Influenza can be serious for the elderly. Factors that increase their risk can include immunosenescence, nutritional deficiency, general frailty, and living in congregate care settings.Flu has higher mortality in people over 75, and outbreaks in care homes increase hospitalization rates and deaths among elderly residents, especially for those with pre-existing conditions.
A recent review published in Vaccine examined the barriers and enablers of getting care home staff their flu shots to protect patients.1
During the 2019/20 influenza season, Public Health England (PHE) reported 3,936 acute respiratory infections outbreaks with 69.9 % of them occurring in CH, the authors wrote.
Care home staff play a role in transmission to elderly residents by bringing flu in from their communities, especially in winter. Staff may come to work sick for financial reasons, which increases risks to elderly residents. Vaccination can combat this risk, but not all care workers get flu shots.
Researchers from the United Kingdom conducted a review of literature from AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, IBSS, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and SCOPUS to discover what helps and what hinders CH staff from getting flu vaccinations. They collected 42 studies to find out what makes healthcare and social workers decide to vaccinate. Researchers explored 5 domains in the review: beliefs about consequences, knowledge, environmental context and resources, emotions, and social influences.
While many care home staff get their shots, there are several reasons some do not vaccinate. In the beliefs about consequences and knowledge domains, some staff do not understand or have misconceptions about the vaccines effectiveness, side effects, and safety. Workers felt the vaccine wasnt necessary, were not worried about catching influenza, and thought influenza wasnt serious.
Previous experience with influenza vaccination side effects and the belief that the influenza vaccine lacks value, usefulness, or benefits for oneself or others are also significant barriers that prevent CH staff from accepting the influenza vaccine, the authors wrote.
Thoughts from these domains that enabled care home staff to vaccinate included understanding the seriousness of the flu, how the vaccine works, and not wanting to transmit it to others.
For the environmental consequences and resources domain, barriers included an inability to fund free shots at the location for workers at a convenient time, and for workers inability to pay for vaccination on their own if shots were not offered at work. Researchers said supply shortages and worker refusal due to pre-existing conditions, such as allergies, also hindered uptake. In addition, high worker turnover in care homes makes it difficult to determine who has been vaccinated and who hasnt.
Researchers noted that when care homes hold free vaccination clinics on-site, it enables higher uptake of influenza shots. Enablers to influenza vaccine uptake include accessibility of the influenza vaccine, availability of the influenza vaccine at a suitable and flexible time, and adequate provision of the influenza vaccine, the authors wrote.
For the domains of emotions and social influences, researchers said worries about the shots effects or catching influenza from the shot prevented vaccine uptake. Fear of needles was listed as another concern. Some care home workers said they felt the employer didnt care about them, and that acted as a barrier. Mandates were also listed as a barrier, as staff perceived them as a loss of autonomy.
Researchers found that doctor recommendations increased uptake rates, in addition to encouragement from colleagues and family members. Care home workers who felt supported were also more likely to get vaccinated. Recognition that getting the vaccine was an obligation of staffs social and professional role toward residents, workplace, and others is seen as an important factor, the authors said.
The review findings highlight that it is essential to understand the complexities of vaccine choices and create strategies that address the 5 different domains, the authors concluded.
A recent poll indicates 40 per cent of Canadians don't plan on getting an updated COVID-19 or flu shot this year. (Photo via Getty Images) (mixetto via Getty Images)
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
A large number of Canadians are choosing to forego extra precautions against COVID-19 and influenza this season.
That's according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News, which indicates 40 per cent of people across the country do not plan on getting a COVID-19 booster shot or flu vaccine this year.
It's something the head of clinical microbiology at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital says is "unfortunate."
"The reason that saddens me is because we just came through this horrible COVID pandemic and we saw all the devastation that it had," Dr. Joseph Blondeau tells Yahoo Canada. "Plus, we saw all the restrictions that were put in place that really restricted a lot of our life choices.
"I think people are just, unfortunately, underestimating what could be the consequences of this respiratory season ... and what the benefits of vaccination actually are."
The poll, which was released on Wednesday and surveyed 1,000 Canadians older than age 18, found 45 per cent of that group did not feel it was worth getting one. Twenty-three per cent of people within that group expressed concerns about the shot's safety; seven per cent were fully against the COVID-19 vaccine.
Out of the respondents, 60 per cent say they've already received a COVID-19 booster shot or plan on getting one and that's the same for flu shots.
