Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Covid-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for kids under the age of 12, so schools will have to relay ... [+] on other Covid-19 precautions for now. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Kids are people too. They have noses, mouths, lungs, and other body parts and can catch and spread the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) just like adults can. Therefore, one big question in the U.S.s current struggle against the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is when kids under 12 years of age will be able to get vaccinated.

After all, you may be fully vaccinated. Your significant other may be fully vaccinated. Your sixteen-year-old who no longer thinks that you are cool may be fully vaccinated. But as long as youve got unvaccinated people running around the house, youve got to maintain other stringent Covid-19 precautions. Yes, you may have to tell your seven-year-old, bruh, you are really holding all of us back.

Thats because unvaccinated people, no matter how small they may be, remain at much, much, much higher risk of getting infected with the virus, suffering bad consequences from infection, and infecting you and others with the virus than those who are fully vaccinated. And its probably not an option to tell your unvaccinated seven-year-old to move out and get a place of his or her own.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of August 19, over 4.59 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. Over 180,000 cases were added the past week, reaching levels of the previous winter surge of 2020-21. Recently, the Covid-19 coronavirus has been spreading among kids seemingly faster than that Baby Shark song did in 2018 with a four-fold increase in cases over the past month.

That has meant as much anticipation for the Covid-19 vaccines for younger kids as there has been for the movie Spider Man:Home Alone 2 or Spider Man:Home Improvement, or whatever the next Marvel Spider Man movie is called. So when will the Covid-19 vaccine, doo doo doo doo doo doo, be available for those under 12 years of age, otherwise known as kids?

There's no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines will turn your kids into rabbits. (Photo by Michael ... [+] Loccisano/Getty Images)

Trials of the Covid-19 vaccines for kids younger than 12 have been underway for a little while. In mid-to-late March 2021, both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna announced launches of their clinical trials. For details on the trials, you can go to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) ClinicalTrials.gov website, where youll find a web page for the Moderna clinical trials that was first posted on March 15 and a web page for the Pfizer/BioNTech clinical trials that was first posted on March 25. Both of these web pages list the trials as still recruiting and include contact information in case youd like to ask about how to participate in these trials.

As you can see, these trials involve testing different dosages of the vaccines to help determine what dosages should be used for each age group. Vaccine dosages are not like Nutella. More is not always better. Children under 12 years of age may end up getting lower recommended dosages than adolescents and adults. For example, the Pfizer/BioNTech Phase 1 clinical trials tested 10 micrograms, 20 micrograms and 30 micrograms of their vaccine in the following three age groups: those from five to 11 years of age, those from two to four years of age, and those from 6 months of age to one year of age. The Phase 1 trial evaluated the safety, tolerability, and the resulting antibody levels of these different dosages and determined what doses would be used for the Phase 2/3. Phase 2/3 have been further evaluating the safety, tolerability, and antibody response in each age group for the dose level selected from Phase 1 and the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing Covid-19 when compared to placebo.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will likely want to see at least four-to-six months of data from the trials before considering a emergency use authorization (EUA) for younger children. The FDA is not going to behave like someone would after seeing a Tiger selfie on Tinder: rashly. It will stick to protocols that have already been established.

Near the end of July, the FDA did ask both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna to increase the number of kids enrolled in their clinical trials. This came after the FDA had added myocarditis and pericarditis to the list of possible side effects from the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, as I reported for Forbes back in June. Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscles, and pericarditis is inflammation of the membranes that surround the heart. Thats because myo- which is pronounced like the beginning of my oh my stands for muscle. The prefix peri-, which is pronounced like the beginning of peri peri sauce and Perry the Platypus or the end of Rick Perry, meansaround or about. The middle part card, which is pronounced like card or the beginning of Cardi B, means heart. And, finally -itis, which is pronounced like I piss but with a t instead of a p, means inflammation.

Although those under 30 years of age may be more likely to suffer myocarditis or pericarditis after vaccination, keep in mind that these side effects are still very, very rare even among younger adults and adolescents. Your chances of having myocarditis or pericarditis after Covid-19 mRNA vaccination are still a lot lower than the risk of experiencing such problems from Covid-19 itself.

In fact, these side effects are so rare that the FDA wanted Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna to increase the number of kids under 12 enrolled in their trials to better see what percentage may end up developing these two types of inflammation. After all, when something is quite rare, like a set of pancakes that look like Shia LaBeouf, you need to sift through a whole lot more samples to find it.

