Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

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Former White House advisor Stephen Miller claimed that there would already be updated COVID-19 vaccines to deal with the Omicron variant if Donald Trump were still president today.

"If President Trump was still in office, by the way, we'd already have modified vaccines to deal with the new variant," Miller said, speaking to Sean Hannity on Friday night.

Scientists first detected the new Omicron variant in South Africa. It has since spread to several other countries, including Israel and Belgium, prompting a spate of travel restrictionsacross Europe, Asia, andNorth America, Insider's Aria Bendixreported. A health official said on Saturday that two cases of the variant have beendetected in the UK.

The variant itself has multiple mutations that might make it easier for it to evade antibodies that developed in the body after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The mutations might also cause the variant to spread easily even among vaccinated people. Because of the numerous mutations, the World Health Organization has labeled Omicron a "variant of concern," a distinction given to the most threatening coronavirus variants. Delta, the variant that surged all throughout the summer in the US, was the last one to receive the label.

It's not clear yet whether existing COVID-19 vaccines will protect against the variant. But vaccine manufacturers in the US already considering their options.

Pfizer, for example, said it will be able to manufacture and distribute an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days if Omicron is found to be resistant to its current vaccine.The company expects to know within two weeks whether the variant is resistant to its current vaccine, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

In his interview, Miller did not specify how Trump would have sped up the timelines proposed by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers like Moderna.

The vaccines against COVID-19 were developed under the Trump administration. It took 11 months to get themout to the public after the first confirmed coronavirus case in January 2020.

It's also unclear what effect Trump specifically would have on the updated vaccine progress that President Joe Biden wouldn't have. Both Pfizer and Moderna indicated they would know whether the Omicron variant is resistant to their current vaccines within the next couple weeks. Johnson & Johnson is also conducting testing.

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Former WH advisor: Trump would already have new vaccines for Omicron - Business Insider

As the rapidly evolving coronavirus continues to spread with the World Health Organization recently confirmed that the virus will remain present for some time nations are gearing up to monopolize the production of vaccines, giving priority to its people and friendly countries.

This has led the WHO to accuse larger nations of causing a global shortage of vaccines, with developing countries getting the shorter end of the stick.

Amid uncertainty about COVID-19 and the emergence of ever more ferocious strains, a ray of hope has come to Egypt after scientists have produced the countrys first locally produced vaccine.

Egypt recently announced the end of laboratory and animal experiments of its new vaccine Covi Vax and started first clinical trial on the vaccine, after it was granted approval by the Egyptian Drug Authority.

Al-Masry Al-Youm met with various research teams, which worked on the stages of vaccine production from its inception until conducting clinical trials at the National Research Center.

Up to 70 scientists worked on the vaccine, while biotechnology Egyptian company, Vaccine Valley, is the national partner in the production of the Egyptian vaccine as it equipped special production lines for it.

Al-Masry Al-Youm monitored the team that moved from the lab to the National Research Center to work on clinical trials, which began to receive participating volunteers and conduct full medical examinations to choose the most appropriate among them.

The research teams role is over and production needs a sovereign decision, said a Professor of Virology at the National Research Center and head of the research team for the Egyptian coronavirus vaccine Mohamed Ahmed Ali.

He explained that the team benefited from the work done on previous experiments, such as swine and bird flu experiments, to produce the vaccine, especially since it has been working on a vaccine for the virus since it appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

I participated in the clinical trials of the Egyptian vaccine which I promised my father before his death, M. Sh., volunteer in the clinical trials of the Egyptian vaccine, said.

God sent me by chance to be the number one volunteer, as I was at the National Research Center hospital for dental examination. I was surprised by a hanging sign asking for volunteers to the clinical trials for the production of (Covi Vax), he added.

Egypt celebrates the efforts of a large number of researchers and scientists who defied the circumstances and were able to produce an Egyptian vaccine, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, said.

He extended his thanks to the work team and the workers of the National Research Center.

The head of the clinical trials team for Covi Vax at the National Research Center Osama Azmy confirmed that the first indications of clinical trials that are conducted in three phases, did not detect any problem related to side effects on volunteers.

