Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

PRAIRIE DU SAC (WKOW) -- The Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw has been a Prairie du Sac staple since 1975. This year, there was a new addition to the festival: coronavirus vaccines.

Sauk Prairie Healthcare teamed up with the festival to offer free COVID-19 shots to people at the event.

"Sauk Prairie Healthcare is interested in getting as many vaccines into people's arms as we can," Ken Carlson said. "We don't want to miss any opportunity to do that, and where people are maybe on the fence, we also want to be available to provide information as much as possible about COVID-19 vaccines."

Those who got their first shot are eligible for Wisconsin's $100 vaccine incentive.

However, Carlson said he wasn't expecting a lot of people to get the shot, even with the incentive.

"Our expectations for the number of people that come in and get vaccinated isn't through the roof because we know it's just one at a time," he said. "We've been pleased that in the first two couple of hours of operation we've gotten about five or six that have come through."

The main draw of the festival is the cow chip throwing contest, where participants try to toss their dried cow manure the furthest.

The throw didn't happen in 2020 because of the pandemic, and organizer Eddie Egan said that made this year's event even more special.

'It's nice to be back again," he said. "We hated to lose last year, but it's really fun to be out with the community again for this year."

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Cow chips and COVID-19 vaccines: Wisconsin festival partners with vaccine clinic - WKOW

Federal officials want to remind people that making fake coronavirus vaccine cards is a crime.

The Department of Homeland Security agents in Seattle recently intercepted a shipment of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine cards bound for Idaho, according to a tweet from the field office.

Maderna or anyway you spell it, making counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards is a federal crime! the field office said in a tweet.

Seattle Homeland Security agents and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reportedly intercepted the phony vaccine cards being shipped into the United States.

The cards were bound for Idaho, though Homeland Security did not specify where in the Gem State the counterfeit cards were headed.

In a statement to The Idaho Statesman, Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer who oversees all Homeland Security Investigations operations in the Pacific Northwest said specific charges for this case will be determined by the U.S. Attorneys Office. Hammer added that the matter is still under investigation.

What is important for the public to know is that purchasing these or any counterfeit items is a waste of money, and there will be legal consequences for presenting them in place of real vaccination cards, Hammer said in a statement. There are multiple federal statutes on the books that have already been used in charging individuals at the federal level for partaking in these fake COVID vaccination card schemes.

Earlier this week, an Illinois woman was arrested in Hawaii after she tried to use a fake vaccine card to bypass the states strict quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Authorities raised suspicion when they noticed her COVID-19 vaccine card misspelled Moderna as Maderna, according to Hawaii News Now, a local news outlet.

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Homeland Security Agents Intercept Counterfeit COVID-19 Vaccine Cards Headed to Idaho - bigcountrynewsconnection.com

COVID-19 and children under 12: How the pandemic affects the unvaccinated

COVID-19 cases have spiked among children especially those under 12 who are unvaccinated. Heres how to protect them.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

Just ahead of the Labor Day holiday, three of the biggest health providers in the region hosteda virtual press conferenceto talk about the severity of the COVID-19 surge.

Via a Zoom conference on Thursday, Dr. Todd Davis, chief physician executive for CaroMont Health, Dr. Sid Fletcher, senior vice president and chief clinical officer for Novant Health, and Dr. Katie Passaretti, epidemiologist and medical director of infection prevention for Atrium Health, urged the public to follow the latest CDC guidance this holiday weekend and to get the vaccine to fight against the delta variant.

Virus surge in schools:Gaston County public schools top 100 COVID-19 cases in first week of class

Forty-sevenguests attended the press conference to learn about the doctors' concerns as the variant becomes the most contagious strand of COVID-19.

"We've come together to really try to share with you the impact that we're seeing within the community so that you have an awareness about that and so that we share that with the public at large and kind of let you know that we're in this as a united front," said Fletcher.

