Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Are vaccine mandates legal? Here's what employers are allowed to do

Google, Biden and NY State have issued vaccine mandates for employees and federal workers. Here's how employees and unions are responding.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

As the United States struggles to convince more people toget the COVID-19 vaccine, some are wondering why pharmaceutical companies havent taken to good old-fashioned advertising.

Ever wonder why the covid vaccine isnt advertised on TV like other medicines or other vaccines? Because any medicine or vaccine advertised on TV is required by US law to mention the side affects (sic) in the ads no matter what they are, an Instagram post with more than3,800 likes reads.

USA TODAY reached out to the posts creator for comment.

Fact check: Genomic sequencing, not PCR testing, detects COVID-19 variants

While some aspects of the claim are true, its overall conclusion is false.

Its true that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers havent taken out TV ads to specifically promote their shots. But thats not because theyre afraid to share the products' side effects with the public.

Dr. Robert Califf, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, told CNBC in May that companies cant promote their products under an Emergency Use Authorization and currently, allthree COVID-19 vaccines are authorized via EUAs. Once the vaccines are fully approved by the FDA, that would change.

The vaccines will still have to be administered under the supervision of a professional whos qualified, Califf said. Its not like they can send the vaccines to peoples homes. However, they can advertise on TV and promote their products under the watchful eye of the FDA.

Once a product is FDA approved and able to be advertised, there is still a set of rules that must be followed. All product claim ads, which name a drug and discuss its benefits and risks, are required to include the name of the drug (brand and generic), at least one FDA-approved use for the drug, and the most significant risks of the drug, according to the FDA. The ads must present the pros and cons of the product in a balanced fashion, as well.

For TV ads specifically, product claim ads must include the drugs most important risks in audio form and either all the risks listed in the drugs prescribing information or a list of sources for viewers to find the prescribing information for the drug themselves.

This means that drug companies do not have to include all of a drug's risk information in a broadcast ad, the FDA website reads. Instead, the ad may tell where viewers or listeners can find more information.

Fact check: Too soon to say how many dying of COVID-19 in England were vaccinated

Vaccine manufacturers havent been hiding their products side effects, either. The most common side effectsof thePfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)shots, which are each authorized for emergency use in the U.S., are listed on the FDAs website.

We rate PARTLY FALSE the claim that the COVID-19vaccine isn't being advertised on TV because all of its side effects would be legally required to appear in the ad. Its true thatthe vaccine is not being advertised on TV currently and that the FDA requires product claim ads on TV to present the products most important risks. But the companies producing the vaccines currently cant advertise on TV because their products are not yet FDA approved, and it is not required that all risks be disclosed in TV ads if a variety of sources for viewers to find the prescribing informationis provided instead.

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Fact check: COVID-19 vaccine isnt advertised on TV due to emergency authorization - USA TODAY

A healthcare worker prepares a dose of China's Sinovac Biotech vaccine for the coronavirus disease in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

SANTIAGO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Chile will begin administering a booster shot to those already innoculated with Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday, after studies showed the initial two doses lose some effectiveness after several months.

Chile launched one of the world's fastest mass inoculation campaigns against COVID-19 in February and has now fully vaccinated more than 60% of its population, predominantly with Sinovac's (SVA.O)CoronaVac.

"We have decided to start a reinforcement of the vaccination of those who have already received both doses of the vaccine Sinovac," Pinera said in a televised address.

The country will begin administering an additional dose of Oxford's Astrazeneca (AZN.L) vaccine on Aug. 11, beginning with citizens over 55 who received their shots before March 31.

Chile joins the United States, Germany, France and Israel in giving booster shots, despite a plea by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people around the world can get their first shot. read more

Health subsecretary Paula Daza said domestic and international studies suggested the boosters would help reinforce immunity, but that Chile had already donated vaccines to its neighbors and would continue to help as needed.

"We are always analyzing the recommendations, and obviously the possibility of cooperating with other Latin American countries," she said.

The death toll in Chile from the pandemic stands at 35,806 and there have been about 1.6 million confirmed cases in total.

Data released by the Chilean government on Tuesday suggested CoronaVac's effectiveness at preventing symptomatic infection among its recipients fell from 67% when measured between February and April, to 58.5% when measured again at the start of July.

Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero, Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Chile to give COVID-19 vaccine boosters for those inoculated with Sinovac - Reuters

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears tight end Jimmy Graham vented about the NFLPA on a variety of topics Thursday, including the union's proposal to increase the frequency of COVID-19 testing for vaccinated players and the addition of a 17th regular-season game.