He added the new vaccine will be available in vaccination centers from six to nine months maximum from now.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Egypt is one step away from its first national COVID-19 vaccine - Egypt Independent

Australia'sexpert immunisation panel willreview the time framefor COVID-19 booster shots,as the nation's leaders come to terms with thethe detection of the Omicron "variant of concern".

TheAustralian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation's (ATAGI) current advice for the booster shotis that it be administered six months after a person has received their second dose.

Health Minister Greg Hunt today called for calm and insistedAustralia waswell placed to deal with the new variant should it spread in the community.

He said he hadasked ATAGI to review the time frame for booster shots and said Australia's vaccine stocks could accommodate fast-tracking them if it was recommended.

"We will, as ever, allow them (ATAGI) to act independently and continue to follow their advice," Mr Hunt said.

"But we're prepared with supplies. We are already one of the earliest nations in the world, after Israel, to havea whole-of-nation booster program.

"If they recommend changes, we will follow those changes."

The Australian Medical Association said in a statement the emergence of the Omicron variant underlined the need for a more aggressive rollout of booster shots, and a network of dedicated quarantine facilities.

Early evidence suggests symptoms caused by the Omicron variant appeared to be mild.

Mr Hunt said 415,000 people had so far received booster shots, out of an eligible cohort of about 500,000.

Four cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in NSW, following confirmation from genomic testing of two travellers who arrived from southern Africa yesterday.

The Northern Territory has also recorded the strain in a man in quarantine who recentlyreturned from South Africa.

The federal government on Saturday announced that non-Australian citizens who hadbeen in nine countries in southern Africa where Omicron hadbeen detected were barred from entering Australia.

Mr Hunt said the government would not hesitate to take additional measures if required, but the government's aim was to "remain safely open".

Aftera new COVID-19 variant emerged in southern Africa, scientists, health officials and the public areconcerned, and the World Health Organization is monitoring the situation closely. Here is what we know.

"We're in a vastly different positionfrom where we were on February 1, 2020," Mr Hunt said.

"We are one of the most highlyvaccinated, one of the most recentlyvaccinated, and one of the first tocommence a whole-of-nation boosterprogram from around the world."

Chief Medical OfficerPaul Kelly said vaccine manufacturersPfizer and Moderna were already preparing for the event that the Omicron variant proved more resistant to current vaccines.

But Professor Kelly said there was no evidence yet that vaccines were less effective against the strain.

He said it would take time to understand its severity.

"We know that there areseveral hundred either confirmed orsuspected cases that have gonethrough that genomic analysis inSouth Africa," he said.

"We know that there areone or two confirmed cases fromsurrounding countries.

"There arehandfuls of cases from parts ofEurope, and so forth, very smallnumbers at the moment.

"What we know so far isthe mildness of those that havetravelled to other countries itwill only be when we have largernumbers that we can make thatassessment."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is convening the government's National Security Committee this evening to discuss the Omicron variant, with a meeting of state and territory leaders also expected in the next 48 hours.

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Vaccine booster time frame to be reviewed as COVID-19 Omicron variant appears in Australia - ABC News

Evidence is building that immunity from Covid-19 infection is at least as strong as that from vaccination. Scientists are divided on the implications for vaccine policy.

The role of immunity from infection, which scientists have been trying to figure out since the outset of the pandemic, has gained fresh significance amid the controversy over vaccine mandates.

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Covid-19 Vaccines or Infections: Which Carries the Stronger Immunity? - The Wall Street Journal

We are tracking the progress of COVID-19 vaccine candidates to monitor the latest developments.

Find out which COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and where COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials are taking place to stay up to date.

Last Updated 26 November 2021.

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COVID19 Vaccine Tracker

Three generations, (from left to right) grandmother Genoveva Calloway, daughter Petra Gonzales, and granddaughter Vanesa Quintero, live next door to each other in San Pablo, Calif. Recently their extended family was hit with a second wave of COVID infections a year after the first. Beth LaBerge/KQED hide caption

Three generations, (from left to right) grandmother Genoveva Calloway, daughter Petra Gonzales, and granddaughter Vanesa Quintero, live next door to each other in San Pablo, Calif. Recently their extended family was hit with a second wave of COVID infections a year after the first.

