Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

The government will issue guidance stating that people will still be "expected to wear masks in indoor, enclosed places" after the final step of releasing lockdown restrictions, Nadhim Zahawi has said.

The vaccines minister told Sky News he is "confident" that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be able to announce on Monday that COVID restrictions will be lifted on 19 July as planned despite the surge in cases.

But he revealed the PM will inform the public that they should continue to wear face coverings in crowded places, despite the legal requirement to do so ending from step four of the government's roadmap out of lockdown.

Earlier this week, when setting out the details of his planned unlocking for the fourth and final step of his roadmap on 19 July, the PM said from this point there will be no more legal requirement on wearing face masks in shops or on public transport.

However, Mr Zahawi's comments on Sunday suggested more caution over lifting the policy of wearing face masks altogether.

And on Wednesday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs he is "very relaxed" about airlines, train firms and bus operators imposing their own COVID-related rules, including on wearing face masks, beyond 19 July.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green told Sky News the changing positions from government ministers is a "recipe for confusion" and said it could lead to "more confrontations".

She added that Labour believes "mandatory mask-wearing should continue in public places" and called for face coverings to be compulsory on trams in Manchester and the tube network in London.

A final decision on England's path out of restrictions is expected to be taken on Monday and the PM is suffering a backlash over his plans to ditch rules on wearing face masks.

Doctors, regional mayors, trade unions and health charities are among those who have expressed fears over the relaxed measures.

And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also warned that lifting all restrictions in one go would be "reckless".

Wales has already deviated from the UK Government's position on mask wearing, announcing that face masks will remain mandatory there in some public places until COVID-19 is no longer a public health threat.

Masks must still be worn in taxis, on trains and buses, as well as health and social care settings when coronavirus restrictions are eased, the Welsh government said.

Meanwhile, on vaccines, Mr Zahawi dismissed a story in The Sunday Times which suggested the gap between receiving the two doses of the COVID jab could be cut to four weeks.

Mr Zahawi said the eight-week interval between vaccine doses provides "much better" protection from coronavirus as he dismissed reports that the gap is due to be reduced from eight weeks to four.

"I think it is important that we remain cautious and careful and the guidelines that we will set out tomorrow will demonstrate that - including guidelines that people are expected to wear masks in indoor, enclosed spaces," Mr Zahawi said.

"The real-world data, the clinical data suggests that actually the eight-week interval offers that additional fortification in terms of protection with the two doses, at much better than having the interval shortened any further," he told Sky News.

Labour's Ms Green said her party would support reducing the time interval between two jabs if the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended it.

"The priority, of course now, is also to make sure that people who have not been vaccinated at all get the vaccine, and it is concerning that the rate of vaccinations is slowing and that some groups are still not being able to come forward and be vaccinated," she told Sky News.

All over 18s are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in England.

Earlier this week, the government announced that from 16 August, double jabbed individuals and all children will no longer need to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19.

And Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also confirmed that fully vaccinated adults and all children will no longer have to quarantine on their return from amber list countries from 19 July.

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People will be 'expected' to wear masks in enclosed spaces after 19 July, minister says - Sky News

Nadhim Zahawi says people will be expected to wear masks in indoors enclosed spaces

Boris Johnson will share the governments latest coronavirus data with the nation tomorrow, and is expected to confirm the next phase of easing restrictions on 19 July, according to vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi.

Appearing on Sky News Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Mr Zahawi revealed guidance will include being expected to wear masks in indoor enclosed places even though the legal requirement to do so would be dropped.

Meanwhile, the governments Test and Trace service is panicking as it rushes to fill thousands of vacant contact tracing positions just months after making thousands of clinical staff redundant amid fears a summer wave of coronavirus will see a 100,000 infections a day.

Under the plans, the new recruits will have no clinical training and be paid at substantially cheaper rates compared to the nurses and other clinical staff who were made redundant en masse in May, as test and trace bosses said demand on the service had reduced.

A further 26 deaths and 31,772 daily cases were reported on Sunday, according to official data.

Supporters gathered in central London see Englands performance as welcome good news after 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Simon Brown, 36, told Press Association: I think after coronavirus everyone just wants a reason to be happy and we all got behind it. Even if we dont get through - weve done well to get to the finals. Ill drink to that.

