Rick Devereaux| OPINION COLUMNIST
Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world for the past two years has often been viewed through a political lens, particularly in our own country.Individual perceptions about the seriousness of the disease, the merits of mask policies, school closures, treatment regimens, and the efficacy of vaccines have been influenced more by ones political tribe or ideology than science or expert judgment.
For instance, a November 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that unvaccinated adults were three times more likely to lean Republican than Democrat.In essence partisanship mattered more than any other demographic factor in predicting whether someone got the vaccine.
What makes this so discouraging is the stark contrast between the lethality of COVID-19 and the ease of preventing its most severe manifestations.The pandemic has killed almost one million Americans, more than the 1918 flu and approaching the total number of Americans who have died in all of its wars.This horrific reality is dumbfounded by the fact that the vast majority of these deaths could have been prevented.The vaccines that have been widely available over the past 12 months effectively prevent hospitalizations and death in all but a tiny portion of the population.Yet despite this, over one third of Americans and Buncombe County residents remain unvaccinated, choosing to believe misinformation in their political or cultural news feeds over experts and science.
Because of this politicization of various COVID-19 mitigation strategies and vaccinations, many civic organizations and nonprofit groups have shied away from taking a stand, choosing against wading into a controversial area that might produce unintended consequences for membership or fundraising.
One organization that has rejected such caution is Rotary International, the global service organization comprised of 1.2 million members in over 200 countries.While understanding that many of its U.S. members remain unvaccinated, Rotary recently released a statement providing unambiguous support for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Rotary sees the decision to vaccinate as a humanitarian and civic imperative, asserting that global vaccination is the path to ending the pandemic and the emergence of new variants.Rotary clubs around the world have been charged to set good examples by being exemplary role models and redoubling their efforts to support COVID-19 vaccination.
Rotarys statement is all the more significant given its conservative nature, the business orientation of many of its members, and a historical tendency to avoid controversy.
So why did Rotary come out with such a strong stance?
Its simple. For the past 35 years, Rotary has been in the forefront in promoting vaccinations to fight disease, highlighted by its signature campaign against polio. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotarys $2.1 billion in donations from its members, combined with its global vaccination distribution program, has driven down polio cases by 99.9%, saving an estimated 19 million children from permanent paralysis.Rotary and its partners are nearly at the finish line in this fight against polio.Only five cases of wild poliovirus were reported globally in 2021, all contained to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Rotary knows that vaccinations work and maintains that we can apply the lessons we have learned in fighting polio to the efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this strong Rotary International position, Rotary is not monolithic.While support for this position likely varies among Rotarians in our region, the two largest clubs in Western North Carolina are on board.The Rotary Club of Asheville, the oldest and largest club in the region, is proactively promoting the policy, even funding a billboard campaign due to launch on March 14.
Club president Katherine Morosani says, Our club stands proudly with Rotary in promoting COVID-19 vaccines for every eligible person. Vaccines worked to crush polio; they can do the same for COVID-19. Keith Logan, president of the Rotary Club of Hendersonville states, The data show that vaccinations reduce the likelihood of infection, severe illness, and death while having low risk.The best way to get past the pandemic is for everyone to be vaccinated.
We all need to heed the call of Rotary International, public health officials, and the experts to get vaccinated now against COVID-19.Despite declining infection rates, over 2,000 Americans still die each day from this disease, and the threat from future variants continues to loom.Like polio, there are treatments but no known cure for COVID-19. Our best defense is vaccination.
Major General Rick Devereaux is a retired Air Force officer and the secretary and past president of the Rotary Club of Asheville.
Follow this link:
Opinion: Rotary clear on stance, applies lessons of polio to COVID-19 vaccines - Citizen Times
The first overseas trials of the Turkovac vaccine against Covid-19 will be held in Azerbaijan next week, Healthcare Minister of Turkiye Fahrettin Koca said this week.
