Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

Tennessee could receive its first doses ofCOVID-19 vaccines as soon as Dec. 15, and vaccines could be widely available to Tennesseans by early summer,state officials announced Tuesday.

The state is prepared to distribute the vaccine immediately when it arrives, Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said.

"This is our top priority," she said. "This is the one ray of hope that we've got, so we are putting a ton of effort forth to make sure we get it to you as fast and as safely as possible."

RELATED: COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee: You've got questions. We have answers.

The vaccine updates come as COVID-19 infections climb to new heights in Tennessee. In the past two months, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased two-and-a-half fold. One in three intensive care unit patients in the state has COVID-19, said Dr. Wendy Long, president of the Tennessee Hospital Association.

During Tennessee's last infection spike in July, COVID-19 patients made up 19% of ICU patients. Long said hospitals are "running out of levers to pull" to preserve access to critical healthcare services while addressing increasing needs for COVID-19 response.

Businesses in Tennessee's healthcare industry have started discussing allowing COVID-positive healthcare staff to work in COVID-specific units, something that is allowed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Long said, noting the hospital association has made no official recommendations, and that decision ultimately will be industry driven.

Tennessee anticipates it will receive its first round of vaccines from Pfizer. The state is currently one of four states participating in the company's pilot delivery program for the vaccine, which must be stored at ultracold temperatures.While all dates are subject to change, Tennessee will be ready to distribute vaccines around Dec. 15.

The Moderna vaccine candidate is now expected to arrive about one week later, Piercey said.

RELATED: Tennessee among 4 states in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine pilot delivery program

MORE: Dolly Parton helped fund 95% effective Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that could end pandemic

It is not yet clear how many vaccines Tennessee will receive, and the number of doses delivered to the state in the next few months "fluctuates widely," Piercey said. Between 80,000 and 100,000 doses are expected in the first delivery, enough to vaccinate between 40,000 and 50,000 people as thevaccine requires two doses per person.

Vaccines will be distributed in phases according to the state's draft distribution plan. Frontline healthcare workers and first responders who are the most likely to have contact with infected individuals and materials will receive the vaccine first, and Tennessee will move through the following phases as supply allows.

In the second phase, when the state expects to have enough vaccine doses to meet demand, it will prioritize vaccination of staff in schools and childcare businesses, older adults and those with illnesses who have a medium risk of complicating the virus. At this point, the vaccine also would be made available to workers in critical infrastructure industries: construction, utilities, food and beverage supply, public transportation and the shipping of goods.

Finally, once the vaccine has sufficient supply and demand has begun to slow, it will be provided to young adults, children, others in congregate care settings, and, eventually, everyone else.

Children and pregnant women are among the last to receive the vaccine because they are generally not included in early clinical trials that test the vaccine's safety.

Piercey expects Tennessee to complete phase one of distribution and potentially a portion or all of phase two in the winter and early spring. The remainder of phase two and phase three should be complete in late spring or early summer. Estimates predict widespread availability in July or August.

"The good news, though, is even when we start vaccinating small numbers of folks, 100,000, 200,000, I know that doesn't seem like a lot in the context of 6.8 million Tennesseans, but that's 200,000 who are not transmitting the disease," Piercey said."Sowe're going to start to see some measurable improvement in our case trends when we get some vaccines in arms."

Tennessee expects to lean on hospitals, public health agencies and pharmacies to distribute vaccines. Ideally,there will be a least two locations in every countywhere the vaccine is available.

According to the states disbursement plan, the state will prioritize disbursement from hospitals with emergency rooms and ICUs. The vaccine probably will be available at every county public health agency in the state.

Finally, in rural areas where there is no hospital, vaccine will be available at local pharmacies.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is being shipped in specially designed, insulated containers that hold between 195 and 975 five-dose vials and areabout the size of a carry-on suitcase. The vials are stored in flat, pizza box-sized compartments, each of which holds 195 vials. A fully-loaded thermalcontainer, which is reusable, contains five of theseandweighs about 70 pounds. These "shippers" as Pfizer calls them have space at the top for dry ice, which can keep the vaccine at the necessary temperature for ten days if unopened, or five days as long as its opened no more than twice a day for very short periods of time(Photo: Pfizer Inc.)

The vaccine must be stored and transported at negative-94 degrees Fahrenheit, but because Tennessee covers a wide swath of land with pockets of sparse population, officials donot plan to store doses in a centralized freezer. Instead, the vaccine will be delivered using Pfizer- and manufacturer-recommended "thermal shippers."

The vaccine comes in flat boxes of 975 vials (Piercey said it "sort of looks like a pizza box). This box is packed with dry ice inside an insulated 2-foot by 2-foot cube. The dry ice is recharged on a specific schedule.