I think England will win. Youve got to get behind the team - youve got to. Weve got the home advantage and the crowd will be behind them. Its now or never.

Mr Brown will be watching the match at a bar in Chiswick. He added: It would be a shame if they lose because the atmosphere is so good and everyones so happy and that would definitely dent it. But well see.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 18:21

Anti-lockdown protests forced a vaccination centre in Brighton and Hove to postpone jabs this weekend.

NHS Brighton and Hove CCG announced that vaccinations on Hove Lawns were being postponed due to the team facing disruption during the anti-lockdown measures protest in the city.

Social media footage shows protesters, including anti-vaccination campaigner Piers Corbyn, surrounding a health service bus on Saturday.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:59

London could be hit hardest once all Covid restrictions are lifted on 19 July due to the high number of over-50s in the capital who have not had a Covid vaccination, writes science correspondent Samuel Lovett in this Independent Premium piece.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:41

Police have again urged fans not to travel to Wembley after large crowds gathered in the area more than four hours before kick-off.

London mayor Sadiq Khan also made the same appeal, adding: Wherever youre watching the match, please do so safely.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 17:01

South Tyneside has the highest rate of new Covid cases in the UK, at 1,203 per 100,000 population for the week ending 6 July (the latest available accurate figures).

It means the North East region is currently the hot spot for coronavirus in England.

Of the four nations, Scotland has the highest rate at 400.7, with the average for the UK as a whole being 298.1.

Here are the top ten regions, according to the governments Covid dashboard.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:42

More than 300,000 people received a Covid jab yesterday, including 93,763 first doses and 211,446 second doses.

Around 87.1 per cent of the UK adult population (45.9 million) have received a first dose and around 66 per cent (34.8 million) have received a second dose.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:15

A further 26 deaths and 31,772 cases have been reported today, according to the latest official daily update.

It brings the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 128,425.

There have been a total of 152,725 deaths with Covid mentioned on the death certificate.

Peter Stubley11 July 2021 16:11

A further 529 cases of Covid were recorded in Senegal on Sunday a record in new daily cases there since the start of the pandemic, and a sign that a third wave of infections was gaining speed.

The growing infection rate has alarmed authorities, but they have stopped short of imposing stringent measures to curb the spread after previous restrictions led to economic hardship that helped to fuel violent protests in March.

Senegal has reported 46,179 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, and 1,194 deaths.

So far it has vaccinated close to 600,000 from a total population of around 16 million.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 16:05

Airline bosses and Scottish airports have written to Nicola Sturgeon asking her to bring in the same rules as England for quarantine-free travel from amber-list countries.

From 19 July, travellers from amber-list areas who have had both coronavirus vaccine doses will not have to self-isolate if they return to England.

CEOs from AGS Airports - which owns the terminals in Aberdeen and Glasgow - as well as easyJet, Loganair, Jet2 and Tui want to see the same exemption applied in Scotland, saying the UK governments announcement was a positive move towards the genuine reopening the sector has been looking for.

Connectivity is vital for Scotland, with current restrictions causing further ongoing damage to Scottish aviation and Scottish businesses, jeopardising tens of thousands of jobs up and down the country that depend on Scotlands air links, they write in the letter.

We urge you to support travellers and Scotlands aviation sector by bringing a quarantine exemption into effect for fully vaccinated UK residents from 19 July.

A Scottish government spokeswoman said ahead of Ms Sturgeons next lockdown easing announcement: We are considering relaxing restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from amber-list countries, but it needs to be fair and deliverable.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 15:32

Vaccinations at a site in Brighton have been postponed following anti-lockdown demonstrations in the city, after protestors surrounded a vaccination bus on the seafront on Saturday.

NHS Brighton and Hove CCG announced that vaccinations on Hove Lawns were postponed on Sunday to ensure that everyone is able to receive their vaccine safely and without any pressure put upon them.

The healthcare provider said its staff experienced disruption during the anti-lockdown measures protest in the city. Vaccinations are still available elsewhere in the city.

Brighton and Hove has experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, with the area recording 423.5 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to 5 July, according to data analysis by the PA news agency.