The survey's results indicated a shift in attitude, according to an infectious disease specialist at the University of British Columbia's department of medicine.
"Today, I don't think that the general population is seeing COVID as a big threat as it used to be in 2020," Dr. Horatio Bach tells Yahoo Canada. "This impression, people think 'it's just a flu.'"
Story continues
Still, Bach says "we have to monitor what's going to happen," as it's currently "very hard to say 'yes' or 'it's not' going to be a problem."
Updated COVID-19 vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer were approved by Health Canada in September. Novavax's updated shot was approved for use in the European Union on Tuesday, but Health Canada is still reviewing the vaccine.
The new mRNA vaccines which target the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant started becoming available across Canada in October, along with flu vaccines.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recommends the updated COVID-19 shots to anyone who has either had a COVID-19 infection or a vaccination at least six months ago. That applies to anyone over 6 months old.
Flu shots are recommend to nearly everyone older than 6 months of age. That includes people who are at high risk of complications, such as pregnant people, anyone with chronic health conditions and older adults above the age of 65. For the latter group, the PHAC recommends a high-dose flu vaccine.
"People need to know that a vaccine is an intervention for prevention of disease," Blondeau says, adding there must be better messaging about these viruses. "In other words, it's an intervention that if you're immunized, [it] reduces the likelihood that should you come in contact with that particular infection ... that you would become infected to any serious degree."
Blondeau adds while viruses like COVID-19 may still be top of mind for lots of people, influenza is still a concern.
"I think influenza may have been relegated to the poor second cousin to COVID," he says. "But the reality is, influenza also can be quite deadly in people across all age groups."
In response to following the news about COVID-19, four in 10 people polled say they're no longer concerned about the virus. That's more common among people between the ages of 18 and 34, where 52 per cent agreed compared to 30 per cent of respondents older than age 55.
In the 18 to 34 age group, 60 per cent of people agreed they have stopped following news regarding COVID-19 and government recommendations. Among respondents older than age 55, only 40 per cent agreed.
"Younger people, the way they are if they're sick with COVID, it's not the same way if you are over 50 or if you are immunocompromised or if you have any underlying diseases because these people are still at risk," Bach notes.
On the other hand, 31 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 were more likely to have said they already received the COVID-19 booster. That's compared to 18 per cent in the 35 to 54 age group, and 19 per cent among people older than age 55.
"My big concern out of all of this is that we become complacent because people feel this virus is no longer a threat," Blondeau says. "The reality is that it's still a threat.
"We still need this awareness, we still need this messaging and we still need to encourage people to get out and get vaccinated."
Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
A steady flow of misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines has weakened public confidence in long-established vaccines that protect against other diseases, University of Pennsylvania researchers said Thursday, citing a new national survey.
In the October survey of 1,559 people by Penns Annenberg Public Policy Center, just 71% agreed with the statement vaccines approved for use in the U.S. are safe despite overwhelming evidence for their safety down from 77% in April 2021.
The decline threatens to erode decades of hard-won public health protections, center director Kathleen Hall Jamieson said.
Im generally an optimist, and this survey calls into question that disposition, she said.
She blamed the decline on a conservative ecosystem that sought to undermine the credibility of public health experts encouraging Americans to get the COVID vaccine, such as CDC officials and Anthony Fauci, the former White House chief medical advisor.
Republicans are less likely than Democrats to get the COVID vaccines, polling by KFF has found. Still, anti-vaccine messaging is not limited to conservatives. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an independent, has long faced criticism for spreading unscientific claims about vaccines.
Weve had extended, ongoing discourse attacking vaccination by voices that had credibility with certain audiences, she said.
The decline in vaccine confidence in the new Penn survey was statistically significant, meaning that if surveyors were to redo the survey 20 times, polling similarly representative samples of the U.S. population, they would expect to see such a decline in 19 of those 20 cases.
In addition to the question about the safety of all vaccines, the survey included questions about the perceived safety and effectiveness of individual vaccines. Public confidence in several of them declined in little over a year, despite decades of evidence supporting their use, pollsters found.
When asked about the vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, for example, 8% said the shot was very or somewhat ineffective, up from 4% in August 2022. Asked about the safety of that vaccine, 9% said it was very or somewhat unsafe, up from 6% a year earlier.
The same trend held true in several questions about the COVID vaccines.
Asked to evaluate the statement its safer to get the COVID19 vaccine than to get COVID19, 21% of those surveyed said it was definitely or probably false, up from 16% a year ago and 10% in April 2021.