"That is what we intend to use so we can mobilize and distribute vaccines faster than having to keep going back and forth to a stationary freezer," Piercey said.

While some universities might require students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 once vaccines are widely available, Gov. Bill Lee said he does not foresee mandated vaccines for K-12 school systems in Tennessee.

The University of Tennessee requires its students to get flu vaccines and might require COVID-19 vaccines as well if a vaccine is recommended by the CDC and Tennessee Department of Health, according to its website.

"We support local decision-making, and that decision is theirs to make," Lee said of the University of Tennessee's potential requirement.

Lee added that vaccines will be "very important for us in the state to curb the spread of the virus and to ultimately really be able to handle it."

The speed, accuracy and safety of the vaccines approaching availability is a pleasant surprise to Lee's administration and health officials, he said.

"But, vaccines are a choice, and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine," Lee said.

Brett Kelman contributed to this report.

Cassandra Stephensoncovers business at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network Tennessee. Reach Cassandra at ckstephenson@tennessean.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.

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COVID-19 vaccines could arrive in Tennessee by Dec. 15; healthcare officials outline tentative timeline - Tennessean

(THE CONVERSATION) The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNtech announced Nov. 20, 2020, that they will seek emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. On Nov. 16, Moderna announced that a vaccine it has been working on has been shown to be close to 95% effective.

But no vaccine will be nearly that effective in reality if people refuse to take it. And recent polls suggest that about 40% of Americans wont take a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Those numbers are even higher among nonwhite Americans.

The factors that lead people to make choices to take vaccines are nuanced. Peoples choices are affected by how they see the world, their perceptions of the choices people like them will make, whom they trust, their perceptions of risk, consistency of message and convenience of actually getting the vaccine.

In a world with unlimited supplies of vaccine and budget to support outreach, public officials could craft highly specific campaigns for each community and identity in the world. The vaccine would be simultaneously available to everyone, and our personal doctors would administer it and assure us of its efficacy.

That world doesnt exist.

Melissa Fleming, the United Nations undersecretary general for global communications, recently launched the Verified initiative to combat misinformation about COVID-19. Verified engaged the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida. Our team of scholars, strategists and storytellers works with organizations around the world to apply social, behavioral and cognitive science to drive lasting social change. We were asked to identify research-based messages that might overcome vaccine hesitancy. Verified released our guide Thursday.

We quickly identified the leading scholars in this space, and 16 social and behavioral psychologists, medical anthropologists, behavioral economists, neuroscientists and political communications scholars joined us for a series of conversations over five days. We asked questions like: What makes people resilient against misinformation? What drives vaccine hesitancy? Which frames will be most effective? What kinds of message strategies have been effective with specific communities? And finally, what are some of the best ways to make taking the vaccine a social norm?

Eight principles emerged from those conversations that we believe can increase trust, acceptance and demand for vaccination. We have shared these principles with the leaders across the U.N. as part of their global efforts to reduce vaccine hesitancy and overcome misinformation related to COVID-19.

Work within worldviews, identities and moral values. Each of us has a unique set of identities, worldviews and moral values that influence our choices and behaviors, and even what we believe to be true. Its worthwhile to understand what others see as right and wrong and to connect with whats most important to them. Find the common ground between what you hope to achieve and what matters to them. For example, taking a vaccine, then, would become a way to return to activities and behaviors that matter most to them.

Use timing to the best advantage. Its far easier to build trust when youre the first to articulate a message. People are most likely to trust and stick to the version of information they hear first. Its equally important, however, that they hear that same message multiple times from an array of sources.

Use the right messengers for the audience. People act when they trust the messenger, the message and their motivations. Trusted messengers vary greatly from community to community, but there are some broad lessons you can apply. Ideally, the messenger is someone with deep expertise: a doctor, a scientist or a public health practitioner. But trusted messengers are also those in our in-groups, people we see as being like us and who share our values. As behavioral economist David Fetherstonhaugh put it, I couldnt stress enough the importance of a message coming from within an in-group someone thats automatically on the inside. Its almost like such messages even bypass deliberate cognition because they are coming from a trusted source: Theyre my family, or its my pastor, or its my party leader. So the source of a message, in-group vs. out-group, is extraordinarily important for how a message is received.

Make the content concrete, supply a narrative and provide value. If messages arent concrete and dont include stories, our powerful sense-making brains will fill the abstraction with stories and ideas that make sense to us. One particular space to build that narrative is around vaccine trials. Instead of saying were in stage 3, name the number of people who have participated in successful trials and share stories of individuals who participated in those trials.

