Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

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COVID-19 Vaccines Effective Against Delta Variant How …

September 17, 2021

Data from a national study shows that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalizations and emergency department visits caused by the Delta variant.

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalizations and emergency department visits caused by the Delta variant, according to data from a national study. That data also indicate that Modernas vaccine is significantly more effective against Delta than Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

These real-world data show that vaccines remain highly effective at reducing COVID-19 related hospitalizations and emergency department visits, even in the presence of the new COVID-19 variant, said study author Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief Institute vice president for data and analytics and professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. We strongly recommend vaccinations for all who are eligible to reduce serious illness and ease the burden on our healthcare system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)s VISION Network analyzed more than 32,000 medical encounters from nine states during June, July and August 2021, when the Delta variant became the predominant strain. The results showed that unvaccinated individuals with COVID-19 are 5-7 times more likely to need emergency department care or hospitalization, similar to the overall effectiveness prior to the variant.

The study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is also the first analysis from the VISION Network to show a marked difference between the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer). In the studys time period:

The study also found that vaccine effectiveness is lower for people 75 years and older, which has not been shown in previous research. This could be due to a range of factors, including the increased time since vaccination.

When it came to preventing emergency department and urgent care visits, analysis showed that:

Scientists say these findings need further monitoring and evaluation.

Despite the differences in effectiveness, vaccines continue to offer much more protection than not getting one at all, said Dr. Grannis. While breakthrough cases do happen, data shows the symptoms are less severe. The vast majority of COVID hospitalizations and deaths continue to be among unvaccinated individuals. COVID-19 vaccines are powerful tools for combating the pandemic.

The VISION network, funded by the CDC, includes seven organizations that contribute and analyze data from U.S. healthcare systems to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. In addition to Regenstrief Institute, other members are Columbia University Irving Medical Center, HealthPartners, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Northwest and University of Colorado.

Interim Estimates of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against COVID-19Associated Emergency Department or Urgent Care Clinic Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant Predominance Nine States, JuneAugust 2021 is published in the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In addition to Dr. Grannis, other authors on the paper are Elizabeth A. Rowley, DrPH, M.S. of IU School of Medicine; Toan C. Ong, PhD of Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Edward Stenehjem, M.D., MSc of InterMountain Healthcare; Nicola P. Klein, M.D., PhD of Columbia University; Malini DeSilva, M.D. of HealthPartners; Allison Naleway, PhD of Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Karthik Natarajan, PhD of Columbia University and Mark G. Thompson of the CDC COVID-19 Response Team.

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COVID-19 Vaccines Effective Against Delta Variant How ...

L.A. to require COVID vaccines at bars, nightclubs, more …

September 17, 2021

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required at indoor bars, wineries, breweries, nightclubs and lounges in Los Angeles County under a forthcoming health order aimed at further armoring the region against the pandemic.

The mandate, which will be issued by Friday, will require patrons and employees to have at least one vaccine dose by Oct. 7 and be fully vaccinated by Nov. 4, according to Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

L.A. County, like the rest of the state and nation, has for months been battling the latest wave of the coronavirus, which has been fueled by the highly infectious Delta variant.

Though there are indications that the latest surge is losing some steam, officials are already turning a wary eye to the fall and winter, when the busy holiday season will bring people together from all over and colder weather will increasingly push gatherings and recreation indoors.

This is a reasonable path forward that will position us to be better able to break the cycle of surges, Ferrer said during Wednesdays L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting.

About 67% of Angelenos have already been at least partially inoculated against COVID-19.

Under the new order, participants and workers at outdoor mega events with more than 10,000 attendees will also need to provide proof of vaccination or show that theyve recently tested negative for the coronavirus, starting Oct. 7. That requirement is already in place for indoor events of at least 1,000 people.

Ferrer said county health officials were also strongly recommending, though not requiring, vaccination verification at indoor portions of restaurants.

The countys requirement that residents wear masks in indoor public settings will remain in place, she added.

L.A. County is the most populous jurisdiction in California to announce a COVID-19 vaccination requirement to enter certain types of businesses.

The order would affect all areas of L.A. County except Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own public health departments.

However, L.A. Countys order will not be as expansive as public health orders in some other parts of California. San Francisco and Berkeley require customers 12 and older in indoor restaurants, bars and gyms to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. Contra Costa County, the Bay Areas third most populous, has ordered those customers to show either proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test result. Palm Springs and neighboring Cathedral City have ordered patrons 12 and older to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test to enter indoor restaurants and bars.

