Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Computer programs are written in code, which comes in many forms. At the lowest level, theres machine code and assembly, while higher-level languages like C and Python aim to be more human-readable. However, the natural world has source code too, in the form of DNA and RNA strings that contain the code for the building blocks of life. [Bert] decided to take a look at the mRNA source code of Tozinameran, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.

The analysis is simple enough for the general reader, while nonetheless explaining some highly complex concepts at the cutting edge of biology. From codon substitutions for efficiency and the -base substitution to avoid the vaccine being destroyed by the immune system, to the complex initialisation string required at the start of the RNA sequence, [Bert] clearly explains the clever coding hacks that made the vaccine possible. Particularly interesting to note is the Prolase substitution, a technique developed in 2017. This allows the production of coronavirus spike proteins in isolation of the whole virus, in order to safely prime the immune system.

Its a great primer and we can imagine it might inspire some to delve further into the rich world of genetics and biology. Weve featured other cutting edge stories on COVID-19 too; [Dan Maloney] took a look at how CRISPR techniques are helping with the testing effort. If theres one thing the 2020 pandemic has shown, its humanitys ability to rapidly develop new technology in the face of a crisis.

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Analyzing The Source Code Of The COVID-19 Vaccine - Hackaday

A Boston doctor reportedly suffered a severe allergic reaction to Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, after trials showed no such reactions.

Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh reported that he was dizzy and felt his heart racing just minutes after receiving the vaccine on Thursday.

The doctor had an EpiPen in the event of an allergic reaction, which he self-administered, according to a report in the New York Post.

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Live Updates: Doctor reportedly has severe reaction to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine - Fox News

Hogan has released a plan with top priority to health care workers, first responders and those in nursing facilities. The next priority group includes those who are at high risk for severe COVID-19, which could include seniors and those with certain health conditions, rather than those in specific job categories. Essential workers would follow, before the general public.

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Pharmacies play growing role in COVID-19 vaccinations - Baltimore Sun

Heres a look at false and misleading claims circulating online as news about COVID-19 vaccines and uncertainty around coronavirus relief in the U.S. dominate headlines. The bogus claims were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: Tiffany Dover, a nurse manager in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who fainted after receiving her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, is now dead.

THE FACTS: Claims of Dovers death have no basis in reality.

She is alive and worked a shift at CHI Memorial Hospital on Monday, according to Lisa McCluskey, the hospitals vice president of marketing communications. The claim emerged on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube over the weekend following videos that showed the nurse fainting on Dec. 17 several minutes after receiving the vaccine.

It also appeared on Reddit, on a subreddit devoted to conspiracy theories, and on a website claiming to show obituaries of deceased people. Some posts used screenshots of Dovers Facebook and Instagram accounts to claim she must be dead because she hadnt posted in several days. Others shared screenshots from a public records website, suggesting the appearance of Dovers name in search results somehow indicated she had died.

These claims are bogus, McCluskey confirmed to The Associated Press. Dover told reporters after the fainting episode that she has a condition that can cause her to faint when she feels pain.

Its common for me, she told reporters. I feel fine now.

In the days since then, CHI Memorial Hospital has confirmed Dover is doing well, sharing multiple tweets and a video of the nurse posing with colleagues on Monday afternoon. The CDC offers guidance on fainting after vaccination, which can be common. It says that although fainting has a variety of possible causes, it is usually triggered by pain or anxiety.

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Did you hear a nurse died after COVID-19 vaccine? Its not true - OregonLive

It was early on the morning of Dec. 15 at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where I have worked as an infectious disease physician for the past 31 years. As cameras flashed, a UPS delivery truck rolled onto the hospital ramp with our first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

It was a bittersweet day. Here we were, about to receive a vaccine that is meant to be our last chance to end the horrible COVID-19 pandemic and return to normal life. But my mind was flooded with the memories of my wife, Nisha, who lost her life this summer to COVID-19.

She fought a valiant battle. The entire medical team applied every medical advance they had to offer remdesivir, corticosteroids, convalescent plasma, mechanical ventilation and, finally, extracorporeal membrane oxygen. This was to no avail as I watched each therapy fail.