Recognize that communities have different relationships with vaccination. In some societies, people may be fearful of vaccines, but have a strong trust in authority. In others, mandatory vaccinations have created distrust of government authorities. In others, decades of mistreatment and exploitation have resulted in a profound lack of trust in new medical treatments. Different societies also have different relationships with authority. In societies where people trust authority, theyre more likely to accept direction even if they dont support it.

Reinforce positive behaviors. We are deeply affected by the behavior and choices of people in our networks even people we may not have met. So to change behavior, you have to shift peoples perceptions of what normal behavior looks like. Examining vaccine hesitancy through the lens of social norms offers two opportunities to make a difference. The first is activating trusted influencers within social networks and peoples perceptions of what others are doing. The second is in shifting the communications norms among those communicating on behalf of the vaccine.

Evoke the right emotions. Its tempting to activate emotions like fear or shame to get people to take a vaccine, but its unlikely to work. Fear immobilizes people, and shame is likely to achieve the wrong reaction. Look to more constructive emotions like awe, hope and parental love to get people to act.

Be explicit and transparent about motivations. Our perceptions of the motivations of the messenger matters. Our motivations in seeking information are equally important. Were less likely to trust a vaccine if we question the motives of the people advocating for us to take it.

There is, of course, a weakness in this tool, which is that its based on research conducted on hesitancy around other vaccines. We dont know about COVID-19, because we dont yet have the vaccine. But even with these obvious limitations, science-informed messages are the best tools we have.

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Health experts identify ways to build public trust with COVID-19 vaccines - KRQE News 13

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The four recent deaths involved two Anchorage men in their 70s, a woman from the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area in her 70s and a man from the Valdez-Cordova Census Area in his 70s who was out of state when he died, the state health department said Thursday. Additionally, the Department of Health and Social Services said one death that was previously reported was removed through data verification after death certificate review.

A total of 118 Alaskans and one nonresident have died with COVID-19 since March. Alaskas death rate remains lower than other states, but is rising. On Tuesday, the state reported 13 deaths, the most tallied in a single day since the pandemic began in March.

There were 136 people with COVID-19 hospitalized as of Thursday, and an additional nine hospital patients were suspected of having the illness. Twenty-two confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients were on ventilators, according to state data.

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, which currently has one of the highest per capita case rates in the country, the regional health corporation on Wednesday reported the 12th resident death in the region, involving an Alaskan in their 30s. They also reported 66 new cases of the virus in the region Wednesday it can sometimes take a few days for cases and deaths to be reflected on the states data dashboard.

Of the 557 new cases reported by the state Thursday among Alaska residents, 227 were in Anchorage, plus 13 in Eagle River, eight in Chugiak and four in Girdwood; 44 in Homer; 42 in Kenai; 40 in Wasilla; 38 in Soldotna; 16 in Fairbanks; 11 in Delta Junction; 10 in Juneau; 10 in Kodiak; nine in Palmer; nine in Nikiski; six in Ketchikan; five in North Pole; five in Utqiagvik; five in Bethel; three in Sterling; three in Anchor Point; two in Willow; two in Big Lake; two in Chevak; one in Fritz Creek; one in Houston; one in Sutton-Alpine; one in Nome; one in Sitka; and three in an unidentified region of the state.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 people not named to protect privacy, there were 18 resident cases in the Bethel Census Area; five in the northern Kenai Peninsula Borough; three in the Kusilvak Census Area; two in the southern Kenai Peninsula Borough; one in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; one in the Northwest Arctic Borough; one in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough; one in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area; and one in the Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon region.

Six cases were reported Thursday among nonresidents: two in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks and three in unidentified regions of the state.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

Of the new cases, it is not reported how many patients were showing symptoms when they tested positive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about a third of people who have the virus are asymptomatic.

In total, 30,102 Alaskans and nonresidents in the state have tested positive for COVID-19 since March.

[Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect that four new deaths were recorded Wednesday and one previously reported death was removed from the states data dashboard.]

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Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 4 deaths and 563 new cases reported Thursday - Anchorage Daily News

A temporary tent was set up at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Mass., to prepare for an uptick in COVID-19 cases this month. Erin Clark/Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption

A temporary tent was set up at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Mass., to prepare for an uptick in COVID-19 cases this month.

More than 2,400 hospitals and related facilities have received their first doses of new drugs that are designed to keep mild to moderately ill COVID-19 patients out of the hospital. But it's not clear how much the drugs will help these patients and whether the medicines will reduce the demand for hospital beds.

The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency authorization to two monoclonal antibody formulations bamlanivimab, produced by Eli Lilly, and a two-antibody combination developed by Regeneron.

