Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

CoronavirusA health care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Boston Medical Center. Adam Glanzman / Bloomberg

Would you approve of the government requiring people to get the COVID-19 vaccine?

Apparently in Massachusetts, most people would answer, yes.

A new survey found that 81.1 percent of respondents in Massachusetts would approve of such a mandate a higher percentage of people than anywhere else in the United States.

The study, conducted by The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Publics Policy Preferences Across States a multi-institutional project that includes Harvard University and Northeastern University surveyed over 20,000 people across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., between June 9 and July 7.

The survey, published on July 30, found that nationally, support for the government requiring people to be vaccinated is very strong, ranging from 61 percent to 70 percent, depending on the specific type of mandate.

No government vaccine requirement for citizens currently exists, although employers, including the federal government, have rolled out new vaccination rules for employees in recent weeks as virus cases swell due to the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. Meanwhile, some Boston businesses are requiring customers and patrons to display proof of vaccination as they enter.

Overall, 64 percent of Americans support a vaccine mandate, according to the study, while 70 percent support requiring a vaccine in order to board an airplane.

Additionally, 61 percent of survey respondents supported requiring children to get a vaccine in order to be allowed in school, and 66 percent backed requiring college students to be vaccinated to attend classes.

Public support for such mandates has increased since April/May, both overall and in specific circumstances, like for getting on an airplane and returning to school or a university, the consortium wrote in its report. These over-time increases in support emerge across nearly all partisan and demographic subgroups we investigated.

In Massachusetts, 82.2 percent of survey respondents supported requiring passengers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in order to fly on an airplane, while 76.6 percent backed mandating vaccines for children to be allowed in schools and 82.3 percent support requiring the shots for college students so they may return to school, too. (The margin of error was 6.4 percent.)

As of July 30, 4,356,202 people in Massachusetts were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state Department of Public Health.

While the survey found that a majority of residents in nearly every state support the government requiring a COVID-19 vaccine, support was also the strongest in Washington, D.C., with 80.5 percent of those surveyed backing the idea, and in New York, with 76.8 percent in support.

Wyoming, with 45.7 percent; South Dakota, with 49.5 percent; and North Dakota, with 49.8 percent, were the only states with less than 50 percent of residents supporting a mandate.

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Support for COVID-19 vaccine mandate higher in Mass. than anywhere in U.S., survey finds - Boston.com

Austin's "inclination is towards making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory" for active duty troops, a defense official told CNN.

If the secretary makes that final recommendation, he could seek a presidential waiver to allow the vaccine to be administered to troops before full approval by the Food and Drug Administration. A Pentagon decision and recommendation on how to proceed could come this week, several officials say.

Biden announced on July 29 that he was asking the Defense Department to "look into how and when" it will add the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of mandatory military vaccinations. Biden specifically said he knew that Austin is "open to it."

Since then, the Joint Chiefs have met to discuss how a mandatory vaccination plan might work. Austin has also been consulting with military medical authorities, the defense official said. Austin's current view is to "seek authorization to make it mandatory."

'We'll get after it'

The Pentagon previously indicated it was likely to wait for FDA approval before making inoculation against Covid-19 mandatory, but Biden's push for greater vaccination levels created pressure to move more quickly and will likely lead the Pentagon to request a presidential waiver.

Traveling in the Philippines last week, Austin told a news conference that he would consult with medical professionals and the services on a timeline for implementing a new policy. "But we won't let grass grow under our feet," he said. "The President directed us to do something and we'll get after it."

The current thinking at the Pentagon is to have the military services and geographic commanders work together to establish new schedules for vaccination of troops around the world. Troops scheduled for upcoming deployments could be among the first to have mandatory vaccines, officials say.

Defense Department civilians would fall under any rules established for federal employees. National Guard forces would only be covered by the mandate when they are activated by federal, not state, authorities.

