Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Almost everyone vaccinated for Covid-19 over the last 16 months will remember that he or she received a quick prick in the upper arm. This is because most vaccines, including those for Covid-19, are most effective when administered through the intramuscular route into the upper arm muscle, known as the deltoid, experts say.

There are several reasons, but the most important one is that the muscles have a rich blood supply network. This means whenever a vaccine carrying an antigen is injected into it, the muscle releases the antigen, which gets dispersed by the muscular vasculature, or the arrangement of blood vessels in the muscle. The antigen then gets picked up by a type of immune cells called dendritic cells, which function by showing antigens on their surface to other cells of the immune system. The dendritic cells carry the antigen through the lymphatic fluid to the lymph node.

Through the course of research over the years, we have understood that the lymph nodes have T cells and B cells the bodys primary protector cells. Once this antigen gets flagged and is given to the T cells and B cells, that is how we start developing an immune response against a particular virus, which in this case could be any of the new viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, or the previous viruses which we have been running vaccination programs for, said Dr Rahul Pandit, director of critical care, Fortis Hospital, Mumbai, and a member of the national Covid-19 task force.

The rich blood supply network also gives the muscles a protective mechanism. This means that additives to the vaccine, such as aluminium salts, do not lead to severe local reactions. Conversely, if the vaccine is administered into the subcutaneous fat tissue [between the skin and the muscle], which has a poor blood supply, absorption of the antigen vaccine is poor and therefore you may have failed immune response; similarly, the additives which could be toxic, could cause a local reaction, said Dr Pandit.

The same thing could happen when the vaccine is administered intradermally (just below the outermost skin layer, the epidermis). Hence, the route chosen now for most vaccines is intramuscular.

Also, compared to the skin or subcutaneous tissue, the muscles have fewer pain receptors, and so an intramuscular injection does not hurt as much as a subcutaneous or an intradermal injection.

But why the upper arm muscle in particular?

In some vaccines, such as that for rabies, the immunogenicity the ability of any cell or tissue to provoke an immune response increases when it is administered in the arm. If administered in subcutaneous fat tissues located at the thigh or buttocks, these vaccines show a lower immunogenicity and thus there is a chance of vaccine failure, said Dr Harshad Limaye, senior consultant, internal medicine, Nanavati Max Hospital, Mumbai.

Since the dosage of the vaccine is small (0.5mm) and there is little possibility of severe swelling of the injection site, resulting in inconvenience, its administered in the arm, said Dr Limaye.

Numerous studies on the fat layer between the skin and muscle have found that in most adults (both men and women), the layers seem to be the thinnest around the deltoid muscle. Although the muscle mass in the gluteal area (the buttocks) is much more than in the deltoid, the fat layer is also larger, so to deposit the vaccine inside the muscle may need a longer needle. However, men tend to have a lesser fat layer near the upper arm muscle as compared to women, so women sometimes may need a longer needle to deposit the vaccine into the deltoid muscle, said Dr Pandit.

Why not administer the vaccine directly into the vein?

This is to ensure the depot effect, or release of medication slowly over time to enable longer effectiveness. When given intravenously, the vaccine is quickly absorbed into the circulation. The intramuscular method takes some time to absorb the vaccine.

Wherever a vaccination programme is carried out, it is carried out for the masses. To deposit the vaccine, the easiest route would be the oral route (like the polio vaccine). However, for other vaccines that need to be administered intravenously or intramuscularly (enabling wider field-based administration), the intramuscular route is chosen from a public health perspective over the intravenous route, said Dr Pandit.

Which vaccines are administered through other routes?

One of the oldest vaccines, that for smallpox, was given by scarification of the skin. However, with time, doctors realised there are better ways to vaccinate beneficiaries. These included the intradermal route, the subcutaneous route, intramuscular route, oral, and nasal routes.

There are only two exceptions that continue to be administered through the intradermal route. These are the vaccines for BCG and for tuberculosis, because these two vaccines continue to work empirically well when administered through the intradermal route, said Dr Pandit.

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Explained: Why are Covid-19 vaccines administered into the upper arm? - The Indian Express

Moderna is recalling one lot of its COVID-19 vaccine in Europe after a foreign body was found in one vial. Doses in the U.S. are not impacted.

Modernas coronavirus vaccine, which is now marketed as Spikevax, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adults 18 and older on Jan. 31, 2022, making it the second to receive full FDA approval after Pfizers vaccine.

Now, Modernas vaccine has returned to the news cycle, with people sharing information about Moderna potentially issuing a recall of the vaccine. Google Trends data also show that U.S. residents are searching for information about "Moderna vaccine recall."