For Jamieson, the most worrisome figure was the 71% who agreed that approved vaccines are safe. To prevent outbreaks of disease, vaccines typically must be administered to more than 90% of the population. Surveyors did not ask whether respondents had gotten various vaccines, but in the past, they have found that perceptions of a vaccines safety are strongly correlated with willingness to get it.
She said one strategy to counter unscientific views is to enlist credible spokespeople outside the public-health realm.
Youre looking for your athletes, your celebrities, anybody whose credibility has not been undermined, she said.
The survey was conducted for the Annenberg Center by SSRS, an independent market research company.
Once the domain of aging TV stars, hawking health products from vitamins to diabetes supplies to a geriatric demographic, A-list celebrity endorsements of health care products are positively trendy. Migraine sufferer Lady Gaga has a deal with Nurtec ODT, a prescription drug that treats migraines from pharma company Pfizer. This Is Us actor Mandy Moore is contracted by Incyte to promote Opzelura, an eczema treatment. Now Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is making headlines as Taylor Swifts current paramour, is the latest and buzziest pharma spokesperson. In a campaign promoted by Pfizer, he encourages people to get a twofera Covid shot and flu shot at the same time.
But theres a problem here for Kelce and Pfizer (and its not Jets QB and anti-vaxxer Aaron Rodgers trash talking): Celebrity endorsements to promote health behavior change dont work, at least not in the way you might think.
Selling health is not the same as selling shoes. Classic research in health campaign design shows that tactics used to effectively promote health behaviors are not the same as ones used to sell us on the newest and greatest consumer goods.
Health is a highly personal and private issue. Our health encompasses all our fears and frailties as well as our quality of life. HIPAA supports our concern that highly personal aspects about us in the wrong hands, could affect our lives, from employment to insurance coverage and more.
Research has shown that when it comes to our health, motivating behavior change is a difficult thing. Essentially, if were not already doing the behavior by choice, it is difficult to convince us to do something different. We tend to downplay, discredit, or even ignore suggestions that run contrary to our current behaviors and interests, even to our own detriment.
Of course, the medical community is constantly striving to come up with new ways to reach this stubborn-to-change market. In the case of vaccines that save lives, its imperative to reach those who are hesitant. However, this audience is highly suspicious and resistant to being sold on something, whether a pill or a vaccine. Persuading them to make a health behavior change is Sisyphean.
But not impossible. The message must discuss the benefits the action will provide, as well as effectively reduce objections and increase their confidence of successfully engaging in the behavior change. More importantly, all of this must be done by a credible source who this audience trusts. They must believe the spokesperson understands health and medicine. Fail on any of these points and you lose the consumer. Health messaging designed to change health behaviors is unforgiving.
Celebrities rarely satisfy any of these criteria. Sure, one of Lady Gagas Little Monsters who suffers from migraines might consider Nurtec because the singer publicly stated the drug helped her overcome her migraines. Similarly, a Mandy Moore fan with eczema who is struggling with treatment could give Opzelura a try since, like Gaga, Moore has firsthand experience with the condition. However, in both these scenarios, the key is that they are dealing with consumer choice, not consumer behavior change. In cases like these, consumers are already inclined towards the health action being advertised and the celebrities are serving to influence their choice of products, often effectively.
However, you cant argue Gaga or Moore are medical experts. Nor should consumers trust celebrities to be a credible source for health information. These are important qualities in cases where health behavior change is being attempted. Travis Kelces presence in a vaccine commercial potentially makes people aware of the idea of getting the Covid and flu shots at the same time, which public health officials are promoting. However, his endorsement wont change the minds or behaviors of anyone undecided or against them. It serves merely as a reminder or reinforcement for those who were already going to get the vaccine.
In contrast, anti-vaxxers will perceive Kelces presence as confirmation that vaccines are a bad decision, particularly around this politically polarized public health issue. More importantly, the group that is of primary concern, the undecided, will see the commercial and move on, minds unchanged. What does a tight end know about vaccines?
The result of the costly ad: The celebrity reinforced the action of those who were already going to do the behavior, entrenched those even more who were against the behavior, and was ignored by those who were the actual focus of the commercial in the first place. Indeed, the promo did nothing to boost Pfizers bottom line. The pharma company lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter due to lackluster sales of their Covid products.