As residents of all communities are welcoming the holiday by resting, watching footballor attending a gathering with friends, health professionals are urging those with these plans to take extreme precautions to avoid a further COVID-19 spread.

"There are a lot of concerns right now. We are at a challenging point in the pandemic. Holiday gatherings and travels are certainly a concern as we may see an increase of cases on top of our already high level," said Passaretti.

"Everyone wants to have a great holiday weekend, but please be careful. If you are going to a crowded setting, wear that mask. Do what you can to prevent spreading."

The doctors asked people to limit travel plans while the number of cases is high. A large number of indoor gatherings are also a concern.

According to the data shared by the three health organizations, there's currently an average of 933 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the area, with 92% of those patients being unvaccinated.

"That's very concerning for us," said Fletcher.

Of those,22%are in ICU with 97% on a ventilator.

According to Fletcher, the majority of patients admitted for COVID-19 are of young age in comparison to the majority of patients admitted at the beginning of the pandemic being of an older age.

"We're seeing patients who predominantly are not vaccinated, which is particularly heartbreaking for us because this seems to be preventable, and part of the appeal that we're going to give you is that you do things to proactively protect yourself, to protect your families and to protect the people that you love," said Davis.

News:Gastonia to continue free bus fares into November amid COVID-19 pandemic

During the discussion, doctors spoke frankly about the concern for capacity at area hospitals.

"Quite frankly, beds are scarce. We are running short on resources and certainly, that's very concerning to us. Itsurrounds difficulties in the capabilities that we have in the hospitals for both medical research capabilities and in particular in intensive care unit capabilities.," said Fletcher.

In addition to concerns about the surge of cases, the physicians talked about the strain on medical professionals to treat the staggering number of patients.

"The thing that we're most challenged by is really staffing. That'sdifferent than what we saw early in the pandemic. So right now we're functioning, but we are really just managing that, and we are incredibly full," said Fletcher.

The trio agreed that COVID-19 is "largely preventable illness," but vaccines are not being taken advantage of to fight the illness. They imploredthe community to help by taking the vaccineto protect themselves and free up time and attention for patients battling other illnesses.

"Our staff are tired andare trying to do everything they can to do to help you, but we would like our community now to start helping themselves as well," said Davis.

The number of newly vaccinated residents continues to decline even after the FDA announced its approval for the Pzifer vaccine, so the encouragement to get vaccinated was not a missing topic of conversation during the conference.

Passaretti acknowledged that somevaccinated peoplehave gotten COVID-19, but the difference istheir cases were mild in comparison to those not vaccinated.

When asked about the outlook if the vaccination rate doesn'timprove, doctors expressed their concern of what is to come.

"Frankly, we don't know. We have tried to model this, but the delta variant is behaving differently than the previous variant that we had to manage. What we're fearful of is if we do not reach community herd protection rates, that we could be experiencing this pandemic for a very prolonged period of time," said Davis.

Beatriz Guerrero can be reached at 704-869-1828 or on Twitter@BeatrizGue_

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Local physicians talk COVID-19, vaccines and holiday gatherings - Gaston Gazette

British health officials have refused to approve COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children aged 12-15 years old.

Ministers have asked the officials to review the guidance in light of possible issues that might arise as the school term gets under way. The current guidance would allow for teens with underlying conditions or vulnerable parents to get the shot.

The decision on healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer vaccine that causes heart inflammation, the BBC reported.

COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS: HEALTH AGENCIES ADVISE THEY NEED MORE DATA BEFORE ISSUING GUIDANCE

"The margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal COVID-19 vaccination for this age group at this time," said Wei Shen Lim, chair of COVID immunization for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI). "The committee will continue to review safety data as they emerge."

The current program, which already includes some children with preexisting conditions, will now extend to include children with chronic heart, lung and liver conditions accounting for some 200,000 children who previously did not qualify, according to The Telegraph.

