Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTONRussian intelligence agencies have mounted a campaign to undermine confidence in Pfizer Inc.s and other Western vaccines, using online publications that in recent months have questioned the vaccines development and safety, U.S. officials said.

An official with the State Departments Global Engagement Center, which monitors foreign disinformation efforts, identified four publications that he said have served as fronts for Russian intelligence.

The websites played up the vaccines risk of side effects, questioned their efficacy, and said the U.S. had rushed the Pfizer vaccine through the approval process, among other false or misleading claims.

Though the outlets readership is small, U.S. officials say they inject false narratives that can be amplified by other Russian and international media.

We can say these outlets are directly linked to Russian intelligence services, the Global Engagement Center official said of the sites behind the disinformation campaign. Theyre all foreign-owned, based outside of the United States. They vary a lot in their reach, their tone, their audience, but theyre all part of the Russian propaganda and disinformation ecosystem.

Read the original post:

Russian Disinformation Campaign Aims to Undermine Confidence in Pfizer, Other Covid-19 Vaccines, U.S. Officials Say - The Wall Street Journal

Twitter announced Monday that it will begin applying labels to tweets that include misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines and is introducing a strike policy to curb users from repeatedly violating those rules.

In an effort to root out misinformation surrounding the coronavirus from its platform, Twitter said the labels will first be applied by human moderators. But the goal is to eventually use both humans and artificial intelligence to address content that spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

"As health authorities deepen their understanding of COVID-19 and vaccination programs around the world, we will continue to amplify the most current, up-to-date, and authoritative information," Twitter said in ablog post.

The company will start with English-language content and plans to expand to other languages over time.

In December, Twitter announced that it may require users to remove tweets that advance harmful, false, or misleading narratives about vaccines, including suggestions that immunizations and vaccines are used to intentionally control citizens.

On Monday, Twitter said that since introducing its COVID-19 guidance in March 2020, it has removed 8,400 tweets for violating policy. In that time period, Twitter said it has also "challenged" - or took steps to verify the information and authenticity - of 11.5 million accounts.

The initial guidance from March required users to remove "content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus." That included tweets denying health expert guidance on safety, encouraging the use of ineffective treatments, and other misleading content claiming to be from authoritative sources.

Twitter said in addition to labels, a new 5-strike policy "will help to educate the public" and "further reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading" information, especially for repeated violations of rules.

A tweet that includes misinformation but doesn't warrant full removal, will earn the users one strike. Twitter said it would require users to delete tweets with "high-severity" violations of policy that "invoke a deliberate conspiracy by malicious and/or powerful force."

Twitter says it may reduce the visibility of tweets and turn off likes, comments and retweets for content that is labeled with a warning message and determined to be harmful. Tweets with misleading information about the coronavirus will accrue one strike. A user will be issued two strikes if Twitter requires them to delete a tweet.

There is no account level action for one strike, Twitter said. Once a user gets two strikes, their account will be locked for 12 hours. Similarly, three strikes also lead to a 12-hour account lock, the fourth strike leads to a 7-day account lock and the fifth strike means permanent account suspension.

YouTube has a similar strike where accounts that earn three strikes in a 90-day period are permanently removed.

This isn't the first time Twitter has placed labels on false and misleading Tweets. In November, ahead of the 2020 presidential election,Twitter said it would label all Tweets that falsely claim a victory for any candidate.

Social media companies have been ramping up efforts to remove deliberately false and misleading information about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines from their platforms.

Last month, Facebookexpanded the list of false claims about the coronavirus and warned that Pages, Groups, and accounts which repeatedly share debunked claims may be removed altogether.

Visit link:

Twitter will label posts with misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines - CBS News

The messaging that all three authorized vaccines are good options appears to be sinking in around the country. When the first batch of single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines arrived in States this week, people were excited to take it.