"I've been in the league going on 12 years now, and it's been kind of frustrating at times with them [the NFLPA]," Graham said. "I'm not going to hold back. I'm a grown man. And I wish somebody would talk to me and speak to me like a grown man and let me have a little bit of say in some things. I'm about to go onto Week 17 playing for free as well. How does that make any sense? Who even petitioned for that? I certainly didn't."

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Graham initially aired his grievances toward the NFLPA on the vaccination proposal with a pair of tweets Thursday morning.

"Was basically forced into getting the vaccine. Now I'm just confused @NFLPA," Graham tweeted, later writing, "I've done everything I've been asked and now I feel like I'm being punished. If I miss a test that you are proposing every day I'll be fined a max 150K! How does this make sense. How's the punishment 100X worse than last year and I'm vaccinated now?"

The NFLPA released a memo this week that recommended testing vaccinated players and staff every day they enter the team facility. The recommendations are based on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NFLPA's medical experts. The union did not recommend that fully vaccinated players be tested on their off-days or bye weeks.

Sixty-five players and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since training camps opened, according to the NFLPA memo.

The Bears have four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list: nose tackle Eddie Goldman, long-snapper Patrick Scales, linebacker Christian Jones and offensive tackle Elijah Wilkinson.

Graham did not back down from his comments when he addressed the media after practice.

"For me, it's one of these things where, last year, I understand last year and what was happening last year," Graham said. "We all made a commitment to try to make this season happen, like that season happened, to try to make a run and win the Super Bowl. I understood what that was about. You know there wasn't a vaccine available. There was a lot less known about it, so we had to take those measures to do that."

"I thought we also had a game plan going into this season, and now we're kind of redacting and retracting on that. So it's a bit frustrating for myself, who went out and got the vaccine just so I could, you know, do the same thing and have another successful healthy season. That's all I'm going to say about that."

As of early Thursday morning, coach Matt Nagy said he had not discussed the matter with Graham but noted that the team works hard to educate players and staff about all coronavirus-related safety protocols.

"All these guys have opinions and beliefs, and I'm never going to criticize anybody for what their belief is. We all have it, and we all have the ability to voice it," Nagy said before Thursday's practice. "He [Graham] has not come to me about any of that, and Jimmy and I have a close enough relationship that if there is an issue that him and I would have that one-on-one.

"There is stuff going on every day with this, and I think everybody is figuring out the best thing to do to be safe. And not just in the sports world but in life in general; every state is a little different in what they are doing. Masks, no masks, things are certainly changing."

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Chicago Bears TE Jimmy Graham airs frustration with NFLPA on COVID-19 testing, 17th game - ESPN

(FOX 9) - Due to a recent increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, Minnesota is now around 33,000 shots away from hitting Gov. Tim Walzs 70% vaccination rate goal for people 16 years of age and older.

The seven-day rolling average for new first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine is 5,100 a day, up from 2,900 in mid-July, according to the latest Minnesota Department of Health data.

Due to a recent increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, Minnesota is now around 33,000 shots away from hitting Gov. Tim Walzs 70% vaccination rate goal for people 16 years of age and older.

About 69.2% of Minnesotans ages 16 and up have at least one dose of the vaccine and 65.8% are fully vaccinated.

A vaccine mandate for First Avenue and other concert venues it owns took effect on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the number of new daily COVID-19 infections has been increasing since mid-July. MDH reported 878 new cases on Thursday and the seven-day rolling average test positivity rate is up to 4.2%. It had been below 2% in mid-July. Anything over 5% is concerning for health officials because it indicates a high rate of community transmission.

Hospitalizations and ICU cases are also on the rise. Non-ICU hospitalizations for COVID-19 have gone from below 100 in mid-July to 189 patients currently hospitalized with the virus. ICU cases have quadrupled, from around 20 to over 80.

MDH says the highly contagious delta variant now makes up the majority of cases in Minnesota. The delta variant is contributing to a surge in coronavirus infections nationwide.

As of Thursday, 59 counties in Minnesota are considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have substantial or high risk of transmission of COVID-19, areas which the CDC recommends all peopleincluding those who are already vaccinatedwear masks indoors.

Minnesota's offer of $100 Visa gift cards for newly vaccinated people is off to a more popular start than the smaller June incentives. A total of 12,200 people have applied since the claim form opened on Wednesday. It runs through Aug. 15 but is limited to the first 24,330 submissions.

