Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

A COVID-19 vaccine clinic is 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, at the Burnet Community Center, 401 E. Jackson St. Vaccinations are free. The Texas Department of State Health Services is hosting.

The clinic is open to ages 12 and older. Currently, only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for use in ages 12-17. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are only authorized for adults.

You can register on site the day of the clinic or pre-register by using the QR code in the image above. Medical insurance is not necessary.

Federal, state, and local health officials advise getting vaccinated to protect against the virus that causes COVID-19. According to the state, about 51 percent of Texans ages 12 and older roughly 12.3 million are fully vaccinated as of July 14. In Burnet County, 43 percent of that age group are fully vaccinated; in Llano County, 44 percent.

For more information on the vaccine or to find a clinic, visit the Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 vaccine webpage.

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COVID-19 vaccine clinic July 21 in Burnet - DailyTrib.com

Will COVID-19 vaccines work if I have a weak immune system?

Probably not as well as they do in healthy people, but the shots should offer some protection.

Its why vaccinations are still recommended for people with immune systems weakened by disease or certain medications. Its also important that your family, friends and caregivers get vaccinated, which will make it far less likely that they pass on the virus.

About 3% of U.S. adults have weakened immune systems. Among them are people with HIV or AIDS, transplant recipients, some cancer patients and people with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus.

COVID-19 shots werent studied in large numbers of people with weak immune systems. But limited data and experience with flu and pneumonia vaccines suggest they wont work as well as they do in others. That means people with weakened immune systems should keep taking precautions like wearing masks and avoiding large crowds.

Its prudent to use all the precautions you were using before you were vaccinated, said Dr. Ajit Limaye, a transplant expert at University of Washington Medicine in Seattle.

Although most cancer patients should get vaccinated as soon as they can, people getting stem cell transplant or CAR T-cell therapy should wait at least three months after treatment to get vaccinated, according to guidance from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. That delay will make sure the vaccines work as well as they can.

For transplant recipients, researchers are looking at whether an extra dose might make the vaccines more effective.

French guidelines recommend a third COVID-19 dose for the immunocompromised, including organ recipients. Israel recently began giving an extra dose of the Pfizer vaccine to transplant patients and others with weak immune systems. Some U.S. transplant recipients seek out a third dose on their own in hopes of more protection even though the federal government hasnt authorized extra vaccinations.

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Will COVID-19 vaccines work if I have a weak immune system? - The Denver Post

The Tennessee Department of Health is suspending outreach for all types of childhood and adolescent vaccinations, the Tennessean reported this week. Along with stopping COVID-19 vaccine events at schools, the department will no longer do outreach for the HPV vaccine, isnt planning for flu shot clinics at schools, and is taking the departments logo off of back-to-school vaccination information sheets. The shift in policy came after Republican lawmakers in the state got upset that the department was promoting COVID-19 shots for teenagers.

Its a strong signal that the politicization and backlash around the COVID-19 shots, driven by conservative politicians and right-wing commentators, is spilling over to other types of vaccinations. Its not the first time politics has impacted unrelated public health work during the pandemic over a dozen states have proposed limiting public health powers as part of backlash to pandemic-related restrictions. But its the first time the target has been standard vaccines.

Its insane, says Seth Kalichman, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut whos studied anti-vaxxers. Its exactly the kind of overgeneralization that can occur with misinformation.

The initial trouble in Tennessee started when conservative lawmakers criticized Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey for recommending COVID-19 vaccines to teenagers. The health department also fired Michelle Fiscus, the states top vaccine official, after she circulated a memo to doctors explaining a state law that allows minors to get medical care without parental consent. Fiscus said she was a scapegoat, fired to mollify the angry lawmakers.

Around the same time that Fiscus was fired, the department also stopped all vaccine outreach targeting teens or children. Health department spokesperson Sarah Tanksley told the Tennessean that the state has high childhood vaccination rates. We are simply mindful of how certain tactics could hurt that progress. She said the department is planning to research vaccine hesitancy and that the changes are in response to an intense national conversation that is affecting how many families evaluate vaccinations in general.

The jump from COVID-19-specific rollbacks to generalized rollbacks concerns Adriane Casalotti, chief of public and government affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials. This is a very clear case of COVID-19 vaccination policy impacting other vaccinations, she says. Were really concerned about the news thats coming out of Tennessee.