One of the protestors, who described the demonstration as decent, posted the below footage to Twitter.

Sam Hancock11 July 2021 15:21

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Covid news live: Public told to wear masks after 19 July, as Test and Trace hires thousands for summer wave - The Independent

CNN

The spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in the United States has some experts questioning whether it should be time to start testing even vaccinated people for the virus.

Although health officials have said evidence shows vaccinated people are unlikely to spread the virus to others, Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, says it may be important to watch to make sure the more transmissible Delta variant does not evade the effects of vaccines.

Current guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fully vaccinated people can refrain from routine testing.

I think now we should revisit this policy with the Delta variant and determine if the current recommendations hold up, Hotez wrote in an email to CNN on Wednesday.

Plus, the CDC is only reporting data on breakthrough infections that cause severe disease. That could mean scientists and health officials will not know how many vaccinated people have mild or asymptomatic infections and it will be very difficult to track whether a new variant such as Delta is causing more vaccine failure.

We need to design studies. Assuming this is underway, then the question comes, do we wait for those studies or change recommendations now and reconsider regular testing for asymptomatic vaccinated individuals? Given how disruptive this is, I would probably be inclined to wait for additional data before going backwards, Hotez wrote.

The good news is that the mRNA vaccines are still highly protective against serious illness even for Delta.

The mRNA vaccines are made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. Johnson & Johnson has also reported evidence its vaccine is protective against Delta, also known as B.1.617.2.

Because vaccines are still highly protective, other experts argue there is no need to change guidance.

I still think that the pre-test probability of a positive COVID test in people who are vaccinated and asymptomatic is very small. So much so that you would worry about false positives, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia, told CNN on Wednesday.

Overall, data on Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant among vaccinated people are hard to come by especially when seeking cases that may be asymptomatic. As of May, the CDC transitioned from monitoring all breakthrough Covid-19 cases among vaccinated people to only tracking cases that result in hospitalization or death.

In Israel, the Ministry of Health issued a brief statement Monday saying an analysis had shown the coronavirus vaccine was somewhat less protective against severe disease than before, and linked the drop to the spread of the Delta variant of the virus.

Israel widely deployed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

The statement said that as of June 6, the vaccine provided 64% protection against all infections, including asymptomatic infection and mild disease, and a drop to 93% efficacy in preventing severe disease and hospitalizations.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he would like to see more data on the Israeli findings before deciding the Delta variant in fact eludes the protection offered by vaccines.

We need to get more granular and specific data from the Israelis, Fauci told CNNs Anderson Cooper.

While the Israelis know what theyre doing, the data is sparse, Fauci added.

The Israeli government has not yet released new data or any other background to support the findings.

We want to make sure exactly what the circumstances were of that drop from 94% protection against asymptomatic infection down to 64, Fauci said. Is that a reflection that theyre more aggressively testing everybody and anybody whos come into contact with a person who has an asymptomatic infection? I dont know.

In the United States, breakthrough cases among vaccinated people are so rare that many state health departments CNN has contacted have not collected enough data to determine any patterns or trends yet that could result in a change in testing guidance.

For instance, Louisiana confirmed to CNN in an email on Wednesday that state epidemiologists have an analysis of breakthrough cases currently underway but need more sequencing data to be confident in sharing state-level estimates.

However, we fully expect to see more cases, especially among unvaccinated individuals, as the proportion of Delta circulating in Louisiana increases, Kevin Litten, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health, wrote in the email.

Similarly to other states, Arkansas has seen a significant increase in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant, Danyelle McNeill, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Health, told CNN in an email on Tuesday.

Overall, we have seen an increase in the number of new cases in our state. Additionally, we have seen an increase in the proportion and number of samples that have been identified as the delta variant, McNeill wrote in the email.

But as of now, due to lack of variant information on all of our current cases, we are unable to attribute the increase in the number of cases to the delta variant, McNeill said. It is difficult to say if this is a causal relationship.

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With Delta variant spreading, experts split on whether to test vaccinated people for Covid-19 - CNN

The vaccine requires two doses and was first administered to gorillas in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in March after cases were confirmed in a group of the zoo's large primates.