On a Friday afternoon in early October this year, 8-year-old Maricia Redondo came home from her third grade class in the San Francisco Bay Area with puffy eyes, a runny nose and a cough.

"On Saturday morning we both got tested," says Vanessa Quintero, Maricia's 31-year-old mother. "Our results came back Monday that we were both positive."

Vanessa stared at her phone in shock and called her doctor's test-result hotline again, in disbelief. "This is wrong," she thought. "I hung up and dialed again. It's positive. This is wrong. I hung up again. And then I did it again!"

She was freaking out for two reasons. First, her large, extended family had already fought a harrowing battle against COVID-19 last year in the fall of 2020. The virus had traveled fast and furious through their working class neighborhood back then, in the East Bay city of San Pablo. Four generations of Vanessa's family live next door to each other in three different houses there, all connected by a backyard.

Vanessa was also terrified because she couldn't fathom another round of treatment against a more dangerous variant than she'd faced before. The pandemic has disproportionately struck Latino families across the United States, and delta is currently the predominant variant in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's twice as contagious and may cause more severe illnesses than previous variants in unvaccinated people.

The family's bad luck was uncanny. Research suggests immunity against a natural infection lasts about a year. And here it was almost exactly the same time of year and the family was fighting COVID-19 again.

"Reinfection is a thing," says Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a specialist in infections diseases and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "It probably manifests itself more when the variant in town looks different enough from the previous variants. Or enough time has elapsed since you first got it, [and] immunity has waned." He says a second infection is still not common, but doctors are starting to see more cases.

Computer models in a recent study suggest that people who have been infected by the virus can expect a reinfection within a year or two if they do not wear a mask or receive a vaccination. The findings show that the risk of a second bout rises over time. A person has a 5% chance of catching the virus four months after an initial infection, but a 50% chance 17 months later.

"The second time it was scarier because I'm vaccinated," says Vanessa referring to the family's second bout with the virus in October 2021. "Her dad's vaccinated. We're protected in that sense, but she's [Maricia] not."

Her 8-year-old daughter was still too young to qualify for a vaccine. This fall the little girl lay in bed wheezing. Vanessa tripled down on Maricia's asthma medication and the parents quarantined themselves inside, too. Vanessa shuddered at the prospect of telling her mother and grandma about a second round of positive test results.

During a 2020 family gathering on Halloween, Maricia complained she wasn't feeling good. Over the next few days Vanessa, and Vanessa's partner, mother, two cousins, two aunts, an uncle and two grandmothers all tested positive for COVID-19. Eventually at least 13 family members caught the virus at that time and several got quite sick.

Multiple family members had to be rushed to the hospital.

Vanessa, who, like her 8-year-old daughter Maricia, suffers from asthma, was the first person to need that emergency care. "I was on the floor," Vanessa remembers. "I couldn't even say 'I'm hungry' without coughing."

Then Vanessa's 51-year-old mother, Petra Gonzales, almost blacked out.

"I got a really high fever," says Petra. "There were times when I'd fall asleep and I was OK if I didn't wake up."

In last year's COVID bout, Petra landed in the ER with severe dehydration. Soon she heard that her 71-year-old mother, Genoveva Calloway, needed hospital care for dangerously low oxygen levels and was being treated at another hospital across town.

Unlike Petra and Vanessa, who were not admitted for an extended stay at the hospital in 2020, and slowly recovered at home, Genoveva's condition was critical. She spent day after day under close supervision from doctors and nurses.

"It was really painful not to be able to help my family, because we always help each other," says Genoveva, as her voice cracked with emotion. "We are always there for each other. It was so horrible."

Finally, after nearly two weeks in the hospital, Genoveva was discharged. She was still connected to an oxygen machine as nurses shuffled her out. When Genoveva and Petra greeted each other on the street, they embraced fiercely.

"She hugged me so tight," says Genoveva. "I'll never forget that. We missed each other so much."