In addition, celebrity endorsements potentially bring unwanted baggage to a health issue that cannot afford negative press. Celebrities tend to attract two groups of people: fans who adore them, and critics who live to attack them. While using a celebrity for a health issue endorsement might bring positive views by fans, its still not enough to engage behavior change if those fans arent already in the pro camp. Health issues are simply too complicated and too personal. Fans will still separate feelings for the celebrity from their decision to engage in a healthy behavior.
This is often reversed in cases of critics with negative views. Rather than separating the negative feelings from the health product, the negative views of the celebrity transfer to the advertised product, compounding the already existing adverse feelings about engaging in the specific health action. Now these anti groups have additional justification to shun a health behavior or product.
Health messaging is already difficult enough. Unfortunately, in the classic case of if it isnt broke, dont fix it, medical advertisers are using the same celebrity tactics that have proven successful in product and service advertising. Despite best intentions, this tactic fails to move the needle, so to speak, when it comes to creating health behavior change. At best, these celebrity endorsements serve as alerts, making audiences aware of an issue, but they dont change minds or, more importantly, actions. At worst the ads provide additional justifications for those who dont want to adopt the health behavior change to avoid the issue or product altogether. Given that celebrity endorsements are an expensive investment, medical organizations should pause and consider what they are truly paying for. Not even Taylor Swift can persuade anti-vaxxers to get the jab.
Christopher Morse, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Language Studies at Bryant University.
By Maria C. Yager
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital
FORT CAMPBELL, KY Blanchfield Army Community Hospital has added several after-hours seasonal influenza vaccine walk-in clinics, in addition to current opportunities available to service members, retirees, and family members to get protection from the flu.
Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Some people, including those aged 65 years and older, young children, and people with certain health conditions, are at higher risk of serious flu complications, said BACH public health nurse, Capt. Gregory Richter. We encourage all our eligible beneficiaries ages 6 months and older to receive the flu vaccine annually, which can help prevent or lessen the severity of flu.
Currently, TRICARE-enrolled beneficiaries who receive care at BACH can receive the seasonal influenza vaccine on a walk-in basis in their assigned medical home Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. or after hours from 4-6 p.m. on the following dates:
TRICARE beneficiaries who receive care off-post through a network provider and those enrolled to BACH may also take advantage of the Nov. 2 and upcoming Saturday, Nov. 18, walk-in influenza vaccine event, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at Cole Park Commons, 1610 William C. Lee Road, Fort Campbell.
Healthcare staff will provide participants with proof of vaccination for those requiring documentation for work, school, childcare, travel, etc.
Individuals will need to present their military ID or common access card with a DoD ID number on the back in order to receive the vaccine. Parents or guardians can obtain this number for minor children without a physical card at the Department of Defense ID Card Office Online under the My Profile Tab athttps://idco-pki.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/.
Visitwww.tricare.mil/fluto learn about TRICARE coverage and the flu vaccine.
Americans trust in a variety of vaccines has fallen significantly in just a few years even with more fact-checking and pleas from doctors in response to viral misinformation, according to a recent survey.
The number of U.S. adults who believe vaccines approved for use in the United States are safe fell to 71%, down from 77% in April of 2021.
The percentage who believe they are unsafe grew to 16% nearly double the level of about two-and-a-half years ago, the survey found.
The survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania involved about 1,500 adults in the United States.
It also found that only 63% of Americans believe it is safer to get the COVID-19 vaccine than to get the disease, down from 75% in April, 2021.
The declines came despite concerted efforts by news organizations, public health officials, scientists, and fact-checkers to counter viral misinformation about vaccination and Covid-19, the center said in a news release.
There are warning signs in these data that we ignore at our peril, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and director of the survey. Growing numbers now distrust health-protecting, life-saving vaccines.
The survey found that 26% of respondents incorrectly think Ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19, up dramatically from 10% in April, 2021.
It also found a small but growing number 16% believe increased vaccines are why so many kids have autism these days. Thats up from 10% in 2021.
READ MORE FROM PENNLIVE:
Ivermectin shows no benefit in treating COVID-19, new study finds
Doctors try stronger dose of ivermectin on COVID-19 patients, still find no benefit
Members of Florida family sent to prison for selling fake Miracle Cure for COVID-19
This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.
Inside NASAs bid to make spacecraft as small as possible
Since the 1970s, weve sent a lot of big things to Mars. But when NASA successfully sent twin Mars Cube One spacecraft, the size of cereal boxes, to the red planet in November 2018, it was the first time wed ever sent something so small.
