online ordering of the Mothership'stiki and classic cocktails, prepared in batches of four drinks or so, and mixed six-packs of beer.
Last week, Lucky Joe's in Wauwatosa closed its dining room and lounge to return to takeout for a while because of the rocketing number of new cases. Co-owner Jarod Packard said his wife is a respiratory therapist at Froedtert Hospital.
"Anything I can do to prevent her from getting any busier, is what Im trying to do," he said.
He hasn't put an end date on the dining room's closure, instead waiting to see where the COVID-19 numbers go.
"I think its just a lot safer if we all do our part and close down and stay as safe as possible," Packard said, adding, "Everybody else around me is who I dont want to affect."
Jarod Packard squeezes fresh lime juice for craft cocktails served at Lucky Joe's, as shown in 2017. Lucky Joe's recently reverted to carryout only through COVID-19.(Photo: C.T. Kruger/Now News Group)
The move to takeout-only comes at a cost, in a year when many restaurants and bars have taken big financial hits because of the pandemic. Lucky Joe's, at1427 Underwood Ave., also shut down briefly in October, during protestsover the decision by the Milwaukee County district attorneynot to charge a police officer in the shooting death ofBlack teenager Alvin Cole in Wauwatosa.
"Usually winter is our busier season," Packard said.
The night before Thanksgiving traditionally is huge for bars, when people travel home for Thanksgiving and gather with friends the night before for a drink. Along with get-togethers leading up toChristmas and celebrations on New Year's Eve, the last quarter of the year is the big moneymaker for the hospitality industry.
"Its a tough decision," Packard acknowledged. "Were definitelynot going to make any money through all this." But he said he's hopeful Lucky Joe's will be ableto hang on by taking phone orders for cocktails kits and menu items including dinners for two while trying to keep people safe.
John Revord, owner of Boone & Crockett bar at 818 S. Water St. in the Harbor District, has shifted to The General Store at the bar, with online ordering ofcocktail kits, beer, wine and cold-brew coffee.
"Its not going to make us any money;its not going to pay any bills," he said. But takeout will provide paychecks to a few employees he's able to keep on staff. "Thats better than nothing," he said.
He worries whatclosings the coming months will bring if Congressdoesn't passrelief bills, namely the Restaurants Act and Save Our Stages Act. Although government loans and grants in the early phase of the pandemic were effective, he said, "there's a need for Round 2."
Bars like his were able to make it through the first lockdown and tougher times of the pandemic thanks to a cushionfrom the 2019 holiday season, he said.
"Everyone had their holiday nest eggs. Unfortunately,nest eggs are a rarity these days," Revord said.
Boone might have been the first Milwaukee bar to revert to only takeoutbecause of rising COVID-19 cases, on Oct. 30. Snack Boys restaurant on the east side, of which Revord is a co-owner, began its temporary shutdown Nov. 10.
"The numbers in Wisconsin are so insane, there was no way we could justify staying open by any sort of metric," Revord said. As it was, he considers it lucky that Boone was already closed when he and a couple others there became ill with COVID-19, shortly after he tested negative twice within a week for the coronavirus.
But many bars have to stay open because the owners simply can't afford to close to patrons, an "unfortunate side effect of the lack of aid," he said. "For some folks that does mean life or death, and thats a really unfortunate position to be put in."
Revord said he was able to close Boone for the winter because of good weather in summer and a greatly expanded patio. The barroom itself was open for perhaps a month for service, in September and October; he estimated no more than a dozen people sat there in all that time. Everyone wanted to be outside, where the risk of catching the coronavirus was lower.
"Theres no question what a packed room full of drunk people does to a disease thats easily transmissible," Revord said, adding "the quicker we get past this, the quicker we can get back to the people we want to see."
Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla atcarol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.
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PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) A record number of COVID-19 deaths were reported on Saturday as South Dakota surpassed more than 900 deaths due to the virus, according to the update from the state department of health.