According to Koca, all preparations for the third testing phase have been completed in Azerbaijan.
Last week, we started using Turkovac in all our hospitals, Report.az quoted Koca as saying.
Currently, the number of Turkovac vaccines has exceeded one million, and their production is increasing day by day. I think that in two months, we will easily reach 1-1.5 million per month, he added.
According to data compiled by the Turkish government, the national vaccine is being used in all 81 provinces of Turkiye.
The phase one trials of Turkovac started in November 2020, with the second and third phases have been rolled out in February and June 2021, respectively. The phase three studies proved the vaccine to be at least as effective as Chinese CoronaVac, the efficacy of which is said to be 100 percent against severe Covid-19.
Officials at the Turkish Vaccine Institute confirmed Turkovac to fight the Omicron variant effectively.
Meanwhile, more than 13 million doses of vaccines have been administered in Azerbaijan since the start of the mass vaccination in January 2021. Over 5.3 million people have received the first dose, while nearly 4.8 million people - the second dose. In addition, around 2.8 million people have been given a booster shot.
Azerbaijans health authorities have so far authorized Chinese CoronaVac, German-American Pfizer BioNTech, Russian Sputnik V, and British-Swedish Vaxzevria (formerly AstraZeneca). The CoronaVac vaccine accounts for the largest number of vaccines used against Covid-19 in the country.
The ongoing voluntary and state-sponsored vaccination in Azerbaijan is scheduled for 2021-2022. Those who received two shots of a vaccine are eligible to receive a vaccination certificate. At the same time, those who have contracted the virus and fought it off can obtain an immune certificate.
Starting on February 15, 2022, the vaccination certificate is considered valid for six months after the second-dose completion. Earlier, the certificates were issued permanently.
According to the latestdata,Covid-19 infected nearly 789,000 people in Azerbaijan, of which more than 774,000 recovered. The virus claimed 9,500 lives in the country of ten million population.
Read the rest here:
Azerbaijan to Stage First Overseas Trials of Turkish Covid-19 Vaccine - Caspian News
Markian Hawryluk| Kaiser Health News
Bend, Ore.Monica Melkonianwanted the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. It was only one shot and then she would be protected against the virus. So she was thrilled when the vaccination clinic at theDeschutes County Fair & Expo CenteronApril 7had her first choice.
But onApril 13, Melkonian started experiencing headaches, a sharp pain behind her left eye. That same day federal health officials announced a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine after learning that six people had developed a rare blood-clotting disorder following their shots.
Despite her ongoing headaches, she and her husband,Stan Thomas, spent the next Saturday working around their home. He hung a ceiling fan in their garage where he works on motorcycles. She spent the day pulling weeds. They walked their lot identifying the projects they wanted to complete that summer. Late into the evening, they soaked in their hot tub, drinking champagne and margaritas, eating strawberry shortcake. They watched the moon rise and the stars come out in the darkCentral Oregonsky.
We were literally talking about how amazing our lives have been and how lucky we were, Thomas said.
Less than a week later, she was dead.
The 52-year-old woman is one of only nine people in theU.S.known to have died from vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a rare side effect of the J&J vaccine, and a victim of tragic timing. Thomas believes his wife would be alive today had the information about potential side effects been shared even a few days earlier. Instead, he is left to tell her story and protect her legacy.
Both were experts in the field of occupational health and safety and directly involved with the pandemic response. Both knew a one-in-a-million risk of the COVID-19 vaccines paled in comparison with the risks of the virus itself. And while Thomas remains steadfastly pro-vaccine and bristles at the idea of the anti-vaccine movement capitalizing on his wifes death, he questions whether health authorities have done enough to help people understand their vaccination options.
According to data compiled by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, women between ages 30 and 49 appear to be at highest risk for the complication that killed Melkonian. Federal health officials now recommend everyone take thePfizerorModernamRNA vaccines instead. Theyve left the J&J vaccine on the market to avoid undermining confidence in a vaccine that will likely play a crucial role in bringing the global pandemic to an end.