The L.A. City Council is considering its own law to require customers of indoor restaurants and gyms to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. City attorneys are drafting a proposed ordinance.

When asked about L.A. Countys move during a briefing Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said state officials believe in localism and want to support local health decisions.

Though conditions could change, he indicated that the state had no immediate plans to follow suit.

Lately, the state has seen promising declines in case rates and the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized, but Newsom pointed out that it was around this time last year we started to see that stabilization and decline as well, yet to experience that winter surge.

We need to be vigilant, he told reporters. Of course, the best way to mitigate that ... is to continue our vaccine efforts, and if this encourages more people to get vaccinated, then I believe its the right thing to do, and I continue to encourage others to follow that path.

About a month ago, Los Angeles County was averaging around 3,400 new coronavirus cases a day over a weekly period. As of Tuesday, L.A. County was averaging about 1,800 cases a day a 47% decline, according to a Times analysis of state data.

Nevertheless, coronavirus transmission levels remain elevated in the county, and unvaccinated people are still at high risk of getting infected. Unvaccinated people are also at far greater risk of being hospitalized.

Of the hundreds of people admitted to L.A. Countys public hospital system since June 15 for a diagnosis primarily due to COVID-19, 93% have been unvaccinated. Most of the vaccinated people who have been hospitalized have compromised immune systems and thus are not able to mount a sufficient immune response after vaccination, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, the countys director of health services.

Ferrer said L.A. Countys vaccination verification requirement was tailored to businesses that were considered to pose a greater risk of coronavirus transmission.

Although each establishment is different, Ferrer said, county health inspectors have noted settings where for the most part, all of the patrons, all the customers are there without a mask on mostly because they have a drink in hand. Theyre walking around and theres a lot of dancing, theres a lot of close contact with lots and lots of people.

This isnt all bars, she continued. I want to acknowledge that there are places where people go, its super quiet, you sit at a quiet table and the risk would obviously be less. But in general, the bars are higher-risk settings than restaurants.

She also noted that the establishments covered under the countys forthcoming order should already be well versed in checking identification to verify that patrons are of drinking age making it easier to also screen vaccination status.

Ferrer said residents could demonstrate their inoculation history using digital records provided by either the county or the state, or by showing their vaccine card or a photograph of it.

Some L.A. bars and restaurants have already implemented their own requirements of vaccination proof or a recent negative coronavirus test as a condition of entry.

Dustin Lancaster co-owns eight bars and restaurants in the L.A. area. In early August, he began requiring proof of vaccination for indoor seating at three of them.

If you want to sit inside at a bar, it makes 100% sense to me that you should be vaccinated, Lancaster said. The science is there, we know that vaccinations help decrease this, and all of our customers for the most part have been incredibly supportive and say, Thank you, and Im so glad youre doing this.

The new health order, he says, should alleviate some of the pressure on restaurateurs who have been struggling to enforce such requirements. He said he wished L.A. County would have implemented it sooner.

He also supports the mandates stipulation that employees be vaccinated.

With a labor shortage and breakthrough cases, running bars and restaurants right now is already so incredibly difficult, and we are under such immense stress, he said. I think anything that takes any pressure off of us and can be mandated at a higher level is good.

Lancaster said its been easier to enforce proof of vaccination at bars which usually require patrons be 21 or older as opposed to restaurants, where families with children younger than 12, who cannot yet be vaccinated, might dine.

Given the new county health order, Lancaster and his business partners will start to enforce vaccination requirements for indoor seating at some of their other establishments, such as Crawfords in Rampart Village and Oriel Chinatown.

Holcomb and the Hermosillo, both in Highland Park, are likely to follow suit.

In San Francisco, some bar owners also welcomed the local vaccine requirement to enter indoor bars and restaurants, which was announced in August.

As in L.A., some bars in San Francisco elected to impose their own vaccine requirement earlier in the summer.

Unvaccinated people are far more likely to be infected than those who are fully vaccinated, and bar owners were concerned about the health of their employees should they continue to allow unvaccinated people to enter their businesses.

Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.

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L.A. to require COVID vaccines at bars, nightclubs, more ...

Trump says Dems ‘disparaged’ COVID-19 vaccine while he was …

September 17, 2021

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among some Americans, saying they "disparaged" the vaccine when he was president.