Zoetis donated more than 11,000 doses to almost 70 zoos and wildlife sanctuaries across the country as a part of an experimental vaccination effort authorized by the US Department of Agriculture.

"This is a vaccine that was developed for animals by the Zoetis company," said Scott Larsen, head veterinarian at the Denver Zoo. "By using it in animals, it's not taking away vaccines that would otherwise be distributed to people."

At the Oakland Zoo, animal vaccinations began on June 30 and the animals are "doing great post-vaccine," said Erin Harrison, a spokeswoman for the zoo.

Zookeepers have monitored the animals after they received doses to ensure they are acting normally, Harrison said. The zoo has received enough experimental vaccines for 50 animals and each animal must receive two doses three weeks apart, she said.

"We're concerned about the animals' overall populations and long-term survival on the planet," Larsen said. "There's been concern about wild populations of these animals, some of the last on earth, and what may happen when the virus gets into these animals. We're just trying to do the best we can."

Zoetis began tests for the animal vaccine when the first reports of a dog contracting Covid-19 emerged from Hong Kong last year, spokesperson Christina Lood said.

Pandemic precautions at zoos across the country protect animals, not just visitors, Larsen said.

CNN's Brisa Colon contributed to this report.

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US zoos giving special animal coronavirus vaccine to tigers, bears and gorillas - CNN

Fully vaccinated wont have to self-isolate from August, says Javid  Evening Standard

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Fully vaccinated wont have to self-isolate from August, says Javid - Evening Standard

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) The CDC approved the COVID vaccine for kids over age 12 almost two months ago, but still, a lot fewer kids are being vaccinated than adults.

KDKA recently surveyed parents across the region to find out what played into their decision to get their kids vaccinated or not and to see what may happen when even younger kids can get the vaccine.

Its been a tough year for most kids: doing school at home, distancing from friends, activities canceled. Getting the COVID vaccine could change all of that, but many families worry its not safe.

In a KDKA News survey of almost 400 people across the region, we found 44% of parents say theyre definitely getting their kids ages 12 to 17 vaccinated. Ten percent decided not to vaccinate their kids, even though they were vaccinated themselves. And 42% of parents said neither they nor their kids are getting the vaccine.

Amy Miller and her 12 and 16-year-old sons from Apollo, Armstrong County all got the COVID Vaccine.

My older son was born fairly premature, and so we have always trusted the science and our doctors to do whats best for us and our children, and the fact that they recommended the vaccination, that was enough for us, Miller said.

Millers parents also live with them in Armstrong County. Her reasons to vaccinate her kids mirror the top three reasons people in our survey chose to vaccinate their kids: to prevent their child from getting the virus, to avoid spreading coronavirus to adults and because they trust health officials recommendations.

Millers kids say they were OK getting the shot because they wanted to get back to a more normal life. Sixteen-year-old Tyler said, Ive been able to hang out with friends a lot more and not wearing a mask and stuff its just been a relief.

We also found there are many reasons parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids.

Sixty-two percent say they dont trust the government telling them what to do with their familys health, 57% worry about side effects and 56% cite that kids usually have only mild symptoms to illnesses. Almost half say the vaccine was developed too quickly, about a third say theyre not worried about COVID, and 8% say its for religious reasons.

Eugene Cawley and his wife and four kids from Allison Park are not getting the COVID vaccine. He fears the potential side effects from the vaccine are greater than his kids chance of becoming seriously ill from COVID.

With the vaccine, with the latest news with the inflammation in the heart and stuff like that, I feel that its probably more dangerous than catching the corona right now, Cawley said.

As for even younger kids, the vaccine is expected to be approved in the fall for those under 12, but our survey found only a third will immediately get it for those kids.

Another 14% said they would but will wait, and more than half will not get their younger kids vaccinated.

Many families in the survey say they respect the decisions of families who made a different choice about the vaccine for themselves or their kids, and they wish the decision was not politicized.

Many vaccines are required for kids in public schools, but almost 60 percent of the families in our survey felt that schools should not mandate the COVID vaccine.