So given this increase in enrollment, what is now the timeline for results? Pfizer has said that clinical trial results for kids from five to 11 years of age most likely will be available sometime in September. Assuming that there no issues with those results, expect Pfizer-BioNTech to apply for an EUA for that age group shortly thereafter. It will take the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and any external advisors some time, perhaps a month, to review the EUA application and all available information. That could mean a late Fall or early Winter EUA for this age group for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The timeline for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which if youll recall received its initial EUA after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, seems to be lagging the Pfizer/BioNTech timeline a bit.

The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine results for 2 to 4 years olds could arrive a little bit later, and results for the 6 month to one year olds will probably arrive even later, perhaps in October or November. Therefore, expect the EUAs for the younger of the young to come even later. That means telling your nine month old to postpone his or her TED Talk on the meaning of life until 2022.

Of course, these timelines could always be further delayed. Clinical trials and the FDA process arent like microwaving a Hot Pocket. Since they are complex operations, things can happen along the way. Moreover, the FDA will want to be extra careful to minimize the chances of unanticipated side effects, no matter how rare they may be. This is especially the case with various politicians, personalities, and social media accounts behaving like pseudoscience fart cannons these days.

The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine already has Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for those 12 ... [+] years and older and approval for those 16 years and older. Here Sadie Sindland, age 14, gives a thumbs up after being inoculated by Nurse Karen Pagliaro in Hartford, Connecticut on May 13, 2021. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Now if you cant wait to get your younger kids vaccinated, your only real option right now is to check whether they can be enrolled in the clinical trials. Its not a good idea to find a doctor who is willing to give the vaccine to younger kids off label. Technically, since the Pfizer/BioNTech is now officially approved by the FDA for those 16 years and older, as I recently reported for Forbes, off label use is possible. Off label means doing something thats not on the FDA-approved label accompanying the product. Doctors do have the discretion of using an FDA-approved vaccine or medication in manners beyond whats indicated on the label. However, using a vaccine or medication in an unapproved or unauthorized way is not the same as using hot dogs in an unapproved or unauthorized way. For example, its not clear yet what dose levels should be given to younger children.

So for now, youll have to wait for it, wait for it, wait for some time after September ends for the vaccines to be available for those younger than 12 years of age. Its not yet clear how long after the end of September things will take. Even after the vaccines do become available, it will take time to get younger kids fully vaccinated.

Link:

When Will Covid-19 Vaccines Be Available For Kids Under 12 Years Old - Forbes

There has been limited data on how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals (LGBT) in the U.S. Drawing on our previous analyses indicating that LGBT individuals are at greater risk of both COVID-19 health and economic outcomes, this analysis examines their views of the vaccine and their role in uptake.

As of July 2021, eight in ten LGBT adults report being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the latest KFF COVID Vaccine Monitor. A larger share of LGBT adults report receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine than non-LGBT adults (82% vs. 66%). Eight in ten report being fully vaccinated (80% with one of their one-dose vaccine or two of their two-dose). Eighteen percent (18%) of LGBT adults remain unvaccinated, a smaller share than for non-LGBT adults, 32% of whom remain unvaccinated.

Among LGBT adults, a small share (2%) say they want to get vaccinated as soon as possible, while 4% want to wait and see before getting vaccinated, and 12% say they will definitely not get the vaccine (similar to the 14% of non-LGBT adults who express this view).

In KFFs analysis of April and May polling data, 56% of LGBT adults reported being vaccinated, 5% wanted to get one as soon as possible, and another 20% wanted to wait and see, mostly matching the reported intentions among the general public, 59% of whom were already vaccinated, 6% wanted it right away, and 14% were wait and see. Around 1 in 10 LGBT people reported they definitely would not get vaccinated (11%) or would only get it if required (7%), also similar to intentions among the general population.

Now however, a larger share of LGBT adults report being vaccinated, surpassing rates among the non-LGBT population.

A previous KFF analysis examined the demographic groups among the unvaccinated population finding adults who are still unvaccinated tend to be older, more Republican-leaning, less educated, and lower income, with each of those groups making up a larger part of unvaccinated than the vaccinated group. Party identification, in particular, tends to be a strong predictor of vaccination intentions.