These drugs are supposed to prevent the coronavirus from invading cells. Instead of being a pill or a shot, these drugs are in the form of a liquid that must be infused intravenously a process that takes two hours or more.

"Like everything in today's world during the pandemic, our biggest challenges are around staffing," says Dr. Peter Newcomer, chief clinical officer at University of Wisconsin Health in Madison.

He said his hospital is giving the drug after-hours in an infusion center, so infectious COVID-19 patients don't cross paths with cancer patients and other vulnerable people. A special plea went out for nurses to take on yet another shift, even as the hospital struggles with rising COVID-19 cases.

The hospital can initially handle eight patients a night. Newcomer says they started with three patients Tuesday evening.

"Our advertising to the community went out Monday and Tuesday so we're going to see more tonight, and fill up all those slots real soon," he predicts.

His hospital, together with a second hospital in Madison, got an initial allocation of 112 doses. If everyone who qualifies for this treatment asks for it including people over 65 and those with underlying conditions such as obesity, kidney disease and immunodeficiency the hospital will quickly run out of drugs. So, UW Health set up a system to identify people who would most likely benefit. Officials will randomly pick from that pool of applicants if there isn't enough medicine to go around.

"It's basically a lottery-type system with an allocation that is done as equitably as we can," Newcomer says. The hospital developed this strategy earlier in the year to cope with a shortage of another COVID-19 drug, remdesivir. But the shortages could be far more acute with the monoclonal antibodies since so many more people are potentially eligible for them.

Informed consent for this treatment includes telling patients that it's not clear just how well these drugs actually work. The National Institutes of Health put out treatment guidelines Nov. 18 saying there's simply not enough information to know if the Lilly drug is effective. The guidelines haven't been updated to address Regeneron's drug. Emergency use authorization doesn't assure that a new product is effective, but that its potential benefits are likely to outweigh the risks.

Company studies suggest that doctors have to treat 10 to 20 patients to avoid a single hospitalization. The federal government bought hundreds of thousands of doses of these drugs and is distributing them nationally. That means patients don't have to pay for the drugs, though they may be responsible for the cost of infusion, which can run into many hundreds of dollars, depending on how insurance companies cover the procedure.

It's not clear how well the hospital's investment in staff time will pay off.

"As long as we can continue to provide this treatment, we plan on it," Newcomer says. "It's going to have to be an ongoing evaluation of what we can do from a staffing standpoint."

Hospital administrators hope the drugs are effective enough to help keep patients out of their intensive care units and other hospital beds. That's an increasingly serious issue as the coronavirus pandemic surges in the United States.

In New Mexico, "we're currently entering crisis-level stage with bed capacity," says Dr. David Gonzales, chief medical officer of CHRISTUS St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe.

The hospital is sending eligible patients to its emergency room for treatment there.

"We have a portion of or emergency room that's dedicated to COVID-positive patients," Gonzales explains, so that eases concern about how to limit the risk to other patients coming for emergency care.

CHRISTUS St. Vincent's Hospital infused its first patient Tuesday, using one of the eight initial doses of the drug allotted by the state of New Mexico. After the hour-long infusion, nurses monitor patients for one to six hours to make sure there are no serious side effects. And Gonzales says that monitoring continues once patients leave the hospital, using the hospital's telemedicine services.

The logistics of delivering these drugs varies widely. In Maryland, for instance, the state designated four geographically dispersed sites, including an urgent care center in the Washington, D.C., suburbs and a field hospital set up in the Baltimore Convention Center. The University of California, San Francisco is using an infusion center that's isolated from its usual infusion center to protect patients without COVID-19.

Once a week, the federal government allocates monoclonal antibodies to states, based on a formula that considers COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The Department of Health and Human Services maintains a website listing allocations of the drug. It reported having distributed 85,000 doses as of last week. States, in turn, decide how to allocate the drugs within their borders.

The big question now is how much of a clamor there will be for this new and uncertain treatment.

"I expect more of a push for people to get it," says Newcomer at UW Health. "But I also expected people to wear masks regularly as well. My expectations aren't always met."

You can contact NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris at rharris@npr.org.

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Antibody Drugs For COVID-19 Finally Make It To Patients : Shots - Health News - NPR

A Bedford bakery is challenging a fine it received from the Attorney Generals Office for alleged COVID-19 violations.

The mask mandate goes against my inspiration for starting this business to build a face-to-face community space, and I believe people who make the choice to come in and enjoy that environment should have the right to do so, Alexa Firman, owner of Simply Delicious Baking Co., said in a statement.

Simply Delicious Baking Co. was fined $500 for repeatedly failing to ensure employees wore masks, according to a letter from Associate Attorney General Anne M. Edwards.