A year later, though, Genoveva is still recovering. She's now plagued by interstitial lung disease. That's why another round of the virus this year is a terrifying possibility.

Fortunately the family's worst fears did not unfold. Genoveva was out of town when her great-granddaughter, Maricia, brought the virus home this time, and Maricia herself recovered. The other adults did not develop symptoms they credit the COVID vaccinations they'd been able to get before the delta surge this fall. Research published by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention concludes that vaccines offer better protection against reinfections than a natural infection. However, if a breakthrough infection occurs after someone's been vaccinated it will act like a natural "booster" and result in hybrid immunity according to Chin-Hong. He suggests most patients who are not immunocompromised wait three months until after a recent infection before getting a vaccine or a booster.

"Each exposure we have, whether it's from the infection or whether it's from the vaccine, improves our ability to combat an infection the next time around," says Dr. Julie Parsonnet, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Stanford University.

But Parsonnet also notes there are a lot of variables at play. First, immunity wanes. Second, the virus can mutate. Third, no vaccine provides 100% protection, and the shots may not be equally protective for everyone.

"There are certain people, including the elderly, people who are immunocompromised and people on dialysis, who really can't mount a good immune response," Parsonnet says. "They're always also going to be at risk. So every child getting vaccinated helps protect all those other people in the family that they may live with, or their neighbors."

Multi-generational living is common in Genoveva's community in the Bay Area. And her city, San Pablo, is a hot spot in Contra Costa County, where 1 out of 11 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. At the height of the pandemic, nearly 800 people tested positive in the county every day.

"Our neighborhood has three, four generations living in the same house," Genoveva says.

She says her recent booster shot allows her more peace of mind. Genoveva is looking forward to the day when her great-granddaughter and the rest of her family are finally vaccinated.

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COVID hit this family twice, but vaccines blunted reinfections : Shots - Health News - NPR

As the deadline for all U.S. troops to get vaccinated against COVID-19 approaches, lawsuits challenging the mandate are heating up.

Whether it's attorneys who served at local Marine bases leading litigation, or multiple North Carolina Marines involved as plaintiffs, the Jacksonville area is connected to the cases.

On Nov. 9, First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit SEALs v. Biden in a federal court in Texas against President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, theDepartment of Defense (DoD) and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro on behalf of 35 Navy SEALs and special warfare service members.

The complaint, which claims a violation of the service members first amendment right to religious freedoms, saidthe plaintiffs object to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination based on their sincerely held religious beliefs."The case also argues that the SEALs are being harassedandpunished even as their religious exemptions are pending.

In a interview with The Daily News, Mike Berry, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserveand the lead attorney on the case, said the Navy is discriminating by not granting any religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine.

There is a Navy Special Warfare Command regulation that states that even if their religious exemption is approved, it will render them medically disqualified, Berry said. Once that happens, they forfeit their special operations pay [and are] removed from the special operations community … Theyre really in a Catch 22.

Berry,whospent time at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point while active duty, said he expects to see movement in the case in the coming weeks.

When you join the military, we all know that there are certain freedoms you give up but you dont give up your religious freedom, Berry said. We have strong protection in the law for religious freedom, even in the military.

Dale Saran, a retired Marine Corps major who was a pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269 at Marine Corps Air Station New River in the 1990s, is one of two lawyers representing a North Carolina soldier and Marine in theirlawsuitRobert v. Austin against U.S. agencies DoD, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The lawsuit was originally filed in August in a Colorado court. On Nov. 2,apreliminary injunction was filed wherethe suing partiesclaimDoD is engaged in an illegal vaccination program involving all active duty, National Guard, and reserve members of the all volunteer force.

An updated complaintfiled Nov. 6saidAustin and the DoD arecoercing and forcing military members to be injected with unlicensed drugs in violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

Our argument is first and foremost that its not a licensed vaccine and it cant be mandated, Saran said.

The complaint arguedthe Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is "legally distinct"from the FDA-approved form by the name of Comirnaty. Furthermore, the complaints said"all DOD units are using the EUA Pfizer-(BioNTech) vaccine that is not yet licensed by FDA.