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Minnesota around 33K shots away from hitting 70% COVID-19 vaccination rate - FOX 9

Meet the humble doctor who put Cincinnati at the forefront of COVID-19 vaccine trials  Cincinnati.com

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Meet the humble doctor who put Cincinnati at the forefront of COVID-19 vaccine trials - Cincinnati.com

The cases are mainly in areas where vaccination rates remain low, Zients said at a briefing Monday.

"In fact, seven states with the lowest vaccination rates represent just about 8- 1/2% of the US population, but account for more than 17% of cases, and one in three cases nationwide occurred in Florida and Texas, this past week," Zients said.

In the past two weeks, daily case rates have gone up fourfold, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

"There are still about 90 million eligible Americans who are unvaccinated," Zients said. "And we need them to do their part, roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. Each and every shot matters."

Vaccination rates rising with spread of Delta variant

"People are waking up to this," he said. "That's what desperately needs to happen if we are going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it is having a pretty big party in the middle of the country."

And according to Zients, vaccination rates have more than doubled in the states with the highest case rates.

"The eight states with the highest current case rates have seen an average increase of 171% in the number of people newly vaccinated, each day over the past three weeks," he said.

"Louisiana has seen a 302% increase in the average number of newly vaccinated per day, Mississippi 250%, Alabama 215%, and Arkansas 206%," Zients said.

Zients said this increase means people are understanding the risks of going unvaccinated.

"This increase in vaccination rates in states that have been lagging is a positive trend. Americans are seeing the risk and impact of being unvaccinated and responding with action. And that's what it's going to take to get us out of this pandemic," he said.

Vaccination milestone reached -- about a month late

The US by Monday had vaccinated 70% of adults with at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, the White House's Covid-19 data director, Cyrus Shahpar, said on Twitter.

"Today we hit 70% of adults w/ at least one dose! +468K doses reported administered, incl. 320K newly vaccinated (vs. 257K last Monday). 7-day average of newly vaccinated highest since July 4. Let's continue working to get more eligible vaccinated!" Shahpar tweeted.

The CDC reported Sunday that 816,203 additional doses were administered, the fifth straight day the agency recorded more than 700,000 shots in arms. The current seven-day average of doses administered is 662,529 per day, the highest average since July 7.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attributed the increase to two likely factors: trusted leaders coming out in support of vaccines and people seeing how much better vaccinated communities are faring against the virus, he told CBS on Sunday.

In Florida, where nearly 1 in 5 new Covid cases across the US are reported, chief clinical officer for AdventHealth Central Florida, Dr. Neil Finkler, said none of his patients thought they would get the virus.

"The Delta variant has proven to be so highly contagious that even the young and the healthy, including pregnant patients, are now starting to fill up our hospitals," said Finkler.

The race to get people vaccinated

"I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country, not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said.

But things are still likely to get worse for the unvaccinated, Fauci warned.

"We're looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we're seeing cases go up," he told ABC.

And while the unvaccinated will likely experience the brunt of this pain and suffering, Fauci noted the choices of the unvaccinated impact the overall community situation.

"When you have unvaccinated people getting infected, you're propagating the dynamics of the outbreak, which ultimately impacts everybody from the standpoint of having to wear masks, from the standpoint of the safety of kids in schools, from the standpoint of being able to open up everything the way we were when we were normal," he said.

To address the overall impacts, many officials have been increasing vaccination efforts in undervaccinated communities.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday his state is seeing "a significant increase" in vaccination rates, particularly in rural areas.

"I think ... fear of the Delta variant is certainly one of the causes," DeWine told CNN on Sunday.

Ohio is now focusing outreach efforts to the "undervaccinated" Medicaid population through incentives like $100 cash awards for getting the shot, DeWine said.

The state's "Vax-a-Million" lottery program also played a major role in reversing a downward trend in vacation rates, he said.

"We think well over 100,000 extra people were vaccinated, at a minimum, because of that," DeWine said. "It was very, very successful. It was something that worked and, you know, we are glad we did it."

Despite the state's progress on vaccinations, "We have room to grow," DeWine said.

Hospitals overwhelmed with patients

The surge of Covid-19 patients in hospitals could have an impact on others who need medical care, doctors said.

In Austin, Texas, "our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for COVID," Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said in a statement.

"If we fail to come together as a community now, we jeopardize the lives of loved ones who might need critical care."

In Mississippi, Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased significantly -- including among younger patients, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. All 88 beds in the University of Mississippi Medical Center's intensive care unit had filled up by Friday, according to data from the state's health department.