I opened my bakery coffee shop late last year to bring our community together and provide a comfortable space for people to gather I have many loyal customers who greatly value the freedom they have to gather here who are supporting me, Firman said.

She said her business has taken precautions to keep the space safe, including social distancing, frequent sanitizing and offering curbside takeout.

According to Edwards letter, a health inspector visited the Bedford bakery in July after receiving complaints. The inspector witnessed employees not wearing masks and the owner refused the inspectors direction to make them put on masks.

Firman said Tuesday that she received a warning in July, and there was no real follow-up until the fine was issued last week.

I was a bit surprised to get this letter from the Attorney Generals Office, said Firman, who operates the bakery with backup from her mother.

Both of them were comfortable without the use of masks, she said, adding Simply Delicious has received a lot of support from customers who feel the same way. However, since Gov. Sununu issued the statewide mask mandate on Nov. 19, Firman said she and her mother have both transitioned to wearing masks at the bakery.

Firmans attorney reached out to the Liberty Defense Fund of New Hampshire, a nonprofit organization based in Mont Vernon created in June.

Thomas McLeod, chairman of the Liberty Defense Fund of New Hampshire, said his organization will be providing financial support for Firman as she contests the fine.

McLeod said that Firmans fine for operating in violation of one of the governors emergency orders does not pertain to the new statewide mask mandate.

This was based on the old order in which, number one, we felt were vague and kind of difficult to follow because it is difficult to know what is mandatory and what is just a guideline, McLeod said on Tuesday. They are written as if they are guidelines; that is the first issue.

In the violation letters, Edwards said that despite the terms guideline and guidance, businesses are required to comply with the governors emergency orders, and that violations are taken very seriously.

McLeod said that businesses should have the freedom to take into consideration their own individual circumstances in deciding how to operate.

According to the New Hampshire Secretary of States website, two of the funds incorporators are former state representatives Andrew J. Manuse of Derry and Joseph Hoell Jr. of Dunbarton, who helped organize rallies last spring protesting the governors stay-at-home order.

A hearing for Firman will be scheduled with the Attorney Generals Office, according to McLeod. If the issue is not resolved there, it could move to a court hearing, he said.

Simply Delicious Baking Co. was one of three restaurants fined and two others warned for violations last week. This week, Grumpys Bar and Grill in Plaistow was fined a $1,500 civil penalty for various violations. White Mountain Tavern in Lincoln faces a fine of $1,000. Loudon Village Country Store was fined $2,000.

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Bedford bakery to challenge its $500 COVID-19 fine | Coronavirus - The Union Leader

LatestHighest-risk Chicagoans could begin receiving coronavirus vaccine as early as mid-December: Lightfoot Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Chicago health care workers could begin getting vaccinated against the coronavirus as early as mid-December, city officials said Wednesday.

And while the timelines remains fluid, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she expects all adults to be able to get vaccinated sometime in 2021.

Lightfoot said when the vaccine becomes more widely distributed, it is likely to be available at large, centralized sites, including city colleges and mobile sites deployed at trusted community settings.

Chicagos top public health official, Dr. Allison Arwady, said the city has very specific plans for storage and distribution of a vaccine should the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve one.

The Chicago Department of Public Health has already built up its ultra-cold storage in preparation for the arrival of a vaccine.

We are working with multiple hospitals that also have built up some of that ultra-cold storage capacity, Arwady said.

Highest-risk health care workers are expected to receive the vaccine, followed by distribution to nursing home and long-term care facilities, and then health care workers who see coronavirus patients outside of hospitals, Arwady said.

Read the full story here.

As Illinois reported 9,469 more coronavirus cases and 125 deaths Tuesday, officials said theyre cautiously optimistic the states massive viral resurgence might finally be leveling off but warned that any progress will be wiped out if families dont cancel plans for holiday gatherings this week.

Thanksgiving this year needs to be different, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. To those who havent yet changed your plans, the doctors are asking all of us to skip the big group dinner this year. The vaccines that seem to be on the horizon cant help you if you get sick now.

Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike cautioned that without even knowing it, you could be putting your friends and family, or yourself in grave danger.

We have to accept what were dealing with: a global pandemic, the likes of which no one has seen before. That does deserve a change from the norm, Ezike said.

Read the full story here.

Alabama coach Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19 just days before the Iron Bowl.

Team physician Dr. Jimmy Robinson and head trainer Jeff Allen said in a joint statement that the positive test came Wednesday morning.

He has very mild symptoms, so this test will not be categorized as a potential false positive, the statement said. He will follow all appropriate guidelines and isolate at home.

The 69-year-old Saban previously received a false positive ahead of the game with Georgia, but didnt have any symptoms. He was cleared to coach in the game after subsequent tests leading up to the game came out negative.