Fifty-four new COVID-19 deaths were reported, bringing the total to 942. There have been 527 deaths reported since Nov. 1. The new deaths were 23 women and 31 men listed in the following age ranges: 80+ (25); 70-79 (13); 60-69 (11); and 50-59 (5). The new deaths were listed in the following counties: Aurora (2), Beadle (1), Brown (1), Buffalo (2), Charles Mix (1), Codington (4), Davison (4), Day (2), Faulk (2), Grant (1), Gregory (1), Hamlin (1), Hanson (1), Hutchinson (1), Jackson (2), Lincoln (2), Minnehaha (11), Oglala Lakota (2), Pennington (4), Roberts (2), Tripp (2), Turner (2), Union (2) and Walworth (1).
On Saturday, 819 new total coronavirus cases were reported bringing the states total case count to 79,099, up from Friday (78,280). Total recovered cases are now at 61,051, up from Friday (61,010).
Active cases increased to 17,106 from Friday (16,382).
Current hospitalizations are at 539, down from Friday (569). Total hospitalized are now at 4,400, up from Friday (4,353).
Total persons tested negative is now at 246,277, up from Friday (245,204).
There were 1,892 new persons tested reported on Saturday. The new person test positivity rate for Saturday is 43-percent.
The latest 7-day all test positivity rate, reported by the DOH, is 13.8%. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesnt release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily. The DOH 1-day PCR test positivity rate is reported at 12.8%.
Only four of South Dakotas 66 counties are not listed as having substantial community spread.
The Washington Department of Health announced this week that its hiring 350 more contact tracers and investigators to support local health jurisdictions next month.
SPOKANE, Wash. Health officials in rural communities in Washington state are worried that Thanksgiving gatherings could take the COVID-19 pandemic from bad to worse and, in some places, overwhelm already strained health systems.
The Spokesman-Reviewreports the small towns surrounding Spokane County have experienced a surge in cases in recent weeks, mirroring trends seen statewide.
In the past two weeks, the Northeast Tri County Health District, which covers Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, reported more than 300 new COVID-19 cases, a record number accounting for a third of their total cases confirmed thus far in the pandemic.
Similarly, Lincoln County has seen more than 50 cases in the past few weeks, which account for a third of the total cases recorded in the county.
What were finding is a lot of our cases that weve identified here, we can track back to people in Spokane, said Ed Dzedzy, public health administrator in Lincoln County. Its just the nature of the beast, and its not pointing a finger at anybody, but the virus is going to do what it does; People move from rural to urban to buy goods and go to work.
Lincoln County experienced a few larger outbreaks this month in long-term care settings and one larger family cluster. In the three counties north of Spokane County, outbreaks at social gatherings, workplaces, restaurants, bars and churches have led to a surge in cases.
The Northeast Tri County Health District had to stop contact tracing last week due to so many cases, particularly in Stevens County, which is seeing the highest increase of cases its had in all the pandemic. The district is focusing its resources on doing case investigations, reaching out to all people confirmed to have COVID-19, and asking them to reach out to their close contacts.
The Washington Department of Health announced this week that its hiring 350 more contact tracers and investigators to support local health jurisdictions by mid-December, which could help smaller health departments meet the challenge of tracing all contacts with cases surging.
Another structural advantage is that Washington prints the worlds reserve currency, which means that it tends to suck in global capital flows when uncertainty is high, as in a pandemic, Mark Zandi of Moodys Analytics told me. That pushes up American asset values and lowers American borrowing costs. The U.S. labor market is also more flexible than those in other countries, Zandi noted. Americans are more willing to adopt new technologies, to move for a job, and [to] make big changes in how they live and work. That makes absorbing big, strange shocks easier.
The United States has been better not just in form but also in function, with regard to combatting the economic fallout of the pandemic. It has had best-of-class monetary policy: This spring, the Federal Reserve, the countrys most capable technocratic institution, calmed the financial markets with an alphabet soup of special programs while dropping interest rates to zero and flooding the markets with cash.
Yet Washington, improbably, has truly distinguished itself with fiscal policy, at least earlier in the year. The U.S. has fewer, stingier, more complicated, and more conditional safety nets available to people than many other advanced economiesless generous automatic stabilizers, in economic parlance. But when COVID-19 hit, congressional Democrats negotiated a series of enormous, highly effective temporary stabilizers with Republicans who were ready to go big, among them Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. In the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, Congress provided forgivable loans to small businesses; sent $1,200 checks to most Americans; added gig workers to the unemployment-insurance system; and put a $600 weekly top-up on unemployment checks.