Its a decision that Melkonians death helped illuminate. Her case was presented to the experts who made that recommendation.
Now Thomas is fighting to ensure her sacrifice is not forgotten. Its easy to lose sight of the humanity hidden in the statistics of risk.
When its 8 million doses and two people are going to die from it, he said, who thinks its going to be you?
Melkonian and Thomas had met while working as fatality investigators for theOregon Occupational Healthand Safety department. He had been her mentor in 1996, overseeing her first inspections. After their respective marriages ended, their friendship turned to romance, and they got married in 2007. When COVID-19 hit, their jobs centered on the pandemic. Thomas oversaw planning for Oregons nonmedical response, while Melkonian worked for a software company that helped companies track vaccinations.
From day one, the pandemic was part of this household, Thomas said. There was no escaping it.
They talked frequently about the coming COVID-19 vaccines and the differences among them. They recognized that all three were safe and effective, and that the possibility of a bad side effect was minimal. He wanted mRNA vaccines. She wanted to be protected as soon as possible, and the one-dose J&J vaccine seemed it would accomplish that faster.
You definitely hit the jackpot, Thomas recalled telling her after she got her shot. You should go buy a lottery ticket, because todays your lucky day.
It turns out it was a lottery no one wants to win. The chance of a woman her age dying from the shot was literally 1 in 1 million.
A month later, we realized once that needle hit her arm, it was a one-way ticket to here, Thomas said.
On that day working around their home, her headaches had mostly gone. They went to bed basking in the warmth of their perfect day. But at4 a.m.the next day,April 18, Thomas heard Melkonian cry out and hit the floor. She had experienced a seizure and couldnt move her right arm. Thomas suspected a stroke and immediately thought of the vaccine.
No! This isnt happening to me, Melkonian cried out as Thomas spoke with the 911 operator.
As they waited for the ambulance, they used those precious minutes to tell each other the kinds of things you say when you dont know what the future will hold. By the time the ambulance arrived, she could no longer speak.
The progression of this was just lightning-fast, Thomas said, which I am tragically grateful for.
At the St. CharlesBendemergency room, Thomas told her to squeeze his hand once for yes and twice for no, as doctors asked her questions.
The last thing that I said to her was that I loved her and asked her to squeeze my hand twice, Thomas said. She did.
They rolled her out of the room to get a CT scan, and when she returned, she couldnt respond in any way.
We're offering a great rate on digital subscriptions. Click here.
Dr.Scott Rewinkel, a neurologist who specializes in clinically complex patients at the hospital, was paged about a seizure patient. He reviewed Melkonians CT scan. She had experienced several brain bleeds on the left side of her frontal lobe.
And thats an unusual spot for somebody her age and her general health, he said.
Just days earlier, Rewinkel and his neurology colleagues at the hospital had discussed guidelines for identifying and treating the very condition that had struck Melkonian. Its a paradoxical condition in which the immune system destroys the platelets needed for clotting, while leading to blood clots in the venous sinuses of the brain. The patient experiences clotting and bleeding at the same time.
Thomas thought if he could just get his wife home, shed be all right.
That was my hope: Get her back, and then therapy and everything, and we can still go have fun and live our lives, Thomas said. By Sunday night, that hope was gone.
Despite doing everything called for in the treatment guidelines, doctors were struck by how quickly her condition deteriorated. Every successive CT scan showed the bleeding spreading over more of her brain. There was one last-ditch effort they could try. They could open her skull to allow the brain to swell outside its fixed confines. But her brain had already been so damaged, she likely would have faced significant disabilities. The bleeds had hit areas of the brain associated with language and personality.
Who am I getting back? Thomas recalled asking the doctor as they weighed the procedure. What Im getting back is somebody thats going to be sitting in a wheelchair with drool running down her stomach, not knowing what shes looking at off the deck.