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NEW YORK Dont even think of putting the mask away anytime soon.

Despite the expected arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in just a few weeks, it could take several months probably well into 2021 before things get back to something close to normal in the U.S. and Americans can once again go to the movies, cheer at an NBA game or give Grandma a hug.

The first, limited shipments of the vaccine would mark just the beginning of what could be a long and messy road toward the end of the pandemic that has upended life and killed more than a quarter-million people in the U.S. In the meantime, Americans are being warned not to let their guard down.

If youre fighting a battle and the cavalry is on the way, you dont stop shooting; you keep going until the cavalry gets here, and then you might even want to continue fighting, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious-disease expert, said last week.

This week, AstraZeneca became the third vaccine maker to say early data indicates its shots are highly effective. Pfizer last week asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization to begin distributing its vaccine, and Moderna is expected to do the same any day. Federal officials say the first doses will ship within a day of authorization.

But most people will probably have to wait months for shots to become widely available. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also each require two doses, meaning people will have to go back for a second shot after three and four weeks, respectively, to get the full protection.

Union officials representing nearly 700 nursing home workers who hit the picket lines this week said the owner of the 11 facilities has left town and they arent sure when negotiations for a new contract will resume.

The employer has refused to make a move, said Shaba Andrich, vice president for nursing homes at SEIU Healthcare Illinois. Infinity Healthcare Management Owner Moishe Gubin had indicated to some people that he would be available to negotiate last Sunday, but then left the state and has not been able to negotiate.

Nursing home workers at Infinity locations in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs entered their second day on strike as negotiations for a new contract remain nonexistent. Members have been fighting for improved working conditions, base salaries for between $15 and $15.50 an hour (up from $11.50 to $13.50, depending on location) and hazard pay for the duration of the pandemic.

But union members claim their employer has completely walked away from the table and negotiating sessions havent been scheduled for the near future.

We want to get back to negotiations, we want him to come back with different solutions and different ideas about how we get a contract done, Andrich said during a Zoom call Tuesday afternoon. There is none [no meetings] happening now, there is none on the calendar.

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Ineffective hand sanitizer, employees showing up for work after testing positive for the coronavirus and inadequate hand hygiene are all under scrutiny as possible sources of a COVID-19 outbreak that has left 27 residents of an Illinois veterans home dead.

Those findings from a pair of reports prompted Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state veterans officials to launch an investigation into the circumstances around the spread of the deadly virus at the LaSalle Veterans Home.

The reports released by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs found employees of the home attended the same Halloween gathering and later tested positive for the virus.

The veterans home in LaSalle was also stocked earlier this month with hand sanitizer found not to be effective against COVID-19, and some staff were observed touching patients and surfaces without changing their gloves or performing hand hygiene, according to one report released Tuesday.

Those were just some of the findings from one site visit on Nov. 12 a second visit five days later found many of the initial recommendations were followed, a second report found.

But cases at the home some 95 miles southwest of Chicago have ballooned over the course of the month, and 27 residents have died, a spokeswoman for the veterans affairs department said.

Read the full story here.

I want to speak directly to Chicagoans about our citys budget, which will come up for a vote before the full City Council today.

Long before I formally introduced this budget in October, it became clear that our economic path out of the COVID-19 pandemic would require us to make some extraordinarily difficult decisions. It was a matter of when, not if, these decisions would be made, and how we would make them all while holding firm to our core values of equity, inclusion and transparency.

COVID-19 has not only upended all our lives from a health perspective, it also has devastated significant parts of our economy. This has resulted in an $800 million loss of revenues for the 2020 budget and a significant $1.2 billion deficit for next year, 65% of which is directly tied to COVID-19.

Dealing with a $1.2 billion gap means there were no easy decisions. None. And while the prospect of better times comes closer into view, particularly because of a new partner in the White House, along with the prospect of a nationwide COVID-19 response plan rooted in science and data, we must face the reality in front of us right now.

To put it bluntly, this is likely the most painful budget we have ever faced as a city. And it comes after the many difficult and painful choices weve already had to make over the last eight months. So, if there were a responsible way to close our budget gap that didnt involve raising taxes or requiring some level of furloughs for our City employees, we would have already taken it. But among the many thing this pandemic has taken from us is our ability to make decisions without sacrificing something in return.

Read Mayor Lori E. Lightfoots full column here.

America got more good news about a COVID-19 vaccine last week, the second potential vaccine shown to be at least 90% effective against the disease in early data from clinical trials.

If the Food and Drug Administration grants emergency use authorization to one or both vaccines, doses could be distributed beginning in late Decembe,r and the country will have its most powerful tool yet against the pandemic.