Wed never seen such a rapid and massive amount of stimulus being doled out by Congress, ever, Gregory Daco, an economist at the international forecasting firm Oxford Economics, told me. Contrast it with what happened in the global financial crisis that precipitated the Great Recession in 2007. It took three times longer to get a stimulus package half the size. Indeed, the U.S. provided fiscal support equivalent to roughly 12 percent of its GDP, data from Moodys Analytics show, one-third more than Germany and twice as much as the U.K. Other than Australia, no large, wealthy country did more to support its economy.
The investment paid off. The U.S. increased millions of low-income families earnings over the spring and summer, and increased the amount of money in American pockets overall. This meant that while the economy experienced a sharp, miserable contraction, as businesses closed down, trade halted, and fear took over, it has bounced back better than many of its peers. The U.K., Germany, Canada, and France are all doing worsein some cases far worsein terms of output.
The autumn COVID-19 surge has now spread not only through major urban areas like Los Angeles but even to the far northern rural reaches of California, a troubling sign as the state faces its greatest challenge yet from the pandemic.
A Times data analysis found that most California counties are now suffering their worst daily coronavirus case rates of the COVID-19 pandemic, surpassing even the summer surge that had forced officials to roll back the states first reopening in the late spring.
The data suggest California will face new problems in December if the unprecedented rise in cases continues. In earlier phases of the pandemic, different parts of California could help harder-hit areas San Diego County and San Francisco, for example, took in patients from Imperial County. But that could be difficult in this wave, with the pandemic worsening in most places across California simultaneously.
We cant depend on our counties next to us, because they are under the same stress and strain, said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, the Santa Clara County coronavirus testing officer. They cant provide us with beds in their counties. So we are on our own. And our hospitals are hurting at this point.
The Times analysis also demonstrates how the coronavirus has managed to break free from densely packed neighborhoods in urban areas and farming communities in agricultural valleys, where the virus infected essential workers many of them Latino who had no choice but to leave home to work.
Now, infections are spreading faster in other communities. In Marin County, health officer Dr. Matt Willis said the pandemic has moved from hitting predominantly Latino communities. Now, in just the last month, the majority of cases are among our white residents, Willis said.
Were finding a greater proportion of those cases among people who are gathering indoors, and might have a more reasonable option to avoid those exposures, because theyre based on personal choices, Willis told the Board of Supervisors. Its most discouraging that thats what is driving it but also encouraging because we think those are behaviors that people have more control over, because its not a matter of economic necessity.
In just the last week, record average daily coronavirus case rates have hit L.A. and other hot spots such as San Bernardino and San Diego counties, The Times analysis found. Such areas have already received much attention in recent weeks as hospitals there have begun to fill and, in some cases, the daily death toll has risen. The crisis has only become exponentially worse in recent weeks.
Many other counties are also seeing record highs in their average daily case rates observed in the last week, according to The Times analysis, including Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Sacramento, San Mateo, Solano and Santa Cruz. Counties across Northern California have also posted record highs in recent days, such as Napa County; Yolo County, home of UC Davis; Nevada, Placer and El Dorado counties, which sprawl from the state capitals suburbs to Lake Tahoe; and sparsely populated Mariposa County, home to Yosemite Valley.
In all, more than 23 million Californians, living in 31 counties, are in whats shaping up to be the worst wave of the pandemic, The Times analysis found.
Across California, the seven-day average of daily coronavirus cases has more than quadrupled since mid-October, from fewer than 3,000 a day to nearly 14,000 a day as of Wednesday. In just two weeks, average daily deaths have doubled: In the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, the state had an average of 74 COVID-19 deaths a day, up from 38.
As of Friday evening, California had a total of more than 1.18 million confirmed coronavirus cases in California and more than 19,000 related deaths, according to The Times coronavirus tracker.
Officials sounded alarm bells all over the state, from the Mexican border, where officials in Imperial County established an overflow medical tent with 50 beds to handle a surge in patients, to Shasta County in the far north, which reported hundreds of people in isolation and thousands in quarantine.