CORONAVIRUS IN THE US: STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN

"The reason we decided to vaccinate those children with two doses is that we were looking at health benefits to the children themselves," said Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the JCVI. "This was a really, really strong mental health issue in that if that child gave Covid to their parent or grandparent who lived with them who is immuno-suppressed, and they ended up with harm and even death from COVID, then it was going to haunt these youngsters for the rest of their lives."

"We thought that that mental health burden was so important that they would be put within those groups of children that would be having vaccinations for health reasons," he added.

FAUCHI: MU COVID VARIANT NOT AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO AMERICANS

The chief medical officers of the four U.K. nations will not further evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of vaccinating the age group.

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The government had already announced preparations to provide shots to children in the age group starting in early September. The Department of Health and Social Care said that it wanted to be "ready to hit the ground running."

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COVID-19 vaccines: British health officials refuse to approve shots for healthy children ages 12-15 - Fox News

Opinion: Honor and protect Georgias workers by taking the COVID-19 vaccination  Atlanta Journal Constitution

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Opinion: Honor and protect Georgias workers by taking the COVID-19 vaccination - Atlanta Journal Constitution

(Leah Hogsten | Salt Lake Tribune file photo) The Utah Symphony seen here performing for fifth-grade students and Utah Opera will require ticket-holders to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result, starting Sept. 16, 2021, USUO announced on Sept. 3, 2021.

| Sep. 4, 2021, 7:59 p.m.

People attending the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera will have to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test result, starting Sept. 16.

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera announced the policy Friday. It covers the symphonys concerts at Abravanel Hall and the opera companys performances at the Capitol Theatre.

Ticket holders will have to show proof that they have been fully vaccinated, or evidence of a negative test result taken within 72 hours of the performance. Home tests are not acceptable. They also will have to show a valid photo ID.

Face coverings are required for the symphonys Abravanel Hall shows before Sept. 16 Celebracin Sinfnica! next Wednesday and a live-accompaniment screening of Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on Sept. 9 and 10. Masks are strongly encouraged for the symphonys outdoor concert, on Sept. 11 at Sandy Promenade, to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The symphony and opera also will continue to require face coverings for anyone not vaccinated including children under age 12, who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Those who are vaccinated still are strongly encouraged to wear a mask.

Both Abravanel Hall and the Capitol Theatre are operated by Salt Lake County but because the county contracts out to the symphony and opera, private nonprofit organizations, the venues are not covered by state law that prohibits government entities from creating a vaccination requirement.

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Proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or a negative test result, will be required to attend Utah Symphony and Utah Opera shows - Salt Lake Tribune

Home News-Free LSU Health Shreveport COVID-19 vaccine and testing closed Labor Day Weekend

In observance of Labor Day, all LSU Health Shreveport COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites will be closed Saturday, September 4 Monday, September 6. Services will resume at 10AM on Tuesday, September 7.

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LSU Health Shreveport COVID-19 vaccine and testing closed Labor Day Weekend - Bossier Press-Tribune Online

MADISON, Wis. (AP) Wisconsins $100 reward program for those receiving the COVID-19 vaccine will be extended two weeks until Sept. 19.

Gov. Tony Evers announced the extension on Friday. Evers says that extending the incentive will give an opportunity for even more people to get vaccinated.

The program began Aug. 20 and was originally scheduled to end on Monday. Between Aug. 20 and Sept. 1, more than 65,000 people received their first dose.

Also, the states second-highest ranking health official who has been the public face for fighting the pandemic announced she is retiring. The departure of Julie Willems Van Dijk means that the states two top health officials at the start of the pandemic in 2020 have now left.

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Gov. Evers extends $100 incentive for COVID-19 vaccinations - WTMJ-TV

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole today pledgedto increase Canada's vaccination rate beyond 90 per cent within two monthsas he unveiled the party'sstrategy to combat thefourth wave of COVID-19.

O'Toole's plan relies heavily on persuading more Canadians to get vaccinated through a public information campaign that will "appeal to Canadians' patriotism" and by providing incentives, such as paid time off work and free transportation to vaccineappointments.