But no vaccine, no matter how effective it is or how quickly it becomes available, will be a powerful tool against the pandemic if too few people especially African Americans, who are among the most vulnerable to severe illness or death from COVID-19 get the shot.

And as the Sun-Times Brett Chase reported Sunday, distrust of a COVID-19 vaccine runs deep among Black Americans. Theyre less likely to volunteer for clinical trials to test vaccine safety and effectiveness. Public opinion polls, too, have consistently shown African Americans are less likely to say they would take a coronavirus vaccine.

The health care system has a lot of work to do to get past that lingering distrust. As states and the federal government plan public education campaigns to urge people to take a vaccine, extra effort must be made to reach the African American community, get people vaccinated and save lives.

Read the full editorial here.

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Coronavirus vaccine timeline remains fluid, Lightfoot expects all adults to be able to get vaccinated someti - Chicago Sun-Times

When coronavirus vaccines arrive in Philadelphia, frontline health-care workers including hospital nurses and testing center employees will be prioritized, Farley said. If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration quickly approves one of the two vaccines nearing the regulatory finish line, its possible Philadelphia could have its first round of vaccines as soon as mid-December, he said. The first batch of vaccines, however, will be limited.

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Pa. reports 3,900 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Cases increase in Philly, New Jersey. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Sherri Zink and Bryan Heckman, Guest columnists Published 4:01 a.m. CT Nov. 25, 2020

Nashville's 3 COVID testing sites staffed by Meharry Nashville Tennessean

BlueCross and Meharrys shared concern is that vaccine hesitancy could increase in underserved minority populations if left unaddressed, especially since COVID-19 severity varies by race.

Nine months into the pandemic, a great deal of uncertainty remains. COVID-19 continues to spread, our schools assess whether to stay open, and our economy struggles.

Sherri Zink(Photo: Submitted)

Pfizer and Modernas recent announcements on their coronavirus vaccines have offered a beacon of hope. But theres still much we dont know as to when the vaccine will be approved and widely available or if the public will embrace it.

Thats why thorough research, reliable dataand unbiased conclusions are more essential to our communities health than ever before.

Earlier this year, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Meharry Medical College embarked on a partnership to collaborate on making Tennesseans healthier. The teams primary goal is to improve COVID-19 response by examining health disparities and addressing social determinants of health in minority and underserved populations.

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These determinants are comprised ofthe health-shaping conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.BlueCross uses its data to gain insight around these factors.To apply the data and remove barriers to care, BlueCross developed the Social Vulnerabilities Index, an aggregate score that ranges from 0 to 19. The SVI quantifies the number of social determinants (19 total) for which a member may be at risk and is used to help identify and engage with vulnerable populations.

Bryan Heckman(Photo: Submitted)

Nashvilles Meharry Medical College is the largest private historically Black college in theUnited States and is committed to educating tomorrows health care professionals and scientists. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Meharrys been battling the virus on numerous fronts. Meharry is operating COVID-19 testing sites, exploring treatments and vaccines, conducting clinical trialsand researching vaccine hesitancy.

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Minority vaccine hesitancy, or the reluctance to be vaccinated, is rooted in longstanding systemic health and social inequities and distrust in the health care system. BlueCross and Meharrys shared concern is that vaccine hesitancy could increase in underserved minority populations if left unaddressed. But we see a clear path forward for data-driven decision making and quality improvement.

Our goals are to:

Jacqueline Ike, a registered nurse and first-year medical student, administers a COVID-19 test at Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, June 6, 2020.(Photo: Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean)

The data showsthat COVID-19 severity varies by race. Hispanic people have the highest average number of social vulnerabilities, and Black people have higher social vulnerability rates across many different factors. When BlueCross looked at high-severity cases of COVID-19 among its commercial plan members, the percentage for Asian Americans is twice as high as others in the commercial population.

BlueCross notes similar results for Black people in our Medicaid population. Approximately 9% of our Medicaid members tested positive for COVID-19, and 50% of those testing positive for COVID were Black. These individuals accounted for 72% of the high-severity cases.

Williamson Medical Center doctors and nurses celebrate the release patient Isaiah Whalum on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at the Franklin hospital. Whalum recovered COVID-19 and was a patient for 53 days.(Photo: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean )

The reason for these differences? Following significant medical events like heart attack, strokeand hospitalization, members experience the health care system differently. Were seeing a direct correlation between cost and severity of each COVID-19 patient journey. For the more severe COVID-19 journeys, in many cases, we see a larger minority population group.

Data has already shown that COVID-19 vaccine acceptance levels will vary by location anddemographic and socio-economic conditions. Were using flu vaccine acceptance to help us understand the negative perception brought on by decades of distrust in the health care system.