THE QUESTION

Was the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recalled in the United States?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was not recalled in the United States. The drugmaker has recalled some doses of the vaccine in Europe after a foreign body was found in one vial.

WHAT WE FOUND

Moderna announced on April 8 that it would recall one lot of Spikevax produced at ROVI, a manufacturing company in Spain, after a foreign body was found in one vial. The impacted vial was punctured and not administered, Moderna said in a news release announcing the recall. Moderna did not disclose what was found in the vial.

The lot consisted of 764,900 doses and was distributed in Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden from Jan. 13-14, 2022, according to Moderna.

Moderna said no safety concerns have been reported in people who received Spikevax from the recalled lot. Additionally, there are no indications that recalled doses that were already administered are less effective than others, according to Moderna.

The lot is being recalled out of an abundance of caution, Moderna said.

Moderna does not believe that this poses a risk to other vials in the lot and does not believe that this affects the significant benefit/risk profile of the vaccine, the news release says.

The company said it is communicating with health authorities as an investigation moves forward.

A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told VERIFY that there is no recall of Modernas vaccine in the U.S. The FDA also has lists of recalled vaccines by year on its website, and the two most recent were in 2021 and did not include any of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that vaccine recalls are rare and typically done because of concerns about how well the vaccine is working or its safety.

The CDC says all approved and authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and the agency recommends that those who are eligible get vaccinated as soon as possible if they havent already.

The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More

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No, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine wasnt recalled in the US - WFAA.com

SUPERIOR, Wis. The AMI Community Clinic at Northwoods Technical College in Superior was at the center of a celebration marking one year of it vaccinating residents against covid.

The clinic was originally set up at Wessman arena at UWS on April 13th last year, then later moved to the Technical College.

Wisconsin chose AMI as one of the clinics around the state for vaccines and boosters for those who wanted them.

Marking the success of the clinics role in vaccinations is something those in Superior and Douglas County wanted to acknowledge.

I think its important to talk about how successful this clinic has been. Number one we dont get a lot of resources up in this area of the state so we really wanted to make sure that we thank the state, thank AMI, thank everybody involved in bringing this resource to such a county without a lot of other resources, Kathy Ronchi, Douglas County Public Health Officer said.

According to the Douglas County Department of Public Health, a little more than 30% of residents there have gotten their booster.

Staff says the clinic isnt going anywhere anytime soon, which is why its still offering vaccines and boosters to anyone who wants one.

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One Year Anniversary of AMI Covid-19 Vaccine Clinic - FOX 21 Online

As the Biden administrations pandemic response evolves, most registered voters say they want the federal government to fund COVID-19 vaccinations in both the United States and overseas, according to a new Morning Consult/Politico survey.

The April 8-11, 2022, survey was conducted among a representative sample of 2,005 registered voters, with an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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Congress Took Funding for Global COVID-19 Vaccinations Off the Table. More Than Half of Voters Say It Should Be a Priority - Morning Consult

WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific and Moderna, whose pioneering mRNA vaccine for COVID has been administered to hundreds of millions globally, were named Clinical Research Team of the Year during the 2021 Citeline Awards.

As Modernas clinical research organization partner, the PPD team, now part of Thermo Fisher, supported Modernas mRNA-1273-P301 vaccine trials, including its pivotal Phase III COVE study. The study enrolled more than 30,000 participants, ages 18 and older, across 99 U.S. sites in 12 weeks in the summer/fall of 2020. The Citeline Award for Clinical Research Team of the Year recognizes this massive joint undertaking.

The PPD and Moderna team worked tirelessly to deliver the COVE trial, working long days side by side in partnership, said Melanie Ivarsson, Ph.D., chief development officer at Moderna. We would also like to acknowledge and thank all the clinical trial investigators and staff, and all the participants who took part in the COVE trial.

The Moderna and PPD teams worked closely with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Institutes of Health, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases COVID-19 Prevention Network, to conduct the Phase III COVE study under Operation Warp Speed.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was available under emergency use authorization in the U.S. beginning in December 2020, and in January 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the biologics license application for the vaccine, marketed as Spikevax, to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older.

This recognition honors our strong collaboration with Moderna and reinforces our shared commitment to develop life-saving vaccines and therapies, said David M. Johnston, Ph.D., senior vice president and president, clinical research, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Were excited to continue supporting Moderna on next-generation, multivalent and variant-specific vaccines in Phase I-III studies through our infrastructure, experience and complementary services.

The Citeline Awards recognize accomplishments across the biopharmaceutical industry and honor the highest achievers. Citeline presented the award during its annual ceremony, held in Boston.