It also promises a "booster shot strategy" to counter waning immunity, an expansion of rapid testing in workplaces and schools,and theaccelerated authorization of vaccinesfor children under the age of 12,who currently aren't eligible to receive a COVID-19vaccine.

In announcing the suite of pandemic policies at a campaign event in Coquitlam, B.C., O'Toole repeated his criticism of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's decision to call an election at the same time as thedelta variant drives a resurgence of cases and hospitalizations in some parts of the country.

"This shouldn't be the discussion we are having in the middle of an election, but it is, and we need to work together," O'Toole told reporters.

"I won't do what's convenient politically, but what is right."

WATCH:O'Toole says he wants Canada's vaccination rate up to 90 per cent

The Conservative leader has faced criticism from his political rivals in the past over hisunwillingness to support vaccine mandates for federal public servants and domestic travellers.

This plan doesn't include a vaccine mandate or passport, but it would require unvaccinated civil servants and domestictravellersboarding a bus, plane, train or boat to show recent negative COVID-19 test results or undergo rapid testing. It also promises to work with provinces to develop a national proof-of-vaccination system that could be used for international travel.

O'Toolesought to portray his approach to COVID-19 as fair, co-operativeand focused on understanding why some people have yet to get vaccinated, rather than demonizing them something he accused the Trudeau Liberals of doing in an attempt to score political points on the campaign trail.

"You don't win people over by threatening them. You win them over by reaching out, talking to them, understanding their fears, answering their questions," O'Toole said."We need to persuade every Canadian that vaccines are safe, effective and our best route out of this crisis."

Additional measures in the Conservative plan include:

Any attempt by O'Toole to promote the COVID-19 planwas overshadowed by abarrage of questions about the Conservative position on firearms, and what critics say is a lack of transparency in the language O'Toolehas used recently when speaking publiclyabout that policy.

O'Toole has generated confusionby pledging to maintain the ban on "assault weapons," but not "assault-style" weapons.

The "assault weapons" ban refers to a1977legislative change that classified fully automatic weapons as "prohibited" firearms but O'Toole wouldstill doaway with the Liberal prohibitionon 1,500 "assault-style" firearms models, such as the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14 rifle, among thosethe Liberal government blacklisted through an order-in-council last year.

WATCH:O'Toole defends his support for repeal of "assault-style" firearm ban

The Conservative election platform promises to scrap the May 2020 order-in-council that banned the wide variety of guns and review the Firearms Act with input from police, gun owners, manufacturers and the public.

But O'Toole seemed to backpedal on the pledge on both Thursday and Friday by saying the party would "maintain the ban on assault weapons" when pressed about his platform pledge.

A party spokespersonlater said in an emailed statement that O'Toole does promise to repeal the May 2020 order-in-council ban but not the prohibition of full-fledged "assault weapons" which are distinct from what the Liberals call "assault-style" weapons. That ban has been in place since 1977.

Reporters repeatedly pressed O'Toole on the matter during the campaign stop in Coquitlam, B.C., repeatedly asking whether he would repeal the ban on specific weapons used in mass shootings in recent years.

"We will maintain a ban on assault weapons and we will also have it's in our policy a transparent and public review of our classification system," O'Toole said, accusing the Liberals of divisive tactics.

"We will have that review, focusing on public safety and getting guns out of the hands of criminals that are being smuggled in from the United States."

Liberal candidate Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief, unloaded on O'Toole's response,accusing himof "pretending that he had not made a commitment" to maintain the Liberal ban, as well as of being beholden to the gun lobby.

"I think, overwhelmingly, Canadians recognize that there is no place for these guns in our country," Blairsaid at a news conference in Toronto. "Mr. O'Toole is having difficulty admitting to Canadians that he's made that unholy pact with the gun lobby. He needs to be held to account."