According to court documents, the two plaintiffs in the case are Staff Sgt. Daniel Robert of Fort Bragg and Staff Sgt. Hollie Mulvihill of Marine Corps Air Station New River.

"The military has systematically violated peoples rights," Saran said, who claimssome service members who request religious accommodation have been removed from their positions.

On Oct. 15, a class action lawsuit,Navy SEAL 1v. Biden, was filed by Liberty Counselin a Florida federal court against Biden, Austin and Security of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkason behalf of members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, as well as federal employees and civilian contractors.

The lawsuit claims plaintiffshave been unlawfully mandated to get the COVID shots or face dishonorable discharge from the military or termination from employment, said a news release from the firm.

Military plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which claims the mandate violates federal Emergency Use Authorization law and religious freedom, includeMarine Corps personnel two lieutenant colonels,one major, one captain andtwo lance corporals.

Plaintiffs are unnamed in court documents released to date; however, the major and a lance corporal are stationed in North Carolina.

The COVID shots cannot be mandatory under the federal Emergency Use Authorization law (EUA), said a Oct. 15 press release from Liberty Counsel. All of the COVID-19 shots (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnsons Janssen) have received only EUA authorization and not full FDA approval.

In a Nov. 11 release from Liberty Counsel announcing they "filed a reply brief and additional affidavits supporting the need for immediate relief for plaintiffs," the firm doubled down on its stance.

Dr. Robert Malone, who discovered in-vitro and in-vivo RNA transfection and invented mRNA vaccines while he was at the Salk Institute in 1988, provided an affidavit in Liberty Counsels brief, the release said. Dr. Malone testified, based on the statements from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and the FDA letters concerning the vaccines, the FDA regulated product labeled COMIRNATY is the only FDA licensed SARSCoV-2 vaccine ...but it is not yet available for use in the United States."

Last month, Jacksonville congressman Greg Murphy wroteAustin objecting to the vaccine mandate for service members, calling it reprehensible that the department would consider relieving service members who refused the shot.

I worry that dismissing or refusing to deploy unvaccinated servicemembers could critically impede operational readiness and undermine U.S. national security, Murphy wrote, who is a physician. It is also highly disturbing that servicemembers who do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine will not only be excused from their duties, but they could have to retroactively pay back any bonuses received for their service or lose additional benefits.

Berry saidthe crackdown on unvaccinated service members could be detrimental to the military as a whole.

If you have to choose between your faith and serving your country, then I don't think that's a very good position for our military to be in, Berry said. I think that is actually harmful to national security to begin forcing service members to choose between their faith and their service.

Reporter Calvin Shomaker can be reached at cshomaker@gannett.com.

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NC Marines involved in litigation over COVID-19 vaccine mandate - Jacksonville Daily News

The Union County Board of County Commissioners continues to encourage all Union County residents to protect themselves against the COVID-19 virus, by visiting a free Union County vaccination clinic soon. The clinics will be operating in in Elizabeth, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Summit, and Union Township this coming week.

Any Union County resident can use any of these clinics, regardless of their home town.

Our free mobile vaccine clinics and permanent sites provide many opportunities to get vaccinated before gathering with family and loved ones for the December holiday season, said Commissioner Board Chairman Alexander Mirabella. We also continue to provide free COVID-19 tests for all residents.

The New Jersey Department of Health aims to fully vaccinate 85 percent of the population by years end, and we have been increasing our outreach to help meet that goal, said Commissioner Sergio Granados, who is Chair of the Commissioner Boards Public Safety Committee.

The Union County COVID-19 vaccination program covers free vaccines and booster shots, including the pediatric Pfizer vaccine for ages 5-11.

To make an appointment at any of Union Countys free COVID-19 vaccination clinics, visitucnj.org/covid19/vax.

For ages 12 and older, appointments for the Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J vaccines are available at the Union County clinic located in Downs Hall at the Kean University campus, 1000 Morris Avenue in Union Township, every Wednesday and Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., except for federal holidays.

Residents needing Moderna booster shots can also use the Union County clinic at Kean.