The PPD clinical research team has supported Modernas research initiatives since 2016 across its expanding portfolio, including vaccines, oncology, rare diseases and autoimmune conditions. In February 2022, Thermo Fisher announced a 15-year strategic collaboration agreement with Moderna for dedicated large-scale manufacturing in the U.S. of Spikevax and other investigational mRNA medicines in its pipeline. This expanded agreement includes dedicated capacity for a range of aseptic fill-finish services, including lyophilized and liquid filling, and inspection, labeling and final packaging services.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue of approximately $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD.

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Moderna and Thermo Fisher Scientific Honored for COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts - Business Wire

Several researchers are finding that administering the vaccine to the site of infection the nose, in the case of COVID-19 could be a more efficient way to block the entry of the virus, as opposed to a shot placed in the arm.

A more effective vaccine: While traditional COVID-19 vaccines have been effective in keeping people out of the hospital, it is not uncommon that someone can contract COVID-19 even after being vaccinated, according to Healthline.

Is it safe for humans? As of now, the nasal spray is only being tested on mice, but researchers are optimistic that the treatment could be suitable for use on humans, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and health policy at Vanderbilt University, told Healthline.

Read the original:

Could nasal spray be more effective than a COVID vaccination? - Deseret News

Ambassadors met to review implementation of two resolutions: one on the Secretary-Generals appeal for a global ceasefire during the crisis, and the other on cooperation to facilitate vaccine access.

Ted Chaiban, Global Lead Coordinator for COVID-19 Vaccine Country-Readiness and Delivery, highlighted the need for urgent action this year.

The window of opportunity is gradually closing. We risk losing the momentum and failing on vaccine equity, he said, speaking from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We must therefore use every opportunity to bundle or integrate COVID-19 vaccination with other health and humanitarian interventions and leverage these investments for the longer-term strengthening of health systems.

Although widespread vaccination is critical to ending the pandemic, it is not happening in conflict areas, Dr. Esperanza Martinez of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the Council.

The good news is that, as the supply of vaccine doses grows, the potential to get jabs in arms grows too, she said.

The ICRC has called for international humanitarian law to be respected during conflict. Medical facilities and their personnel, as well as humanitarian workers, must be protected from attacks.

COVID-19 vaccination must also be integrated into a broader health strategy that includes greater investment in health systems.

For Dr. Martinez, this is an opportune moment to see how COVID-19 vaccinations can be routinized and integrated with other health services that are prioritized during times of conflict.

Finally, local communities must also be involved in vaccination activities, something which also enhances the safety of frontline workers, she said.

Dr. Martinez warned how lack of engagement can undermine public trust in vaccinations, as happened in West Africa with Ebola and now in many countries during the pandemic.

Even if communities can be reached, people will not accept being vaccinated if they dont trust those administering the vaccine, and they do not see other pressing priorities being addressed, she said.

MINUSCA

A peacekeeper from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization MIssion in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) pours hand sanitizer into a childs hand.

Misinformation around vaccines, including that they cause infertility in men and women, has contributed to vaccine hesitancy in South Sudan, said Dr. Emmanuel Ojwang, Health and Nutrition Coordinator with the international agency CARE in the country.

However, in the face of huge challenges including food insecurity, flare-ups of intercommunal violence, flooding and a fragile health system the Government and partners were able to rollout COVID-19 vaccines.

Strategic investments in community education and mobilization of religious leaders were keys to busting myths and misinformation, he said.

Delivering vaccines to the last mile in remote and underserved communities, will require a scale-up in healthcare workers, training and infrastructure.

Furthermore, with women less likely to have access to health information and services, gender must be at the centre of the rollout if it is to be equitable and effective.

Dr. Ojwang urged the Council to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need, and for COVID-19 vaccine costing models and budgets to reflect real-world costs of rolling them out to last-mile communities.

Ensure NGOs, women-led organizations and frontline health workers have meaningful roles in COVID vaccine roll-out, not just in delivering services to the last mile - but in decision making about the response, he recommended.

As the United Kingdom holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month, the meeting was chaired by Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the UK Minister of State whose portfolio includes the UN.

He said Resolution 2565, on global cooperation on vaccine access, must remain a top priority.

What is clear is full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and the protection of health workers in line with International Humanitarian Law, remain vitally important, but sadly elusive, he remarked.

Lord Ahmad said the Security Council can help ensure COVID-19 vaccination is prioritized by Governments in countries in conflict, in addition to supporting efforts to boost international cooperation.

This year also represents perhaps the best opportunity so far to improve vaccination in countries on the Councils agenda, according to Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Minister of State for Advanced Technology.