Williamson Medical Center doctors and nurses celebrate the release of recovered COVID-19 patient Isaiah Whalum on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at the Franklin hospital. Whalum had been a patient for 53 days.(Photo: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean )

Phase 1 of our collaboration, already underway, involves mapping communities at high risk for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and using predictive modeling to identify individual- and community-level risk factors. The results will help inform public health messaging.

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One size of care doesnt fit all. Ultimately, were working to uncover the best approach to optimizing health equity for all Tennesseans.

Sherri Zink is chief data officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. Bryan Heckman, Ph.D., is director of theCenter for the Study of Social Determinants of Health and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Meharry Medical College.

Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2020/11/25/what-data-tells-us-health-disparities-vaccines-and-covid-19-tennessee/6416150002/

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What data tells us about health disparities and COVID-19 vaccines | Opinion - Tennessean

At least one of the promising coronavirus vaccines must be transported and stored at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit.

UPS is increasing its dry ice production and availability of super-cold freezers in anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines that need to be stored and transported at temperatures well below zero.

The shipping company says its health care arm can now produce up to 1,200 pounds of dry ice per hour, making it available for hospitals, clinics and other facilities in the U.S. and Canada. UPS says delivery can happen within one day.

Healthcare facilities in Louisville, Dallas and Ontario will ensure we have the capability to produce dry ice to sufficiently pack and replenish shipments as needed to keep products viable and effective," UPS Healthcare president Wes Wheeler said in a statement.

UPS also said it is partnering with Stirling Ultracold to provide portable ultra-low temperature freezers. This will primarily be for smaller care facilities that may lack long-term freezer storage.

These freezers can store vaccines that require temperatures as low as minus-80 degrees Celsius (minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit). The vaccine from Pfizer has to be kept at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit. The one from Moderna also needs to be kept frozen, but at a much warmer minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Keeping the vaccines properly stored will be key. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, meaning people will have to go back for a second shot after three and four weeks, respectively, to get the full protection.

AstraZeneca also said Monday that late-stage trials showed its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective, but it does not need to be kept at subzero temperatures.

Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency useof its vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as December. The company said early results show the vaccine is 95% effective. The Food and Drug Administration can grant emergency use before the final testing is fully complete.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UPS increasing dry ice production, freezers for COVID-19 vaccine - KING5.com

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 59.7 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.4 million.

Tokyo is set to ask bars and restaurants to operate shortened hours, following sharp rises in COVID-19 infections.

A Japanese campaign promoting domestic travel has also been paused in two cities - Sapporo and Osaka - as a result of rising infections.

Italians have been warned by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte not to ski over the Christmas holiday, in order to help curb a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

France is set to begin easing its COVID-19 lockdown this weekend, in a gradual reopening, that won't see restaurants, cafes and bars reopening until 20 January. We must do everything to avoid a third wave, do everything to avoid a third lockdown, President Emmanuel Macron said.

The four nations of the United Kingdom have agreed a plan to relax restrictions over the Christmas period. Up to three households will be able to create a 'bubble' and meet at home from 23-27 December.

Using blood plasma from COVID-19 patients to treat others with severe pneumonia caused by the virus has little benefit, according to data released from a clinical trial in Argentina.

Britain has reported its highest COVID-19 death toll since May, with 608 deaths.

2. Americans urged to stay at home

US health officials and politicians have urged Americans to stay at home over the Thanksgiving holiday.

There are fears the holiday weekend could fuel a surge in infections across the country, as the daily death toll climbed about 2,000.

Cases continue to rise in the United States.

Image: Our World in Data

We are on fire with COVID, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on CNN, defending unpopular restrictions he ordered last week that included new limits on retail activity and school closures. Were just trying to do the right thing.

More than half of states have imposed, or reimposed, restrictions in the face of rising infections.

3. Airlines set to lose $157 billion

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has forecast airlines will lose $157 billion over this year and next, as a result of the travel slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The downgraded forecast, which stood at $100 billion in June, comes despite the promise of COVID-19 vaccines.

The positive impact it will have on the economy and air traffic will not happen massively before mid-2021, IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told Reuters.

Passenger numbers are expected to drop to 1.8 billion this year from 4.5 billion last year and will recover only partially to 2.8 billion next year. Passenger revenue for 2020 is expected to have plunged 69% to $191 billion.

The average airline has enough liquidity to survive another 8.5 months, but others have just weeks.

The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.

As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.

To help all stakeholders communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications - a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forums annual Global Risks Report.

The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies risks perceptions.

Companies are invited to join the Forums work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.

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COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 25 November - World Economic Forum