Continued here:

KDKA Survey Reveals Why Parents Are Or Arent Vaccinating Their Kids Against COVID-19 - CBS Pittsburgh

At least 12 fake vaccination drives were held in or near the financial hub Mumbai, in the country's western Maharashtra state, said Vishal Thakur, a senior official of the Mumbai police department.

"They were using saline water and injecting it," Thakur said. "Every fake vaccination camp that they held, they were doing this."

An estimated 2,500 people were given fake shots, he said. The organizers charged their victims fees for the shots, earning up to $28,000 in total.

"We have arrested doctors," he added. "They were using a hospital which was producing the fake certificates, vials, syringes."

So far, 14 people have been arrested on suspicion of cheating, attempts at culpable homicide, criminal conspiracy, and other charges. More arrests may come as police continue investigating other people involved in the scam, Thakur said.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a centralized vaccine drive, in which a significant proportion of doses would be provided by the central government to states for free. Soon after, the country administered a record 8 million shots in a day -- a "gladdening" sign of the program's acceleration, said Modi. So far, more than 62 million people -- about 4.5% of the country's population -- have been fully vaccinated, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.

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Thousands thought they were getting the Covid vaccine. They were injected with salt water instead - CNN

CNN

Twenty states have reached the Biden administrations goal to partially vaccinate 70% of American adults by the Fourth of July as the Delta variant spreads and people gather for holiday celebrations across the country.

White House officials acknowledged last month that they would fall short of their goal, which was set in early May when the US was vaccinating people at a much faster pace than it is now.

The US reached its highest vaccination rate in mid-April when the seven-day average of doses administered daily topped 3.3 million. At that time, 1.8 million new people became fully vaccinated each day.

But that rate was not sustained, dropping to a seven-day average of 1,121,064 doses given per day as of Saturday. About 685,472 people are becoming fully vaccinated daily.

However, the administration did come close to its goal of vaccinating 160 million adults by the holiday 157 million adults were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, federal data shows.

As a nation, as a whole, we are doing very well, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBCs Meet the Press Sunday.

Health experts have been sounding the alarm on the risk low vaccination rates pose in some areas as the Delta variant of the coronavirus is now detected in all 50 US states and Washington, DC.

The Delta variant, which is highly contagious and causes even more severe illness, has been spreading so rapidly in some areas that officials brought back their mask guidance even if people are fully vaccinated.

There are some states where the level of vaccination of individuals is 35% or less, Fauci said. Under those circumstances, you might expect to see spikes in certain regions, in certain states, cities or countries. I dont think you are going to be seeing anything nationwide, because fortunately we have a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated. So its going to be regional.

Health officials in Los Angeles County suggested last week that people in the county should wear masks while in public indoor spaces, regardless of their vaccination status.

After California relaxed most of its Covid-19 restrictions on June 15, the states Covid-19 test positivity rate doubled from 0.7% at the time to 1.5% on July 2, state health data shows. The Delta variant represents 36% of all new Covid-19 cases in California, and that number is expected to rise, a state health officer said Friday.

Health experts and studies have said the Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are highly effective in protecting people from severe illness and hospitalizations related to Covid-19 and some of its dangerous variants.

Yet Barbara Ferrer, who heads Los Angeles Countys Public Health Department, told CNN Saturday the countys new mask guidance is an extra precaution against the rise of Covid-19 cases there.

There are lots of settings where even though we know that the vaccines provide powerful protection to those who are vaccinated, the slight risk that a vaccinated person could shed enough virus to infect somebody else, coupled with just creating less and less risk in those settings where there are many unvaccinated people, makes it a prudent tool that I think has its place in this full reopening that weve done in LA County, Ferrer said.

She added that the county is not requiring people to wear masks.

We just made a strong recommendation, if youre indoors, in a setting where you dont know everybody elses vaccination status it is best at this point to prevent another surge here in LA County by having everyone in those settings, where it could be crowded and youre indoors, often with poor ventilation, to keep those face coverings on, she said.

California is one of 19 states to have fully vaccinated more than half its population. The other 18 are: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington state, as well as Washington, DC.

Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University and CNN medical analyst, said Saturday that full approval of vaccines from the US Food and Drug Administration will help get more people vaccinated.

I think that getting full approval will make a big difference. It will overcome that hesitancy or lack of confidence of a segment of our population, she said.

Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have begun their applications for full approval from the FDA. Johnson & Johnson has said it intends to file a Biologics License Application, but had not yet done so as of Friday.

Pfizer and Moderna requested priority review, which asks the FDA to take action within six months, compared to the 10 months under standard review. Goal dates have not yet been announced.

I wish the FDA would move faster, Ranney said, referring to the approval process. Full FDA approval process normally does take months, but theyve already looked at the preliminary data. Its not that much more.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows 31% of adults who have yet to get vaccinated would be more likely to get a vaccine that is fully approved by the FDA. About 20% of adults who have not been vaccinated said its because they believe the vaccine is too new.

Fauci said during a White House Covid-19 briefing on Thursday it would be most unusual for the FDA to refuse full approval for coronavirus vaccines being used under emergency use authorization.

You never want to get ahead of the FDA, but it would really be a most unusual situation not to see this get full approval, Fauci said. I believe its going to happen.

The number of people traveling by air hit a new pandemic-era record Friday as people are on the move for the Fourth of July weekend.

The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2,196,411 people at airports across the country, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

According to the TSA, that number is higher than the same day in 2019 before the pandemic, when the TSA screened 2,184,253 passengers.

AAA anticipates 47.7 million people will travel by road and air from July 1 to July 5, a 40% increase over Independence Day travel last year and the second-highest travel volume on record.

CNNs Nadia Kounang, Pete Muntean, Deidre McPhillips, Jamie Gumbrecht, Cheri Mossburg, Natasha Chen, Kevin Conlon, Deanna Hackney and Maggie Fox contributed to this report.

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Fewer than half of US states have reached the White House's July 4th vaccine goal as the Delta variant threatens the nation's progress - CNN

When it came to coronavirus vaccination, the third time was the charm for Esther Jones, a dialysis nurse in rural Oregon. After two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine failed to jolt her immune system into producing antibodies, she sought out a third, this time the Moderna shot.

It worked. Blood tests revealed a reasonable antibody response, although lower than what would be detected in healthy people. She received a fourth dose last month in hopes of boosting the levels even more.

Ms. Jones, 45, had a kidney transplant in 2010. To prevent rejection of the organ, she has taken drugs that suppress the immune response ever since. She expected to have trouble responding to a coronavirus vaccine, and enrolled in one of the few studies so far to test the utility of a third dose in people with weak immune systems.

Since April, health care providers in France have routinely given a third dose of a two-dose vaccine to people with certain immune conditions. The number of organ transplant recipients who had antibodies increased to 68 percent four weeks after the third dose from 40 percent after the second dose, one team of French researchers recently reported.

The study in which Ms. Jones enrolled has turned up similar results in 30 organ transplant recipients who procured third doses on their own.

Being vulnerable to infection even after inoculation is very scary and frustrating for immunocompromised people, said Dr. Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who led the study. They have to continue to act unvaccinated until we figure out a way to give them better immunity.

But in the United States, there is no concerted effort by federal agencies or vaccine manufacturers to test this approach, leaving people with low immunity with more questions than answers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health in fact recommend even against testing to find out who is protected. And academic scientists are stymied by the rules that limit access to the vaccines.

There should be already a national study looking at post-transplant patients getting booster shots, said Dr. Balazs Halmos, an oncologist at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, who led a study showing that some cancer patients did not respond to the vaccines. It shouldnt be our little team here in the Bronx trying to figure this out.

An estimated 5 percent of the population is considered to be immunocompromised. The list of causes is long: some cancers, organ transplants, chronic liver disease, kidney failure and dialysis, and drugs like Rituxan, steroids and methotrexate, which are taken by roughly 5 million people for disorders from rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis to some forms of cancer.

These are the people being left behind, said Dr. Jose U. Scher, a rheumatologist at NYU Langone Health who led a study of methotrexates effect on the vaccines.

Not everyone who has one of these risk factors is affected. But without more research, its impossible to know who might need extra doses of the vaccines, and how many. Besides the risk of Covid-19, there is also evidence that low immunity may allow the virus to continue to replicate in the body for long periods, potentially leading to new variants.