Carryover from concerns around one vaccine to others has happened before, particularly with the HPV vaccine, Kalichman says. Theres widespread misinformation around the cancer-preventing shot, and parents turn it down for their kids at high rates. The vaccine for HPV was politicized, and the politicization and misinformation absolutely undermined vaccine confidence for a new segment of people who were not necessarily vaccine hesitant before, he says.

The situation in Tennessee isnt unique. At least 15 state legislatures are considering or have passed laws to restrict public health powers, according to an analysis from the National Association of County and City Health Officials. In Kansas, a new law would prevent the governor from closing businesses during a public health emergency. In Ohio, the legislature would be able to override any actions by the state health department taken to control infectious diseases.

The fact that traditional, day-to-day public health activities have been impacted in such a blunt way squarely due to politics is really concerning, Casalotti says.

In Tennessee, at least, the law hasnt changed: the state still has laws requiring that kids get vaccinated before school. Instead, the policy changes could make it harder for families to get the information they need to keep track of vaccine schedules and make sure their kids are ready for school in the fall, says Jennifer Reich, a sociologist who studies vaccine hesitancy at the University of Colorado. Right now I just see a chilling climate for public health officers who are trying to do their best to inform people of how to stay safe during the pandemic, and also how to protect their children from life threatening and disabling illnesses, she says.

The COVID-19 pandemic isnt the first time lawmakers have tried to limit public health authority or challenge things like vaccine mandates. Those proposals usually dont go far, says Casalotti. The real difference that were seeing recently is this traction that so many of them are getting.

It shows that the messaging and misinformation from anti-vaxxers and others on that spectrum are having more of an impact. The most frightening thing to people like me, and people in public health is when the denialists, the anti-vaxxers, and the anti-science people get the ear of the highest levels of government, Kalichman says.

Kalichman says he wouldnt be surprised to see what happened in Tennessee happen in other states, particularly in places with heavy resistance to COVID-19 vaccination. Its easy to predict what could happen next: if state health departments stop promoting or helping people get childhood vaccinations, those vaccination rates could drop.

Youre going to have outbreaks. Its inevitable that there will be outbreaks of measles, rubella, whatever else if vaccines take a dip, he says. Its just how it works.

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Fights over COVID-19 vaccines are spilling over to other types of shots - The Verge

In more than 40 states, Republican lawmakers have submitted legislation aimed at restricting coronavirus vaccine passports and mandates, according to data compiled as recently as early July by the National Academy for State Health Policy. The bills largely target the ability for businesses to require vaccinations as a condition of work or to receive service, and schools to require immunization for attendance.

At least eight states have enacted legislation that limits or bans coronavirus shot mandates, according to the NCSL. Such states include Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, and Montana. More than a dozen states have such legislation still pending.

But states are also taking aim at the ability of businesses to require shots through bills targeting vaccine passports, which provide proof of vaccination for various activities, such as travel, sporting events, and concerts. At least 11 states have enacted legislation prohibiting their use among them Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, Texas, and Indiana, according to the NCSL. More than a dozen states have such legislation still pending.

In Florida, for instance, Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation banning vaccine passports in his state in May, citing local and state government overreach. Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings sued the state over its prohibition on vaccine requirements on Tuesday. The company accused the state of preventing it from being able to resume safe trips.

White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci decried the partisan divide over the weekend, repeating his long-standing refrain that the virus does not know whether a person is a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent. He also said there should be additional coronavirus vaccine requirements at the local level.

Were talking about life-and-death situations, Fauci told Jake Tapper while on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday. Weve lost 600,000 Americans already, and were still losing more people. There have been 4 million deaths worldwide. This is serious business.

Recent polling has also suggested that vaccine hesitancy has largely been driven by Republicans. Over 67 percent of adults nationwide have received at least one vaccination against the deadly virus, according to data from the CDC. But of those surveyed in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 47 percent of Republicans said they were not likely to get vaccinated, compared to only 6 percent of Democrats who responded the same.

The politicization of the virus and subsequent vaccination campaigns exacerbated last year by former president Donald Trump has contributed to a number of wins across the country for the antivaccine crowd, threatening the nations progress against the pandemic in the process.

The partisan divide over vaccinations was highlighted in full force on Tuesday when the Tennessean reported that the Tennessee Department of Public Health was halting all vaccine outreach efforts to adolescents regardless of disease amid growing pressure from Republican state lawmakers.

