Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Like most barbers, Angel Lugo not only sees his job at Tranformerz Barber in New Haven as a career but a calling.

"This is where everybody comes and they talk about their issues, we have guy time, you know, the boys can be boys, kids can be kids, so this is just so great we can talk about life experiences, you know, everything," said Lugo.

In the cornerstone of the community, one of the biggest topics is getting a COVID-19 vaccine, but not everyone is on the same page.

"A lot of our clients are skeptical about getting it because of the fact that they have no knowledge about it," Lugo said. "A lot of people are just talking and they're listening to everyone else instead of doing their own research."

In an effort to educate people, about a week ago, two New Haven city health nurses set up a pop-up clinic and staged information sessions in the shop to talk about the vaccine.

Lugo, who has already had a brush with COVID-19 and has gotten his vaccine wants people to understand that "its not just about you its about everybody around you."

"What about your grandmother? What about your mom? What about your little brother and sister? You know what I mean, what about your friend whose wife is pregnant - do you really want to pass that along?" he said.

Just right next door, Shawn Perkins is a beautician at Elite Hair studio. She said shes fully vaccinated and feels good about it and the tune in the salon is different than the barbershop.

"Actually, there are more womenthat believe in getting vaccinated than I think the barbers and their clients."

But when it comes to giving the kids vaccine thats where the line gets blurry.

"That is still difficult like I said this is new... our children have been vaccinated with other vaccines, my concern is their reproductive systems as far as when they get old enough and want to have children, will it be an issue?"

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Barbers and Beauticians Discuss COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the Black Community - NBC Connecticut

Health Department is providing the Moderna vaccine to Thursdays concert attendees

by: Pitt County Office of Public Information

(Pitt County) The Pitt County Health Department is partnering with the radio stations of Inner Banks Media to provide a free Moderna COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for eligible community members. This clinic will be held on Thursday, July 22, 2021, from 6:00 pm 8:30 pm at the Greenville Town Commons, during the Concert on the Common event, featuring the On the Border-Ultimate Eagles Tribute Band.

Appointments are not required. Individuals, who would like to be vaccinated at this event, should walk up to the Pitt County Health Departments booth, located among vendors. Loose clothing should be worn to allow easy access to the upper arm. Individuals should be prepared to stay onsite (at the Health Departments booth) for at least 15-30 minutes after receiving the vaccine to allow for monitoring.Pitt County Health Department is working diligently to make the COVID-19 vaccine easily accessible to anyone who desires to be vaccinated. Our staff members are attending various community events to get the vaccine in as many arms as possible to help them safely return to participating in normal activities, said Dr. John Silvernail, Pitt County Health Director.Moderna is a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine given 28 days apart and is approved for individuals who are age 18 years or older. The Concert on the Common clinic is being offered to eligible individuals, who need either a first dose or second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Individuals, who are seeking a second dose, must bring their official COVID-19 vaccination card or other valid proof of vaccination to the clinic.

Other organizations that would like to host a community vaccine clinic can make a request by clicking here and completing/submitting an online request form.

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Concert on the Common is site for COVID-19 vaccination clinic - WNCT

It's an unfortunate myth, propelled by extensively circulated misinformation, that has been "extremely difficult to combat," said state immunization manager Molly Howell. A recent National Public Radio report tracked the false narrative from its birth on social media to its distribution through fake and misleading news stories.

Many young women, including college students and nurses, mention concerns about fertility when refusing the jab, Howell said. Multiple nursing home administrators at facilities with low employee vaccination rates noted to Forum News Service last month that female workers in their "childbearing years" didn't trust the shot because of possible fertility issues.

The fertility fable is so widespread that officials with the North Dakota Department of Health decided to hold a virtual town hall discussion on the subject Wednesday, July 21, with doctors who specialize in reproductive health.

The three-doctor panel agreed with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: There is no evidence the COVID-19 vaccine causes fertility issues in men or women, and nearly all unvaccinated young adults should seek the shot.

Dr. Christina Broadwell, a reproductive endocrinology specialist at Sanford Health in Fargo, said she understands some residents are nervous about getting the shot, but they shouldn't fear fertility issues. Broadwell said it's hard to digest all of the information and anecdotes about the vaccine, so those who are unsure about vaccination should consult with their medical providers to get the facts.

The doctors also recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated. Dr. Ana Tobiasz, who practices maternal-fetal medicine at Sanford Health in Bismarck, said pregnant women weren't included in vaccine trials, but data from animal testing and a CDC registry of vaccinated pregnant women give her confidence the shot doesn't increase the likelihood of pregnancy complications or miscarriage. She noted none of her patients have experienced pregnancy complications after taking the vaccine.