The fair and equitable distribution of vaccines is both a strategic investment and a moral obligation. It is also achievable, she said.

Therefore, it is important that the Council continues to underscore what she called the security benefits of vaccination.

Echoing previous speakers, Ms. Al Amiri also highlighted how improved humanitarian access enhances vaccination efforts, making conditions safer for health workers and the people they serve.

The Councils support for these tools from ceasefires to days of tranquility to humanitarian notification systems as appropriate in specific contexts, can make a difference in the rapid delivery and distribution of vaccines, she said.

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COVID-19 vaccine access in conflict areas remains critical - UN News

Nearly half of Pettis County residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Pettis County Health Center officials, 49.2 percent of the county has received one dose; 42.6 percent have been fully vaccinated; and 39.6 percent have been fully vaccinated plus a booster.

There is one individual hospitalized at Bothwell Regional Health Center, as compared to four last week. One additional death was reported last week for a total of 160 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Vaccine is available for everyone five years of age and older. The first booster dose is given five months after the last dose for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two months after the J & J vaccine are available for those 12 years and older through the Pettis County Health Center, Katy Trail Community Health and Bothwell Regional Health Center.All vaccines are free.

The Pettis County Health Center provides vaccine for individuals at home.You need to Call (660) 827-1130 to make arrangements.The Pettis County Health Center will be the only regular source for Moderna vaccine.

A second booster dose is available for anyone 50 years of age or older or those with compromised immune systems four months after the first booster.

The Pettis County Health Center has regular walk-in clinics from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. on Tuesdays. It also is available to provide vaccine to individuals at home and at places of employment.If there is an increased demand for the vaccine, health center personnel will provide additional opportunities.

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ALMOST HALF OF PETTIS COUNTY RESIDENTS HAVE STARTED COVID-19 VACCINATION PROCESS - kmmo.com

President Joe Biden signed an executive order mandating vaccines for around 3.5 million federal staff and government contractors in September. White House photo by Adam Schultz

When COVID-19 vaccines started to become available in late 2020, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief. After nearly a year of the public health crisis, widespread lockdowns and associated disruption to peoples lives and national economies, there was a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. But it was both a great achievement and something of a headache for governments.

The vaccine would dramatically reduce the number of people becoming seriously ill with coronavirus and take the pressure off hospitals that had for months been operating at breaking point. And it would enable governments to begin slowly lifting restrictions and, in turn, restart economies. But all this relied on one thing peoples willingness to have the vaccine.

In an age of rising populism, and with conspiracy theories and fake news spreading like wildfire on social media, governments and scientists had to work hard to cut through the clamour and disseminate the facts, with varying success. At the same time, many ministers, whose civil servants had been working either wholly or partially remotely for months, had designs on getting the workforce back into offices.

To get things moving, some governments introduced COVID-19 vaccine mandates either for the entire civil or public service or sections of it. This enabled governments to get staff back together in workplaces safely and to act as a role model for wider society, signalling that the vaccine was safe and that it would enable citizens to get back to some semblance of what their lives had been like pre-pandemic.

But how effective have those public sector vaccine mandates been? What are civil servants perceptions of mandates both in countries where they have been introduced and those where they havent? And could they have a negative impact on civil service recruitment and retention?

To find out, Global Government Forum ran a survey. Open between 26 January and 19 February, it gathered nearly 4,000 responses from civil and public servants in 10 countries Canada, the US, UK, New Zealand, Italy, Mexico, Australia, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Colombia.

The survey found that a slim majority of officials agree with vaccine mandates, with 48.8% in favour of the measure, and 45.7% against. The close result shows just how divisive the issue is. Drill down into the results by country, though, and there is some variation. Of the five countries with the most survey respondents (100 or more each) Canada, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Italy New Zealand is the most supportive, with 58.9% agreeing with vaccine mandates for government employees.

While respondents in the US are most against the intervention 49.7% disagree with it those in the UK are least supportive. There, 44.3% of respondents agree with vaccine mandates for civil servants. But it is also the case that fewer people from the UK disagree with mandates than any of the other four countries bar New Zealand. This apparent discrepancy is explained by a higher number of people than in the other countries saying they neither agree nor disagree with vaccine mandates.

Respondents in Canada and Italy are split down the middle in terms of whether they agree or disagree with vaccine mandates, at around 47% and 48% respectively in both countries.

Of the five countries, only the UK has no vaccine mandate in place. There were plans to make vaccination mandatory for all health and social care workers in England from 1 April this year but the government formally revoked these last month after 90% of those responding to a public consultation disagreed with the plans.