During an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump reacted to President Bidens executive order last week, mandating employers with more than 100 workers to require coronavirus vaccinations or test employees weekly. Biden also announced that all employees of the federal government would be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

"It shouldnt be necessary," Trump said, referring to the mandates which have drawn criticism from Republicans and some in the private sector.

SURGEON GENERAL: COVID NUMBERS DEEPLY CONCERNING, SAYS VACCINES DOING ITS JOB

The Trump administration created Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership to create vaccines against the novel coronavirus, as the pandemic raged in 2020. Under his administration, the Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use authorizations (EUA) for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

Trump, in December 2020, signed an executive order that would ensure all Americans had access to coronavirus vaccines before the U.S. government could begin aiding nations around the world.

Trump, in the exclusive Fox News interview, said that during his administration, more people were interested in getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

"If you remember, when I was president, there were literally lines of people wanting to take it," Trump said, pointing to vaccine hesitancy among some Americans. "Now, you have a different situation, and its very bad."

Trump went on to point to comments made by some Democrats, including future Vice President Kamala Harris, who said they may not trust the effectiveness of a vaccine that he was pushing.

"Of course, they famously said, if Trump came up with it, Ill never take it," Trump recalled.

"They disparaged the vaccine, and now they wonder why people arent wanting to take it?" He continued. "Its a disgrace."

"Look, it was one of my greatest achievements doing it in less than nine months instead of five years, or maybe never," Trump said, referring to the approval timeline for some vaccines at the FDA. "We saved millions of people all over the world."

But pointing back to those against getting a jab, Trump said: "They dont trust this president, and thats why theyre not taking it."

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in January at the White House. It is unclear which vaccine they received. Trump talked up the vaccines' benefits in an interview with Fox News' Greg Gutfeld last week, saying infections among the vaccinated were less severe compared to the unvaccinated at the start of the pandemic: "If you do get sick, you dont get sick like they were before, meaning you dont die."

BIDEN TO ANNOUNCE VACCINE MANDATE FOR COMPANIES WITH MORE THAN 100 EMPLOYEES

The Biden administration has made a significant push in promoting COVID-19 vaccines, launching door-to-door efforts over the summer, to help communities receive information and resources regarding how and when they could receive their doses.

The Biden administration, in July, also sought to incentivize Americans by urging state and local governments to use coronavirus relief funds to pay citizens $100 each to get vaccinated.

The proposals came amid concerns over breakthrough cases, infections among vaccinated individuals, and the strengthening delta variant became prominent in communities across the country.

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Meanwhile, with COVID-19 cases on the rise again in the U.S., health officials are urging the public to vaccinate themselves against the deadly disease, warning that the overwhelming majority of deaths and hospitalizations from the delta variant continue to be among unvaccinated Americans.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 178 million people in the United States have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

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Trump says Dems 'disparaged' COVID-19 vaccine while he was ...

Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine protection wanes, makes case …

September 17, 2021

Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

CHICAGO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - New data from Moderna Inc's (MRNA.O) large COVID-19 vaccine trial shows that the protection it offers wanes over time, supporting the case for booster doses, the company said in a news release on Wednesday.

"This is only one estimate, but we do believe this means as you look toward the fall and winter, at minimum we expect the estimated impact of waning immunity would be 600,000 additional cases of COVID-19," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call with investors.

Hoge did not project how many of the cases would be severe, but said some would require hospitalization.

The data stands in stark contrast with data from several recent studies that suggested Moderna's vaccine protection lasts longer than a similar shot from Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech SE .

Experts said the difference is likely due to Moderna's higher dose of messenger RNA (mRNA) and the slightly longer interval between the first and second shots.

Both vaccines proved to be exceedingly effective at preventing illness in their large Phase III studies.

Wednesday's analysis, however, showed higher rates of infection among people vaccinated roughly 13 months ago compared with those vaccinated roughly eight months ago. The study period was from July-August, when Delta was the predominant strain. It has yet to undergo peer review.

Moderna on Sept. 1 submitted its application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking authorization for a booster shot.

Hoge said data from its booster studies shows the vaccine could increase neutralizing antibodies to levels even higher than were seen after the second dose.

"We believe this will reduce COVID-19 cases," he said. "We also believe that a third dose of mRNA-1273 has a chance of significantly extending immunity throughout much of next year as we attempt to end the pandemic."