Dr. Stephanie Foughty, a family physician with Altru Health System in Devils Lake, speaks during a virtual town hall discussion about the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, May 7, 2021. Screenshot via North Dakota Department of Health

Dr. Stephanie Foughty, a family medicine physician at Altru Health System in Devils Lake, added that women who are breastfeeding should get the vaccine like anyone else, and there's no evidence their babies will have adverse health effects.

Efforts to boost North Dakota's vaccination rate hit a wall earlier this year as skepticism toward the vaccine took hold in communities across the state. About 47% of eligible North Dakotans are fully immunized against COVID-19 far behind the national rate of 57%, according to the CDC.

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This COVID-19 vaccine myth has been 'extremely difficult' to dispel in North Dakota - Grand Forks Herald

Lehigh Valley Health Network announced it is participating in research to determine the need for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

LVHN is part of Pfizers clinical trial to see if a third vaccine shot will be necessary, as variants of the virus continue to spread.

The health network previously participated in clinical trials for the initial Pfizer vaccine, and participation in the booster trial is limited to those who received the COVID-19 vaccine in the first trial.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health are all involved in research to see if a booster is necessary.

LVHN is hosting a COVID-19 town hall on Facebook Live at noon Thursday, featuring a panel of LVHN doctors. You can watch the session here.

Network officials stress that people should get the initial vaccines; vaccines are approved for people ages 12 and older.

Right now, 99% of COVID cases are occurring in those that are unvaccinated, said Joseph Yozviak, DO, LVHN principal investigator for the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. The most important thing you can do right now is make sure you are fully vaccinated with both doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The number of COVID-19 patients in LVHN hospitals is slowly beginning to rise because of complacency among unvaccinated people, officials said. Hospitalized COVID patients are primarily unvaccinated.

Each person who is fully vaccinated is one less person who might get sick and end up in the hospital, said Dr. Alex Benjamin, LVHN chief infection control and prevention officer. The emergence of the more contagious delta variant in the U.S., including here in Pennsylvania, is also a concern and another reason to get immunized.

To find a vaccine walk-in clinic location or to set up an appointment at a vaccine clinic, visit LVHN.org/vaccines, access your MyLVHN account, or call the LVHN Vaccine Hotline at 833-584-6283.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.

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Is a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot needed? Lehigh Valley Health Network is helping find the answer. - lehighvalleylive.com

Jul 20th 2021

PERHAPS THE best litmus test of the post-pandemic world will be how much international travel returns. In 2020 international tourism arrivals fell by 74% compared with 2019, to just 380mby contrast the fall was just 4% during the financial crisis. In recent months international travel has begun to recover. With 3.7bn vaccine doses administered around the world, many people are raring to pack their bags for a foreign trip. But not every vaccine-acquired antibody automatically allows you freely to jet off overseas.

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Many governments are welcoming only recipients of certain covid-19 vaccines as visitors. This month the European Union said it would not admit visitors who were jabbed with the Covishield vaccineeven though it is identical to the AstraZeneca vaccine which is used in the EUbecause it has not been approved by the EUs medicines regulator. The government of India, where the vaccine is manufactured, threatened to retaliate. The policy may also affect Covishield recipients elsewhere in the world: 5m doses have been delivered in Britain.

Data from VisaGuide.World, a travel website, demonstrate just how variable the patchwork of vaccine recognition is. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the most widely accepted, with 119 governments recognising itit is the most used vaccine and it is also approved by the World Health Organisation (along with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and two Chinese vaccines). By contrast, China's CanSinoBio is recognised by just a handful of governments (see right-hand chart).

The problem does not stop with travel. Although America is not requiring proof of vaccination for travel across its borders (they remain shut, however, to Brits, Europeans, Chinese and Indians, among other nationalities), Canadians who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine are worried they will be barred from entertainment venues that require FDA-approved vaccines for entry. America has ordered 300m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but has yet to approve it.

The travel industry is concerned that such restrictions will keep people at home. Nick Carreen of the International Air Transport Association, a trade group, says that the lack of agreement among governments is one more hurdle to giving passengers confidence they can travel. Mariangela Simao, an assistant director general at the WHO, says the European Parliament has recommended that countries consider accepting vaccines that have been emergency-listed by the WHO.

Over a dozen EU countries have since said they will ignore the EU rules and accept the Covishield vaccine as proof of immunity. But they are unlikely to be so easy on the Chinese vaccines. Although the Chinese ones have been given an emergency authorisation by WHO, there are gaps in the trial data for these jabs that are likely to worry some countries. Twelve million Chinese tourists visited the EU in 2019.