Dont make someone feel guilty for not wanting to gather in person, said an announcement from the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency. Be clear: Say no to anything that could increase risk for you or the people you care about.
Besides Shasta County, other counties posting record average daily case rates since Nov. 18 include Calaveras, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lassen, Mendocino, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yuba counties, The Times analysis found.
The rate of coronavirus transmission in Los Angeles County is now at the highest since the first few weeks of the pandemic. Officials now estimate that every infected person, on average, transmits the virus to 1.27 other people.
We have not seen [a transmission rate] this high in Los Angeles County since mid-March at the very beginning of the pandemic before any of the prevention or safety measures were put into place, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, the countys director of health services.
Thats an especially distressing number given that L.A. Countys seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases is about 4,300. The county is on pace to see the number of new daily coronavirus cases double in two weeks and quadruple in a month, Ghaly said.
Just last week, nearly 200 people a day were being admitted to hospitals in L.A. County; that number is now close to 300 hospital admissions daily, Ghaly said Wednesday. If disease transmission doesnt dramatically change soon, hospitals in L.A. County could see anywhere from 375 to 1,000 new hospital admissions a day, she said.
Hospitals can ramp up their capacity if needed, but that ability for hospitals to be able to surge and open up additional beds is not endless, Ghaly warned; the number of available nurses and doctors who are trained in intensive care is limited.
Nursing homes are also seeing more cases. In remarks to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, the director of public health, Barbara Ferrer, said the county is seeing an increase in coronavirus cases among staff and residents at our skilled nursing facilities where many residents are medically fragile and at great risk for serious illness and death from COVID-19.
In the last week, Ferrer said Monday, the county reported an additional 842 coronavirus cases among healthcare workers.
This is the highest number of weekly cases we have seen in a very, very long time. And its a troubling increase, since it represents a huge number of new cases reported amongst healthcare workers just very recently, Ferrer said. The best way for each of us to show our gratitude is to take immediate actions that will stop spreading the virus.
The number of outbreaks is also growing. From Halloween to mid-November, L.A. County reported a 67% jump in outbreaks at worksites and a tripling of outbreaks at food facilities, which include restaurants, food processing facilities, grocery stores, bottling plants and other food-related businesses.
Case rates in several regions of the state have far exceeded levels seen since the summer months, The Times analysis found.
Over the last seven days, Southern California counties reported an average of 40 daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents. Thats almost 50% higher than the summer peak, which was 28 daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in July. The rate is even worse in the rural northern third of the state, where it has skyrocketed to an average of 48 daily cases per 100,000 residents, up from an average of 12 daily cases in August.
Cases in the Sacramento region and on the Central Coast have risen 57% and 22%, respectively, above the highest levels seen in mid-August. The nine-county San Francisco Bay Area is reporting 18 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, matching its summer peak.
A region that includes the San Joaquin Valley, the Eastern Sierra and Yosemite is the only one in California with case rates lower than its summer wave, which was extraordinarily bad. Those counties reported an average of 37 daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, well below the previous peak of 55. The case rates in this section of inland Central California, however, are still increasing at a dramatic pace, on par with most other regions of the state.
Bay Area officials warned that the sharp jump in that region, too, is in danger of maxing out hospital capacity if the situation doesnt change soon.
Even in our own county hospitals, were seeing a strain on ICU beds, said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.
As some of the nations busiest shopping days approach, officials in Silicon Valley said they would roll out a ramped-up enforcement effort to ensure that crowds dont form, stores adhere to capacity limits and people wear masks. Retailers can open at up to 25% of capacity in California counties in the most restrictive COVID-19 reopening tier, in which 95% of Californians live.
We do not want crowds. A crowded situation promotes the spread of COVID, said James Williams, county counsel for Santa Clara County.
Though officials had been issuing warnings before, a supersized staff of inspectors which will include firefighters is set to begin issuing citations that will result in fines.
