27 May 2021
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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SeyfarthSynopsis:OSHA recentlyissuedadditionalguidanceaddressing whether employers need to record anemployee's adverse vaccine reaction on their 300 Log.
Earlier this year, webloggedabout OSHA's guidance that anadverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is recordable if thereaction is: (1) work-related, (2) a new case, (3) meets one ormore of the general recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7 (e.g., daysaway from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medicaltreatment beyond first aid), and (4) the vaccine is required foremployees.
As the COVID-19 vaccine initiative continues to be a toppublic-health priority in the United States, federal OSHArevisedthisguidance to say it "will not enforce 29 CFR 1904'srecording requirements to require any employers to record workerside effects from COVID-19 vaccination through May 2022." Inother words, employers now have no duty to analyze whether anadverse reaction to the vaccine is work-related and otherwiserecordable. In all cases across all industries, OSHA indicates itwill simply not enforce the recordkeeping standard with respect toadverse COVID-19 vaccine reactions.
Neither OSHA's prior nor its updated guidance addressreporting of serious illnesses, meaning the requirement foremployers to call OSHA and report an adverse vaccine reaction thatresults in a death within 30 days or an in-patient hospitalizationfor medical treatment within 24 hours. Presumably, OSHA wouldexercise the same discretion for voluntary vaccinations, but theissue is not entirely clear.
OSHA justified this shift in policy as part of its efforts toencourage vaccination. The guidance states, "OSHA does notwish to have any appearance of discouraging workers from receivingCOVID-19 vaccination, and also does not wish to disincentivizeemployers' vaccination efforts."
This should be welcome news to employers, many of whom have alsomade employee vaccination a priority. Employers who might haveshied away from workplace vaccine mandates given the potentialrecordkeeping ramifications may now move forward with lessconcern.
The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.
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New York, N.Y. (May 13, 2021) - After a year's worth of various executive orders addressing worker safety issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic...
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New England states lead the country in the rate of those who have received at least one dose
All six New England states are represented in the list of the top 10 most-vaccinated states in the US.
Vermont leads the country with 81.9 percent of people 18 and older who have received at least a first dose or a single shot of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine.
Next is Hawaii with 79.1 percent, followed by New Hampshire with 77.7 percent, Massachusetts with 77.4 percent, Connecticut with 74.3 percent, Maine with 73.4 percent, New Jersey with 72.5 percent, Rhode Island with 70.9 percent, and New Mexico with 70.2 percent.
New England states are also leading the country in terms of percent of total population with at least one dose of a vaccine, and are well above the countrys 49.5 percent rate.
Vermont leads with 69.9 percent, followed by Hawaii with 65.3 percent, Massachusetts with 65 percent, New Hampshire with 64.5 percent, Maine with 62.2 percent, Connecticut with 62 percent, and Rhode Island with 59.6 percent.
The regions states lead the country in the number of adults fully vaccinated, too
The United States on Tuesday reached the milestone of 50 percent of its adult population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a metric that also applies to every New England state, according to the CDC.
In fact, the top five states in percent of adults who are fully vaccinated are all in New England.
Vermont leads the group with 64.3 percent, followed by Maine with 64.1 percent, Connecticut with 63.8 percent, Massachusetts with 62 percent, and Rhode Island with 61.1 percent.
New Hampshire is closer to where the country as a whole stands, with 50.6 percent of people 18 and older fully vaccinated.
People are deemed fully vaccinated two weeks after their final dose of the Pfizer or Moderna two-shot regimen or after the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
There are five states in the country with at least 50 percent of its total population fully vaccinated and all of them are in New England. The region is well ahead of the country as whole, which has 39.5 percent of its total population fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Vermont has the highest percentage of its total population fully vaccinated with 53.1 percent, followed by Maine with 52.9 percent, Connecticut with 51.8 percent, Massachusetts with 50.8 percent, and Rhode Island with 50 percent.
A look at the states falling behind
While New England states are faring well in their vaccination campaigns, there are a number of states that are behind.
Across the country, Mississippi has the lowest percentage of its population who have had at least one dose of a vaccine with 33.6 percent.
Next is Louisiana with 35.1 percent, Alabama with 35.8 percent, Wyoming with 36.6 percent, and Idaho with 37 percent.
Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandakauf1.
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How New England states are pulling ahead in the COVID-19 vaccination race - The Boston Globe
A Tennessee woman accused of driving through a COVID-19 vaccine distribution tent as a form of protest has been charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment, according to a police report.
Virginia Christine Lewis Brown, 36, was arrested after a Blount County deputy witnessed her driving through the tent at a vaccine distribution event Monday at Foothills Mall in Maryville, according to news outlets, which cited an incident report.
Witnesses said Brown was yelling no vaccine as she sped by, just missing seven workers within inches and feet of her vehicle, according to KTLA sister station WATE in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The report said more than a dozen health department and national guard personnel were inside the tent.