An infusion of monoclonal antibodies may help some people who dont produce antibodies on their own but again, the idea is not being thoroughly explored, said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Use of monoclonal antibodies makes great sense for this group of people, so I would like to see the companies be more active in this area, he said. Government support or pressure would also help.

July 4, 2021, 4:20 p.m. ET

The third-dose approach has widespread support among researchers because there is clear precedent. Immunocompromised people are given booster doses of vaccines for hepatitis B and influenza, for example. And discontinuing methotrexate after getting a flu vaccine is known to improve the vaccines potency evidence that compelled the American College of Rheumatology to recommend pausing methotrexate use for one week before being immunized against the coronavirus.

Several studies have indicated that a third coronavirus vaccine dose might succeed in patients who did not have detectable antibodies after the first or second dose. But research has lagged.

Moderna is gearing up to test a third dose in 120 organ transplant recipients, and Pfizer which produces some immunosuppressant medications is planning a study of 180 adults and 180 children with an immune condition.

The companies turned down at least two independent teams who hoped to study the effects of a third dose.

The N.I.H. is recruiting 400 immunocompromised people for a trial that would track their levels of antibodies and immune cells for up to 24 months but has no trials looking at a third dose.

It takes time, unfortunately, especially as a government agency, said Emily Ricotta, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. We have to go through a lot of regulatory and approval processes to do these sorts of projects.

But that explanation does not satisfy some researchers. Many medical centers already have groups of patients who did not respond to the vaccines, so federal agencies could organize a clinical trial without too much difficulty, Dr. Scher noted. Its a very simple study, he said. Theres no rocket science here.

Earlier studies suggested that many people with cancer would not respond to the vaccines, but those analyses were done after the patients had received a single dose. A new study published this month by Dr. Halmos of Montefiore Medical Center and his colleagues laid some of those fears to rest. The vaccines seem to work well in patients with a wide range of solid and liquid tumors, according to the large analysis.

But 15 percent of those who had blood cancers and 30 percent of those who took drugs that suppress the immune system had no detectable antibodies after the second dose. Dr. Halmos said he and his colleagues were eager to test whether a third dose could benefit those individuals, but have not yet been able to gain access to the vaccines.

Dr. Segevs team found in an earlier study that less than half of 658 organ transplant recipients had measurable antibodies after both doses of an mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. But to follow up on the finding, they had to resort to recruiting volunteers like Ms. Jones who had obtained third doses on their own.

The scientists found that a third dose amped up antibody levels in all 30 organ transplant recipients who had low or undetectable levels of antibodies.

Ms. Jones said many people like her felt they had been abandoned by the federal government especially with the threat of more contagious variants circulating in the United States.

Some members of a Facebook group for immunocompromised people desperate for protection have gotten a third dose at mass vaccination sites where providers dont check records, or have even crossed state lines, she said. Even so, most continue to wear masks to protect themselves and have sometimes had to endure harassment as a result.

It really saddens me that so many people in this world have made masking like, this super political thing when it should never have been, she said. It makes it so its harder for us to take care of ourselves.

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Should People With Immune Problems Get Third Vaccine Doses? - The New York Times

(WXYZ) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several other organizations announced the "MI Shot to Win" sweepstakes, which is a lottery drawing for those who got or are getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Under the plan, there will be scholarship drawings, daily drawings and two drawings one of $1 million and one of $2 million.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE SWEEPSTAKES

The daily drawings are for $50,000 and open to all eligible residents who got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination on the date corresponding to the $50k Daily Drawing.

On top of that, there is a $1 million drawing that you can enter between July 1-10 and is open to those who have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between Dec. 1, 2020 and July 10, 2021.

Also, there is a $2 million drawing with entry between July 1 and Aug. 3 that is open to those who got a vaccination between Dec. 1, 2020 and July 10, 2021.

There are nine scholarship drawings that consist of a 4-year MET Charitable Tuition Program which is valued at $55,000 each. It may be used for tuition at a college or university in accordance with MET terms and conditions.

Jeddy Johnson

You can see the rules below.MIShotToWin Rules by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

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See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.

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Here are the prizes and rules for the MI Shot to Win vaccine sweepstakes - WXYZ