Dont settle for half the story. Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.
Just making it this far heralded a new age in space exploration. NASA and the community of planetary science researchers caught a glimpse of a future long sought: a pathway to much more affordable space exploration using smaller, cheaper spacecraft.
There was a catch, thoughone that NASA soon had to grapple with. Miniaturization can only go so far before it comes to a crashing halt against some very fundamental laws of physics. Read the full story.
David W. Brown
This story is from our most recent print issue of MIT Technology Review, which is all about societys hardest problems, and how we should tackle them. If you dont subscribe already, sign up now to get future issues when they land.
RSV is on the rise but preventative drugs are in short supply
This year we were supposed to have more tools than ever before to protect kids from RSV (short for respiratory syncytial virus), including a new shot thats given preventively to babies and vulnerable toddlers to protect them from the worst effects of the virus.
But nowjust as rates of sickness are risingthis medicine is in short supply. The CDC issued an alert last week advising pediatricians to ration doses, reserving them for babies younger than six months and those with underlying conditions that place them at highest risk for severe RSV.
The situation is frustrating to parents and pediatricians alike. But shouldnt forecasting demand for this kind of preventative be relatively straightforward? And why was there such a mismatch between supply and demand in the first place? Read the full story.
Cassandra Willyard
This story first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Reviews weekly biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.
The must-reads
Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven fraud charges But hell have to wait until March next year to find out his sentence. (Economist $) + The tech industry has already moved on, though. (NYT $) + Its unlikely that SBF will be the last of his kind. (The Atlantic $)
2 Metas open-source AI comes at a price Just because Llama 2 is publicly available doesnt mean its cheap. (The Information $) + AI firms really dont want to pay for training data. (Insider $)
3 We shouldnt get complacent about covid this winter The fact vaccines are much harder to get these days isnt helping. (The Atlantic $) + Who benefits most from the new covid vaccines? (MIT Technology Review)
4 The AI boom is lining Big Techs pockets The rich are becoming even richer thanks to their cloud investments. (WSJ $)
5 Surveillance tech is coming to a city near you City councils are investing in Fusus AI systems, but not all residents are happy. (404 Media) + Marseilles battle against the surveillance state. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Zoonotic diseases are a growing threatAnimal-to-human diseases are forecast to kill many more people in future decades. (FT $) + Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Forget the leap secondits time for the leap minuteTechnically, it could bridge the two ways we tell the time. But is the world ready? (NYT $)
8 How online gambling ensnared a whole generation of AfricansIts governments are ill-equipped to protect residents who are becoming increasingly addicted. (Bloomberg $) + How mobile money supercharged Kenyas sports betting addiction. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Airbnb isnt what it used to be Its cost is on the riseand so are complaints. (Vox) + New Yorks war against Airbnb has made it even more expensive to visit. (The Atlantic $)
10 We all know diet soda is bad for us Maybe sweet protein substitutes could offer a healthier alternative. (Proto.Life)
Quote of the day
The crypto industry might be new, the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this kind of fraud is as old as time and we have no patience for it.
Damian Williams, the US attorney who led the prosecution of disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has a solemn message for reporters outside the Manhattan courtroom, Reuters reports.
The big story
Inside the app Minnesota police used to collect data on journalists at protests
March 2022
Photojournalist J.D. Duggan was covering a protest in Minnesota in April 2021 when police officers surrounded him and others, and told them to get on the ground.
Officers sorted the press from the protesters, walked them to a parking lot, and began photographing them, one by one. They told Duggan the photos would be stored in an app.
An investigation by MIT Technology Review found the data was collected using a tool called Intrepid Response, an easy way to almost instantly de-anonymize protest attendees and keep tabs on their movements. For some, the tools use is a dangerous step in the direction of authoritarianism. Read the full story.
Sam Richards & Tate Ryan-Mosley
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet em at me.)
+ Thanks to the wonders of AI, weve been blessed with one last Beatles song. + 65 years ago today, Laika the dog became the first canine in orbit! + Working as a Disney animation model looks absolutely exhausting. + The worlds most remote lighthouses is a great subject for a book. + Historic England is on the hunt for ghost signsthose beautifully faded painted signs advertising businesses and products of the past.
Americans are growing more skeptical about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and politicians from left and right are echoing these fears in their campaigns to win the White House.