Biden announced last week that all federal employees must attest to being vaccinated against Covid-19 or face strict protocols including regular testing, masking and other mitigation measures. At the time, the Pentagon said the new requirements would apply to military and civilian Defense Department personnel, and that it was also considering adding Covid-19 vaccines to the list of required vaccines for military personnel.

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Defense Secretary Austin expected to make Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for active duty troops - CNN

The UK government will updateits "green" travel liston Thursday to add Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway to the list.

Travelers returning from green-listed countries do not need to quarantine unless their required PCR test result is positive. The travel list changes announced will come into effect on Aug. 8 in England.

Arrivals to England from France will also no longer need to quarantine beginning Aug. 8 if they are fully vaccinated, according to a Department for Transport statement released Wednesday.

The British government will also move India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE from the "red" list to the "amber" list, meaning that travelers arriving from those countries will no longer need to quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 and are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the UK.

The UK considers travelers to be fully vaccinated two weeks after having received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the UK government, the European Medicines Agency or the US Food and Drug Administration. Approved vaccines include the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, or the Janssen vaccine (only one dose of Janssen is required).

Meanwhile, Georgia and Mexico will be added to the "red" list on Thursday, requiring travelers arriving from those countries to quarantine for 10 full days in a government-run hotel at a cost of about $3,200 per single adult.

The overseas French departments of La Reunion and Mayotte will also be put on the "red" list due to the prevalence of the Beta variant, according to the Department for Transport.

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The Covid-19 pandemic in the US: Live updates - CNN

With the delta variant surging, some businesses have begun announcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees with some exceptions on religious and medical grounds.

The announcements have led to relief for some and strong opposition and protests for others as well as a handful of states introducing legislation to block them.

While there may be opposition to those policies, ultimately the mandates -- which also come as efforts stagnate to reach the remaining unvaccinated Americans -- are on solid legal ground, public health experts contend.

In the last two weeks, private companies big and small, such as Google, the NFL and Disney (the parent company of ABC News) and many public offices, have announced that vaccines are mandatory for staff before they return to offices in the fall.

In addition, the federal government and some states are issuing testing mandates for any of their public employees who aren't vaccinated.

A woman gets a COVID-19 vaccination from an EMT at a Medi-Vaxx Program of the San Fernando Valley pop up clinic at the Montague Charter Academy in Arleta, Calif., Aug. 2, 2021.

In a few localities, such as New York City, proof of vaccination is required for indoor activities such as movies and restaurants -- actions that take a harder line to incentivize vaccination.

The subject is tricky given that the vaccines are not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said vaccines will not be federally mandated and public health officials have largely been trying to incentivize inoculation rather than making it compulsory given the hesitancy in the population.

Dr. Howard Koh, a former assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told ABC News that there will be more organizations that follow suit given the rise in coronavirus cases among the unvaccinated, and they have solid arguments for the policies.

"Businesses want to go forward and they know that their status quo isnt working," he told ABC News.

Here's what to know:

Long-standing legal precedent

States have over a century of legal precedent for mandating vaccines, according to Koh, who currently serves as a professor of the practice of public health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

The courts have not determined if the federal government can issue a vaccine mandate, however, the Supreme Court's decision in the 1905 case Jacobson v. Massachusetts gave state governments the power to issue such a mandate.

The 7-2 decision ruled that Massachusetts's smallpox vaccine mandate was constitutional stating, "it is for the legislature, and not for the courts, to determine in the first instance whether vaccination is or is not the best mode for the prevention of smallpox and the protection of the public health."

All states and the District of Columbia have mandated vaccines for ailments such as measles, rubella and polio, for school-age children, although requirements differ by state. There are also a range of exceptions, most commonly medical and religious reasons.

As of June, 44 states and Washington, D.C., grant religious exemptions for people who have religious objections to immunizations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks the state regulations. Fifteen states that allow philosophical exemptions for children whose parents object to immunizations because of personal, moral or other beliefs, the NCSL found.