And in Louisiana, "we're becoming victims of the unvaccinated," said Dr. Christopher Thomas, a critical care physician at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

"We currently are overwhelming our bed capacity. We're creating burnout for our teams. And honestly, we're beginning to impact the rest of the health care for the community."

The facility has 23 patients wating for a transfer into the hospital for an ICU bed, Dr. Catherine O'Neal, the hospital's chief medical officer, said Monday.

"We no longer think we're giving adequate care to anybody, because these are the darkest days of the pandemic."

At the Louisiana hospital, 97% of Covid-19 patients in the ICU were unvaccinated, Thomas said. As of Friday, the average age of Covid-19 patients in the ICU was 48.

"That means there are children -- with parents -- who are now in the hospital," he said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong timing for when the doses were administered when discussing the rate of daily vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the additional doses Sunday, but it's not clear when they were all administered.

CNN's Holly Yan, Aya Elamroussi, Nadia Kounang, Virginia Langmaid, Deidre McPhillips, Maggie Fox, Gregory Lemos and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.

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Florida and Texas had one-third of all US Covid-19 cases in past week, official says - CNN

"I want to get our life back together," Camila, who will soon start eighth grade, told CNN. She wants to go out in public without a mask, she says. She wants to go on family vacations and wants to go to school safely in person, saying she has struggled with remote learning. "And I also want to be safe."

Camila was vaccinated at a site set up by Austin Public Health in Del Valle, Texas, on the edge of the capital city, in partnership with the nonprofit Emanicpet, which offers routine health care for dogs. Officials were there looking for people like Camila, who are unvaccinated but willing to change that.

With the pace of inoculations slowing, Austin is scrambling to get more shots in arms, dedicating personnel at sites across the city -- vet clinics, churches, rec centers, construction sites, homeless shelters -- just to vaccinate 10, 15 or 20 people at a time.

But it's not enough to stem the rising tide of infections and hospitalizations driven by the Delta variant, officials say.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNN the county and the city had done well, and he touted the high rate of vaccinations. "Which just goes to show this Covid variant, Delta, is just that much more infectious and having that much greater impact," he said.

Early on, thousands of people a day were getting vaccinated in Austin, Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, told CNN. Vaccines were in such high demand that some people initially had to be turned away.

Nowadays? "We're looking maybe at 50 to 100 people depending on how many strike teams we have out on any given day," Walkes said.

"Our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for COVID," Walkes said Friday in a statement. "If we fail to come together as a community now, we jeopardize the lives of loved ones who might need critical care."

Added Adler: "It is beyond frustrating that it's so hard to get vaccines in people's arms today when we were giving thousands of them out just a couple months ago. And we're doing everything we can."

Now, the "labor intensive effort" involves "virtually going door-to-door," he said.

"We're trying to find people where they are," Adler said. "We're working through trusted voices and communities, working with churches and faith institutions, faith leaders."

Camila admits she was nervous about getting a shot. She says she initially didn't want to get vaccinated. But she was the last member of her family to need it -- everyone else had been vaccinated.

So, she decided to listen to someone she trusts -- her mom, who told her the vaccine was the best path to a return to normalcy.

"My mom was talking to me in the car, and she was like, 'You know, if you want the world to get better, we need to help,'" Camila said. "Everyone needs to get vaccinated."

'An epidemic among the unvaccinated'

After weeks of progress, Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly in states across the country. In Texas, the seven-day moving average was 9,789 new daily cases on Monday, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That's way up from July 1, when the seven-day moving average of new daily cases was about 1,500.

"This Delta variant has really caused an alarming increase in the number of cases," Walkes told CNN. "We've gone from 30 cases a day to almost 400 cases a day in a matter of almost two-and-a-half, three weeks."

"That's because we have still a lot of people who are unvaccinated," she said.

Nearly everyone in the city's hospitals aren't vaccinated, Adler told CNN.

"Almost everyone in our ICUs are people who are not vaccinated. We have no one on ventilators in our city that are vaccinated," he said. "This is an epidemic among the unvaccinated."

But on the front lines, Adler said, that sort of messaging is "making it harder for us to get the behaviors we want, when our governor is not ready to actually join in a way that sends an unambiguous message to the community about the need to get vaccinated and about the ability and importance for people to wear masks while infection levels are real high."

Targeting the 'movable middle'

Health officials are focused now on what Walkes describes as the "movable middle" -- people who are looking for more information or need their concerns to be addressed on a one-on-one basis.