For ages five and older, appointments for the Pfizer vaccine are available at the Union County vaccination clinic located at the Warinanco Sports Center, at 1 Park Drive in Warinanco Park, in Roselle. This clinic is open every Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. except for federal holidays.

Free COVID-19 vaccinations and free COVID-19 tests are also available through Union Countys mobile pop-up clinics.Sunday, November 28th Rahway Noon to 2pm: Agape Family Worship Center, 501 East Hazelwood Avenue (Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and up, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and Moderna booster shots)

Monday, November 29 Summit 3pm to 6pm: Kent Place School, 42 Norwood Avenue (Pfizer for 12+ and Pfizer pediatric dose for ages 5-11)

Tuesday, November 30 Union 3pm to 6pm: Union High School, 2350 North 3rd Street (Pfizer for 12+ and Pfizer pediatric dose for ages 5-11)

Tuesday, November 30 Elizabeth 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm: Elizabeth School #50, 1000 S. Elmora Avenue (Pfizer for 12+ and Pfizer pediatric dose for ages 5-11)

Wednesday, December 1 Roselle 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: Abraham Clark High School, 122 East 6th Avenue (Pfizer for 12+ and Pfizer pediatric dose for ages 5-11)

Saturday, December 4 Union 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue (Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and up, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and Moderna booster shots). COVID-19 emergency food supplies will also be distributed at this event.

Sunday, December 5 Summit 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. : Summit High School, 125 Kent Place Boulevard (Pfizer for 12+ and Pfizer pediatric dose for ages 5-11)

Saturday, December 18th Union 8am to 10am: Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue. (Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and up, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and Moderna booster shots). Note: COVID-19 emergency food supplies will also be distributed at this event.

Sunday, December 19th Plainfield 11am to 1pm: Gerald B. Green Plaza, 200 West Second Street (Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and up, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and Moderna booster shots). Note: COVID-19 emergency food supplies will also be distributed at this event.

Union County residents seeking free COVID-19 tests can also use the Union County clinics at Kean University in Union Township and Gerald B. Green Plaza in Plainfield. For more information on these test sites visitucnj.org/covid19/covid-19-testing-options.

Vaccines and booster shots are also available on a walk-in basis at the Union County Immunization Clinic located at 40 Parker Road in Elizabeth, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please note that this clinic is available to income-eligible households.

Union County residents who are home-bound can arrange for a home vaccination visit by contacting Union Countys service provider, Mobile Medical Services. Call 1-833-256-2478 during regular weekday business hours to speak with an operator or leave a voice message, or email a callback request tovaccine@mmst.io.

For additional assistance with COVID-19 vaccines and tests, contact the Union County Vaccine Call Center at 908-613-7VAX (7829), weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For information and updates on all Union County services during the COVID-19 outbreak, including free vaccination, free testing, emergency food distribution and other support services, visit ucnj.org/covid19. General information about COVID-19 is available through the New Jersey Department of Health at nj.gov/health.

# #

For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

Connect with Union County on social media.

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Union County Offers Additional Sites for Free COVID-19 Vaccines and Booster Shots this Week County of Union, New Jersey - UCNJ.org

Originally published by The 19th

Thirty-two percent of LGBTQ+ adults say they are worried that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 could negatively affect their medication for treating or preventing HIV, according to a survey by the Human Rights Campaign and a California-based market research firm. The HRC did not poll to determine what percentage of those concerned adults had actually had the shot. Experts told The 19th that there is no evidence the two treatments interact negatively.

This worry among people living with HIV/AIDs is very concerning, experts say especially among Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people, who are disproportionately affected by HIV and who the HRC found to be more worried about COVID vaccination impacting their HIV treatment. Among Black LGBTQ+ people surveyed in the online July poll, 39 percent were worried, while 34 percent of Latinx adults said the same.

Henry Masur, director of the critical care medicine unit at the National Institutes of Health clinical center and a leading researcher in HIV/AIDS, says there is no evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines or Johnson & Johnsons vaccine interact at all with HIV medications, including the preventive drug PrEP.

Theres no biological reason that I can at least imagine as to why that should interfere or interact with your anti-HIV drugs, Masur said. And in fact, there is no data that I know of, in addition to plausibility, that would suggest that there is any interaction.