The situation is largely different for adults, for whom vaccines are generally not required for employment or in other forums. However, in certain states, such as New York, there is a requirement for health care workers, for instance.

Koh added things get tricky when it comes to a federal mandate.

"The president, from what I can tell, can not announce a federal mandate. No federal vaccination mandate has ever been tested in court," he said.

More leeway for private businesses

There is some legal uncertainty around the current batch of COVID-19 vaccines because they are being administered under an emergency use authorization from the FDA, Koh said. Opponents to vaccine mandates have argued states or businesses cannot enforce mandates unless the inoculations have received full approval.

But a ruling by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel last month, ruled that Section 564 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act doesn't prohibit private businesses from mandating vaccines. States and local municipalities, however, still have the power to prohibit a vaccine mandate within their own offices.

A Jackson State University police officer watches as a nurse gives him a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at an open vaccination site at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., Aug. 3, 2021.

Koh noted that the Justice Department's ruling has given private and public businesses the legal backing to order their own mandates.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently issued an executive order Tuesday that required vaccination for certain indoor activities, such as the gym, movie theaters and concerts.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told ABC News' podcast "Start Here" that similar requirements will be popping up.

"I think it's not only reasonable, but I think it's part of what's going to, I think, nudge more people to get vaccinated while making it even safer for those who are vaccinated to be able to get back to their way of life, which is what we all want," he told ABC News.

Once the vaccines get full approval, there will be more push from all sectors to mandate the vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday. Pfizer's approval could come as early as September.

"Youre not going to see a central mandate coming from the federal government, but youre going to see more universities, colleges, places of business who, once they get the cover of an officially approved vaccine, theyre going to start mandating vaccines," Fauci said.

There have been some signs that governors would change their rules once the vaccines get the full approval. During a virtual town hall Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told residents he would do just that.

"It would be my expectation that once full authorization or sometimes it's called licensure is granted, then that vaccine will be added to the list, and then it will work just like the current mumps, measles, rubella, and other vaccines," he said.

Attempts to block mandates

When it comes to local public government offices, rules for vaccine mandates differ and in a handful of states, mandates on the COVID-19 vaccines have been banned outright until full approval.

States that have enacted bans on vaccine mandates

As of Aug. 4, six states have enacted legislation in the last year that would block state and municipal offices from mandating a COVID-19 vaccine among staff members. Those six states and another six also have laws that prevent schools from issuing mandates.

Only one state, Montana, has banned private businesses from issuing a vaccine mandate.

Some of the states with bans, such as Alabama, North Dakota and Arkansas, have lagged behind the rest of the country when it comes to vaccinations and seen a jump in cases, according to the CDC. Alabama's seven-day average of new cases has jumped from nearly 200 at the beginning of July to over 2,500 this week, CDC data shows.

During a news conference Tuesday, President Biden urged governors to lift restrictions on businesses and schools so they could increase vaccination numbers.

"I say to these governors, please help. But if you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way," he said.

Another way: Testing mandates

Koh noted that the vaccine order that Biden borrowed from New York and other states that required unvaccinated public employees to get tested weekly.

Koh and other experts contend the rule from the president and other leaders would ensure that workspaces would have fewer outbreaks and give those unvaccinated workers a bigger push to get their shots.

It also gives the states firmer legal standing because the testing mandate doesn't lead to a termination or penalty for the unvaccinated employee, they noted.

"The goal is to make vaccine the norm and the goal is to make vaccine the healthy choice," Koh said.

Ultimately, Koh said the biggest motivator for vaccine mandates will be from the private businesses. Their efforts will force the public sector to enact stricter measures, he argued.

"Our country has been trying to tame this pandemic for 18 months and counting. The other [vaccination] measures until now have not been completely successful in getting us through this," Koh said.

This report was featured in the Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast.

"Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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More businesses are mandating COVID-19 vaccines. Is that legal? - ABC News

"This virus is highly infectious. If you decide to try to run the game clock out, don't try to do it. This virus will find you, it will infect you eventually," Michael Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN's Pamela Brown.

"If that's not enough to motivate people to get vaccinated," he added, "then the only other things I think we have are the mandates that say, 'If you're going to work here or go here ... you have to get vaccinated.'"

"If you are a case and you become infectious, you do two things: one is you pose a risk to others including your own loved ones, but number two is you're also using hospital resources right now which in many instances are very, very short," he said.

"If we don't crush the outbreak to the point of getting the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, then what will happen is the virus will continue to smolder through the fall into the winter, giving it ample chance to get a variant which, quite frankly, we're very lucky that the vaccines we have now do very well against the variants -- particularly against severe illness," Fauci said in an interview with McClatchy. "There could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside Delta."

And if a variant arises that's also highly contagious but also more likely to cause severe illness, "then we really could be in trouble," Fauci added.

"People who are not getting vaccinated mistakenly think it's only about them. But it isn't. it's about everybody else, also," he said.

Roughly 58% of the US population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 49.8% of the population is fully vaccinated, the data shows.

More than 90 million eligible people in the US are still unvaccinated. And though the seven-day average of people initiating vaccination each day is the highest it has been since July 4 at 446,300, many experts say the US is still not where it needs to be to get the pandemic -- and the rapidly spreading Delta variant -- under control.

On Tuesday, for the first time since February, more than 50,000 hospital beds across the country were occupied by Covid-19 patients, according to new data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. That number is more than triple what it was a month ago.

"This surge that we're going through right now has every potential to be -- and already looks to be -- the worst surge we've faced so far," former US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said during a live online interview with The Washington Post.

Delta variant now accounts for more than 93% of Covid-19 cases in the US

The Delta variant now accounts for an estimated 93.4% of coronavirus circulating in the US, according to figures published by the CDC.

This includes several sub-lineages of Delta, all of which are classified as variants of concern. Together, they made up about 93.4% of cases during the last two weeks of July.

This number is even higher in certain parts of the country, including the region that includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, where Delta accounts for more than 98% of circulating virus.

These figures have shown a rapid increase over the past two months. In the two weeks ending May 22, for example, Delta's prevalence was estimated around 3%.

At that same time in May, another variant first identified in the UK -- Alpha, or B.1.1.7 -- was the dominant one in the US, causing 69% of cases. Now, CDC's most recent estimates put that variant at just under 3%.

Experts considering boosters for immunocompromised people, Fauci says

Although experts have said data so far does not indicate a need for the general population to get vaccines boosters, Fauci said there is an effort underway to get them for immunocompromised people.

Some conditions -- including autoimmune diseases, transplants and cancer treated with chemotherapy -- compromise people's immune systems.

"Those individuals we know almost invariably do not have an adequate response, so the need to give them an additional boost is much more emergent than the general population," Fauci said during a virtual event hosted by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday.

Vaccine advisers to the CDC have met to discuss whether immunocompromised people may need additional protection from a vaccine booster but have not yet presented a formal recommendation or voted on guidance.

"We are trying very hard to get the regulatory mechanism in place very soon to get those individuals a boost that might bring up their immunity to the level where it should be, if possible," Fauci said.

During a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, Fauci said it's "very likely" Covid-19 variants evolved in the bodies of those who are immunosuppressed.

People with immune suppression may be unable to fight off Covid-19 infections for weeks or even months, meaning the virus has plenty of time to evolve and change.

"Variants, we all know, have emerged because of the pressure that the human immune system has put on the virus, very likely from people who are immunosuppressed ... and had virus in them for days and days and days before they cleared it and/or died, and then essentially led to the emergence of a variant," Fauci said.

'Substantial' increase in cases among children and teens

With the new school year stirring concerns about protecting children from Covid-19, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Tuesday there's been a "substantial" increase in cases among children.