Polling this week shows that, while most voters trust shots forCovid-19, MMR and other bugs, millions more have changed their minds in recent months and no longer see them as safe.
The surveys come as health chiefs warn of rampant online misinformation linking injections with death and autism, and that ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug typically used on animals, can treat Covid-19.
Despite these warnings and their implications for public health, two politicians are building vaccine skepticism into their 2024 campaign platforms Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an independent, and Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican Governor.
The Annenberg center polled people about vaccine safety (top left), autism (top right), and ivermectin (bottom right). Rasmussen Reports separately asked about vaccine deaths and class-action lawsuits
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which released polling on vaccines this week, described ominous 'warning signs' about rising rates of skepticism.
Do you think COVID-19 vaccines are safe?
'Growing numbers now distrust health-protecting, life-saving vaccines,' said Jamieson.
Her poll of more than 1,500 adults found that the share of Americans who see Covid-19 vaccines as unsafe has jumped from 18 percent in August last year to 24 percent last month.
Meanwhile, the share of people who linked autism in children to the growing use of vaccines has risen from 10 percent in April 2021 to 16 percent last month.
Likewise, the share of adults who support using ivermectin to treat or prevent Covid-19, has jumped from 10 percent in September 2021 to 26 percent last month.
Using ivermectin against coronavirus runs counter to the advice of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A separate poll of 1,110 US adults by Rasmussen Reports delivered even more startling results.
Uptake of the latest, updated Covid-19 shots has been slow, since they became available in mid-September
Nearly a quarter of respondents 24 percent said they knew someone personally who died from side effects of a Covid-19 shot.
Though there have been cases of heart problems and thrombosis from coronavirus injections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says serious adverse reactions are 'rare.'
Studies show the shots prevented millions of deaths and hospitalizations in the US.
More than 1.1 million Americans have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic began, with the unvaccinated perishing at much higher rates.
Uptake of the latest, updated Covid-19 shots has been slow, since they became available in mid-September.
According to Rasmussen, millions of Americans also say they would be keen to join a class-action lawsuit against Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and other manufacturers over the side effects of shots.
Independent presidential candidateRobert F. Kennedy Jr said in a podcast: 'There's no vaccine that is safe and effective'
Fully 42 percent of respondents said they would probably join such a legal effort, including 24 percent who said they would very likely do so.
There are also signs that rising skepticism of vaccines is feeding into next year's race for the White House.
Kennedy, who recently dropped out of the race for the Democratic Party's nomination to run as an independent, has long campaigned against vaccines, among other offbeat theories.
Earlier this year, he said in a podcast that 'there's no vaccine that is safe and effective,' and told FOX News that shots can cause autism.
DeSantis, who is championed for his early reopening of schools and businesses from Florida's pandemic-era lockdowns, appears to be embracing vaccine hesitancy to win votes.
The DeSantis administration last month urged Floridians under the age of 65 from against getting the updated Covid-19 shots counter to the advice from federal agencies.
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, seen here wearing cowboy boots, has started second-guessing the effectiveness of vaccines
This week, he appeared at a 'medical freedom' town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, an early-voting state in next year's primary contest, and downplayed the effectiveness of shots.
The Governor said Covid-19 vaccines had been rolled out without proper studies and that federal officials were wrong about their risks and benefits.
'We know the federal government muffed this in many different ways, and we need a reckoning,' DeSantis told the crowd.
Though DeSantis had more than 30 percent of support among Republican voters for the party's nomination at the start of 2023, he now barely gets 13 percent, according to an average of polls.
That's well behind the front-runner, former president Donald Trump.
The insider said the quantity of the first batch was expected to be in the tens of thousands.
Some administrative and IT work will be needed before jabs are given out, another source said, without elaborating when the vaccines could be made available to the public.
Lo urged the public not to wait for the vaccines to land, telling them to get a booster shot if six months had passed since their previous dose.
The inactivated and mRNA vaccines could still offer sufficient protection as a booster dose, he said, referring to the two types of inoculation available.
Last month, the two scientific committees under the Centre for Health Protection jointly recommended the vaccine targeting the XBB variant as a preferred choice when available.
Experts of the committees said people at the greatest risk of severe Covid-19, such as the elderly living in residential care homes, should be given a higher priority to receive the XBB vaccine in case of limited local supply.
Specialists at last months meeting reviewed data from vaccines aimed at the XBB variant made by US drug firms Pfizer and Moderna.