But a thumbs up from the WHO is better than nothing. In the coming year it is likely that a number of vaccines will struggle to gain international recognition. For political reasons some countries have waved through home-grown, or -produced, vaccines through regulators. Others may not have stringent enough regulatory authorities to inspire confidence in medicines. Vaccines that are currently unlikely to get an easy ride from international authorities include Russia's Sputnik V, Indias Covaxin and Cubas Abdala vaccine.

To make matters worse, a number of American states have enacted laws banning vaccine passports. These include Alabama, Arizona, Indiana and Florida. On July 13th, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings sued the state of Florida over its laws preventing businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination. As it stands, cruise ships will have trouble operating unless they can be certain that passengers are jabbed. For travellers and the tourist industry alike, 2021 is likely to be remembered for the continued covid-19 frustrations and border bureaucracy. The globetrotting and holiday snaps will have to wait until next year.

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Which covid-19 vaccine is the most widely accepted for international travel? - The Economist

Joint Government Operations Committee Chairmen Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) and John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) made an announcement Wednesday in the Rule Review Committee concerning the Department of Health. The announcement is pursuant to the Joint Committees action at its June 16 meeting to invite the Department to return to the next committee meeting on July 21 to address further questions and concerns regarding the administration of COVID-19 vaccines to minors without parental consent.

In the remarks read by Chairman Kerry Roberts he reiterated the main two concerns of some committee members were that the COVID-19 vaccine was being marketed to minors and administered without parental consent.

We have not discouraged Tennesseans from being vaccinated nor have we discouraged Tennesseans from having their children vaccinated, Chairman Roberts said. Further, it has been widely misrepresented that all childrens vaccines have come to a halt. To be absolutely clear, Tennessees efforts on childhood vaccinations are unchanged. The only exception is administering a COVID-19 vaccination without parental consent.

He said, "Interpreting the concerns of marketing COVID-19 vaccines to children without parental consent as being an anti-vaccine stance is intellectually dishonest and wrong.

To be clear, the Tennessee Department of Health was not asked to stop vaccinating children nor have they stopped vaccinating children for COVID-19 or any other disease. Rather, they were asked to stop vaccinating children for COVID-19 without parental consent and stop marketing to minors.

After the committee meeting on June 16, Chairman Roberts and Chairman Ragan met with Commissioner Piercey and a member of the Governors staff.

Chairman Roberts said, During that meeting, Dr. Piercey and the governors office confirmed that it is not the policy of Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Department of Education, or our 89 county health departments to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children without parental consent. She further detailed the steps taken to stop any marketing directed at minors.

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Senator Roberts Says COVID-19 Vaccination Of Children In Tennessee Has Not Come To A Halt - The Chattanoogan

Mathematical models have helped the U.S. optimize COVID-19 vaccine allocation and delivery to boost vaccination rates. But these models have not overcome the existing health disparities that stem from unequal access to health care, discrimination, and gaps in education, income and wealth attainment.

Ensuring that economically and socially vulnerable populations have access to vaccines, no matter where they live, is a central idea behind vaccine fairness.

Theres a missing step between the mathematics and the reality, says Michael Ferris, John P. Morgridge Professor of Computer Sciences at the UWMadison School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences. You can solve problems with mathematics up to the last mile, but at that point behavior, communication and socioeconomic issues become critical.

Michael Ferris

Corey Jackson

Ferris and Corey Jackson, assistant professor at the UWMadison Information School in CDIS, are developing a vaccine fairness recommendation engine that will support equitable decision making about vaccination. Their work will inform the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and community groups efforts to address vaccine access and hesitancy, with the ultimate goal of increasing immunization rates.

Jackson researches the growing field of citizen science, where amateur volunteers collect data for scientific research. He studies how people learn how to use online citizen-science tools and what motivates them to contribute to research. This linking of technology and human behavior has helped guide his thinking about fair access to vaccines.

Access is not just being within five miles of a vaccination site, says Jackson. It also means, do you have the ability to take off work to go and get the vaccine? Does the location thats closest to you actually have appointments available? If you speak Spanish at home, is the app for making appointments translatable?

In some rural Wisconsin counties, vaccine access is limited by the fact that there may be few hospitals, clinics and pharmacies equipped for vaccination.

Another challenge with modeling vaccine fairness is that people dont necessarily get vaccinated in their own communities. In Wisconsin, this was particularly true prior to mid-April when the COVID-19 vaccine supply was constrained. While allocation models were designed to fairly distribute vaccine to vulnerable communities, affluent people were sometimes traveling long distances to get vaccinated in those places.