In helping to enforce those pandemic restrictions, we can save lives, said Tony Bowden, chief of the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
Health officials have voiced grave concerns about reports of many people ignoring federal, state and local health recommendations to cancel travel plans for the Thanksgiving holiday. Authorities fear substantial travel will cause coronavirus transmission to further worsen, just as it did in China for the Lunar New Year, which fueled the initial spread that brought the contagious virus to the rest of the world.
Were hearing really distressing data that people are traveling. And thats not good, said Fenstersheib, the Santa Clara County coronavirus testing officer. With vaccines likely to be available in a matter of months, he urged the public to hold out on gatherings for just a few months longer.
Times staff writer Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.
On Thanksgiving, Kentucky again reported its highest daily number of COVID-19 cases, with 3,870 more people testing positive for the virus.
The state also had its second highest number of new deaths, with 32 more Kentuckians lost to the virus on Thursday.
Gov. Andy Beshear advised people to avoid busy shopping areas to try and slow the spread of coronavirus, despite Black Friday deals.
These new case reports are truly alarming. Please be careful when youre shopping and consider safer options, like purchasing gifts online for delivery or curbside pick-up, Beshear said.
Wash your hands, stay six feet apart from other shoppers and wear a mask at all times. Now is the time we need everyone to buckle down, stay strong and stop this surge in cases.
UC San Francisco is one of seven California hospitals chosen by the state's Public Health Department to be among the first in the world for early distribution of Pfizer's COVID-190 vaccine. Health care workers and first responders will be first in line for inoculations amid a pandemic that has changed life as we know it since March. (The department didn't respond to a request for a list of the other six hospitals before this article was published.)
The wheels are already in motion at the public research university where a task force of clinical and pharmaceutical experts have been working with state public health officials to plan for distributing any and all safe and effective vaccines or therapeutics, according to a statement from UCSF.
The exact timeline for the first allocation is unknown but UCSF said it expects to begin administering the Pfizer vaccine as early as December.
Pfizer said its contracts in the early distribution are with governments and the first vaccines will be allocated through country and state's preferred channels and designated vaccination locations.
"Our goal is to start the first shipment as soon as possible, possibly within hours of receiving authorization or approval from any regulatory agency," said Francesca Marzullo, manager of Pfizer Global Supply Communications. "In some countries, health authorities may also issue vaccine recommendations immediately before distributions. We can only supply countries once regulatory authorization or approval has been granted and we will supply each country with vaccine doses through a robust process, consistent with supply agreements weve entered into with individual countries."
In recent weeks, both Pfizer and Moderna announced that the COVID-19 vaccines they had developed were found to be 95% and 94.5% effective, respectively, in phase 3 human trials. Pfizer last week asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization to begin distributing its vaccine, and Moderna is expected to do the same any day. Federal officials say the first doses will ship within a day of authorization.
This week, AstraZeneca became the third vaccine maker to say early data indicates its shots are highly effective.AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its vaccine is highly effective, and unlike the others, this one doesnt have to be stored at freezer temperatures, making it potentially less expensive and easier to distribute.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Monday press conference the state is preparing for delivery and distribution, but widespread availability to the public is still months away.
"Mass vaccination is unlikely to occur any time soon," Newsom said. "March, April, June, July, that's where we start to scale."
The state launched a community advisory committee of community groups, school leaders and nonprofit organizations to advise on distribution and allocation. A draft of the Phase 1a allocation, targeting 2.4 million health care workers across the state, is due Dec. 1.
Next, the committee will look at allocation of vaccines to individuals in congregate care, the medically vulnerable, medical first responders and those involved in safety infrastructure.
"The first round of vaccinations will be extraordinarily limited," Newsom said. "We begin with a framework of scarcity."
SFGATE contacted the California Department of Public Health for a list of all seven state hospitals that will be the first to issue the vaccine. The story will be updated when we receive this information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Vaccines are being developed for COVID-19 and at least one local doctor says hes willing to roll up his sleeve and take one.
Dr. Kevin Rust, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Greenwood Ear Nose and Throat Center, 1015 Spring St., says hes willing to be in the first group of health care workers who gets the vaccine here.
If it takes the health care staff standing up to say, We believe this is safe. Then, we need to be the example, Rust said.