Nearly 72,000 children and teens caught Covid-19 last week -- five times as many as at the end of June, the group said.

The definition of a child varies by state, but generally includes those up to age 17 or 18.

Covid-19 protocols vary across the country, but when children go back to school, districts will need to know how to respond to outbreaks quickly.

Districts need to be prepared to enact contact tracing, testing, the quarantining of people who were exposed to the virus and the isolation of people with infections, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

While most schools follow those steps to isolate cases, contact trace and test, response plans can vary state by state and school district by school district, Kim Anderson, executive director of the National Education Association, told CNN.

"From what we understand, it does depend on what district you are in. The district should have very well thought-out outbreak plans that have included the voices of educators and parents and community members in the crafting of those plans, and they should have plans that follow the CDC recommendations," Anderson said.

"Our recommendation to all students and school districts is to follow the medical experts and follow the CDC," she said.

CNN's Deidre McPhillips, Matthew Hilk, Jacqueline Howard, Virginia Langmaid, Lauren Mascarenhas, Michael Nedelman and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.

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If you're not protected against Covid-19, the virus 'will find you, it will infect you,' expert says - CNN

(WFXR) On Wednesday morning, Kroger Health announced a partnership with the healthcare subsidiary of rideshare company Lyft, Inc. to provide access to discounted rides to and from coronavirus vaccination appointments.

This partnership is part ofLyfts Vaccine Access Programand Kroger Healths continued efforts to vaccinate Americans, especially those with limited access to transportation.

All you have to do is follow this link to schedule a vaccine appointment. In certain markets, you will receive the appointment confirmation with a Lyft ride code providing $12per ride, covering travel to and from each scheduled appointment. Then, you can request your ride to a nearby Kroger Family of Pharmacies or The Little Clinic location using the free Lyft app.

With only around 50% of the country fully vaccinated, our partnership with Lyft creates greater accessibility to the vaccine and helps remove transportation barriers. With the new Delta variant on the rise, its more important than ever that we push forward with our goals to achieve herd immunity and improve vaccine equity, saidColleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health. Our Kroger Health practitioners have administered more than six million doses so far, and were committed to doing even more to help people live healthier lives and protect the communities we serve.

Kroger Healths partnership with Lyft will provide access to discounted rides in communities across the country, including Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Making sure people can get to their vaccine appointment is critical to beating COVID-19, and were proud to partner with Kroger Health to help people across the country access reliable transportation, saidMegan Callahan, President of Lyft Healthcare, Inc. Addressing the problem of transportation insecurity is our top priority, and this partnership only strengthens our ability to support equitable vaccine access in communities that need it most.

For those who cannot schedule their appointmentsonline or need even more flexibility, Kroger Health also offers walk-in vaccinations nationwide.

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Kroger Health partners with Lyft to provide rides to COVID-19 vaccine appointments in Virginia, other states - WAVY.com

Former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PenceVirginia couple gets home detention in Jan. 6 case Officers' powerful Capitol riot testimony underscores Pelosi's partisan blunder RealClearPolitics reporter says Freedom Caucus shows how much GOP changed under Trump MORE on Wednesday urged young conservatives to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the country grapples with rising case counts amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

"Now let me say this about the vaccine: I got the shot. My family got the shot. And I want to encourage anyone here who hasnt gotten the shot whos eligible to go get it. And if youre not sure about it, go ask your doctor and get the very best advice you can," Pencetold the Young America's Foundation's National Conservative Student Conference.

The direct call from Pence to young Republicans to get vaccinated comes as younger Americans in particular have shown resistance to getting the shot. And it was a notable plea from a top-ranking Trump administration official as red states see their vaccination rates lag behind other parts of the country.

Pence, who led the White House coronavirus task force last year, boasted of the success of Operation Warp Speed, the initiative under the Trump administration that cut regulatory red tape to rapidly develop and test the COVID-19 vaccines last year before they received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.