In Connecticut, Hartford HealthCare let people decide which type of vaccine to sign up for, and the Johnson & Johnson shot was more popular than expected. People were also given the choice at a Miami vaccination site. One recipient told CNN that she picked Johnson & Johnson because its one dose; shes afraid of needles and only wanted to do it once. A Minnesota couple told KTTC-TV that they were eager to get a vaccine that was only one dose.

Thats a big relief for experts who worried that the shot faced a communications problem. Even though the vaccine was just as good as the other two authorized vaccines at keeping people out of the hospital and alive, overall, its ability to prevent disease wasnt quite as strong during the trials testing it. They thought there might be the (mostly unfounded) perception that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine wasnt a good option.

We have a vaccine now that has good efficacy that everyone is going to compare to the existing vaccines, and say it doesnt look quite as good, said Eric Rubin, a professor of immunology, during a meeting of the Food and Drug Administrations vaccine advisory committee last week. Experts stressed that people should take whichever vaccine theyre offered first.

But despite those early concerns, people around the country seem eager to line up for the Johnson & Johnson shot. In addition to only requiring one dose so people dont have to take the time for two appointments it can have fewer side effects than the gene-based Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech products.

Its hard to directly compare the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the other vaccines. They were tested at different times and in different locations. The gene-based vaccines were tested before coronavirus variants that could make vaccines less effective were widespread. But all three vaccines are similar in one important way: theyre overwhelmingly effective at keeping people from developing severe cases of COVID-19 and out of the hospital. Theyre also all more effective than the flu shot.

The single-dose formulation is also more convenient. Its a hassle having to take time off work, Salome Ruperty told Spectrum News NY1 while lined up at a Johnson & Johnson vaccine site in New York City.

Some people may still turn down the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and seek out either the Moderna or Pfizer / BioNTech shots. But the early reports make it seem less likely that the doses will go unused.

Just under 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were distributed to States this week. The company says it will have 20 million doses ready by the end of March and 100 million by June.

Read the original post:

Single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is popular at vaccination sites - The Verge

The US government is feeling optimistic about vaccines. By the end of May, it should have enough to vaccinate every adult in the country, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Not only that, but Americans are feeling pretty good about the vaccine, too. About 69 percent of Americans had either already gotten the vaccine or were willing to get one when they could, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center.

Thats a huge relief to public health experts. Last year, they watched vaccine polling numbers drop dramatically during just four months. In September 2020, only half of people polled said theyd be willing to take a hypothetical vaccine. Not exactly surprising, given that, at the time, the Trump administration was promising to have vaccines in October, and people were worried that the approval process would be influenced by politics. Now that the vaccines are here and real, and effective more people want to get vaccinated.

The next big challenge will be actually getting that ample vaccine supply into those willing arms. And just because the government predicts it will have enough supplies secured by May 31st, that doesnt mean that every adult in America will be vaccinated in the next 86 days.

The vaccine race now is not a race out of the lab. Its a race to the patient, said Robin Townley, the head of special projects logistics for A.P. Moller-Maersk, in an interview with Science News from December. It is the largest product launch in the history of humankind.

The figurative last mile that separates a patient from their shot is going to be the most involved part of this entire process. Shipping larger amounts of vaccines from a factory to a distribution center is relatively straightforward, even with some of the vaccines needing to stay extremely cold.

But then they have to get from large centers to pharmacies, nursing homes, mass-vaccination sites, and anywhere else thats getting vaccines. That means having enough delivery vehicles on the road and enough freezer and refrigerator space cleared out. It means backup generators and detailed communication plans for the inevitable moment when something goes wrong. It means finding better ways to make vaccine appointments so that people can access vaccine supplies. Above all, its going to need a trained, fast workforce thats able to transport the vaccine, store it, and administer it safely.

Poor planning and delays contributed to a slowed-down US rollout earlier this year, when local officials were mostly left to figure out distribution themselves. As mass-vaccination sites open, and supplies increase, some of those delays are starting to disappear. Back in December, the US had only vaccinated 2.8 million people, falling well short of its 20 million people goal. Now, more than 82 million people have been vaccinated, with about 2 million shots being administered every day, according to NPR.