I had several victims tell me she almost hit them as she fled through the tent at high speeds, the deputy wrote in the report. I was advised that they were within inches and feet of the vehicle as it came through the tent. Several victims stated that they thought the driver was going to kill them.
After the deputy stopped Brown, she told him she drove through the site to protest the vaccine and was only traveling 5 miles per hour, the report said.
It wasnt immediately clear whether Brown has an attorney.
See more here:
No vaccine: Tennessee driver accused of speeding through crowded COVID-19 vaccination site - KTLA
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday he will likely create a vaccine lottery or other incentives to boost the states dismal COVID-19 vaccination rate, The News Star reports.
He said Louisiana will join other states like Ohio, New York and Maryland in offering prize money as an incentive to get one of the COVID-19 vaccines, though the details of the incentives are still being determined.
Louisianas vaccination rate of people receiving at least one dose is 35.1%. The governor has grown increasingly frustrated with the states lagging pace of vaccinations, repeatedly saying he is very disappointed.
States that have turned to lotteries to get more people vaccinated have shown sometimes startlingly successful results.
Almost 3 million residents have registered for Ohios Vax-a-Million lottery that offers the chance for a $1 million prize for adults or college scholarships for children.
An Associated Press analysis showed vaccinations jumped 33% in Ohio after Gov. Mike DeWine announced the program on May 12, and the White House gave its stamp of approval on vaccine lotteries during a news briefing Friday. Read the full story.
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Some people have taken great lengths to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
There are Routt County residents who got their shot in Moffat County, chasing the open appointments just across the county line in Craig. People from the Front Range came all the way to Steamboat Springs to get a shot at the first county-run clinic in March.
It has always been a supply-and-demand issue, with the demand overwhelming the supply, making the coveted vaccination appointments hard to come by.
This is not really the case anymore.
We all have shots in our fridge now; what we need is for people to show up to get those shots, said Matt Johnson, owner and pharmacist at Lyons Corner Drug and Soda Fountain.
The number of residents who have received the first dose of the vaccine has been inching up at a slower pace now than it did in March and April, when each week saw the countys total grow by more than a 1,000 people each week.
Im not surprised that we are seeing the overall numbers down, said Dr. Brian Harrington, Routt Countys chief medical officer. But we are still very busy giving out vaccinations.
Before removing the local public health order last week, public health officials had been optimistic the county would reach the goal of 75% vaccination among those 16 and older by June 2. On Wednesday that number had reached 71%, according to the countys COVID-19 dashboard.
If the county could vaccinate 400 or more people each week, Harrington said he would be all right with that. The county needs about 800 more people to start the vaccine series to reach that 75% goal.
Harrington said the current pool of people eligible to get vaccinated is getting smaller as more of people get a shot. There are also people in that group who will never get the vaccine, so the number of eligible people willing to get a shot is even smaller.
Trust, motivation and access are the three barriers to getting a vaccine, Harrington said, and its becoming more important to address these issues as that pool gets smaller.
In order for someone to choose to get the vaccine, they have to trust it, Harrington said.
There are a myriad of reasons someone might say they dont want to get the vaccine, though many of them dont hold up to scrutiny. The vaccine wont affect fertility, it is impossible for the vaccine itself to give someone COVID-19 and just having had COVID-19 doesnt mean getting the vaccine isnt a good idea, all according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
There are also many reasons why the vaccines were developed quickly, as both Pfizer and Moderna have been working on mRNA vaccine technology for years before the pandemic. The development had an immense amount of resources, and some steps to make the vaccine were done on an overlapping schedule to gather data quicker, according to Johns Hopkins.
Then there are people out there that have pretty good trust of the vaccine, they are willing to get it; they just are not motivated to get it, Harrington said.
Younger people are more likely to fall into that second group, maybe feeling it isnt a big deal for them to get the shot if 7 of 10 of everyone else has it. It is a big deal, Harrington said, and everyone who can should get the vaccine.
Those counties that have the highest vaccination rates have the lowest case rates, Harrington said, noting that Routt County has one of the higher vaccination rates in the state. We are seeing the benefits of it.
Socioeconomic status also correlates with vaccine distribution, and despite the increased supply, there are still access issues for some people, especially those who do not speak English as their first language, Harrington said.
A way to improve access in Harringtons mind is to make it easier to get the vaccine for primary care clinics typically where someone would get a vaccination before the pandemic. Manufacturers may eventually produce the vaccines in smaller vials making it easier to store and administer in smaller quantities.
The logistics of doing this vaccine are not yet ideal, Harrington said.
At Lyons, Johnson said he has stopped holding his Sunday morning clinics, which he had done each week since December. Now he is taking walk-ins and doing vaccinations Monday through Saturday. Johnson said he has all three shots available Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Pfizer shots are even being sent to providers from the state via courier to ensure they reach their destination, Johnson said
Unless people just dont know about us, it is very hard to make an excuse where we couldnt get you a shot, Johnson said.
State health officials are having providers like Johnson prioritize getting people a shot rather than maximizing the vaccine in each vial, meaning he would give one person a shot, even if it means throwing out the rest of the vial.