And the former vice president argued the vaccines should help prevent the U.S. from imposing economic restrictions like the ones that were common last year andwhile the virus raged during the winter.

"As we do our part, each and every one of us, to put this pandemic in the past, we need to also stand firm on the principle that we can defeat this virus without lockdowns and mandates," Pence said to applause. "We can protect the vulnerable and get our kids back to school. And we can keep America open withoutforfeiting our freedoms."

Pence received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on camera in December in an effort to instill public confidence in the shot. He was joined at the time by his wife and then-Surgeon General Jerome AdamsJerome AdamsIt's time we had 'safe havens' for vaccinated Americans The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Crunch time for bipartisan plan; first Jan. 6 hearing today Trump surgeon general: 'Pandemic is spiraling out of control' MORE.

Former President TrumpDonald TrumpMajority of Americans in new poll say it would be bad for the country if Trump ran in 2024 ,800 bottle of whiskey given to Pompeo by Japan is missing Liz Cheney says her father is 'deeply troubled' about the state of the Republican Party MORE has scarcely used his massive platform to encourage his supporters to get vaccinated, despite privately getting the shot himself in January.

The U.S. is grappling with a spike in COVID-19 cases as the delta variant accounts for more than 90 percent of infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biden administration officials have pleaded with Americans to get vaccinated against the virus, arguing it is the most effective and surest way to bring the pandemic to an end.

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Pence urges young conservatives to get COVID-19 vaccine | TheHill - The Hill

According to local media, when reporters asked House Minority Whip Steve Scalise in the beginning of April when he planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine, he replied, Soon. A month later, when asked again, his sense of urgency or lack thereof remained the same.

Then in July, something changed. Sitting inside a clinic in his home state of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican in the House posed for a photo as he got vaccinated at last. Four days later, at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, he encouraged others to do so too. I have high confidence in it, Scalise said of the vaccine. I got it myself.

Scalise isnt the only Republican who has suddenly changed his tone. That same week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose 2022 reelection campaign merchandise features drink koozies that say Dont Fauci My Florida, noted that nearly everyone hospitalized now for COVID-19 was unvaccinated. These vaccines are saving lives, he said at a press conference. Even hosts on Fox News, where COVID-19 was initially denied as a hoax, are encouraging viewers to get vaccinated.

But their statements of support prompted by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant are unlikely to change the minds of those who are certain they dont want the shot. Some prominent members of the party and conservative media networks spent months downplaying the severity of the pandemic and spreading misinformation about the vaccines, and their sudden about-face is unlikely to be enough to change that dynamic. But for those who were hesitant but not necessarily opposed there may be some chance for Republicans to change minds.

Not all Republicans have rejected the vaccine, but most vaccine refusers are Republican. That doesnt mean their resistance is partisan alone but it may mean its difficult for partisan leaders to persuade people to get the vaccine.

For one thing, vaccine resistance is well-entrenched at this point, and concerns about how fast the vaccine moved through clinical trials not to mention social media disinformation about the efficacy of the inoculation are still prevalent. On top of that, some well-known members of the GOP, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, are still embracing vaccine skepticism.

Republican leaders pleas to get the vaccine also arent new. Just ask former President Donald Trump. Having gotten the vaccine himself in January but out of the public eye he encouraged his supporters to follow suit. I would recommend it to a lot of people that dont want to get it, he said in a phone interview on Fox News in March. Its a great vaccine, its a safe vaccine, and its something that works.

But his endorsement carried little weight with Republicans who rejected the vaccine. According to a survey experiment conducted by CBS News/YouGov in March, Republicans which include Republican-leaning independents who were flat-out noes on getting a vaccine were not moved by Trumps words or deeds. However, among Republicans who were undecided, hearing that Trump himself was vaccinated and encouraging others to do the same did move the needle. Unvaccinated Republicans were interviewed twice, and in the second survey, half were told that Trump had endorsed the vaccine. Per the findings, those who said yes or maybe on the first survey were 15 percentage points more likely to say they would get the jab after hearing about Trumps endorsement, compared with the group who didnt hear the cue. However, those who said no on the first survey largely werent influenced by Trumps statements.