Higher rates of vaccination among LGBT adults compared to their non-LGBT peers may be associated with strong Democratic party identification, rather than or in addition to, sexual orientation or gender identity. Two-thirds of LGBT adults identify as Democrats or lean that way compared to 43% of non-LGBT adults. By contrast, more than a third (36%) of non-LGBT adults identify or lean Republican compared to 14% of LGBT adults. Additionally, LGBT adults tend to be younger and lower income, two groups that tend to have low vaccination rates. Almost half (45%) of adults who identify as LGBT are under age 30 compared to 19% of non-LGBT adults, and half (51%) of LGBT adults compared to a third (34%) of non-LGBT people report having household incomes under $40,000. High self-reported vaccination rates among LGBT people could be driven by their Democratic partisanship, but also is in spite of their relatively young age and lower incomes.

In addition to higher vaccination uptake, LGBT individuals have different views of how the media has portrayed the severity of the pandemic, as well as the relative risk of the vaccines versus the virus.

Three in 10 (31%) LGBT adults say what is said in the news generally underestimates the seriousness of the pandemic compared to one in five (18%) non-LGBT adults. Another four in ten LGBT adults (40%) say the news is generally correct in its portrayal of the seriousness of the pandemic, which is similar to the share of non-LGBT adults who report the same (44%).

Consistent with views of the pandemic generally, a large majority of LGBT adults say becoming infected with coronavirus is a bigger risk to their health than getting vaccinated (82%), while 14% think getting vaccinated is a bigger risk. About 7 in 10 (69%) non-LGBT people agree that becoming infected is a bigger risk, though this share is somewhat less than among the LGBT group.

Similar to other adults, LGBT people generally have high levels of confidence in the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines. Two-thirds of LGBT people think the available COVID-19 vaccines are extremely or very effective at preventing vaccinated individuals from getting seriously sick or hospitalized if infected (67%) and dying from COVID (66%). Another 56% say the vaccines are effective at preventing infection if exposed to someone who is sick and 45% say the same of passing coronavirus on to others.

LGBT adults are more supportive of vaccine mandates than non-LGBT adults. Almost two-thirds (65%) of LGBT people support the federal government recommending that employers require their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine, unless they have a medical exemption. Fewer non-LGBT adults agree with the government recommended mandates, with the group split between supporting them (50%) and not (47%). Given that views on government mandates divide sharply along partisan lines, this division of opinion between LGBT adults and non-LGBT adults likely reflects the fact that LGBT adults lean more Democratic, as noted above.

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Views Of COVID-19 Vaccines Among LGBT Adults - Kaiser Family Foundation

In the first week of August, the state recorded another 5,600 deaths. But because mortality rates normally drop during summer months, the figure was more than 50 percent above whats typical.

Aug. 29, 2021, 10:14 a.m. ET

Were seeing a ton of people calling us to report the Covid deaths, said Dr. Stephen J. Nelson, the Polk County medical examiner. Theyre typically young people that have been sick for a while.

The picture of who is dying, however, is complicated.

About 82 percent of people 65 and older in the state are fully vaccinated, about average for the nation. That has still left a relatively large number of older people about 819,000 unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, said Jason L. Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida. If the unvaccinated also take fewer other precautions, he added, that would put them directly in the viruss path.

The Delta variant is exceptional at finding vulnerable populations, he said.

The situation in nursing homes, where infections can spread swiftly, has also been problematic. While vaccination rates among older Floridians as a whole have been good, the rate of nursing home residents who are fully vaccinated an average of 73.1 percent in each home is lower than every state but Nevada, according to the C.D.C. About 47.5 percent of nursing home staff members were fully vaccinated as of Aug. 15, the lowest of any state but Louisiana.

Older people are also more likely to have immune deficiencies and comorbidities, making them more susceptible to breakthrough infections and hospitalizations, noted Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. And some, though not all, data have suggested that immunity against infection has waned in older, vaccinated adults; the Biden administration has indicated that those people will be among the first in line for booster shots.

Then there are the younger people, who now make up a larger share of Florida virus deaths. Before June 25, people under 65 made up 22 percent of deaths. Since then, that proportion has risen to 28 percent.

Read more here:

What Went Wrong With the Coronavirus Pandemic in Florida - The New York Times

The City of Encinitas announced Aug. 27 that they and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 221 have reached an agreement requiring all represented employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a city news release. The agreement is similar to the new COVID-19 protocols for non-union employees which were announced on Aug. 17.

I want to thank the SEIU leadership and their members for working with our management team on this very important matter, said City Manager Pamela Antil. This agreement will allow all of us to continue doing our part to keep our employees and our community as safe as possible.

All City of Encinitas employees, including the 111 employees represented by SEIU, the largest union at the City, will need to show proof of vaccination beginning Oct. 7, which will mark 45 days since the Federal Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer vaccine. This is due to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations throughout San Diego County.