Briefing documents from the FDA's analysis of Pfizer's booster application, released earlier on Wednesday, suggest that a key issue the agency will consider is whether vaccine protection is waning.

In its analysis, Moderna compared the vaccine's performance in more than 14,000 volunteers vaccinated between July and October of 2020 with some 11,000 volunteers originally in the placebo group who were offered the shot between December 2020 and March 2021 following its U.S. emergency use authorization.

In the two-month period from July-August, researchers identified 88 COVID-19 cases among those who got the two shots more recently, compared with 162 cases among those vaccinated last year. Overall, only 19 cases were considered severe, a key benchmark in assessing waning protection.

Moderna said there was a trend toward a lower rate of severe cases among the more recently vaccinated, although the finding was not statistically significant.

Data from a separate study presented on Wednesday conducted with Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system, meanwhile, shows that Moderna's vaccine continued to perform well against the Delta variant.

Researchers compared data on more than 352,000 people who got two doses of the Moderna vaccine with the same number of unvaccinated individuals and found the Moderna vaccine was 87% effective at preventing a COVID-19 diagnosis, and 96% effective at preventing hospitalization.

Hoge said the vaccine's initial performance is strong, but argued that protection shouldn't be allowed to wane.

"The first six months are great, but you can't count on that being stable out to a year and beyond," he said.

(This story has been corrected to change year to 2021 from 2022 in 12th paragraph)

Reporting by Julie SteenhuysenEditing by Bill Berkrot and Karishma Singh

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine protection wanes, makes case ...

Comparing the differences between COVID-19 vaccines – Mayo Clinic

September 17, 2021

Janssen/Johnson & Johnson - Side effects

Injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea

Note: If you received this vaccine within the last three weeks and are experiencing any unexplained new severe symptoms, seek emergency care.

Possible severe symptoms include shortness of breath, persistent stomach pain, severe or persistent headache, blurred vision, chest pain, leg swelling, easy bruising, and tiny red spots on the skin.

Rarely, some people may develop Guillain-Barre syndrome after getting the vaccine. Seek immediate medical care if you have weakness or tingling sensations, difficulty walking, difficulty with facial movements, double vision, and difficulty with bladder control.

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Comparing the differences between COVID-19 vaccines - Mayo Clinic

Which COVID-19 vaccine is the best? | Ohio State Medical Center

September 17, 2021

On Aug. 23, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in people 16 and older. As what we know about COVID-19 evolves, so could the information contained in this story.Find our most recent COVID-19 blog posts here.

You might have already decided that you prefer one COVID-19 vaccine over another based on the characteristics of each of the options.

But the question of which vaccine is best doesnt have a straightforward answer. Considering the data we have available now as well as available vaccine supply, the vaccine thats best for you is likely the vaccine thats available to you.

The data right now suggests that both the Pfizer vaccine, which was formally approved by the FDA on Aug. 23, 2021, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which is authorized for emergency use, are very effective at preventing COVID-19 illness. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is similarly effective in preventing severe COVID-19, and hospitalization and death from the virus.

The most important thing is just to get a COVID-19 vaccine, period.

Because of differences in the ways these vaccines were tested, it can be hard to compare them apples-to-apples. But heres what we know:

Clinical trial data shows that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 95% and 94.1% effective, respectively, at preventing COVID-19 illness. This is extraordinary for a virus vaccine the annual flu vaccine, for example, is sometimes in the 50%-60% range of effectiveness at best, but is still so helpful at preventing illness that its recommended every year.

In clinical trials, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine showed 85% effectiveness in preventing severe COVID-19 and 100% effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations and death at 28 days after the injection.Get details on how the vaccines work.

All three of these COVID-19 vaccines include commonly reported side effects of pain/soreness at the injection site, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and nausea, which usually fully subsided within one to two days after vaccination.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines include some additional commonly reported side effects, such as chills, fever, joint pain and swollen lymph nodes. These side effects were more often reported after the second dose, though they are possible after either dose.

Since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine doesnt require a second dose, theres no increased risk of common side effects with a second dose.

Were trying to prevent:

Every vaccine available right now is much more effective than no vaccine, and they all significantly reduce the likelihood of severe illness and death. This means that even on the chance that someone gets infected after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, theyre less likely to spread it to others and less likely to end up in a hospitals intensive care unit.