Italy has the most wide-reaching mandate. One of the worst affected countries early in the pandemic, its government initially introduced a vaccine mandate for teachers and healthcare workers and in September last year became the first European country to extend that to its 1.2 million government and local authority employees and all private sector workers. In January this year, it expanded that further still, making it mandatory for all individuals over 50 to get the vaccine whether in employment or not.

Canada and the US have introduced mandates for their federal employees. And in New Zealand, vaccination is mandatory for workers in health, education, corrections, fire and emergency, and border control, while some other government departments and agencies require staff working in frontline roles or who want to work from offices to be vaccinated.

While these countries have declared the mandates successful, they have not been without controversy, even in New Zealand where public trust in government is considered high.

Read the full results of Global Government Forums vaccine mandate survey, including perceptions in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern was initially reluctant to introduce mandates but decided they were necessary to reach the vaccination levels needed to safely reopen following lockdowns put in place to curb the Delta outbreak. The mandates are undoubtedly one of the reasons 95% of the countrys eligible population is fully vaccinated, she has said.

New Zealand news website Newshub revealed in Februarythat more than 2,600 government workers had been stood down for failing to comply with the mandate. More than half of that number were in the health sector, with 814 having had their employment terminated, 226 having been stood down from their duties, and 140 staff having chosen to resign, according to government data. A spokesperson reportedly told Newshub that around 7% of the 13,500 frontline workers covered by the mandate were no longer attending incidents.

That same month, inspired by the truckers protests in Canada, thousands of people blocked streets around parliament in the capital, Wellington, to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, culminating in violence and 120 arrests. Three days later, on 25 February, the mandate for police and the defence force which required staff to have two doses of the vaccine by 1 March or face being fired wasbranded unlawful and quashed by the High Court.

Ardern later announced that from 4 April vaccine mandates would be dropped for workers in some sectors, including education, but would continue to apply for those in health, corrections, aged care and at the border.

Like New Zealand, the US government has also come up against the courts on the issue of whether vaccine mandates are lawful.

Having announced in July last year that he was considering mandatory vaccination for federal employees, president Joe Biden signed an executive order mandating vaccines for around 3.5 million federal staff and government contractors in September. Employees were told they must be fully vaccinated or face the possibility of disciplinary action up to and including removal from service.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the overarching objective of the discipline process for feds who flout vaccine mandate rules was to reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans, which stood in October 2021 at around 80 million. We want to reduce that number, decrease hospitalisations and deaths and allow our children to go to school safely Obviously the federal workforce is one of the largest in the country and we would like to be a model of what we think other businesses and organisations should do around the country, she said.

In November, the US Office of Management and Budget announced there had been 96.5% compliance with the mandate across federal government. It defined those in compliance as having had at least one dose of the vaccine or with a pending or approved exception or extension. Government has shown these requirements work: they increase vaccination rates leading to a safer, more productive, and efficient workforce. Theyre good for workers, good for businesses, and good for the country, the White House said in a statement.

Read more: Commerce and transportation departments top US federal vaccine mandate table

However, in late January a court issued an injunction against the mandate, ruling that the Biden administration exceeded its authority by issuing it. Judge Jeffrey Brown of a district court in Texas said the case brought by Feds For Medical Freedom was not about whether people should be vaccinated but instead about whether the president can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment, Brown wrote. That under the current state of the law [] is a bridge too far.

That decision was overturned by an appeals court last week, though the ruling wasnt based on the presidents legal authority in the matter but on a technicality the mandate was reinstated by an appeals court after a panel of judges ruled that the plaintiffs hadnt followed the complaints procedure set out in the Civil Service Reform Act.

Canada, meanwhile, announced in August 2021 that all federal government workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the following month by law or face unpaid leave though this was later extended to the end of October. The government said in a statement that, as the countrys largest employer, it must show leadership in protecting public servants and the communities in which they live and work.

We know vaccinations are the best way to help protect our fellow Canadians from COVID-19 variants of concern, Dominic LeBlanc, president of the Privy Council for Canada and minister of intergovernmental affairs, said at the time. We are encouraged by the many federal employees who have already been vaccinated, and hope that vaccination rates will continue to climb as the Government of Canada moves ahead on its vaccination strategy.

As for civil and public servants perceptions of vaccine mandates, the surveys free text box, which allowed respondents to explain the reasons behind their answers anonymously, and comments posted on the Global Government Forum website, offer a snapshot of the arguments seen in wider society. Those who agree with vaccine mandates believe that the vaccines are safe, feel a moral responsibility to get the jab to protect themselves and others, and often feel that government staff should lead the way in the hope that citizens will follow suit.