The doctors estimated that without further intervention Melkonian would die by the end of the week. Thomas told them to take any blood or tissue samples, to run any tests that might help doctors understand why the J&J vaccine was causing this side effect or how to reverse it.
The body is a vessel for the soul, and the soul is gone. So get what you can, Thomas said he told them.
On the afternoon ofApril 20, some 200 doctors, nurses and other staffers lined the hospital hallway as they pushed Melkonian on her final journey. Thomas, along with her son and her brother, walked behind them. Then they went outside the hospital, lowered the American flag, and raised the Donate Life flag beneath it, while inside doctors removed her organs. Her liver and right kidney went to a 40-year-old man, her left kidney to a 50-year-old man, her heart to a 40-year-old man.
Three days later, aCDCadvisory council reviewed the data on the J&J vaccine and recommended lifting the 10-day pause. The committee members felt taking one of the approved vaccines off the market would hamper vaccination efforts, and that the one-dose vaccine offered important benefits for people who might be difficult to bring back for a second shot, or for places where the super-cold storage required for the mRNA vaccines might not be available.
Then the FDA updated its fact sheet on the vaccine, advising women under 50 of the potential side effect. Rewinkel had presented Melkonians case so it could be included in the analysis.
The big takeaway is that the risk is very, very small, Rewinkel said. Its simply a game of statistics and numbers.
The odds of having a complication from a COVID-19 vaccine, he said, are incredibly small compared with the risks of the virus.
In December, the committee reviewed updated data on the J&J vaccine throughAugust 2021. After more than 14 million doses were administered, 54 total cases of the clotting disorder had resulted in eight deaths. Thats 0.00006%. TheU.S.case fatality rate for COVID-19 is 1.2%. A ninth clotting death occurred but doesnt change the death rate measurably.
The committee considered whether the now ample supply of the mRNA vaccines meant the J&J vaccine could be pulled, but decided to leave it in place. Instead, the panel recommended the mRNA vaccines over the J&J shot. The J&J shots are still being given and more than 18 million shots have been administered in theU.S.
Thomas inquired about aFederal Emergency Management Agencyprogram to help with burial costs for people who died of COVID-19 but was told his wife was not eligible because her death certificate didnt list COVID-19 as the cause of death. To Thomas, such rules seem to ignore her death as part of the full toll of pandemic fatalities.
Shes a hero of the times that were living in, in this pandemic, in this world which we are faced with today, he said, for the legacy of the work she did, and doing her societal obligations, and giving her life for it.
Thomas is also upset that the risks of the various vaccines werent communicated earlier and more clearly.
Theyre not taking time to explain the acceptable risk, he said. Theyre not taking time to communicate what shots are good for what age groups."
Maybe officials didnt know of the risk before Melkonian got her shot rare side effects often emerge only when a vaccine is administered to large numbers of people. In the clinical trials of the J&J vaccine, one person developed that side effect and survived.
Thomas would have preferred a more nuanced public health message, explaining the differences among the vaccines and how women ages 30 to 49 were at higher risk of complications from the J&J vaccine. Although Melkonian was a few years older than that range, her husband feels she would have heeded such a warning.
It was an absolute failure to some degree, he said. The fear of scaring everybody away from the vaccines overran the ability to educate the public correctly.
A couple of weeks after Melkonian died, Thomas still hadnt been vaccinated. He called up a friend who was helping to run the countys vaccine clinic. He knew her from years of working withDeschutes County Search and Rescue.
I cant go get a shot where Monica got her shot, he said he told her. I cant go in there.
She arranged for him to get his first vaccination shot at the search-and-rescue teams building. Several friends showed up to support him. One made breakfast. They did their best to keep his mind off the circumstances, but his mind was awash with conflicting thoughts.
My wife, my best friend, my soulmate is dead because of whats happening to me right now, he recalled thinking. I know people are going to look at me and go, Youre an idiot!