That is the message from the state get the arms when you can, dont worry about the waste, Johnson said. That is kind of heartbreaking. That is a completely different song than two months ago, but that is what they are telling us they are OK with.
To reach Dylan Anderson, call 970-871-4247 or email danderson@SteamboatPilot.com.
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By Tom Lappas | on May 27, 2021
Thursday is the final day of COVID-19 vaccinations at Richmond Raceway, where officials have administered more than 160,000 shots during the past four months.
Henrico County is shutting down the site after Thursdays walk-up event concludes at 6 p.m. The final session will offer the Pfizer vaccine to anyone 12 or older who attends. Attendees should enter at Gate 7 of the raceway, 600 East Laburnum Avenue.
In total, Henrico residents now have received a total of more than 306,000 doses of vaccine; more than 176,000 have received at least one dose, and nearly 142,000 (nearly 43% of all county residents) are fully vaccinated.
Having offered vaccinations to everyone on the pre-registration list several weeks ago and having held a number of walk-up events since then, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts are continuing to shift their strategy away from mass vaccination events and into smaller community-based efforts. Those efforts, health officials hope, will allow them to simplify the process for people who want to be vaccinated but who werent able to pre-register, didnt want to pre-register or simply couldnt find the time to make it to a mass vaccination event.
The growing vaccination numbers have slowed the incidence of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Henrico to a mere trickle; the county is averaging only 12 new confirmed cases per day during the most recent seven-day period its lowest rate since the pandemic began 14 months ago.
Positivity percentages among those who have been tested for COVID in Henrico during the most recent seven-day period were similar minuscule as of May 23: 2.4% for PCR testing encounters and 3.1% for rapid testing encounters.
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Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that 70% of adults in Pennsylvania have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.That is based on the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pennsylvania is the tenth state in the nation to reach this goal."Today we hit a significant milestone in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Wolf said in a news release. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, Pennsylvanians have come together to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy and safe. This selflessness is now reflected in vaccination rates throughout the commonwealth. The vaccines are our best defense against this deadly virus. The light is shining bright at the end of this tunnel, but we must continue to stay the course. I encourage everyone to show up for their second vaccine appointment and take pride in doing your part to help protect individuals who are unable to get vaccinated."To date, 52.7% of the 18 and older population are fully vaccinated.Wolf said 70% of adults need to be fully vaccinated before the mask mandate is lifted.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that 70% of adults in Pennsylvania have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
That is based on the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pennsylvania is the tenth state in the nation to reach this goal.
"Today we hit a significant milestone in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Wolf said in a news release. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, Pennsylvanians have come together to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy and safe. This selflessness is now reflected in vaccination rates throughout the commonwealth. The vaccines are our best defense against this deadly virus. The light is shining bright at the end of this tunnel, but we must continue to stay the course. I encourage everyone to show up for their second vaccine appointment and take pride in doing your part to help protect individuals who are unable to get vaccinated."
To date, 52.7% of the 18 and older population are fully vaccinated.
Wolf said 70% of adults need to be fully vaccinated before the mask mandate is lifted.
The rest is here:
William 'Bill' Shakespeare, one of the first people in the U.K. to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine upon its emergency approval, has died of a stroke, the country's National Health Service confirmed to the BBC.
According to local politician Jayne Innes, Shakespeare died last week.
"Greatly saddened and upset to hear our friend, the very lovely Bill Shakespeare, has passed away," Innes tweeted, according to USA Today. "Bill will be remembered for many things, including a taste for mischief. He became an international sensation as the first man to receive a COVID vaccine."
Shakespeare, 81, was the second person to get a Pfizer shot in England on Dec. 8. He was second in line at University Hospital in Coventry, England on Dec. 8 when vaccine distribution opened to the general public. According to the BBC, Shakespeare was a patient in the hospital's "frailty ward" at the time of his vaccination.
A few days after England began public vaccinations, the U.S. formally approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use.
"It could make a difference to our lives from now on, couldn't it?" Shakespeare said at the time, according to CBS News. "It's started changing our lives and our lifestyle."
Following his vaccination, Shakespeare's famous name prompted the New York Post to run the headline "TAMING OF THE FLU" a play on the famous Shakespeare play "The Taming of the Shrew."
According to the BBC, Shakespeare leaves behind his wife of 53 years, two sons and several grandchildren.
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Nearly one out of two Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, while half the citizens above the age of 18 in the country have been fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency said 164,378,258 people, or 49.5% of the total U.S. population, had received at least one dose, while 131,078,608 people, or 50% of the adult population, in the country are fully vaccinated.
The United States has administered 287,788,872 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 359,004,955 doses, according to the agency.
Those figures are up from the 286,890,900 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by May 24 out of the 357,250,475 doses delivered.
The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna (MRNA.O) and Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), as well as Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) one-shot vaccine as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
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Originally posted here:
One of two Americans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine - CDC - Reuters