A similar dynamic was at play among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, just with President Biden. That group was less likely overall to say no or maybe when asked whether they would get the vaccine, but CBS News/YouGov found that Bidens endorsement made them less certain; it both softened some noes to maybes and moved some yeses to maybes. However, in follow-up questioning, most of those maybe respondents said they would probably get the vaccine.

Likewise, an Economist/YouGov survey from late July/early August showed that Republicans who said they didnt plan to get the vaccine wouldnt be swayed even if they were told that Trump had gotten it and encouraged others to do the same. Just 3 percent of respondents who told the pollster they didnt plan to get vaccinated said they would be persuaded to get the shot if Trump urged them to do so, including only 5 percent of Republicans. In a separate survey from June, The Economist/YouGov found that among adults who said they would not get the vaccine, a larger share said they trusted medical advice from Trump (53 percent) than from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (14 percent), Dr. Anthony Fauci (9 percent) and Biden (7 percent). Still, only 3 percent said that Trumps endorsement would sway them to get the vaccine themselves.

Whats also working against Republicans new pro-vaccine push is that hesitancy and refusal rates have been stagnant so far, especially in red states. According to Morning Consults tracking, the share of Americans who said they were either unsure or unwilling to get vaccinated has decreased by only 3 points in two months, from 34 percent in May to 31 percent in July. That trend is particularly entrenched in states that heavily supported Trump. On average, in the 20 states that backed him by more than 10 points in the 2020 election, 25.2 percent of respondents said in the July survey that they were unwilling to get vaccinated (essentially unchanged from 25.9 percent in May). By contrast, in the 16 states that voted for Biden by more than 10 points, an average of only 15.0 percent of respondents in the July survey said they were unwilling to get vaccinated, similar to the 15.4 percent who said the same in May.

Still, the future is unknowable, and some newly released research suggests the opposite of what these polls were finding: that vaccine endorsements from elite Republicans may in fact have a positive impact on everyday voters. But that research is based on a study from March, a time when a greater share of unvaccinated Americans were on the fence about the vaccine. Yet new Morning Consult polling shows that vaccine skepticism has decreased slightly among Fox News viewers after more hosts began promoting vaccinations, suggesting that the networks new attitude may be having some impact on its audience though Fox News Republicans were already less hesitant about vaccines than Republicans who get their news from more far-right sources.

Moreover, its possible that hesitancy might decrease as the delta variant continues its spread, and vaccine rates had been ticking up slightly in the last half of July. However, a July survey from Echelon Insights suggests the increase may be due more to Democrats getting vaccinated than to any changes among Republicans: The share of Republicans saying they probably wouldnt get the vaccine increased by 3 points from their June survey, while the share of Democrats who said the same decreased by 3 points.

Its also possible that GOP leaders touting vaccines will have the opposite effect and cause some Republicans to double-down on their anti-vaccine sentiments. Thats because when people resist persuasion, they can become more firm in their beliefs. Plus, public figures dont typically influence peoples actions. As the Kaiser Family Foundation previously noted, pro-vaccine messages from doctors, family members and friends have the greatest impact on vaccine skeptics.

So, if nothing else, its objectively a good sign that some elected Republicans are beginning to take the pandemic seriously. It shows their concern about the countrys stalled progress, and represents a broader acknowledgment that a complete return to normalcy requires their base to step up.

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Some Republicans Have Changed Their Messaging On The COVID-19 Vaccine. Is It Too Little, Too Late? - FiveThirtyEight

Vanguard signage at a Morningstar Investment Conference.

M. Spencer Green | AP

Vanguard is offering its employees $1,000 to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the company has confirmed.