Over the next few months, the things to watch will be not just the number of vaccines available, but also the number of vaccines administered. Its still going to be a huge challenge, but theres an end in sight. It might still be difficult to make travel plans and the summer could be up in the air but if vaccinations go well, and if we can curb the spread of highly transmissible variants (big if), this fall could look a lot more like normal.

Heres what else happened this week.

Long COVID patients say they feel better after getting vaccinated

Some patients who have been suffering COVID symptoms for months are starting to report to their doctors that they are feeling better after getting vaccinated. Researchers want to gather more data to understand why. (Nicole Wetsman / The Verge)

Why Virus Variants Have Such Weird Names

The variant names for the coronavirus are nearly unpronounceable strings of numbers and letters. Heres why. (Apoorva Mandivalli and Benjamin Mueller / The New York Times)

How Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine could narrow equity gaps

Johnson & Johnsons vaccine can be stored at refrigerated temperatures and only requires one dose. That makes it an attractive option for people wanting to increase vaccine equity in the US and around the world. Those vaccines are also proving to be popular at vaccination sites around the country. (Nicole Wetsman / The Verge)

Biden says Merck will help make Johnson & Johnsons Covid vaccine

Earlier this week, pharmaceutical company Merck agreed to start manufacturing their rivals vaccine in a bid to increase supplies later this year. (Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC)

You think Rip Van Winkle had a hard time...I wake up and theres a pandemic. Theres fear in peoples eyes.

Lawrence Garbuz, the first patient in New York State to become seriously ill with COVID-19 on his experience waking up from a coma, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal.

I started taking photos because I needed to. I was photographing the experience of parenting in the pandemic, and then I started doing these portraits. I wasnt thinking about where they would go, but I just really needed to articulate something about what was happening.

Photographer Alice Proujansky on her Born in a Pandemic project. See her work on The Verge.

To the more than 115,913,859 people worldwide who have tested positive, may your road to recovery be smooth.

To the families and friends of the 2,576,079 people who have died worldwide 522,221 of those in the US your loved ones are not forgotten.

Stay safe, everyone.

Read more here:

COVID-19 vaccine supplies are on the rise in the US - The Verge

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced 183,984 first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the last 24 hours, a record high for the state. Additionally, the Governor announced 5,143,219 first and second doses have been administered to date, 801,993 of which were administered by state-run mass vaccination sites. As of 11AM today, New York providers have administered 95 percent of first doses so far delivered. The Week 12 allocation from the federal government is in the process of being delivered to providers for administration.

"We're working tirelessly to vaccinate New Yorkers as quickly and fairly as possible, with special attention to historically underserved communities that have suffered the most during this pandemic,"Governor Cuomo said."Our vast network of distribution sites, including 24/7 operations in certain communities, are getting more and more shots in arms every day. With a true partner in the White House, I'm confident that we'll continue to see increases to our weekly allocations and we stand ready to ramp up our distribution efforts as soon as we get more doses."

Approximately 10 million New Yorkers are currently eligible to receive the vaccine. New York's vast distribution network and large population of eligible individuals still far exceed the supply coming from the federal government. Due to limited supply, New Yorkers are encouraged to remain patient and are advised not to show up at vaccination sites without an appointment.

The'Am I Eligible'screening tool has been updated for individuals with comorbidities and underlying conditions with new appointments released on a rolling basis over the next weeks. New Yorkers can use the following to show they are eligible:

Vaccination program numbers below are for doses distributed and delivered to New York for the state's vaccination program, and do not include those reserved for the federal government's Long Term Care Facility program. A breakdown of the data based on numbers reported to New York State as of 11AM today is as follows. Beginning week 9, allocation totals are inclusive of some excess vaccine doses that have been reallocated from the federal Long Term Care Facility program. The allocation totals below include 60 percent of the week 12 allocation which will finish being distributed to New York provider sites on Sunday.