This may be the land of the free but we are in the middle of a pandemic that knowns no boundaries and theres no stopping it unless we vaccinate [] Be an American and do your part vaccinate the life you save may be your own, one person wrote.

Another feels that vaccine mandates, while not ideal, are necessary. While Im not generally in favour of the government forcing citizens to do pretty much anything against their will COVID-19 is a serious virus that obviously kills people, they wrote. The vaccinations have proven to be safe and very effective in reducing the risk of serious COVID illness, and almost completely eliminating COVID death. I begrudgingly support the COVID vaccination mandate, and really why would anyone wish to make this a political issue and the last hill they fight on?!

On the other hand, many believe they should have the right to choose whether or not they get the vaccine and see government intervention of this kind as an infringement of civil liberties. Those on this side of the fence typically voice stronger opinions, describing governments decisions to mandate vaccines as, for example, disgusting, tyranny, and coercion and control.

Freedom, liberty and individual rights. My body, my choice, one Canadian survey respondent wrote.

And then there are those who appear to be in favour of vaccines but have concerns over the impact of governments introducing mandates for their employees with threat of discipline for non-compliance.

For example, one person wrote: [An] ineffective and damaging way to drive up vaccination rates damages peoples livelihoods, causes more animosity and alienates those who are hesitant, pushing them further to more extremist views. [It also] damages the strategy needed to properly protect against COVID testing, face masks, distancing and vaccines by making people assume vaccinations will completely halt transmissions.

Read more: Aye of the needle: overcoming vaccine hesitancy

Respondents in the UK also had strong feelings that vaccine mandates risk undermining public health programmes generally and help give rise to anti-vax rhetoric. Vaccine mandates completely undermine years of carefully built-up trust in public health, one respondent wrote. Coercing people into health interventions is just bad policy. All this will do is create mistrust and mean that uptake of vaccines in general is lower. It also serves to mainstream anti-vaccine movements which were until now on the margins of society.

This chimes with the stance taken by the World Health Organization from a public health perspective. In April 2021, WHO said it does not presently support the direction of mandates for COVID-19 vaccination, having argued that it is better to work on information campaigns and making vaccines accessible.

As for whether the survey respondents think vaccine mandates will be effective in driving up vaccination rates, 59.4% agree and 26.5% disagree. This shows that many of those who do not agree with vaccine mandates nevertheless believe that they are or will be effective.

However, there are problems with measuring mandates success and effectiveness, not least that it is impossible to know how many people would have got vaccinated had it not been required by law. And then there are those in the US, for example who have been granted or are seeking exemption from the mandate on medical or religious grounds to take into account. What proportion of those are genuine and what proportion of those seeking exemption have no grounds to do so but are trying their luck in the hope of avoiding the jab?

Denis McDonough, secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs which issued its own vaccine mandate ahead of Bidens government-wide one said in October that the number of departments employees seeking exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine far exceeded those sought when the department mandated inoculations for flu.

Compare the proportion of federal workers who have been vaccinated with that of the general population, though, and it appears the mandate has been successful. The White Houses Psaki said at the end of January that more than 93% of the 3.5 million federal employees covered by the mandate had received at least one jab while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 77.0% of the total US population of 332 million had received their first dose as of 5 April. Though the comparison between the general population and those working for government is not an easy one and largely ignores factors such as socio-economic background, this suggests loosely that the vaccine mandate has been successful in driving up vaccination rates if not among citizens, as a knock-on effect, then certainly among civil and public servants.

In Canada, by the end of March, 98% of federal public servants were fully vaccinated. The countrys chief public health officer, Dr Theresa Tam, said during a press conference in February that theres now obvious evidence that [vaccine mandates] work. We saw a plateau in the uptake of vaccines after a really tremendous effort by Canadians, and then after the introduction of vaccine mandates by the various provinces and territories and jurisdictions, we did see an uptick.

Health minister Jean-Yves Duclos added that in the six months to mid-February as many as three million Canadians chose to get vaccinated sooner because of the mandate.

Now, the Canadian government is considering whether to narrow its mandate requirements, like New Zealand has done, or abolish it completely.

Read more: Trust and teamwork: Hannah Cameron on how New Zealand dodged the COVID bullet

Among the consideration for governments reviewing their vaccine mandates is what impact it could have on civil servants return-to-office. Some argue that scrapping mandates could derail plans, particularly as many public servants are keen to continue to work from home and could resist returning to the workplace without a vaccination policy in place.

According to Global Government Forums survey, 46.8% of respondents said they feel safe (or would feel safe) working on-site without a vaccine mandate in place, while 44.3% said they do not or would not feel safe.