The asset management giant follows Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other employers calling on workers to get the coronavirus vaccine amid growing concerns about the fast spread of the delta variant.

"Vanguard recognizes vaccines are the best way to stop the spread of this virus and strongly encourages crew to be vaccinated," Charles Kurtz, a spokesperson for Vanguard, said in a statement shared with CNBC. "As such, we are offering a vaccine incentive for crew who provide COVID-19 vaccination proof. The incentive recognizes crew who have taken the time to protect themselves, each other, and our communities by being vaccinated."

Kurtz also confirmed the company's 16,500 eligible employees have until Oct. 1 to get the vaccine, which Bloomberg first reported Wednesday.

Walgreens Boots Alliance said Wednesday that the number of vaccines it has administered has surged by more than 30% in the past few weeks in certain states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.

That number could rise as the Food and Drug Administration gives full approval, versus emergency use authorization, to the vaccines, which it aims to do for the Pfizer vaccine next month. Still, businesses like Vanguard are encouraging employees not to wait.

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Vanguard says it will give employees $1,000 to get the Covid-19 vaccine - CNBC

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) While there was a 68% increase in the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in South Dakota, there was also a notable increase in the number of new people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Aug. 4, there were 357,714 people fully vaccinated in South Dakota, an increase of 2,564 and roughly 366 new people each day. In addition to those fully vaccinated numbers, Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said the Department of Health saw more than twice as many people receive their first dose of the vaccine compared to the previous week (July 20 through July 27).

Thats the kind of thing we want to see happening across the state again, Malsam-Rysdon told KELOLAND News. This is a very welcome sign to see more people choose to become vaccinated.

This is a very welcome sign to see more people choose to become vaccinated,

This week, 956 people received their first dose, compared to just 449 June 26 through July 3.

Vaccines are readily available across the state and thats changed dramatically in the last few months, Malsam-Rysdon said. Its more convenient than ever to get your COVID-19 vaccine.

Current president of the South Dakota State Medical Association Dr. Kara L. Dahl said the biggest way to tackle COVID-19 is by getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

We would like the general public to realize that the Delta variant is in South Dakota, said Dahl, who is an emergency medicine physician at Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center and became the SDSMA president in June. It is very important if you are not vaccinated to become vaccinated.

Dahl highlighted 96% of physicians in the United States are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Thats a number I wish was highlighted more, Dahl said. Physicians in this country are made up from all types of people, we come from all types of backgrounds and nationalities.

Both Dahl and Malsam-Rysdon stressed people should speak with personal doctors about any concerns regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Malsam-Rysdon said people should seek reputable sources for any questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine.

A lot of people need to have a discussion with their physicians, Dahl said.

When it comes to full authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine, Malsam-Rysdon said the latest shes heard is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is likely to receive full authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in September and the Moderna vaccine has also applied for full FDA approval.

There are some trials happening right now to determine the safety and effectiveness of those vaccines for those kids under the age of 12, Malsam-Rysdon said, adding approval for that age group has been roughly been set as sometime this school year.

In South Dakota, Dahl said 98% of COVID-19 cases and 95% of COVID-19 hospitalizations were among unvaccinated persons from January to June.

Malsam-Rysdon called current hospitalizations for COVID-19 preventable.

We really want people to have those facts and consider getting vaccinated for themselves and for their families, Malsam-Rysdon said.

The start of school less than two weeks away for some South Dakota school districts. College students for South Dakotas public colleges start on Aug. 23 and Malsam-Rysdon urged all parents to consider the COVID-19 vaccine.

Please. Look at getting your children vaccinated, its protecting them, Malsam-Rysdon said, adding theres more cases showing up in younger people. Kids can still become very, very ill. Its important that parents look at information and consider that carefully.

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DOH Secretary calls increase in COVID-19 vaccinations A very welcome sign to see - KELOLAND.com