STATEWIDE BREAKDOWN

First Doses Received - 3,558,980

First Doses Administered - 3,371,537; 95%

Total Doses Received - 5,756,800

Total Doses Administered - 5,143,219

Region

Total Doses Received

(1st and 2nd)

Total Doses Administered

(1st and 2nd)

% of Total Doses Administered/Received

(1st and 2nd)

Capital Region

352,715

320,679

90.9%

Central New York

313,095

276,966

88.5%

Finger Lakes

350,410

324,168

92.5%

Long Island

734,325

623,231

84.9%

Mid-Hudson

553,645

468,129

84.6%

Mohawk Valley

171,000

143,296

83.8%

New York City

2,522,165

2,281,199

90.4%

North Country

189,025

174,599

92.4%

Southern Tier

190,745

178,221

93.4%

Western New York

379,675

352,731

92.9%

Statewide

5,756,800

5,143,219

89.3%

1st doses fully delivered to New York Providers

2nd doses fully delivered to New York Providers

TOTAL

CUMULATIVE

Week 1

Doses arriving 12/14 - 12/20

163,650

0

163,650

163,650

Week 2

Doses arriving 12/21 - 12/27

452,125

0

452,125

615,775

Week 3

Doses arriving 12/28 - 01/03

227,395

Continue reading here:

Governor Cuomo Announces a Record High More Than 183k Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Administered in 24 Hours - ny.gov

Boston City Councilor Matt OMalley has been trying to get the word out, tweeting and advising constituents about a helpful hospital website (bmc.org/covid-19-vaccine-locations) and phone number (617-638-9620) at Boston Medical Center. OMalleys 70-year-old aunt and other constituents, initially thwarted by the states balky website, were able to use this information to recently get vaccinated. People must be Boston residents and currently eligible for a shot to access an appointment through this site or number, which links them to a BMC location in Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, or Dorchester.

I have had a number of seniors reach out to me for help, OMalley said. I was so impressed by Boston Medical Centers old school approach they do have a website but also a phone number.

At the states largest health care system, Mass General Brigham, leaders say they are starting to e-mail eligible groups among their 1.8 million patients electronic tickets that contain a personalized link to sign up. Mass General Brigham is first targeting patients in communities that have been hit hardest by infections but is also reaching out in a wider sweep.

Unlike the states website, where available slots evaporate seemingly in an instant, these invitations dont disappear so quickly, said Dr. Tom Sequist, MGBs chief patient experience and equity officer.

We are trying to ensure if you are reached out to, you will get a slot, Sequist said. But he encourages patients to act as quickly as possible, because if they wait more than 21 days, the slot could be gone. The system will also be texting patients with a link, because more people tend to use cellphones with Internet access than computers, Sequist said.

Mass General Brighams eligible patients may also register for available slots on the systems patient gateway, a portal that allows patients access to their records and other types of appointments. The portal started making COVID vaccine appointments available March 3 at Assembly Row in Somerville, but more appointments at other MGB locations are expected in the coming days.

Mike Festa, director of AARP Massachusetts, which lobbies state officials on behalf of older residents, said hes relieved to hear hospitals are aggressively stepping forward to reach people because his organization has been hearing from a lot of frustrated seniors.

There are a percentage of people who have just given up, Festa said. That is my biggest worry.

Festa, who is over 65 and qualifies for a shot, has spent hours, searching simultaneously on his laptop, cellphone, and iPad and also has come up short.

At Beth Israel Lahey Health, the ramp-up begins next week.

We have the ability to be vaccinating 14,000 patients [a week] for first dose appointments and that will be our run rate going forward, said Peter Shorett, who is leading the systems initiative.

BI Lahey, which counts 1.6 million patients, also is concentrating first on communities of color and those hardest hit by the virus, but also is randomly sending e-mails and texts to its other qualifying patients with links to sign up for a shot. And for those who only have landlines, the system is sending out voice messages that direct patients to a helpline to register.

UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester is expecting in the next week to be able to double the number of vaccines it delivers daily, from about 300 to 600, with 60 percent of those reserved for the systems patients and the rest up for grabs on the states website. The system, with 400,000 patients, is also ratcheting up outreach through e-mail.