The report came only days after a top vaccine official in the state said she was fired over the issue of vaccinating teenagers and warned in a blistering statement that the public was in grave danger because of the actions of lawmakers.

Some Republican governors, for their part, have been imploring residents to get vaccinated against the virus as their states see a spike in cases and hospitalizations, driven primarily by the Delta variant. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson expressed his own concern while speaking with Dana Bash on CNNs State of the Union in early July.

We are in a race, Hutchinson said. And if we stopped right here, and we didnt get a greater percent of our population vaccinated, then were going to have trouble in the next school year and over the winter. So, we want to get ahead of that curve.

The majority of state legislatures have adjourned for the year except for about a dozen, including in Massachusetts, according to the NCSL. Although its unclear if similar bills will be introduced in the next session, Republican lawmakers have already made considerable headway in altering public health policy.

This is no time for politics. This is a public health issue, Fauci said on ABCs This Week on Sunday. Weve got to get away from this divisiveness that has really been a problem right from the very beginning with this outbreak.

Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shannonlarson98.

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Republican lawmakers nationwide have submitted legislation to ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports - The Boston Globe

Olivia Rodrigo visits White House to push youth vaccinations

18-year-old actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo is visiting the White House to help promote the importance of youth vaccinations. The popstar dropped by the briefing before an afternoon meeting with President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci. (July 14)

AP

A 24-year-old man with COVID-19 is wishing he had beenvaccinated after spending months in the hospital and needinga double lung transplant.

Blake Bargatze was the only one in his family to not get vaccinated, and was infected with the virus in April while in Florida, his family told WSB-TV.

For more than three months, Bargatze wasin three different hospitals in Floridaand Georgia before landing at the ICU at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

I just dont ever want anybody else to go through this, his mother, Cheryl Nuclo, toldthe station.

His mother said Bargatze did vape regularly but did not have diabetes or hypertension, underlying medical conditions that can worsen COVID-19 symptoms. As for getting the vaccine, Paul Nuclo, Bargatze's stepfather, said his stepsonwanted to wait.

He wanted to wait a few years to see, you know, if theres any side effects or anything from it, he told WSB-TV. As soon as he got in the hospital, though, he said he wished he had gotten the vaccine.

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Days after contracting the virus,Bargatze was struggling to breathe and was put on a ventilator at a south Florida ICU, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

The doctors wanted to place him on the most aggressive form of life support an ECMO circuit. The ECMO machine works bypumping bloodoutside the body, reoxygenatingit, and then putting blood back into the body, so the lungs and heart can rest.

When doctors had a hard time ventilating him in Florida, he was airlifted Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

Dr. Peter Barrett,Piedmont Healthcare'sDirector of ECMO, told the family that Bargatze's lungs were not going to recover,and that his only hope was to have a lung transplant.

"I was, like, 'No, no," Nuclo told Fox 5 Atlanta. "Because I know it's probably the hardest transplant to go through, and the longevity is not good. But then there are some people that have lived many years."

Bargatze was taken to the University of Maryland, where he underwent a double lung transplant on June 28. Last week, he was still on a ventilator and unable to speak.

Nuclo said her son has a long recovery ahead and wants his situation to be a wake-up call for young people.

"Blake isn't the only 24-year-old this has happened to, or younger people," she told Fox 5 Atlanta. "Like I said, COVID is real.It's not gone. People need to be aware and be careful."

Never woke up: CDC investigating death of Michigan boy who died days after getting Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha.Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.

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24-year-old didn't get vaccinated for COVID-19. Then, had to have a double lung transplant. - USA TODAY

Two more prizes of $1 million each to be awarded, plus two more college scholarships worth $125,000 each, by early August.

Paul Woolverton| USA TODAY NETWORK

As North Carolina prepares to announce the winners on Thursdayof the second round of itsCOVID-19 vaccinelottery, here are some things to know about howthe lotteryworks,the prizes, thechances of winning, and how to avoid being victimizedby crooks tryingto take advantage of theprogram to scam people:

Toencourage people to get vaccinated,North Carolinas Your Shot at $1 Million Summer Cash Drawingprogramgiving away four prizes of $1 million casheachto adultswho have been vaccinated against COVID-19. It also has fourcollegescholarship investments of $125,000 each for those12 through 17who have been vaccinated.

Need or want a COVID-19 shot?Click here to find a vaccinationlocation.

The prizes are from federal money allocated to North Carolina for the pandemic.