He figured people would second-guess his decision to get vaccinated after her death. Ive got friends that refuse to get a shot and theyre losing their job because they dont want to get a shot. And theyre like, But look what happened to Monica, he said. They use her as justification.
However, he said, he still believes in COVID-19 vaccines and that his choice was made before his wife died. He is now among the more than 200 million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.
(KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.)
Link:
The one-in-a-million risk of the COVID-19 vaccines: Who thinks its going to be you? - Detroit News
2022-03-04
It has now been 63 weeks since the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent out to states, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in human history. As of March 3, 691,748,065 doses of the vaccine have been sent out across the country equivalent to 210.7% of the U.S. population.
While the initial distribution of the vaccine took longer than federal projections had indicated, in recent months the U.S. has made great leaps in the worldwide race to administer vaccinations and some states are faring far better than others. Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states limited shipments of the vaccine as well as funding and tasks them with distributing the vaccine in accordance with relatively loose federal guidelines.
Each state has developed its own rollout plan, prioritizing different age groups and classes of essential workers. The mix of policies and logistical challenges across the country has led to wide variations across states in both the percentage of vaccines that have been administered and the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
In Wisconsin, 89.0% of allocated vaccines have been administered to residents as of March 3, greater than the national average of 80.1% and the largest share of all states.
The administered doses amount to 169.7% of the state population, in line with the 168.8% national figure and the 21st largest share of all states.
While a majority of Americans remain unvaccinated due to a lack of supply, there are some who have no plans to receive a vaccine at all. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of U.S. adults 18 and over who have not yet received the vaccine will either probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine in the future. In Wisconsin, 74.8% of adults who have not yet received the vaccine report that they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine in the future, the 10th largest share of any state. The most common reason cited for not wanting a vaccine is being concerned about possible side effects. Other commonly cited reasons include not trusting COVID-19 vaccines, believing they don't need a vaccine, and not trusting the government.
To determine how states are doing with the vaccine rollout, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of vaccines administered within a state as a percentage of the number of vaccines distributed to that state by the federal government as of March 3. Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 3 came from various state and local health departments and were adjusted for population using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. Data on the percentage of adults who probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine and their reasons for not getting one came from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, conducted from December 29, 2021 to January 10, 2022.
See the article here:
WASHINGTON The U.S. Army announced updated COVID-19 vaccination rates and exemption requests as of Mar. 3, 2022.
As of March 3, 2022, the Army has not involuntarily separated any Soldiers solely for refusing the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As previously announced, Army officials have issued guidance for the mandatory initiation of separation for Soldiers who refuse this lawful order.
To date, Army commanders have relieved a total of six Regular Army leaders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 3,183 general officer written reprimands to Regular Army Soldiers for refusing the vaccination order.
As the Army accesses and discharges Soldiers and continues to refine data tracking processes, the vaccination percentages will vary slightly.
For details on Army National Guard vaccination rates, please contact the National Guard Bureau, NGBMediaDesk@mail.mil.
The Army is not releasing further details on U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard refusals and exemptions prior to the June 30, 2022 completion goal for each component.
For additional information on Army vaccination rates, contact the U.S. Army Media Relations Division at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-ocpa.mbx.mrd-press-desk@army.mil.
Continued here:
Department of the Army announces updated COVID-19 vaccination rates - United States Army
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also effective in reducing symptomatic COVID-19 in a socially vulnerable community, where viral transmission is high and access to healthcare might be limited. This is the conclusion of astudyperformed in a group of favelas in Brazil, and co-led by ISGlobal, a centre supported by the la Caixa Foundation, and theOswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil(Fiocruz).
A large number of people in low- and middle-income countries live in densely populated slums or favelas, often withlimited resourcesto respond to the stress caused by a pandemic such as COVID-19. We know that socially vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic they aremore exposed to the virus and are more likely to die if they get sick says ISGlobal researcherOtavio Ranzani, but studies estimating vaccine effectiveness in these populations are lacking, he adds. Moreover, few studies have assessed vaccine effectiveness against the Gamma variant, which circulated mainly in Brazil and Latin America, and is able to partially escape recognition by vaccine-induced antibodies.