We at the City of Encinitas are holding ourselves to a higher standard of safety, said Mayor Catherine Blakespear. We do not want to be the cause of any infections and we know the vaccine is the best way to stop the spread of coronavirus. We want people to have the confidence when they come into City Hall to conduct business or when our employees enter their homes that we are doing all we can to protect them.

The Citys management team will continue to talk with the Citys Fire Union, representing 50 employees, including firefighter/paramedics who have agreed to have the remaining 36 percent of unvaccinated employees in their ranks be tested weekly, but remain against the Citys mandatory vaccine requirement. City of Encinitas news release

See more here:

City of Encinitas and union reach agreement regarding COVID-19 vaccination - Encinitas Advocate

Nearly all cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are among the unvaccinated

Arizona today hit a new milestone in the war on COVID-19: more than 4 million men, women and children over 12 have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Arizonans are stepping up and doing their part to put this pandemic behind us, said Don Herrington, interim director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. This battle is not over but were clearly headed in the right direction.

More than 3.5 million Arizonans are fully vaccinated, or about 55 percent of the states population.

If you arent among those armed against COVID, here are four reasons to roll up your sleeve today:

As of this morning, 7,287,508 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to 4,005,841 people in Arizona, including 3,517,935 who are fully vaccinated. More than 55% of all Arizonans have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccination has ramped up in Arizona since mid-July. During the week beginning Aug. 15, 104,000 were vaccinated, the first since the week of June 13 that more than 100,000 people have been vaccinated in Arizona.

For those who have already had COVID-19, it isnt clear how long natural protection lasts, while vaccination for those whove had COVID-19 has proven to offer long-lasting benefits.

Safe, free, and highly effective COVID-19 vaccines are availabletodayat hundreds of locations throughout Arizona. To protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community, please find a convenient locationazdhs.gov/FindVaccineand get vaccinated.

To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination, please visitazdhs.gov/COVID19Vaccines.

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More than 4 million Arizonans now vaccinated against COVID-19 | Arizona Emergency information Network - az.gov

While its evident that vaccination provides strong protection against the coronavirus, scientists are increasingly concerned vaccinated people may be more susceptible to serious illness than was previously thought.

According to a report by Bloomberg, this growing concern comes in the midst of a shortage of scientific studies with solid answers, leaving public policymakers and corporate executives with only fragmented information on which to base their plans.

As a result, the report noted mask mandates are being renewed and office reopenings are being delayed, while other officials are choosing to maintain the status quo, citing the lack of clarity to justify their decisions.

Anecdotes tell us what the data cant: Vaccinated people appear to be getting the coronavirus at a surprisingly high rate, Bloomberg reported. What isnt clear is the frequency at which this is happening as well as the likelihood of those people spreading the virus to others.

As Bloomberg reports, vaccinated people are much less likely to require hospital treatment for COVID-19 and are much less likely to need to be put on ventilators. And those who have had the COVID-19 vaccine are much less likely to die.

But about 30% of adults have yet to be vaccinated. And doctors are paying attention to infections among those who have been vaccinated.

Tom Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the head of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives said, We have to be humble about what we do know and what we dont know.

There are a few things we can say definitively. One is that this is a hard question to address, he added.

The vulnerability of the vaccinated is a key variable.

For vaccinated people, the lack of clear public health messaging reportedly has left them confused as to how to protect themselves. Their level of vulnerability is a key variable for public health officials as they try to make informed decisions, such as when booster shots might be needed, or whether to roll back reopenings amid a new wave of the virus.

Its quite clear that we have more breakthroughs now, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco. We all know someone who has had one. But we dont have great clinical data.

The report noted one of the best-known outbreaks among vaccinated people that occurred in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Thousands of vaccinated and unvaccinated alike gathered over the July 4th weekend to celebrate the holiday and what appeared to be a turning point in the pandemic. Vaccinated people accounted for about three-fourths of the resulting 469 infections.

Prompted by the incident, the CDC reversed a recommendation it had issued just a few weeks prior and once again urged the vaccinated to mask up in certain settings, Bloomberg reported.

There are more questions than answers.

Bloomberg noted there are simply more questions than answers at this time. Is the delta variant the reason breakthrough infections are ticking up or could it be that immunity is waning, or simply the result of returning to normal life?

Its anyones guess.

Are vaccinated people more vulnerable to severe illness than was previously thought? Just how common are breakthrough infections? the news outlet asked. Its anyones guess.