The first drawing was June 23 and the winners were announced on June 28. AWinston-Salem teacher won $1 million and a Wilmington high school student won the $125,000 scholarship investment. Thescholarshipmoney is put into an interest-bearing 529 plan, which is a tax-exempt college savings program.

Read all about it: Winston-Salem teacher and a Wilmington teen win first NC vaccine lottery prizes

Opinion: Bribing Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine doesnt solve our real problem

The second drawing was last week, and drawings will continue biweekly into early August. The stateannouncesthe winners some daysfollowing the drawings afterthe winnersare contacted, after they agree to various terms for winning (they may not be anonymous, for example), and make other related arrangements.

A news conference to announce the winners of the second of the four rounds of drawings is schedule for 3 p.m. Thursday. The event will also be streamed online.

Latest vaccine lottery winners: Click here at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 15, 2021, to watch the announcement.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in June that the Republican-majority North Carolina Council of State the states top 10 elected officials approved of the vaccine lottery program.

Nevertheless, it has critics.

The vaccination lottery appears to be a desperate attempt to vaccinate people who have demonstrated a preference to not be vaccinated, said Brian Balfour, the senior vice president of research at John Locke Foundation, a politically right-wing think tank in Raleigh.

North Carolinians across the state have already had ample time and opportunity to get a free vaccination. By some measures, when combining those who have been vaccinated with those who have already had COVID, North Carolina may already have achieved herd immunity, making the vaccine lottery superfluous and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

In his last comment, Balfour was referring to research by one of his colleagues at the Locke Foundation that estimated that by May at least 69.5% of North Carolinians had either received a vaccinationor had gotten sick with COVID-19 and recovered.

Theoddsin theseincontests vary, and are decreasing day-by-day as more people get vaccinated.

People who have been vaccinated on or after June 10 each get two entries; those who were vaccinated prior each have one entry.

For this pastweek, there were about 5.2 million entries for the second cash drawing, and420,000forthe second scholarship drawing, saidHattie Gawande, the senior policy and intergovernmental affairs advisor for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The winners have been contacted and their names are expected to be announced this week, she said.

In the first drawing, June 23, therewere 4.5 million entries in the cash drawing and348,000 in the scholarship drawing,Gawandesaid.

With a few exceptions, mostNorth Carolina residentswho get vaccinated in North Carolina are automatically entered in the lottery and can win,Gawande said.This includes people who were vaccinated throughlocal health departmentsprivatehealth providers,the U.S. Veterans Administration, and through the Indian Health Service.

Winners do not have to be American citizens, but they do need to have a Social Security number or a taxpayer identification number or be prepared to get one,Gawande said.

Vaccinated North Carolinians can check online to see if their name is in the records bylogging into the states COVID-19 Vaccine Management System.The webpage shows users how many doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that the state has a record of them receiving.

If you dont know your username or password, the system has links to help you obtain the username and reset your password.

Click here: To log into North Carolinas COVID-19 Vaccine Management System

The maingroups excluded from the vaccination lottery:

People vaccinated by the Department of Defense (e.g.at Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, etc.). Citingnationalsecurity reasons,the military has not beensharing its vaccination data with state officials.

State employees, contractors and others whose jobs involve them in the creation and administration of the lottery.

Prison inmates incarcerated on felony charges.

For each drawing,21 namesof vaccinated people arerandomlyselected bya North Carolina Education Lottery computer,Gawande said. She then tries to contact the first person on the list by phone or email.

If thefirstpersoncant be reached,does not respondwithin two business days of the drawing, declines the prize, or is ineligible, the state then moves on to the nextpotential winner on the list, she said.

A new list of potential winners is selected for each drawing, and no one is allowed to win more than one of the prizes.

The adultsget $1 million, but taxes are withheld, leaving them with about $707,000, Gawande said.

The winners age12 through 17 dont get any money immediately, she said. Instead, the state opens a 529 plan college investment accountfor those winners and puts in$125,000, and it retains control of the account at first.

Money may be drawn out for thewinners college educations,as permitted by the regulations for 529 plans. Ifawinner doesnt use the money, ownership of the account transfers to the winner when he or she turns 25, Gawande said.

The winners may then withdraw the money for non-educational purposes (with a tax penalty)ortransfer the529account to another beneficiary, she said. Ifthescholarshipwinnershavechildrenbut dont use the money for themselves, they could use it to pay for K-12 private school tuition for their children, she said.