Rust said everything hes read about development of these COVID-19 vaccines leads him to believe they are safe.
Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are developing vaccines. If cleared, these two will be among the first vaccines using messenger RNA technology. A trial for a third COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca is also showing promise.
Dr. Matt Logan, emergency medicine specialist and chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Self Regional Medical Center, said Monday, Were expecting to have some limited supplies of vaccine distributed to Self Regional sometime in December. Probably the second or third week. As of today, we dont know how much we will get. A lot of that is dictated by DHEC, when we will get vaccine and how it will be distributed. Self Regional is approved to be a designated vaccination site for COVID-19.
Logan said Self Regionals distribution plan will be very dependent on the volume of vaccine received.
If, for example, we get 100 doses, our plan will be a lot different than if we get 4,000 doses of vaccine, Logan said. The South Carolina Hospital Association in conjunction with the South Carolina Medical Association are working with DHEC and have guidelines on a phased approach to distribute in the event of limited quantities of vaccine. ... We dont know that we will get enough to administer to everyone who is a health care worker.
So-called mission critical health care providers would be first priorities in the event of a limited supply of vaccine being received, Logan said.
For example, nurses, respiratory therapists, other staff in the intensive care units and on our floors that take care of COVID-19 patients and our emergency department, would be at the top of the list, Logan said. Theres never before been an mRNA vaccine to be distributed in such a mass way before.
A few weeks ago, Logan said Self Regional surveyed personnel to gauge initial interest in a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
Ive asked a variety of people about what their vaccine hesitancies might be, Logan said. Some have indicated that they would not want to take the vaccine right away if it might be better for someone closer to the front lines someone taking care of COVID-19 patients every day to receive it before they do.
Logan said its likely that the Pfizer vaccine will be the first to receive emergency use authorization in the United States through the FDA, followed by the Moderna one.
Both of those are two-shot series, Logan said of the Pfizer and Moderna versions. We dont know how much we are going to get or when we will get a vaccine, but we will be ready when a vaccine does get here.
Logan said Self Regional has partnered with Greenwood Genetic Center, allowing the hospital to use some of GGCs deep freezers to store vaccines when available.
If we are going to stem the tide of COVID-19, I truly think that a vaccine is key to that, Logan said. When it is available to the community at large, we will definitely encourage everyone who is eligible to get it. I certainly will get it and my family will get it.
Rust is on board with these new vaccines and heres why
A normal (more traditional) vaccine is either a dead virus or an inactivated virus, Rust said. The virus has to be grown in a host model, normally chicken eggs. Then, they have to purify it and mass produce it. Its a long time to make that happen.
But, with the mRNA, machines can replicate quickly the necessary genetic blueprint to direct production of the coronavirus spike protein.
The body starts making copies of the coronavirus spikes and then the body makes antibodies against the spikes, Rust said. Youre getting the blueprint for the part of the virus the bodys going to react to to make the antibodies against it. ... Everything I read about this says this is more effective than a normal vaccine and safer than a normal vaccine.
Traditional vaccinedevelopment vs. this new technology
Greenwood Genetic Center Director of Research Richard Steet said traditional vaccines are viruses that have been inactivated.
It is recognized by your immune system and your immune system generates antibodies that essentially protect you if you run into the real virus, Steet said. What people have realized is that you dont need the full virus that you would find in nature to generate an immune response. What you really need is a certain protein on the surface of the virus, ... the spike protein. ... That spike protein, if you can make antibodies to it, is what will protect you from the real virus.
Steet said mRNA or messenger RNA is genetic information your body can use to make the spike protein.
When your body makes the spike protein of the COVID virus, it immediately is recognized as foreign and your immune system mounts its response, Steet said.
Steet said its faster to make mRNA vaccines than ones from inactivated viruses.
The most encouraging thing is that research is showing that your body mounts and appropriate and protective immune response no matter what version you go with, Steet said.
With the mRNA vaccines, the body just makes one protein, not the full virus, Steet said.