But for people who are too antsy to wait for their health care system to contact them, there is a cornucopia of new, free services springing up from bands of techie gurus that will send a text or e-mail alert when there is a shot available in the users preferred location. Some, such as Massachusetts Covid Vaccination Help, find and book appointments for people. Others are websites, such as MACovidVaccines.com, that scour and find available openings, and users then sign up.

The sites are unaffiliated with the states official system, and officials have advised consumers against using such unauthorized, non-official sources.

One of the newest entrants is a service, called MA Covid Vaccine Finder, developed by three Beverly sisters, that keeps it simple. Users provide their name and e-mail, and the system e-mails with open appointments.

The cofounders, Lilla Gabrieli, 23, and her sisters, Polly, 24, and Abigail, 26, were frustrated when their mom couldnt snag an appointment Feb. 18, the day the states system crashed when nearly a million people, ages 65 to 74, and those with underlying health conditions, became eligible and swamped the website.

By nightfall, Lilla Gabrieli, a masters student in data science, devised a program to quickly scour the states website and find slots. Her mom, using the system, got an appointment for the next day. So Gabrieli posted an offer on Facebook to help other friends and families and things snowballed from there. Its mushroomed from 500 to over 2,000 requests for help, and growing, the sister said.

Theyve built a website and say they are refining their program to better target the users preferred locations for a shot.

We are making sure when people reach out, if we arent the best fit, we are responding to them, Gabrieli said. We are letting them know they are not alone. We are real people behind the screen and we are trying to do the best helping people across the state.

Kay Lazar can be reached at kay.lazar@globe.com Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKayLazar.

Go here to see the original:

Mass. residents find other paths to secure COVID-19 vaccine appointments - The Boston Globe

MADISON (WKOW) -- Wisconsin's long-awaited COVID-19 Vaccine Registry launched this week, but so far only one county is using it.

State-run vaccination clinics in La Crosse and Rock counties are using the registry to set up appointments, but Green County is the only health department in the state to utilize it, too.

"We didn't plan on being the first," said Green County's Public Health Educator Bridget Craker. "We were really excited to get started."

Green County was one of the 10 organizations that got to pilot the site before it officially started rolling out March 1. Craker says the county is beginning to use it as a waitlist for county-run vaccination clinics.

"Everyone's put in a lot of hard work to create a really useful took that will be so beneficial for vaccine providers and for community members," she said.

But wasn't it supposed to be the waitlist for all of us? The form anyone in the state can fill out once -- and then are signed up everywhere?

That's how DHS pitched it last month, but so far, that's not how it works.

"I think I'd be a little more concerned about the registry sort of being a little slow if we weren't doing a good job vaccinating," said UW Professor Ajay Sethi.

Sethi says even without the registry up everywhere, Wisconsin is doing well.

"I think the best metric that indicates that is the percent of doses received that end up in the arms of people," he said.

That's about 85 percent in Wisconsin -- third best in the nation.

So far, Wisconsin is efficient at using vaccines once we get them -- constrained, now, by vaccine supply.

Sethi says once supply is no longer a constraint, a statewide registry will be crucial to make sure vaccines find arms.

"When the vaccinators get more supply than demand, they're going to want to be a part of that registry," he said.

For now, Sethi says healthcare providers and pharmacies are doing a good job rolling out vaccines with their current systems. He says the new statewide hotline fills the needs of people with questions.

In Sethi's eyes, the registry is a "bonus" where it's currently available.

Green County is right now one of two counties in the state with "very high" case activity.

"I think this is coming at a really great time," Craker said. "We'll have the vaccine availability to be able to utilize this really great tool to coordinate things efficiently and get people vaccinated."

DHS has said they expect the vaccine registry will be available to all interested vaccinators in the state -- including those outside of local health departments -- by April 1. Until all vaccinators opt in, people will have to use sign up processes directly through vaccinators to get on their specific waitlists.