The state knows thattelephonescammers maytryto trick people into thinking they won thevaccinelottery and obtain banking or credit card information to steal their money, Gawande said.

When sheand otherstafferscall the winners, she said, theydo not ask forbankaccount or credit card informationand they dont ask for any sort of payment,as scammers sometimes claimthey need in order to deliver a prize.

We have everything that we needto know about the winners, Gawande said. What we will dois ask them to confirm their identity.Shewill tell the winner the winners nameas listed in her records, date of birth, and address, and havethe winnersconfirm thatinformation is correct, she said.

And if a winner is uncertain that the call is real,she hasthe winner hang up,call the front desk at DHHSand ask to betransferredback to her.

One of the first winners also had a video call with state Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen to be extra certain she wasnt being scammed, Gawande said.

Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.

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You got your COVID-19 shot will you win $1 million? And how do you avoid being scammed? - The Fayetteville Observer

New app provides users with instant access to their immunization records.

Union County, NJ Docket is a free new app for mobile devices that helps take the sting out of losing a COVID-19 vaccination card, by providing all the information at the touch of a button.

The COVID-19 vaccination card is a small document that can be easily lost, damaged, or misplaced. Having your immunization records on the Docket mobile app is an easy, convenient way to ensure that information is at your fingertips whenever you need it, said Union County Commissioner Board Chairman Alexander Mirabella.

Docket is offered through the New Jersey Department of Health in an effort to provide residents with easy access to their vaccination records. It is available as a free download in both English and Spanish, through the App Store or Google Play sites.

The highly infectious Delta variant is potentially causing a new wave of COVID-19 infections in New Jersey and elsewhere. The Commissioner Board strongly urges residents who have not been vaccinated to get their jab as soon as possible.

Ample supplies of vaccine are available in Union County, and making an appointment is quick and easy.

Visit ucnj.org/vax or contact the Union County Vaccine Call Center at 908-613-7829 to book an appointment at any one of Union Countys free COVID-19 vaccine sites.

Union County currently runs three permanent vaccine sites with regular hours at the Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth, at Kean University in Union Township, and at Plainfield High School in Plainfield.

In addition, the Countys mobile vaccination unit visits local neighborhoods. Upcoming visits include Plainfield, Roselle Park, Hillside, and Elizabeth. For a complete list with locations and hours of operation visit ucnj.org/covid19/vaccinations-page.

Residents who are home bound or who have difficulty leaving the home may be eligible for a home vaccination visit. To find out about eligibility, call the Union County Division on Aging and Disability Resources 1-888-280-8226 during regular weekday business hours.

The Docket app has been approved by the US Centers for Disease Control, and adheres to federal and state standards for data security and privacy. It is currently used in New Jersey and Utah. Plans are under way to roll it out in additional states.

The app is available to New Jersey residents who received their COVID-19 vaccination in New Jersey.

For more information about the Docket app, view the New Jersey Department of Health press release online. FAQs for the app are also available online in pdf format.

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

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

Connect with Union County on social media.

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Lost Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card? Use this Handy App to Retrieve Your Info County of Union, New Jersey - UCNJ.org

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UW Health

It's all about the fun, the food and, for this fair,the vaccine.

It may not be a gut-twisting treat like cotton candy or corn dogs, but a special Waukesha County Fair booth hopes to do more than prevent a tummy ache by providing a free COVID-19 vaccination service daily during the event, from July 21-25.

Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin and Project Recovery are sponsoring the booth, in which Village Primary Care Providerswill perform vaccinationservices and Waukesha County Public Healthwillbe there to answer questions about the coronavirus vaccinesand other aspects ofits health services.

Phoebe Frenette, crisis counselor and team leader with the CAC's regional group, said the fair provides the perfect gathering place to make a push for additional vaccinations, with the help of qualified professionals, including three nurses.

"When Ireached out to the Waukesha County Health Department, vaccine coordinator Trevor Drulia had identified the Waukesha County Fair as great event opportunity to provide vaccines," said Frenette, serving as the Waukesha coordinator. "CACSCW coordinated between the health department and Village Primary Care Providers, who are providing the vaccine and nurse staffing for vaccination."

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According to state and county data, the coronavirus pandemic has markedly deceased from this time last year, but new cases continue to force health officials to keep a watchful eye.Waukesha County has averaged 8.29 new cases daily over the past week (as of July 14).

Data also indicates that about 56%of Waukesha County residents have received at least one dose and about 53%have completed the current vaccination series as of mid-July. Both sets of numbers were about 10%higher for adults.