Countries that have introduced vaccine mandates, particularly those with strong enforcement policies that include firing non-compliant staff, have had to decide whether the effectiveness of the mandate in boosting vaccination rates outweighs the possible fallout. As well as the risk of losing staff, potential negative effects include creating a divide among colleagues that damages workforce morale, and putting off potential talent from applying for government jobs.

In the survey, 57.9% of respondents agree that vaccine mandates for government employees will affect retention, with staff either choosing to quit rather than get the vaccine or being fired for non-compliance. Nearly a quarter disagree.

I suppose that means I am fired, one GGF reader commented on a web story about the introduction of the mandate for US federal employees. What an injustice for employees. I dont work with the public and will be fired for non-compliance. I am sure others will leave and work establishments will lose great employees.

As for recruitment, 43.3% of survey respondents believe vaccine mandates for public servants will put people off applying for government jobs, while 38.7% believe there will be no impact.

In a context of labour shortage, coercive measures like mandatory vaccination may pose more risks than benefits, one person wrote.

Another said: Our workplace does not have a vaccine mandate per se, but without vaccination one cannot come into the office or interact with the public. I believe that this will force people from their jobs. Mandates must be considered in the context of the overall support for vaccination. They are a clumsy, heavy-handed tool if not supported by good public health communications and community support. They will increase vaccination rates and show that the public sector is leading but at what cost?

Read more: Exclusive: vast majority of public servants still working remotely, GGF survey finds

Opinions such as these leavegovernments under no misapprehension that vaccine mandates are problematic. Some national administrations felt it their duty to enforce them in a bid to protect their workforce and the communities it serves and to stand up as an example to the wider public. Others, concerned about harming public trust and future public health programmes, chose communication campaigns aimed both at staff and the general public as their weapon of choice in the fight against coronavirus.

The evidence suggests that countries that have introduced mandates for public servants have been successful in increasing vaccination uptake. But with hesitant and anti-vax employees given little choice but to comply, at what cost to morale and retention?

One day, we may have the data that provides an unequivocal answer as to whether or not vaccine mandates were the right choice in the case of COVID-19 and crucially, whether governments will turn to such interventions again when faced with future pandemics and health emergencies. But as the GGF survey indicates, one thing we can say for certain is that the issue has divided public servants like few before it.

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Were governments right to introduce COVID-19 vaccine mandates? - Global Government Forum

Doomed from the start. That phrase neatly describes the Apollo 13 mission, which launched this day in 1970, and the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination effort in the U.S. Yet both can be seen as successful failures.

When astronauts James Lovell, John Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center, they were anticipating mankinds third trip to the surface of the moon. Two days into the mission, a defective oxygen tank exploded when they were some 200,000 miles away from Earth, imperiling their lives and making it impossible to complete their mission. Around-the-clock efforts by teams on the ground, imbued with NASA ingenuity, helped the astronauts return safely to Earth in what was nothing short of a miracle. Our mission was a failure, Lovell wrote later, but I like to think it was a successful failure.

We see parallels with Covid-19: a mission doomed from the start that has managed to eke out some successes.

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More than two years into the pandemic, its clear that the country has failed its primary mission of saving lives. The U.S. is now approaching a devastating 1 million deaths from Covid-19, an incomprehensible loss of life. But within this massive failure there has been a public health success: The tireless work, ingenuity, and collective action of scientists, public health practitioners, and clinicians in both the public and private spheres reminiscent of what NASA scientists and engineers did, but on a much larger scale has led to what is arguably the single most successful vaccination program in U.S. history.

Months before Covid-19 emerged in December 2019, the Global Health Security Index indicated that no country was really prepared for a pandemic. Although the U.S. was deemed most prepared, its capabilities could not compensate for the many shortcomings of its health care and public health systems. These are the same shortcomings that have consistently led the countrys health care system to rank last among high-income countries: incomplete access to care, glaring inequities, insufficient public health resources and infrastructure, and mistrust in both government and industry, to name a few. There was no reason to think the pandemic would solve these problems. Indeed, it made many of them worse and also created new ones.

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But the vaccines their development, manufacture, and widespread uptake have been a massive success. As we write this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 88% of American adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 75% have been fully vaccinated, a higher Covid-19 vaccination rate than other non-mandatory vaccines have reached after being around for decades.

This means that in the span of about 18 months, some 227 million adults voluntarily got vaccinated despite the time it took to arrange an appointment, the discomfort, the likelihood of minor side effects like a sore arm or flu-like symptoms, and the uncertain likelihood of more serious side effects from the most rapidly developed vaccine of all time.