If we can get widespread immunization, we can decrease the community viral load (the amount of virus thats circulating), and the more people that are vaccinated, the better the vaccine works in a population.

Getting as much of our population as possible immunized with any FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine will help us reduce the threat of disease, control the pandemic and move forward with our lives.

Andrew Thomas is chief clinical officer of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and senior associate vice president for Health Sciences at The Ohio State University.

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Which COVID-19 vaccine is the best? | Ohio State Medical Center

Fauci slams Nicki Minaj for false COVID-19 vaccine tweet

September 17, 2021

Dr. Anthony Fauci threw cold water on Nicki Minajs claim that the COVID-19 vaccine can cause swollen testicles and lead to impotence.

The 38-year-old rap superstar made the claim when she explained her absence from the Met Gala in a now-viral tweet.

My cousin in Trinidad wont get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure youre comfortable with ur decision, not bullied, Minaj wrote Monday afternoon.

During an interview on CNN on Tuesday, Fauci was asked by host Jake Tapper whether there is any evidence that the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson jabs can adversely affect male or female reproductive systems.

The answer to that, Jake, is a resounding no. Theres no evidence that it happens nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen, so the answer to your question is no, President Bidens chief medical adviser responded.

The top infectious diseases doc added that the singers tweet may be innocent, but that she should be careful about what she posts about the deadly bug on social media, where she has more than 22 million followers on Twitter alone.

She should be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis except a one-off anecdote, and thats not what science is all about, Fauci said.

In another tweet, Minaj said: They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it wont for the Met. Itll be once I feel Ive done enough research.Im working on that now.

She added: In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one.

The Starships singer was urged by some of her followers to rethink her stance on vaccines, citing research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows they are effective at keeping people from contracting fatal cases.

But the hip-hop magnate, who has walked the Met Gala carpet five times before, doubled down.

Babe. Thats not true,she repliedbefore seemingly acknowledging that she previously caught the virus. I had the exact same symptoms as ppl with the damn vaccine.

Minaj also unleashed an expletive-laden tirade against MSNBCs Joy Reid for being so thirsty to down another black woman, after the TV host lectured her for her vaccine skepticism.

This is what happens when youre so thirsty to down another black woman (by the request of the white man), that you didnt bother to read all my tweets. My God SISTER do better imagine getting ur dumb a on tv a min after a tweet to spread a false narrative about a black woman, Minajtweeted.

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Fauci slams Nicki Minaj for false COVID-19 vaccine tweet

Fact check: COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t cause symptoms in Nicki …

September 17, 2021

Met Gala: Reaction to AOC, Kim Kardashian, Lil Nas X, JLO, more

From Rihanna and JLO's dates to AOC's dress and Nicki Minaj not attending, there was plenty to talk about with this year's Met Gala.

Entertain This!, USA TODAY

Superstar rapper Nicki Minajgenerated a dizzying amount of social media buzz after followingup her announcement that she wouldn't be getting vaccinated for the Met Gala with a personal story: A friend of her cousin in Trinidad developed swollen testicles and became impotent after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

"My cousin in Trinidad wont get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen," the tweet, posted the evening of Sept. 13,read."His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure youre comfortable with ur decision, not bullied."

The tweet has tens of thousands of Twitter users wondering what really happened, including Tucker Carlson, whoread the tweet to viewersjust a few hours after it was postedand aired a callout to the subject of the tweet on Sept.14.

The storywas also shared to othersocial media platforms, including in several widespreadInstagram posts.

More: Trinidad's Health Minister shuts down Nicki Minaj's vaccine claim: 'No reported such side effect'

But if you're hoping to avoid the mystery man's fate, medical experts say you're better off getting the shot than rejecting it.

While there's no evidence that the vaccine causes those symptoms, several studies have found COVID-19 can infect tissue in the testicles and penis, and it may have caused several cases of decreased sperm count and erectile dysfunction.

However, as several doctors noted in the replies to Minaj's tweet, this mystery person is likely dealing with a different condition.

"Its very worrisome that something said in a tweet, with no ill intentions, can impact someones choice about getting vaccinated," Raven Baxter, a molecular biologist who replied to Minaj's tweet with a rap about how vaccines work, told USA TODAY in an email."These vaccines are scientifically proven to be saving lives every day; the more people who get them, the better it is for all of us."