Since its RNA, its not capable of being integrated into your genome, Steet said. No one knows how long the protective effect is going to last. With things like the measles, its presumably a lifetime protection, but we dont know if that will be the case with COVID-19...But, if this mRNA platform works, wed be able to very quickly figure out how it mutated and change the coding sequence and basically have a new vaccine, (similar to the way new flu vaccines are developed for each flu season.) Its an arms race and we have to keep up with the way the virus changes.
Steet said Greenwood Genetic Center does have freezer capacity to store vaccines that need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures.
If the mRNA vaccines do receive emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks, vaccines could potentially already be distributed to communities and immunizations can begin with the necessary FDA authorization.
I think thats brilliant, Rust said. It will already be where it needs to be instead of having to do logistics after the fact. ... The fact that we could have the vaccine in Greenwood, South Carolina, waiting on approval, so we can use it, I think thats amazing.
However, Rust said, if the vaccines dont receive emergency use authorization, vaccines would have to be discarded.
Tens of thousands of people have been in clinical trials for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
I want this to be over with, Rust said. If me rolling my sleeve up and convincing my community that its safe to roll their sleeves up, its worth doing...I think its well thought out and I think its safe. As soon as its offered to me, Im going to stand up and go get it...The flu is contagious, but not like this. ... The heroes are not the somebodys willing to roll their sleeves up for a vaccine...Whats special are the folks day in and day out who are taking care of people with COVID-19.
To learn more about novel coronavirus, statistics, vaccines and more, visit: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa highlighted the importance of strong planning and preparation for successful inoculations against COVID-19.
The largest immunization drive in Africas history is right around the corner, and African governments must urgently ramp up readiness. Planning and preparation will make or break this unprecedented endeavour, she said.
We need active leadership and engagement from the highest levels of government with solid, comprehensive national coordination plans and systems put in place, added Dr. Moeti.
The call came as a new WHO analysis revealed that vaccination programme readiness in Africa is lagging.
According to the analysis, based on countries self-reporting, the African region has an average score of 33 per cent readiness for a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, which is well below the desired benchmark of 80 per cent.
WHO, together with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation and other partners, is working to ensure equitable access to vaccines in Africa through the COVAX facility, the vaccines pillar of the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. When vaccines are licensed and approved, COVAX will work to secure enough doses to provide protection to an initial 20 per cent of the African population, said WHO.
However, only 49 per cent have identified priority populations for vaccination and have plans in place to reach them, 44 per cent have coordination structures in place, according to WHO analysis. In addition, 24 per cent have adequate plans for resources and funding, 17 per cent have data collection and monitoring tools ready, and only 12 per cent have plans to communicate with communities to build trust and drive demand for immunization.
Dr. Moeti, underscored that developing a safe and effective vaccine is just the first step in a successful rollout.
If communities are not on-board and convinced that a vaccine will protect their health, we will make little headway. Its critical that countries reach out to communities and hear their concerns and give them a voice in the process, she added.
WHO has provided its Vaccine Readiness Assessment Tool to all 47 countries in its African Region. The Tool, for use by Ministries of Health, provides a roadmap to plan for COVID-19 vaccine introduction and covers ten key areas, from planning and funding, to training, monitoring and community engagement.
The UN agency and its partners also issued guidance on COVID-19 vaccination planning and deployment for governments, to help them design strategies for the deployment, implementation and monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines and better integrate their strategies and financing to boost efficiency.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) As Arkansas leaders prepare for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, health professionals are urging you to consider the pros of this vaccine once it becomes available to the public.
Dr. Gary Berner, Chief Medical Officer of Community Clinic, said this vaccine will be very similar to vaccines for other common illnesses, like the flu.
He said some people are concerned about getting it since it is expected to be ready within less than a year of the virus reaching the U.S.
However, the reason it has been produced so quickly is because the science and technology behind it was actually fairly simple.
That safety of it makes it very reassuring to me that they didnt have to go out and recreate the wheel but they used the type technology weve used for other vaccines and were able to then apply that to coronavirus, he said.
He said so far the only side effects he has seen come from the vaccines are similar to those you get from a flu shot-like brief soreness and muscle aches.
Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, Dr. Jose Romero, said the vaccines will be sent to the states once they are approved by the FDA, but, they wont be available to the public until the end of spring or beginning of summer 2021.