We know it might be hard to view any part of the Covid-19 pandemic response as a success. At times it feels impossible to think weve done anything right when Americans continue to spread SARS-CoV-2 and die from Covid-19 every day. The work is by no means done, and there are substantial gaps in vaccination coverage among adults, particularly when it comes to booster doses and younger populations.

Yet when rates of adult Covid-19 vaccination are compared to rates of vaccination against other vaccine-preventable illnesses, the U.S. has done remarkably well in a short amount of time: More American adults have received a two-dose Covid series since it became available than are current on their once-every-10-years tetanus boosters (about 70.5% of the adult population is up to date). Many more adults have been vaccinated against Covid than get vaccinated against influenza, where were lucky to see even half of the adult population vaccinated in a given year.

Eighty-eight percent is a simple statistic, but simple figures can reveal a lot about broader trends. For points of reference, a higher percentage of U.S. adults have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine than, according to Gallup, drink alcohol (60%); use Google (74%) in a typical week; find polygamy unacceptable (78%); or send their kids to public schools (83%). And despite the saying as American as apple pie, only 19% of Americans actually rate apple pie as their favorite, making Covid vaccination more American than apple pie at least by the numbers.

There are few things Americans appear to agree on more than Covid vaccination, though two key issues have clearly been settled: The Wizard of Oz was a classic (89%) and Gigli probably should never have been made (94%).

It was by no means certain that Covid-19 vaccination would become a widely accepted part of American life in less than a year and a half. This should be viewed as an important public health accomplishment a success within the countrys broader failure. Why? Surveys indicate that self-preservation and self-interest seem to be the major drivers as people make decisions to get vaccinated meaning public health messaging has helped many Americans see through widespread disinformation, fearmongering, and conspiracy theories to understand their own risks and take the appropriate action to lower them.

But the sense of duty that serves as a primary motivator for some and a secondary motivator for many more cant be discounted. Concerns about externalities an economic term that refers to the effects an individuals decisions has on others are at the core of this sense of duty and are what make getting vaccinated not just a privately beneficial decision but a patriotic one, even when promoting the public good isnt the primary motivator and even when people dont necessarily view it this way. Indeed, one study has shown that a sense of purpose can be a motivator of vaccination decisions.

If we were to ask the NASA workers whose tireless efforts brought Lovell, Swigert, and Haise back home, we imagine that self-interest wanting to keep their job would have been one motivator. But other motivations that kept them working through sleepless nights would surely have included a sense of duty, purpose, and even patriotism.

Patriotism in America is about coming together under common threads and common values. More than 40 million people watched television to see if the Apollo 13 astronauts would make it back to Earth safely. When they did, a New York Times reporter wrote that the events in all probability united the world in mutual concern more fully than another successful landing on the moon would have.

If there is any indication of Americans mutual concern for our national health and well-being, it could very well be the 88% of us who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

To be sure, uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. has not been as high as in other countries, including countries like Brazil or Vietnam that have far fewer resources than the U.S. And its certainly worth making comparisons between the U.S. and countries that have outperformed it to learn whatever public health lessons this pandemic has to offer. But it is also important to consider what might have happened had the U.S. not achieved the high levels of vaccination it did.

Its also tempting to point to divisiveness within the country as a sign of failure and, in particular, for the vaccinated to view the unvaccinated as paying no price for their decisions and being inconsiderate of their duty to their community and their country. Lies and misinformation have fueled very loud critics of scientifically undisputed infection-control measures, while assumptions about the character of the unvaccinated have led to vitriolic, misplaced accusations about entire groups of people.

While we personally think that our unvaccinated and undervaccinated neighbors could be doing more, extreme views are pervasive and ignore an important reality: We have all made sacrifices or done something other than getting vaccinated that supports our communities during the pandemic, whether its working an essential job with higher risk of infection, managing family life disruptions from social distancing and infection control measures, or helping neighbors that have been hit hard financially by economic disruptions. While most Americans now have some degree of biological immunity against Covid-19, none of us has been immune to the social and economic tolls of the pandemic. And, sadly, many more unvaccinated Americans have paid the ultimate price death from Covid-19 than vaccinated Americans since vaccines became widely available

Public health wont be taking days off for the foreseeable future, nor will doctors and nurses and caregivers. Many of them are running on fumes, though some want to stop. Lets not lose sight of the success buried within this larger failure and take a moment to recognize a truly remarkable achievement: 255 million (and counting!) people children, adults, our neighbors and friends have bettered their country by getting Covid-19 vaccinations.

Christopher M. Worsham is a pulmonologist and critical care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Anupam B. Jena is an internal medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and host of the Freakonomics, MD podcast.

The rest is here:

The 'successful failures' of Apollo 13 and Covid-19 vaccination - STAT