People living with HIV were also included in clinical trials for all COVID-19 vaccines currently approved in the United States, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Weve really found no indication in the data that people who are living with HIV or on PrEP, have any increased risk of side effects or negative outcomes after getting vaccinated, said David Goodman-Meza, assistant professor of infectious disease at UCLA who currently treats patients at the UCLA Vine Street clinic.

This pocket of concerned people is significant within a population that has largely trusted COVID-vaccine research. The vast majority of the roughly 1,500 adults polled by HRC were fully vaccinated 91 percent. A separate survey by the census found that most LGBTQ+ Americans polled from late September to early October had either been fully vaccinated or planned to be, and the Kaiser Family Foundation found in its COVID-19 vaccine monitor this summer that LGBTQ+ adults are more likely to be vaccinated against the coronavirus than straight and cisgender adults.

New research shows that those living with HIV who are vaccinated tend to be older. In a peer-reviewed paper expected to be published this week, Perry Halkitis, dean and professor of biostatistics and urban-global public health at Rutgers School of Public Health, and his colleagues found that vaccinated people living with HIV were older on average than those who hadnt been vaccinated. They had also been living with HIV longer.

You think about the people who have been living with HIV longer, which are often older people, which are often people who were alive prior to 1996 before antiviral therapies came along, these people see the devastation that the virus can cause, he said.

Using a national sample, Halkitis research found that 65 percent of roughly 500 participants living with HIV said they had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between March and May.

The CDC urges people living with HIV to get vaccinated, especially because they may be more likely to get severely ill from contracting the coronavirus, though Masur also pointed out that the data proving that link is not clear. The CDC found in February that LGBTQ+ people in general report higher rates of underlying health conditions linked to severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Another piece of misinformation that has proliferated is the belief that HIV medication can protect against the virus, which has not been proven. Some clinical trials are currently examining whether HIV medications can treat the coronavirus, as well as how effective other drugs are to treat the virus, per the CDC.

Being on HIV medications isnt a shield against COVID, Goodman-Meza said.

Although the HRC found that overall, 60 percent of LGBTQ+ adults they polled have a great deal of confidence in the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines, that trust broke down by gender and racial demographics.

Among Black LGBTQ+ adults, 42 percent expressed that same confidence, while 53 percent of Latinx LGBTQ+ adults felt the same. Transgender and bisexual adults were also slightly less likely (56 percent) to trust the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Goodman-Meza said that lack of education around vaccination ultimately means that health care providers have failed to effectively reach people where they are.

People who are Black or Latinx also have the biggest disparities in access to healthcare or HIV care, Goodman-Meza said. By not getting vaccinated, youre just kind of setting yourself up for these unwanted complications.

Public health officials must focus their messaging to reach vaccine-hesitant people living with HIV, experts say especially for gay and bisexual Black and Latino men, who are most at risk in the United States. From 2015 to 2019, HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men in the U.S. remained stable for Black and Latino men,while diagnoses for White men decreased by 17 percent, per the CDC.

I think theres an inherent system problem. Best care models are typically instituted in heavily White areas, Goodman-Meza said. When trying to access care, Hispanic people can face language barriers, challenges with accessing insurance, or even fear retribution because of their immigration status.

While going to their doctor or health care provider to talk about taking HIV medication and getting vaccinated is ideal, patients can also talk to counselors, social workers, and staff at local HIV/AIDS service organizations for information.

Officials should use peer education when possible to persuade Black and Latino men living with HIV to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and stress the risks of not getting vaccinated, Halkitis said.

I think that the messaging has just been one size fits all. And we know thats not true, he said.

Charleigh Flohr, senior research manager at HRC, said that more data about how LGBTQ+ people are experiencing the pandemic and how they feel about getting vaccinated is essential to reach the community and keep people healthy.

If we dont have data to convince and to demonstrate to the community that things are safe, its just going to reproduce the health equity issues, Flohr said.

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Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won't. - WFAE

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Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine Recipients Often Shift to Other Boosters - The Wall Street Journal