The teams work will inform government and community groups efforts to address vaccine access and hesitancy, with the ultimate goal of increasing immunization rates.

Jackson was researching social and technological barriers to peoples participation in COVID-19 contact-tracing efforts when he arrived at UWMadison during the early months of the pandemic. He connected with Ferris through the American Family Insurance Data Science Institutes COVID-19 Research Group, which was developing models and advising decision-makers on the best use of data about the pandemic.

The modeling efforts of the COVID-19 Research Group caught the attention of the Society for Medical Decision Making through a collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. Jackson recently received financial support for his work from its COVID-19 Modeling Accelerator.

This summer, Jackson and Ferris are looking at challenges people face in getting vaccinated. They are assessing whether or not existing vaccine allocations adhere to standards of fairness by measuring whether geographic areas identified as socially vulnerable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving fair allocations of vaccines.

They will then catalog interventions across the U.S. aimed at increasing equitable access to vaccines and measure how well these interventions are working in Wisconsin. Mobile vaccine units are one such intervention. In Milwaukee, the city teamed up with the Wisconsin National Guard to create mobile units that aim to address racial disparities in vaccination.

In order to gauge the effectiveness of these interventions, Jackson and Ferris will look at the number of people vaccinated in census tracts across Wisconsin to learn if more people are vaccinated in communities where specific interventions happened.

Jackson is optimistic this work will address the limitations in current vaccine models and validate effective strategies to get resources to people who need them most.

I think well have a better idea about what fairness in medical or health decision making looks like, says Jackson. My hope is this work will provide useful information for decision-makers moving forward.

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Research aims to give everyone a fair shot at accessing COVID-19 vaccines - University of Wisconsin-Madison

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY (KUSI) Millions of Americans have already gotten their COVID-19 vaccinations as the medical community urges its the best way to end the pandemic once and for all. However, all three vaccines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration under emergency use authorization (EUA.) Full FDA approval is taking much longer than some experts predicted.

Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at University of California San Francisco,fears the stalled approval could be fueling vaccine hesitancy.

The reason a lot of us are asking for that approval to happen quickly is it is holding some people back from getting the vaccine to still have them under emergency use authorization, Gandhi said, adding that the agency has the necessary data from clinical trials and studies. Thats why a lot of us are wondering why its taking so long. What would it take to approve it? Not much. They already have the full clinical trial data; they have all been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Moderna and Pfizer have both applied for full FDA approval, with Pfizer being granted priority review which could shorten the process.

Actually, its really frustrating to a lot of us. Number one, we dont actually have an FDA director named by President Biden, Gandhi said. Were not sure why, but a lot of us are calling for it because I think some people dont want to sign a piece of paper to get a vaccine and thats fair. They want it to be approved before they get it.

During a town hall Wednesday, President Joe Biden alluded to the FDA approval coming sooner than experts predicted.

The expectation, theyre not promising me any specific date but my expectation talking to the group of scientists, we put together over 20 of them plus others in the field is that sometime maybe in the beginning of school year, at the end of August, September, October, youll get a final approval saying the FDA said this is it. Its good, Biden said.

The difference between EUA and full authorization is a more in-depth review of data over a longer period.

Locally, some doctors dont feel the full FDA approval will have a significant difference on San Diegans who may be hesitant and said theres more the public can do to ensure vaccines are trusted.

I think it may make a difference for a small percentage of people, said Dr. Georgine Nanos with Kind Health Group. I think whats going to impact those people the most are when family and trusted community members encourage them to get vaccinated.

Dr. Nanos said this could however have more of an impact on the vaccine being mandated by certain institutions.

I dont necessarily support government overreach into mandating a lot of these things in peoples lives but I do think we have lots of vaccine mandates across the United States and have for decades and decades so this will probably not be that different, Dr. Nanos said.

KUSIs Hunter Sowards joined viewers live from San Diego Countys Health and Human Services Agency with more details.

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When will COVID-19 vaccines be fully approved by FDA, what happens when they are? - - KUSI

Banner Health is requiring employees to be vaccinated, something Arizona's largest private employer required before COVID-19.

PHOENIX Employers requiring workers to be vaccinated is nothing new. In fact, Arizona's largest private employer has required staff to be vaccinated for influenza since 2012.

Banner Health announced on Tuesday that it will require all of its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to stay employed.

Employers are moving towards requiring these vaccines, saidArizona employment attorney Joshua Black.

Banner required employees receive vaccinations like influenza, measles, chickenpox, tuberculosis and hepatitis B before the pandemic began.