Both the Johnson & Johnson single-dose and the Moderna two-dose vaccines were expected to be available at the county fair. For those receiving the Moderna vaccine,Village Primary Care Providerswill schedule the follow-up second shot at their clinic, also for free.

Frenette wasn't immediately certain how much of each will be on hand for the daily vaccination schedule, which ranges from four to six hours. But they will try to accommodate everyone.

"Because (Village Primary Care Providers) provide a sizable amount of vaccine for the community, they are also able to flex and bring more staff and vaccine if the demand is high," she said. "We are very much hoping for a lot of interest and participation."

The vaccines are available for anyone age 12 or older, though those younger than 18 will need parental approval.

More: Wauwatosa residents could win $1,000 if they've received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

More: Waukesha County Fair celebrates 179 years of fun July 21-25 at the Expo Center Grounds

The outdoor booth will be in Section C (north of the area) of the Waukesha County Expo Center fairgrounds, 1000 Northview Road, Waukesha.The vaccine clinic hours will be from noon to 4 p.m. July 21 and 22, noon to 5 p.m. July 23, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 25 and 26.

While the vaccinations won't cost participants anything, the service is meant for those attending the fair at the usual paid admission costs.

Project Recovery a statewide, FEMA-funded crisis counseling program thathelps Wisconsin individuals, familiesand communities who are impacted by COVID-19 will also include representatives at the fair to offer information and help to anyone who needs it. Project Recovery is a part of the Community Action Coalition for South-Central Wisconsin,an anti-poverty organization.

Village Primary Care Providers, based in the Moreland Medical Center complex on Delafield Street and Moreland Boulevard in Waukesha, is the professional group that has contracted with the county to perform coronavirus tests and vaccinations over the past year.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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Need a COVID-19 vaccine shot? You'll be able to get it at the Waukesha County Fair. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With new coronavirus cases rising by more than 1,000 each of the last five days, some Los Angeles County leaders are not mincing words about the need for people to get vaccinated.

Health officials have said upward of 99% of the new infections being confirmed countywide involve those who have not been inoculated against COVID-19 a clear challenge and source of frustration given the pandemics continued potency.

It just strikes me as enormously selfish, county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said Tuesday. We cant rely on herd immunity if the herd wont get their shots.

But while there are undoubtedly those who fundamentally reject rolling up their sleeves, officials note there are many reasons why people may not yet have gotten vaccinated.

Some remain concerned about potential health effects, despite assurances that the shots are safe. Others simply have been too tied up with responsibilities at work or home to make the time.

Children under 12 also arent yet eligible to be inoculated against COVID-19.

The wide array of reasons underscores the magnitude of the challenge facing health officials in their quest to achieve herd immunity.

Here is what we know:

Data compiled by The Times show that roughly 52% of all Angelenos are fully vaccinated. However, millions of people still arent.

That, officials say, leaves a huge number of people who are still vulnerable to infection and illness. Some communities where vaccinations have been low have been particularly hard hit by the recent increases in cases.

Some public health experts have said effective approaches for persuading people to get vaccinated include answering questions and making the vaccine even more available to those who may not have prioritized getting the shot, either because they dont think COVID-19 is a threat to them or because of swirling misinformation surrounding the shots.

Experts say only a small fraction of residents are adamantly opposed to vaccinations. Quite a few who havent been vaccinated simply need more information about why getting the shot is still important, they say.

Relationships really matter, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. Countys director of health services. Giving people an opportunity to ask their questions, to get fact-based information about the vaccine, to be given a chance to just talk through their concerns is an effective approach, she added.

One-on-one conversations its very labor intensive, not always very fast, it takes time. But thats been the best thing that has really helped, she said.

Mobile vaccination units are another approach that can tear down any practical barriers to access. During a visit to Pomona over the weekend, more than 300 people were vaccinated at a swap meet.

Some of the people who got vaccinated there just really had a different idea about what the vaccine was about, Supervisor Hilda Solis said.

Another strategy could involve new requirements to get vaccinated, such as at workplaces, according to UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo.

Short of that, she said, employers could require unvaccinated workers to get tested daily an approach that has been used elsewhere.

When being vaccinated becomes the more convenient of the two options, that will drive people to be vaccinated, she said. You have to make it slightly less convenient to be unvaccinated at this point.