Read more:

Only 1 county health department using WI COVID-19 Vaccine Registry, but experts say it's because others don't need to yet - WKOW

The faculty and staff of UI are no more valuable or essential than their counterparts at SIU, EIU, our community colleges, or any other institution of higher education, she said in a statement. The lack of consistency is, frankly, maddening. It smacks of elitism and favoritism when the faculty and staff of one institution is given priority access, especially while there are individuals who have been 1B eligible due to age who have been trying, to no avail, since the beginning of the phase to get even their first dose.

See original here:

COVID-19 vaccines given to hundreds of University of Illinois employees who werent yet eligible, including coaches and instructors - Chicago Tribune

Anti-vaccine flyers full of false information are being left all over a Federal Way neighborhood near a COVID-19 testing site.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. Anti-COVID-19 vaccine flyers with false information are being left at the doors of residents in a Federal Way neighborhood.

The flyers say over 900 deaths and nearly 15,000 injuries were reported following the COVID-19 vaccine. A link to a video on the flyer claims masks are a myth and not helpful in the fight against COVID-19.

"All that information on it is totally wrong. I mean it's false," said Dr. Ali Mokdad, a professor with the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

"What we are concerned about when I see a flyer like this, besides [the fact that] it's false and it's not true, is it's scaring people to get a life-saving vaccine," Mokdad continued.

A man living just up the street from the COVID-19 testing site at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way said he found the flyers concerning.

"We all have a right to do our own informed decision and what we want to say, whether you want the vaccine or not, but I think we've got to continue supporting each other and just really carefully research what comes to our door," said Tom, who preferred not to share his last name.

"My concern was that we all do our part to keep up this fight against COVID and not let down our guard whether we get vaccinated or not," said Tom.

The flyer also has links to different websites and studies which claim the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe.

"This is very dangerous, irresponsible for whoever is doing this, and we should punish people who are putting false information out there," said Mokdad.

See the article here:

Flyers spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccine left in Federal Way neighborhood - KING5.com

More than 28 million Americans fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will have to keep waiting for guidance from federal health officials for what they should and shouldnt do.

The Biden administration said Friday its focused on getting the guidance right and accommodating emerging science, but the delays add to the uncertainty around bringing about an end to the pandemic as the nations virus fatigue grows.

These are complex issues and the science is rapidly evolving, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday. We are making sure and taking time to get this right and we will be releasing this guidance soon.

Such guidance would address a flood of questions coming in from people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19: Do I still have to wear a mask? Can I go to a bar now? Can I finally see my grandchildren?

The need has slowly grown since January, when the first Americans began to complete the two-dose series of COVID-19 vaccines then available. Now, more than half of people 65 and older have received at least one shot, according to Andy Slavitt, a senior administration adviser on the pandemic.

In Washington state, Raul Espinoza Gomez has 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and an appointment Saturday for his second dose of coronavirus vaccine.

By Easter, the 77-year-olds immune system will be ready to protect him from the virus. But how the family celebrates will depend on government advice, said Melissa Espinoza, 47, of Carnation, Washington, who plans to drive Gomez, her father-in-law, to get his second shot.

We didnt gather together as a big family at Christmas, she said. We go by what the state and federal guidelines recommend. Weve had family members adversely affected by COVID. We know the risks are severe.

Worried about persistently high case loads and deaths, the Biden administration has condemned efforts to relax states virus restrictions and pleaded with the public for several months more patience.

The caution has drawn critics, who point to the administrations own warnings that fatigue is winning as evidence that they need to be more optimistic about the path ahead to secure the cooperation of those who are yet to be vaccinated.

I think its going to be overly proscriptive and conservative and thats the wrong message, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Wednesday of the forthcoming CDC guidance. If we continue to be very proscriptive and not give people a realistic vision for what a better future is going to look like, theyre going to start to ignore the public health guidance.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Womens Hospital in the Division of Health Policy and Public Health, encouraged the CDC to be clearer about when and how it plans to produce guidelines for the vaccinated.