We have people in very infirmed health at the hospital thats who your clients are. People who potentially are near death. Exposing them to COVID-19 could be fatal, said Black.

Employers can legally require employees to be vaccinated in order to work, according to guidance issued by theEqual Employment Opportunity Commission.

"People who have valid reasons for religious needs or health concerns, if they are immunocompromised, employees must have accommodations," said Black. "If employees feel they are not being heard or mandating a vaccine, I would recommend them to reach out to an employment attorney to walk them through their rights."

The vaccines were viewed as a global turning point last December when health care workers began receiving their shots.

A pandemic of the unvaccinated

The Center for Disease Control said the highly contagious Delta variant is responsible for 83% of new cases, 99% of those are unvaccinated people.

The best way to prevent getting the Delta variant or any variant is to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, said ADHS Director Dr. Cara Christ.

In herblog, Dr. Cara Christ discussed spreading the word on the Delta variant and protecting Arizonans.

Facts about the vaccine

People can not get COVID-19 from the vaccines themselves. The vaccines do not contain coronavirus.

Health experts waited for two months before asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to consider emergency use authorization to study any long-term side effects which health experts say almost always show up within two weeks of being vaccinated.

There is no evidence that suggests vaccines will cause infertility.

While choosing not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is a personal right, there are consequences and impacts not only yourself but loved ones and the rest of the world.

Unvaccinated people can still carry and spread the virus. Unvaccinated people can still allow the virus to replicate and cause variations such as the Delta variant.

COVID-19 Vaccine

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Employers can require the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - 12news.com KPNX

Scientists have come up with a new way to get vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and it comes with a twist: No needles needed.

This vaccine would instead be aerosolized so it could be inhaled by a patient.

Paul Whitford, associate professor of physics in the College of Science and the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Northeastern. Courtesy Photo

Researchers have tested this vaccination strategy in mice, and it elicited a strong immune response. A team led by researchers from Northeastern University, Rice University, and Rutgers University published a proof-of-concept study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. The project is still in early stages, but the team sees the vaccine theyre developing as a way to expand the reach of COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

If we can have this new tool, that would be great. Its easy to produce, easy to ship, easy to administer, says Paul Whitford, associate professor of physics at Northeastern and an author on the new paper. Such an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine wouldnt require the precise refrigeration of existing inoculations, and could be dispersed more easily to rural and remote communities. You just need basic instructions on how to use an inhaler.

The teams vaccine strategy uses modified bacteriophage particles to deliver instructions to the immune systemvia the lungsto develop a protective response to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Bacteriophage particles (or phage particles for short) are viruses that infect bacteria but are safe for humans, and have been used to treat bacterial infections in humans for a century.

In this new vaccine strategy, a phage particle in the immunizing mist is kind of like a visitor knocking on the door of the lung tissue. It has an arm reaching out to greet the lung tissue and a backpack filled with immune instructions on its back, Whitford explains.

The phage particles have been modified to contain a protein (the metaphorical arm) that the lung cells will recognize and pull into the recipients bloodstream. You need to put a hand out there and be like, Let me in! he says. And then, Okay, Ive got something for you.

That something is precious cargo: tiny pieces of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2. But its not just any piece. This is whats called an epitope. Its the part of the invasive protein where an antibody can attach itself to the offending viral cell to keep it from infecting one of our cells.

The idea is to deliver these parts of the virus to the bodys immune system to give it a sort of practice run in fending off SARS-CoV-2. That way, Whitford says, if youre exposed to the real virus, your immune system will know what to do immediately.

But theres a wrinkle. The spike protein contains many different epitopes. And some of them lose their shape (and thus their properties) when you remove them from the rest of the virus.

So Whitford and his colleagues at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, housed at both Northeastern and Rice, turned to supercomputers. The team ran simulations of what would happen when some selected epitopes were transferred to a phage. Their analysis identified which epitope would retain its structure and best train the immune system to attack the real SARS-CoV-2. Then, the experimental team at Rutgers developed the vaccine and tested it on mice.

Practically, experimentally, you cant build a thousand vaccine candidates and test all of them just to see which one works, Whitford says. You cant use that many mice just to see if it will work.

The newly published study is largely preliminary, as there are many more epitope candidates that the team has yet to examine. Sorting through all of the possible configurations using the supercomputers is the next step, Whitford says. This study provides a sort of proof-of-principle that this is a decent strategy, he says. That was our first pass.

For media inquiries, please contact Marirose Sartoretto at m.sartoretto@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.

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No needles? No problem. This COVID-19 vaccine could be inhaled. - News@Northeastern