In this study, Ranzani and colleagues in Brazil aimed to test the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in a socially vulnerable population, at a time when bothDeltaandGammawere the predominant variants circulating in the country. To do so, they focussed on the community ofComplexo da Mar, the largest group of slums inRio de Janeiroand one of the areas with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Thanks to the efforts of civil society, NGOs and the local community, afree testing strategywas implemented for the 140,000 residents living in the area. In addition, amass vaccination campaignbetweenJuly and October 2021managed to cover 93.4% of adults with two doses, an action that was led by the projects ongoing in Complexo da Mar and supported by the Secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro.
The research team linked the community-program testing database with the vaccination campaign database to perform their analysis, which included 10,077 PCR tests (64% from symptomatic individuals, and 36% from people who had no symptoms, with an average age of 40). After adjusting for certain factors such as age, sex and comorbidities, they found that theprotection against symptomatic COVID-19 was 31% after one dose and 65% after the second dose. Our estimates are in accordance with other studies of effectiveness of this vaccine with these variants of concern, and confirmthe need of administering the second dose, saysFernando Bozza, senior author from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The analysis, however, did not allow to estimate vaccine protection against severe disease. ISGlobal and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation have an ongoing memorandum of agreement and further studies are expected.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Randomized controlled/clinical trial
People
Vaccine effectiveness of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 against COVID-19 in a socially vulnerable community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a test-negative design study
9-Feb-2022
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Read the original here:
2022-03-04
It has now been 63 weeks since the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent out to states, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in human history. As of March 3, 691,748,065 doses of the vaccine have been sent out across the country equivalent to 210.7% of the U.S. population.
While the initial distribution of the vaccine took longer than federal projections had indicated, in recent months the U.S. has made great leaps in the worldwide race to administer vaccinations and some states are faring far better than others. Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states limited shipments of the vaccine as well as funding and tasks them with distributing the vaccine in accordance with relatively loose federal guidelines.
Each state has developed its own rollout plan, prioritizing different age groups and classes of essential workers. The mix of policies and logistical challenges across the country has led to wide variations across states in both the percentage of vaccines that have been administered and the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
In Illinois, 83.2% of allocated vaccines have been administered to residents as of March 3, greater than the national average of 80.1% and the 13th largest share of all states.
The administered doses amount to 172.3% of the state population, in line with the 168.8% national figure and the 20th largest share of all states.
While a majority of Americans remain unvaccinated due to a lack of supply, there are some who have no plans to receive a vaccine at all. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of U.S. adults 18 and over who have not yet received the vaccine will either probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine in the future. In Illinois, 71.0% of adults who have not yet received the vaccine report that they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine in the future, the 20th largest share of any state. The most common reason cited for not wanting a vaccine is being concerned about possible side effects. Other commonly cited reasons include not trusting COVID-19 vaccines, not trusting the government, and not knowing if the vaccine will work.
To determine how states are doing with the vaccine rollout, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of vaccines administered within a state as a percentage of the number of vaccines distributed to that state by the federal government as of March 3. Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 3 came from various state and local health departments and were adjusted for population using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. Data on the percentage of adults who probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine and their reasons for not getting one came from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, conducted from December 29, 2021 to January 10, 2022.
See the article here:
Dr. Kishwar Tanwir holds up syringes as she shows female health workers in Karachi how to inject the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Pakistan has dispatched some 13,000 teams of female-led vaccinators to bring up the country's vaccination rate. Female health workers are more likely to get access to women in conservative households who don't speak to men. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Dr. Kishwar Tanwir holds up syringes as she shows female health workers in Karachi how to inject the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Pakistan has dispatched some 13,000 teams of female-led vaccinators to bring up the country's vaccination rate. Female health workers are more likely to get access to women in conservative households who don't speak to men.