If you choose to get tested every day, because you dont believe in vaccination, that might be fine. But I think for some, being tested every day or being tested at some very regular interval might be that the thing that says: Well, yeah, when I look at the risk and benefits, the vaccine is looking a little bit better.

San Francisco has been a leader in imposing vaccination requirements for certain workers.

Already, San Francisco has ordered all workers in high-risk settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes and residential facilities for older people, homeless shelters and jails, to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 15. An exemption will be available for workers with valid religious and medical reasons, and they will be required to get tested for the coronavirus weekly.

San Francisco has also ordered all 35,000 of its city workers including police, firefighters, custodians and clerks to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs, unless they have a religious or medical exemption, once a vaccine has been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Currently, all three available vaccines are being distributed under an emergency use authorization.

The University of California and California State University systems have also announced they will eventually require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties. Dozens of colleges nationwide have said theyll require vaccination for enrollment in the fall, including Yale, Princeton and Columbia.

San Franciscos outreach to the hard-hit Latino community in particular has been a model, with 72% of Latino residents having received at least one dose a rate even better than white residents, 65% of whom are at least partially vaccinated. In much of the U.S., the vaccination rate for Latinos lags behind white residents.

There have been teams that go out to places like San Franciscos Tenderloin District, where they interact with people on the streets, in stores and churches to promote vaccinations and administer the shots.

And that kind of interaction can make the difference: Some people can work long hours, and having vaccination advocates make their pitch and answer questions causes someone to finally decide to take the shot, Bibbins-Domingo said.

Its also important that the people delivering the messages and shots are well trusted in the community.

It is the linking to the conversation to the actual getting of the shot and getting the shot from somebody you know and trust that are the one-two punch to get the job done. And it has been working, Bibbins-Domingo said.

Its just a slow strategy, she added. But there are no shortcuts. We have to double down on doing this again especially for people for whom there are some barriers, whether it is just having the conversation or mistrust.

In the Central Valley, UC Merced Community and Labor Center Executive Director Ana Padilla said there still needs to be better access to the vaccine and good information about it for people like agricultural workers, who are now working the busiest time of the year. She suggested that there be a greater effort to link trusted community-based groups to administer vaccines near work sites, which will be better equipped to answer questions from workers.

If you work 8 to 8 every single day of the week so that you have enough money to get through those hard winter months, you dont have the options [to seek vaccinations] that other folks might believe that you have, Padilla said.

L.A. County is taking a similar approach in focusing vaccination clinics in hard-hit areas. But L.A. County has a far more vast challenge its the nations most populous, and blanketing the region with intense outreach efforts might be more difficult here.

The county is also pursuing a strategy of attempting to vaccinate close contacts of COVID-19 cases, Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said Tuesday.

Once the contacts are identified during the case investigation process, a member of our team reaches out to their contacts to do contact tracing, provide information, as well as to offer them a home visit by a nurse who can vaccinate on site at the contacts residence, he said.

The pilot launched Friday in East L.A., Davis said, and could be expanded if it proves effective.

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Why some people still haven't gotten the COVID-19 vaccine - Los Angeles Times

MEMPHIS, Tenn. St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital will require its employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 by Sept. 9.

Employees who are not vaccinated and do not have an exemption for religious or medical reasons will be placed on two weeks unpaid leave, according to a letter sent to employees by Dr. James R. Downing, President and Chief Executive Officer.

The letter states that vaccinations are available on the St. Jude campus, as well as in the community. Vaccination provides more than 90% protection, and the vaccines have been shown to be effective against the Delta variant and others, the letter states.

A portion of the letter follows below:

I understand that some of you have questions and concerns about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and may be reluctant to do so for various reasons. At St. Jude, we have a team of world-renowned researchers and clinicians who are happy to speak with anyone who is hesitant about receiving the vaccine.

As our mission states and as our St. Jude core values echo, we must ensure that advancing treatment for children with catastrophic diseases is at the center of everything we do. This means providing our patients and their families with the safest treatment environment possible.

To ensure we meet that mandate, we are requiring that all St. Jude employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Thursday, September 9.

We reached this decision after much research, analysis and discussion. It is the right thing to keep our campus safe. Our duty to our patients frames everything we do. This is the logical next step to ensure we stay one step ahead of the virus.

St. Jude employs more than 3,600 people, according to the nonprofits website.

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St. Jude will require employees to have COVID-19 vaccinations - WREG NewsChannel 3