Sources declined to disclose which brands the government had bought.
A spokesman for Moderna said it was discussing with relevant departments and waiting for a decision from the authorities.
Experts recommend Hongkongers receive latest Covid jab targeting XBB strain
The allocation of vaccine batches for Hong Kong and the post-arrival administration plan will be determined following an approval decision, and after consultation with the relevant departments, the spokesman said.
Moderna is committed to supplying the XBB vaccine to Hong Kong as early as possible, pending approval.
The Post has approached also Fosun, which is responsible for the Pfizer Covid-19 jabs in Hong Kong, for comment.
XBB is the most prevalent Covid-19 variant in the city, accounting for more than 99 per cent of cases.
The government-subsidised vaccination programme at present includes first-generation monovalent vaccines produced by Pfizer and Sinovac, as well as the formers second-generation shots, which are based on the original virus strain and the Omicron variant.
Hospital Authority chief warns of flu surge as Hong Kong enters mask-free winter
The citys Covid-19 infections remain stable, according to the Centre for Health Protection data.
Flu infections returned to the baseline level last week, prompting the government on Thursday to announce the 10-week summer flu season had ended.
Health authorities said the percentage of flu-positive respiratory specimens handled by public laboratories, as well as the public hospital admission rate of people diagnosed with influenza, had also returned to regular levels.
The number of flu infections dropped to 23 last week, from 91 in mid-September. Severe cases also plunged from 51 in the final week of September to 28 last week.
But authorities have urged residents to stay vigilant. Based on historical data, influenza season usually arrives in the winter months, a spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection said.
This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
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by Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (F.S.P.)
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A team of scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and Hospital de la Princesa-UAM in Madrid have discovered that dendritic cells, an important cell type in the immune response to viral and bacterial infections, are profoundly changed by their involvement in this process in ways that were previously unknown.
In a study published in Nature Communications, the scientific team led by Prof. Francisco Snchez-Madrid provide invaluable information about the mechanisms involved in the immune response to pathogens and point the way to the design of novel vaccines against future pandemics.
Study first author Dr. Diego Calzada Fraile explained that during the immune response to infection, "dendritic cells, which can be likened to sentries stationed in our tissues, are able to detect the pathogen, ingest or absorb it, and degrade it into small fragments which they present on their surface to lymphocytes, the effector cells of the immune system that can then recognize the pathogen and mount a specific response."
This process of antigen presentation requires the dendritic cell and its lymphocyte partner to come into close contact through the formation of a dynamic structure called an immune synapse, through which these cells can exchange information.
The study shows that the formation of the immune synapse not only activates the lymphocyte, as was well known, but also triggers profound changes within the post-synaptic dendritic cell.
The scientists describe important changes in the protein content of the post-synaptic dendritic cell. In addition, as Dr. Calzada Fraile explained, the study identifies "increased lipid peroxidation in dendritic cells as key mechanism for increasing the efficiency of antigen presentation to cytotoxic CD8 lymphocytes."
Using a mouse model developed by collaborators at the University of Padua in Italy, the scientists were able to analyze and manipulate post-synaptic dendritic cells that had interacted with T lymphocytes during an immune response in vivo triggered by vaccination with an antigen formulated with alum, the most widely used adjuvant used in human vaccines.
As Prof. Francisco Snchez-Madrid explained, "Post-synaptic dendritic cells are responsible for the generation of specific CD8 lymphocytes in response to a vaccine, and thus present an attractive target for interventions aimed at stimulating CD8 lymphocyte responses during vaccination."
According to Prof. Francisco Snchez-Madrid, the importance of this finding lies in the fact that "the effectiveness of a vaccine depends on its ability to trigger a strong CD8 response, because this determines the level of protection against a wide range of infections."
The potent ability of post-synaptic dendritic cells to activate cytotoxic CD8 T lymphocytes suggests that they have therapeutic potential as a type of vaccine that could be administered to boost the body's defenses against bacterial and viral infections.
One of the attractions of such a strategy is that "unlike conventional vaccines, the protection does not depend on the inclusion of material from the pathogenic organism, so this approach could be used to combat unknown pathogens that might emerge and cause a new pandemic."
More information: Diego Calzada-Fraile et al, Immune synapse formation promotes lipid peroxidation and MHC-I upregulation in licensed dendritic cells for efficient priming of CD8+ T cells, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42480-3
Journal information: Nature Communications
Provided by Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (F.S.P.)