KARACHI, Pakistan A doctor gives a pep talk to some two dozen women sitting in a hall of a medical center. "We've got Pfizer. We've got Moderna. We've got Sinovac," says Dr. Kishwar Tanwir, who oversees vaccinations in the Pehlwan Goth district of the Pakistani city of Karachi.
The women were about to go door-to-door to offer COVID-19 jabs on a recent February day part of some 13,000 teams led by women that were dispatched across the southern province of Sindh to vaccinate some 12 million people over the age of 12.
This dramatic intervention by the Sindh government aims to vaccinate a cohort they have struggled to reach: some 25% of residents who have not had their first dose, despite vaccines being widely available for the past year through supplies provided by the U.N.-backed COVAX program, the U.S. and China.
"The objective of the door-to-door campaign was basically to focus on these people," says Dr. Sohail Raza Shaikh, the government's point person for COVID-19. "People who are less literate, less aware about the COVID-19 vaccine."
It's not known how many countries have tried to bring the vaccine to people's doorsteps, but senior Pakistani health officials said they were not aware of any other effort this large anywhere else. If it works, it could be a model for other developing countries, struggling to boost their vaccination rates. Pakistan's eventual goal: bringing the Sindh province's first dose vaccine rate to 90 to 95%.
Pakistan dispatches female health workers for these sorts of public campaigns because they're more likely to get access to women in conservative households who don't speak to men. They have years of experience, frequently fanning out across Pakistan to administer the oral polio vaccine to millions of children.
Female health workers wait for medics to fill their cooler boxes with a variety of vaccines from Pfizer to China's Sinovc to Russia's Sputnik V. Health officials say offering residents a variety of vaccine brands helps them overcome hesitation. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Female health workers wait for medics to fill their cooler boxes with a variety of vaccines from Pfizer to China's Sinovc to Russia's Sputnik V. Health officials say offering residents a variety of vaccine brands helps them overcome hesitation.
At the medical center in Pehlwan Goth, Namra, a 21-year-old health worker waits for a medic to fill her blue cooler box with a mix of different vaccines stored in a deep freezer. She's only got one name, like many people here.
She jumps into a rickshaw to travel to her assigned area some five minutes away, accompanied by her team two sisters: Sajeela and Sajida. One is a social mobilizer: Her job is to convince residents to get vaccinated. The other sister enters data about the people they're vaccinating.
They reach the Hindubasti, a ramshackle patch of huts dominated by Hindus and Sikhs, wedged between leafy nurseries and a college. They weave through narrow alleyways, stepping around garbage and puddles. The women turn a corner and enter the grounds of a Hindu temple.
Namra is meant to vaccinate door-to-door, but she says she'd rather do it in the temple. The Hindubasti is a small area, she says, and residents can easily find her here, adding "This is a very dirty area this is the only clean place."
She respectfully takes off her shoes and enters the temple, where colorful statues of Gods and flowers adorn a shelf. Her gesture is striking in a Muslim-majority country where Hindus are often looked down upon.
Her two colleagues head to the nearest house to start mobilizing people to come to the temple to get vaccinated. They greet a woman, Kamli, sitting with her husband in a patch of sunlight outside their hut.
Kamli says she's not vaccinated because she's got kidney stones. She's worried the vaccine will make her sicker, and she can't afford a doctor. "My husband is a balloon seller," Kamli says. "We barely eat bread."
A young woman in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi, holds the balloons that her father sells to provide a livelihood for them all. It's scarcely enough, says the woman's mother, Kamli. "We barely eat bread," she says. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
A young woman in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi, holds the balloons that her father sells to provide a livelihood for them all. It's scarcely enough, says the woman's mother, Kamli. "We barely eat bread," she says.
The health workers prod her to get vaccinated at the temple. She shrugs.