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O'Toole vows to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates above 90%, pressed for clarity on gun position - CBC.ca

London A study conducted in the U.K. offers some of the first large-scale, real-world data on how well vaccination protects people against catching a "breakthrough" COVID-19 infection, and how well it protects breakthrough patients from becoming seriously ill. The results are encouraging.

The peer-reviewed study published Wednesday inThe Lancet medical journal will help policy makers and epidemiologists fill in a significant gap in the understanding of the true efficacy of three of the major vaccines being used worldwide.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, doesn't have good data on how many people catch COVID-19 after being vaccinated, as it decided in the spring to track only serious, symptomatic breakthrough cases. The British study, on the other hand, used mass-testing data to determine how many breakthrough cases there actually are and how sick those people get.

The vaccines were never intended to prevent infections completely, but to reduce the rates of infection within a population and, most importantly, to reduce the severity of illness in people who do catch it. The study found that people who contracted the coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated were almost twice as likely to have no symptoms at all, compared to the wider population.

Crucially, the odds of a fully-vaccinated person who does catch COIVD-19 ending up hospitalized with severe symptoms were reduced by more than two-thirds compared to an unvaccinated coronavirus patient. The survey also found that the risk of breakthrough patients suffering from long-COVID, with symptoms lasting more than a month, were cut in half by full vaccination.

It's the latest dataset to offer convincing evidence that the vaccines work as intended.

Researchers from King's College, London, and Harvard in the U.S. carried out the study using self-reported data from more than a million people in the U.K. who had received either the Moderna, Pfizer or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines. The research showed that the risk of severe disease or hospitalization was significantly reduced after a first vaccine dose, but that protection against serious illness and against catching a breakthrough infection to begin with increased with the full dosage.

The data, gathered from December 8, 2020, through July 4, 2021, show that of more than 1.2 million adults who received a first dose, fewer than 0.5% reported contracting breakthrough infections two weeks or more after getting the jab. Among those who got both shots, fewer than 0.2% experienced a breakthrough infection a week or more after getting their second shot.

"Among those who did experience a breakthrough infection, the odds of that infection being asymptomatic increased by 63% after one vaccine dose and by 94% after the second dose," the study's authors wrote in The Lancet.

"We are at a critical point in the pandemic as we see cases rising worldwide due to the delta variant. Breakthrough infections are expected and don't diminish the fact that these vaccines are doing exactly what they were designed to do save lives and prevent serious illness," said study co-lead author Dr. Claire Steves of King's College. "Other research has shown a mortality rate as high as 27% for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We can greatly reduce that number by keeping people out of the hospital in the first place through vaccination. Our findings highlight the crucial role vaccines play in larger efforts to prevent COVID-19 infections, which should still include other personal protective measures such as mask-wearing, frequent testing, and social distancing."

The data also show that the risk of breakthrough infection is higher for people living in lower-income areas, likely due, the authors said, to closer living quarters and lower overall vaccination rates in these communities. These risks were "most significantly associated with a post-vaccination infection after receiving the first vaccine dose and before receiving a second dose," according to The Lancet.

As has been found consistently since the coronavirus first emerged, age and underlying conditions, including heart, lung and kidney disease, all seriously increase the risk of severe COVID-19 infection, including in those who have been vaccinated.

"The increased risks of breakthrough infections for frail, older adults especially those living in care homes or who require frequent visits to health care facilities and for other people living in deprived conditions reflect what we've seen throughout the pandemic. These groups are at a greater risk of exposure and are therefore more vulnerable to infection," study co-author Dr. Rose Penfold, also of King's College, said in The Lancet. "Health policies designed to prevent infections, including policies around timing between the first and second dose and potential booster shots, should prioritize these groups."

While the data used for the study did not discern between infections with the Delta variant and other strains of the coronavirus, the vast majority of U.K. cases have been Delta infections since at least early June, and it started spreading rapidly in March. In the U.S., Delta became the dominant strain in July and it now makes up nearly all new cases.

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Study finds low rate of COVID-19 "breakthrough" infections, fewer symptoms in vaccinated people - CBS News