It is generally the case that we have to make public health decisions based on imperfect data, Frieden said. But there is just a lot we dont know, Bloomberg cited.

An expanded version of this post can be accessed via Bloomberg.

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Theres growing concern vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than previously thought - NJ.com

Why Is a Third Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Needed for Immunocompromised Patients?  Cleveland Clinic

Originally posted here:

Why Is a Third Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Needed for Immunocompromised Patients? - Cleveland Clinic

BANGKOK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Thailand expects to have 140 million doses of coronavirus vaccines this year as the country ramps up inoculation to fight its biggest wave of infections, which shows some signs of easing, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

The Southeast Asian country is struggling to tackle the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus, which has seen a record infections of over 23,000 earlier this month. On Sunday, it reported 16,536 new cases and 264 deaths.

While new cases remain high, they are likely to decline further, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said in a statement.

With new cases slowing, the government on Friday announced to ease some of the strictest containment measures in Bangkok and other 28 high-risk provinces, allowing more travel, and malls and restaurants to reopen from Sept. 1, to help revive a flagging economy https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL4N2PL05N battered by the outbreak.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is expected to soon issue a statement on the resumption of local flights to and from those areas as well as outbreak control measures.

However, airlines, including Asia Aviation and Bangkok Airways, have already announced the resumption of some local flights from next week.

Thailand started its mass vaccination drive in June, but so far only about 11% of its more than 66 million population has been fully vaccinated. (Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat Editing by Michael Perry)

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Thailand to have 140 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year - Yahoo Finance

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) A Johnson City mother and nurse is doing what she can to fight back against COVID-19 by encouraging people to get vaccinated in a creative way.

It all started with a video. During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bethany Teilhet picked up her scissors and cut her own bangs.

I had straightened it, just kind of playing around, and I was like oh, Ill cut my bangs, Ill cut some bangs, which Ive done before, Teilhet said. Well I cut them, and I cut them way too short.

But something has Teilhet wanting to do it again.

I posted it again, and said, Hey, if I can get 100 people newly vaccinated, Ill cut my bangs again,' Teilhet said.

And so far, its working. 12-year-old Ava Nutter was one of at least 25 that have already rolled up their sleeves.

I wanted to get vaccinated because things started getting crazy, and I didnt want to get COVID again like I did in December, Nutter said. I didnt want other people to be sick.

Teilhet is also giving away Starbucks to those who get the shot.

In honor of the new FDA-approval COVID vaccine, I was excited, Teilhet said. I also love Starbucks, and it was the first day of Starbucks having Pumpkin Spice.

Teilhet said shes already received hundreds of dollars in donations from community members to go towards the gift cards.

Theres so much we cant do, Teilhet said. Theres so much we cant control, and so this is just one way that we can maybe have fun, have a little laughter and a little joy, and if that means you know at the cost of me and making fun of myself a little bit, Ill take it.

Read more here:

Local mother, nurse offers creative incentives for those who get the COVID-19 vaccine - WJHL-TV News Channel 11

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and do I need one?

Vaccine passports are digital or paper documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19, and could help you get into a growing number of places.

What they look like and why you might want one depend on where you live, but more private venues, workplaces and governments are requiring proof of vaccination in public settings.

Europe and U.S. states like California and New York created official digital credentials that let you verify your COVID-19 immunization record and convert it into a scannable QR code you can pull up on your cellphone.

Most places that require vaccination proof also accept simpler options, such as the paper card noting the dates of your shots from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the U.S., showing a photo of that card on your phone will usually suffice.

Denmark, Greece, France, Italy, some Canadian provinces and the U.S. cities of New Orleans, New York and San Francisco are among the places that have vaccination requirements to get into places like indoor restaurants or theaters. Enforcement varies and many places also accept a recent negative test for the virus, a partial vaccination or proof that you previously recovered from the disease.

Even without government mandates, more businesses in countries where vaccines are readily available are starting to ask for proof that you got the shots, so long as their local governments havent blocked them from doing so.

Officials around the world were initially reluctant to mandate vaccines, but some now hope doing so will persuade more people to get the shots. Businesses requiring proof of vaccination say they are trying to make customers and employees feel safe.

Protesters in France and elsewhere have criticized vaccine mandates as invasive and restricting freedom of movement. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about getting people in the habit of having their phones scanned wherever they go, and generally favor options that wont be tracked, such as a paper record or a digital copy in your phone that can be shown at the door.

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What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and do I need one? - The Denver Post