So-called strike teams are mobilizing in communities to find these individuals where they live, work and play, Walkes says.

But that means there's more manpower being spent to vaccinate fewer people. And officials also have to fight misinformation, convincing people the vaccines are safe and effective, she says.

"Every person that we can vaccinate is another person that's not going to be sick," she said. "The vaccines work to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death."

The efforts Austin has made to increase vaccinations is a pattern playing out across the state.

The Texas Department of State Health Services will award $10 million to local organizations promoting vaccines, like educational agencies, faith-based organizations, community coalitions and nonprofits, it has announced.

"Particularly, we're seeing parents bringing kids out to get vaccinated," Walkes said, "because we're weeks away from reopening school, and we want to do what we can to keep our kids safe."

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This Texas city has a relatively high vaccination rate, but it's still fighting to get shots in arms amid rising cases - CNN

TAMPA, Fla. Florida is seeing record-breaking numbers of people hospitalized with COVID-19.

And with the surge of delta variant cases, we're seeing more people looking to get tested and finally deciding to get vaccinated.

Even without the large-scale testing sites, we saw in the early days of the pandemic, there are still many options for finding locations to get tested for COVID-19.

In Hillsborough County testing and vaccination locations are no longer managed by the health department.

But they do recommend CVS, Quest Diagnostics, Walgreens, and independent pharmacies: https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/residents/public-safety/emergency-management/stay-safe/getting-tested

For vaccinations locations anywhere go to vaccines.gov.

The Pinellas County Department of Healths site shows a map with many locations for testing, including multiple CVS and Walgreens and urgent cares.

USF Professor, Dr. Jason Salemi studies the COVID-19 numbers released by the Florida Department of Health.

He says testing has gone up in the state from about 50,000 a day to about 80,000 a day.

That increase pails in comparison to the increase in cases and thats why we see positivity increasing. So when you see test positivity going up that means the increase in cases is more than the increase in testing volume. Obviously, in the last six weeks, we went from 3.3% to over 18%. Its affected just about every county in Florida."

For vaccinations, the Pinellas County Health Department is accepting appointments.

You can also go to one of many local pharmacies.

The Pasco County Department of Health website will show testing locations, which include urgent care and clinics.

The department of health offers vaccinations at two locations, one on each side of the county.

http://pasco.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/infectious-disease-services/COVID-19/index.html

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Options for COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in the Bay area - ABC Action News

The Florida Departmentof Health-Brevard and other local entities have begun offering incentives for people to get their COVID-19 vaccines, as coronavirus cases are spiking in the county and the state as a whole.

Meanwhile, the number of people vaccinated in Brevard County during the week of July 23-29 rose to 6,825 almost double the 3,470 vaccinated in the previous week, according to the latest-available FDOH data.

COVID surging: COVID-19 weekly case count sets records in Brevard as positivity hits almost 24%

State's nursing home workers lag on COVID vaccinations: Where does Brevard rank?

Statewide, 248,546 people were vaccinatedduring the week of July 23-29, up from 155,806 in the previous week.

Florida Rep. Randy Fine, whose district includes southern Brevard County, said everyone who can get a COVID-19 vaccine should get one.

Fine was hospitalized with COVID-19 last year before the vaccine was available and since then also has been vaccinated.

"I didn't have the choice" to get vaccinated last year, because a vaccine wasn't available then, Fine said.

But Fine believes many unvaccinated people who are hospitalized locally with COVID-19 now wish they had gotten the vaccine.

According to Health First, of those recently hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida, 96% are unvaccinated. Additionally, 97% of Health First's COVID-19-positive patients at its four Brevard hospitals are unvaccinated.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Fine wrote: "I will never vote to mandate the vaccine. But if I can save one person from dying because I convince them to get it even if I lose my election from all those who disagree I can live with that."

The incentives being offered in Brevard to get a vaccine include a $10 food voucher for local grocery stores, free Brevard Zoo admission and a free breakfast, depending on where the vaccine is administered.

DOH-Brevard is offering $10 food vouchers for those who get their first COVID-19 vaccination at Health Department clinics in Melbourne, Titusville andViera.

The free vaccinations are offered from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at these FDOH sites:

Anita Stremmel, assistant director of the FDOH-Brevard,said the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available at the Viera site. Only the Pfizer vaccine will be available at the Melbourne and Titusville sites.

The Pfizer vaccine can be administered to people ages 12 and up. The Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines can be administered to those ages 18 and up.