Making the decision to go by the science is also making the decision that youre going to have to make a decision, which is really difficult when the science isnt settled, he told the AP. Theyre drinking from a firehose of science, and sometimes, it gets messy.

More than 55.5 million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, and slightly more than half of those 28.7 million have gotten the recommended two doses. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot soon will add a couple million more Americans with questions about what new freedoms they can safely enjoy.

I do hope I get to see my great-grandchildren more, said Rolando Solar, 92, who received his second dose in Miami Wednesday. But I know things will not go back to normal and, for an old man like me, this is as good as it will be.

Tami Katz-Freiman, 65, of Miami, got her second dose three weeks ago, and plans to watch the Miami Film Festival virtually Sunday at the home of unvaccinated friends. All will wear masks.

We didnt have to discuss it with each other, because its very clear to me that when there is a doubt and you dont have a CDC straightforward rule you better be on the safe side and take care for yourself, Katz-Freiman said.

Three weeks ago, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people do not have to go into quarantine if they have contact with someone with a confirmed infection (for 90 days after the final shot). But the agency said nothing beyond that, noted Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University.

That (quarantine guidance) seems to imply to me that your chance of contracting COVID-19 and being a carrier to others is pretty low, said Wen, who previously ran Baltimores health department.

(But) we need to focus on what is most relevant to peoples lives, and my patients are not coming in and asking me: If Im vaccinated, do I still need to quarantine if Im exposed? she continued.

Id say the most common question I get is Can I visit my grandchildren? Wen said.

Experts say its understandable that the CDC has been cautious when many scientific questions remain, including how long vaccine-induced immunity lasts, and whether vaccinated people are still able to transmit the virus to others. The answers are important when advising someone what kind of risk they face in different settings, and how much of a risk they are to others.

The vaccines at their best, in the clinical trials, were 95% effective, I didnt say 100%. And thats why we have to keep wearing masks most of the time, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.

But CDC has needed to come out with something more for vaccinated people than sticking with the same old mask wearing, social distancing guidance, he added.

People are so eager to do something and they want to see some tangible benefit from the vaccines. Americans are impatient. They want to get on with it, Schaffner said.

Indeed, there is a real cost to putting off this guidance, as people turn to their own doctors for advice, or just make their own assumptions and decisions, Wen said.

Waiting too long can diminish the agencys relevance on this kind of matter, said Wen, who believes CDC should have had some kind of guidance in place for vaccinated people back in January.

Clearly, vaccinated people should have been encouraged to go get cancer screenings, dental care, or other needed medical appointments. CDC officials also could have said that its OK for small groups of fully vaccinated people maybe two or three couples, for example to gather together for a dinner or other small gathering, she said.

Regarding small gatherings among people who have been fully vaccinated, the relative risk is so low that you would not have to wear a mask, that you could have a good social gathering within the home, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the governments leading infectious diseases doctor, during a recent White House briefing.

Some experts discussed the possibility that movie theaters or cruise ships or certain other businesses might open up to vaccinated people, and ask for proof of vaccination status. Israels government has begun issuing a green pass vaccination certificate to anyone who has received two doses of COVID vaccine through an accredited vaccination service.

I dont know if in this country we would tolerate the federal government issue some kind of pass, the way they did in Israel, Wen said. But businesses might want such passes and they would be an incentive that might help the overall rate of vaccination, Wen said.

The only incentive Espinozas family needed for vaccination was seeing her and her husband hospitalized with COVID-19 this winter. Still recovering, she uses oxygen at home.

Vaccination of the family elders means one step closer to returning to traditions they love: Church on Palm Sunday and, a week later, an Easter egg hunt for the kids and a meal featuring slow-cooked barbacoa, a Mexican beef dish.

I hope people will stay home and stay safe as much as possible until we can all get vaccinated and eradicate this disease, Espinoza said.

___

This story has been updated to correct Gottliebs first name.

___

Associated Press reporter Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

Go here to read the rest:

Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 still wait for advice - The Associated Press