Fact check: COVID-19 vaccine protects both the person vaccinated and those around them

USA TODAY reached out to Minaj and users who shared the tweet for comment.

Theidentity of the man Minaj tweeted about remains unknown, butTrinidad & Tobago's health minister,Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh,said in a Sept. 15 news conference that no such case had been reported to his knowledge.

"What is sad about this is that it wasted our time yesterday trying to track this down," he said.

Regardless,experts say the situation Minaj described is inconsistent with what we know after hundreds of millions of vaccines have been administered.

Scientists and medical professionals who have studied the COVID-19 vaccine in depth say that there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine andimpotence or swollen testicles.

Physician of internal medicineDr. Rodney Hoodleads the National Medical Association's COVID-19 Task Force and other groups aiming to provide trusted, independent reviews of the vaccines to Black and underrepresented communities. He calledthe suggestion that the vaccine causes the symptoms in Minaj's tweet"a myth."

"Millions of doses of vaccines have been given, and none of thathas been reported as a potential side effect caused bythe vaccine,"he said.

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Immunization Safety Office, also told USA TODAYthat scientists haven't found any evidence linking the symptoms in Minaj's tweet to the vaccine.

There is no scientific evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause impotence and swollen testicles, he wrote in an email. "COVID-19 vaccines save lives."

More: Does COVID-19 vaccine cause infertility in men? Study shows mRNA vaccines do not decrease sperm count

Apeer-reviewed study from the University of Miami showedthat the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines do not affect sperm count, USA TODAY reportedin June.

"Swollen testicles and male infertility are definitely not potential or known side effects of any of the threeCOVID-19 vaccines that the FDA has authorized for emergency use in the USA," Dr. Matthew Laurens,an infectious disease specialist and vaccine researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, wrotein an email to USA TODAY. "In fact, there is no evidence that any vaccine causes male fertility issues."

Fact check: A false post on social media claims COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility in women

So the vaccine has no link to infertility. But the virus it's helping prevent may, according to preliminary studies noted by Laurens and Hood.

"The vaccine will actually prevent you from getting a lot of the things that people are concerned with," Hood said."To me, there (is more evidence of)complications and (sexual function) problems even after you get over the acute phase of COVID than any evidence that we have from the vaccine."

One studyconducted this May at the University of Miami found that even men with mild COVID-19 symptoms could develop erectile dysfunction.

According to the study,otherwise healthy men developed impotencyafter COVID-19 infectionmade its way into their penile tissue. The scientists examined the tissue in two men who were undergoingpenile prosthesis surgeries.

One of the men in the study had been hospitalized for COVID-19, but the otherhad experienced only mild symptoms,researchers said.

As for testicular conditions, three differentstudiescited by Hood and Laurens have shown COVID-19 can infect the testes. That has the potential to negatively impact fertility, according to a report on oneconducted at the University of Miami.

Fact check: No evidence countries' vaccine rollout, leaders' deaths connected

Another study found decreased sperm counts in men who were infected with the virus, Laurens noted.

However, he said existing evidence on the link between COVID-19 and male infertilityisn't yet conclusive.

"There is preliminary evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect semen volume, sperm concentration and the number of spermatozoa," Laurens wrote."Whether or not this translates into males who have COVID-19 experiencingfertility issues in the short or long-term is not yet known."

We rate the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine caused one man's swollen testicles and impotence MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research.Without knowing the specifics of the case Minaj described, it's not possible to know for sure what caused thesymptoms.However, medical experts say there have been no reports linking the vaccine to swollen testicles and impotence.

Contributing: Miriam Fauzia

Thank you for supporting our journalism.You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

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Fact check: COVID-19 vaccine doesn't cause symptoms in Nicki ...

UPMC Hosting Free COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics Across The Area This Weekend – CBS Pittsburgh

September 17, 2021

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) If you are still in need of a COVID-19 vaccination, UPMC is hosting several clinics to get vaccinated.

Today there will be clinics in OHara Township, McKeesport, and Arlington Heights.

Then, on Saturday, there will be vaccination clinics at Bats Barbershop in East Liberty and Saint Clair Park in Greensburg.

Walk-ins are being accepted.

For full information about the clinics and their locations, check out this link.

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UPMC Hosting Free COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics Across The Area This Weekend - CBS Pittsburgh

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