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Stremmel said $10 food vouchers are good at large grocery chains, including Publix, Winn-Dixie, Albertsons, Food Lion and Save A Lot.

Food vouchers also will be available at vaccine outreach eventswhile supplies last.

Stremmel said there also will be two opportunities from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday to get a vaccine and reap additional benefits:

Stremmel said other organizations that want to offer incentives or host an outreach can call DOH-Brevard outreach coordinator Nancee Brown at 321-615-9546.

Through Thursday, 313,977 Brevard residents 51.4% of the county's population have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

Statewide, 11,757,156 people or 53.5% of the state's population have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

There have been 51,525 COVID 19 cases in Brevard and 2,590,699 cases statewide since the pandemic began.

The weekly count of new cases has increased tenfold statewide in the last seven weeks from 10,459 during the week of June 11-17 to 110,477 during the week of July 23-29.

There have been 39,079 COVID-19-related deaths in Florida since the pandemic began, including 31,805 involving persons ages 65 and up.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY.Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bydaveberman.

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Food vouchers, zoo tickets, breakfasts offered to get a COVID-19 vaccine at Brevard sites - Florida Today

Mississippi urges masks, more vaccinations

State of Mississippi continues to confront vaccine hesitancy as it urges people to get vaccinated against the COVID-19; state officials warn of Delta variant spread. (July 20)

AP

As COVID-19 case levels climb in the state, hundreds of faculty members at colleges and universities across Mississippi have signedan open letter askingfor vaccinations to be required for students returning this fall.

The letter, originally pennedby four faculty members at Mississippi State University, hasgarnered more than 400 signatures since late May. Signees includecurrent and former professorsandsome community members.

"Such a measure is essential to protect the health and safety of all members of university communities (and their home counties), especially those who cannot receive a vaccine for medical reasons or who are immunocompromised (for whom the vaccine may be less effective)," the petition reads.

In the letter, addressed to state leadersincluding State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs, the faculty members noted that 586 public and private colleges across the United States have already made vaccinations a requirement for students and staff. According to a report from the Chronicle of Higher Education, that number hasincreased to 592 campuses nationwide, but none are located in Mississippi.

Dobbs said during a news conference on July 20 that the health department has no intention of issuing vaccination mandatesfor state higher ed institutions.

Dobbs said he believesthe "era of statewide mask mandatesis over" andhe doesn't believe a recommendation for mandatory shots will be pursued.

"There's a lot going on right now; we do recommend (getting vaccinated)," he said. "But it's not seeming really feasible to promote (mandatory vaccinations)."

Dobbs said there is word that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may be accelerating its review for full approval of some COVID-19 vaccines currently under emergency use authorization in the United States. However, he said he doesn't believe any approvals will change the department's stance onmandatory vaccinations for students in the future.

The state's board, however, intends to follow the health department's guidelines. Caron Blanton, director of communications for the Mississippi Institutions for Higher Learning, said in an email on July 21 that all policies related to COVID-19are based on the health department's mandates.

"We have not received a request from the Mississippi State Department of Health to mandate students or employees receive the COVID vaccine," she said. "Our universities are actively encouraging all students and employees to get the COVID vaccine."

Dobbs said the department is in talks with IHL to develop updated guidelines for colleges and universities around the state, but did not provide a timeline for when the new rules would be issued.

Officials said on Wednesday that the agency waslikely to change state guidance for K-12 schools to align with new CDC guidelines that suggest all students, teachers and staff wear masks while indoors regardless of vaccination status.

During a speech at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia Thursday, Gov. Tate Reeves called the new guidelines "foolish" and said the recommendations were not based on science. Reeves reiterated that he does not intend to reissue a statewide mask mandate for schools as he did at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

"I dont think youre going to see any school district mandate masks in schools," Reeves told WJTV-TV."I think if you start seeing them do that, the parents will erupt, and they should, and I feel certain they will."

The request from faculty at higher education institutions across the state comes as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Mississippi, spurred by the delta variant of the virus.

On Monday, the Mississippi State Department of Health recorded nearly 5,000 new cases identified in the state over the weekend.

Currently, no public Mississippi college or university is requiring staff, faculty or students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to return to campus. Mask policies vary by institution.

Have an education-relatednews tip? Contact Keisha Rowe at nrowe@gannett.com, on Twitter or at (601) 760-2483.

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No mandated COVID-19 vaccinations on the horizon for public Mississippi colleges - Clarion Ledger