In the next hut, Mohammad Shuaib, 38, insists he got his first injection in December but hasn't got around to his second. Health workers find Birma Lal around 40 shaving in his front yard. He says he'll come after he smartens up. His wife promises to go once she finishes hand-washing the laundry in a shallow tub.
None of them turn up.
Then the health workers head next door, where a man in his mid-30s, Kamran, is sitting in front his hut on a charpoy, a bed made of woven rope. He says he's had his first shot, but his relatives gesturing to the men standing around him don't want to be vaccinated at all. "There's a rumor it could affect your sexual powers or even kill you," he says.
As he chats, Namra, the vaccinator, leaves the Hindu temple and passes Kamran's house. "Only one woman came by," she says, for a vaccine dose at the temple.
Then, Namra sees a few people milling around Kamran's house. She puts her cooler box filled with vaccines on Kamran's charpoy right beside him. It might be grubby, but there's people she might be able to convince.
The mood shifts.
Namra starts offering vaccines to one of Kamran's unvaccinated relatives, Prakash. "I've got American vaccines, Chinese vaccines," she says, gesturing to her cooler box. He asks for Pfizer, and Namra quickly gets vial. She injects him, and makes him sit for 15 minutes so she can observe for side effects. Her colleagues take down his details.
Namra, a 21-year-old health worker, prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine at the house of Kamran, in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Namra, a 21-year-old health worker, prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine at the house of Kamran, in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi.
Watching this, laborer Sana Tandharam asks to get vaccinated. "I was waiting for other people to get vaccinated first!" he exclaims.
A line gathers. Other health workers turn up to support Namra a young man helps out on entering the data of residents about to be vaccinated. Another support worker comes to encourage more people to come to Kamran's house.
Women wait for their turn as their toddlers cling to their legs. Giggling teenage girls cluster on another charpoy. Then it's the turn of 13-year-old Aarthi. Her shirt is so tattered that Namra injects the vaccine into her arm through a hole in her sleeve.
A young woman clenches her dupatta, or scarf, between her teeth as Namra, a 21-year-old health worker, injects her with a COVID-19 vaccine. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
A young woman clenches her dupatta, or scarf, between her teeth as Namra, a 21-year-old health worker, injects her with a COVID-19 vaccine.
Ten days into the two-week campaign, Shaikh, the Sindh point person for COVID-19, says they're doing well. His data shows that they've vaccinated just over half their target of 12 million people with their first dose. He says they'll run another campaign in late March.
"Now that it's been done here," he says of the door-to-door effort, "it can be replicated in other parts of Pakistan. I would suggest that this is a good model."
This model could be done in other developing countries but it's expensive, says Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which is a funder of NPR and this blog). He was in Pakistan in mid-February to see the country's polio vaccination efforts firsthand and spoke to reporters.
"The polio campaign has used to house-to-house basically in the entire world, and it's not used for much else," Gates says. "It's expensive. But if you want to get, well over 90% coverage, 95% coverage, certainly in developing countries, that's the only way you'll get to that level."
Young women wait to get vaccinated by Namra, a 21-year-old health worker who's part of a national door-to-door vaccination effort in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Young women wait to get vaccinated by Namra, a 21-year-old health worker who's part of a national door-to-door vaccination effort in the informal Hindubasti settlement in Karachi.
Back in the slum, it's the late afternoon and Namra thanks Kamran for letting her work in his yard. Her team packs up and walks through a communal square where teenage girls are washing laundry in tubs. When they see Namra and her cooler box, they squeal and line up for a shot: It's the most exciting thing on a day of drudgery. Young men see the women, and they gather too.
Namra walks to the nearest hut, puts down her vaccine cooler box on a charpoy, pulls out a sterile syringe and starts again.
Read the rest here:
Door-to-door COVID vaccine teams, led by women, are making rounds in Pakistan : Goats and Soda - NPR