When she passed away, the entire medical team felt terrible guilt for letting me down. It was not their fault. After all, I had been part of several medical teams at UTMB that have worked furiously to battle this pandemic in our community. As director of Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology, my staff has worked intensely to develop procedures and provide training to reduce COVID-19 exposure, work with the supply chain to ensure availability of personal protective equipment, develop new procedures to reprocess scarce N95 respiratory masks and eye shields, develop visitation and employee screening policies and conduct contact tracing of infected employees, among many other duties.

For me, all that came to a screeching halt with my wifes illness.

After her passing, I went into mourning and soul-searching. However, my mourning did not last long. About two months ago, the president of UTMB, Dr. Ben Raimer, called me to see if I would be willing to co-chair a task force to prepare our university to provide the soon-to-be-available COVID-19 vaccines to our more than 16,000 employees and students and our community. This was not just a demonstration of his faith in my ability; he knew this would provide some meaning to my work.

I set up about creating a team that included members from several important departments, and we worked hard to be ready for Dec. 15. Within a few days, we have now vaccinated hundreds of our employees, and soon we will be able to give vaccine to others.

I got my shot on the first day. It was not just for me. It was for my wife. It was for my colleagues at work. It was for my family. And it was for my friends and my neighborhood.

We know the COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with the best science available and have passed the careful scrutiny of regulators. I have conducted many vaccine trials in children and adults during my career and, without fail, when vaccines have been approved for use, they have all led to reduction or almost complete elimination of the disease. As an infectious disease physician, I would be more than happy to have my job eliminated if we could prevent all infectious diseases with vaccines.

Sadly, my wife could not benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine, but moving forward, let there be no more deaths or disruption of lives due to this pandemic. Get the vaccine when it is available to you. If you are sure you do not want the vaccine or if you are unsure, please speak with someone who has been hospitalized due to COVID-19 or who has lost a loved one to the pandemic before you make up your mind.

Please follow the vaccine science and the advice of health care professionals. Let the vaccine offer us fresh hope for this Christmas and the New Year of 2021.

Patel is director of Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

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Opinion: The COVID-19 vaccine came too late for my wife, but it offers me hope - Houston Chronicle

This week I was vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which brought to mind some frequently asked questions about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

I am a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Virginia, where I care for patients with COVID-19 and conduct research on how best to prevent, diagnose and treat this new infection. As I interact with patients in the hospital, some mothers and expectant mothers have asked whether it is safe for them to take the vaccine. Here is what I have said to them.

1) Can I get vaccinated if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?

Yes, you can and should get a COVID-19 vaccine if you are either pregnant or breastfeeding.

An important reason is that COVID-19 is more severe during pregnancy. In a study of 23,000 pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported pregnant women were 3 and 2.9 times more likely to end up in the ICU or on mechanical ventilation, respectively. I find it reassuring, though, that the absolute risk remains low. Only about one out of 100 pregnant women with COVID-19 is admitted to an ICU.

Vaccines are, in general, safe and well tolerated during pregnancy.

Neither the Pfizer nor Moderna COVID-19 vaccine contains the live SARS-CoV-2 virus, so there is no risk of the pregnant woman or her fetus developing COVID-19. These vaccines are safe for another reason. The mRNA used in both vaccines to stimulate a protective immune response never enters the nucleus of a cell. That means it doesnt interact with the DNA that encodes the human genome of the mother or fetus.

The caveat is that safety data is lacking for the COVID-19 vaccines, because pregnant women were intentionally excluded in the phase 3 studies of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

In the absence of clinical trial data on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding women, but with the expectation that these vaccines should be safe in these populations, both the CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have recommended that vaccination be a personal decision of women who are pregnant.

For pregnant women who decide to be vaccinated, any fever associated with vaccination should be treated with acetaminophen, since fever has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.

There is no concern that the vaccines will interfere with lactation and no reason not to be vaccinated if you are breastfeeding.

2) Will I be protected from asymptomatic infection?

Initial data shows 60% protection from asymptomatic infection after the first dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. It is likely Pfizer will also protect from asymptomatic infection, but this has not yet been shown. This means that your risk of getting an asymptomatic infection is reduced by more than half after the first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

Subjects in the phase 3 study had nasal swabs taken at the time of the second dose of the vaccine. Of these, 14 of the 15,000 volunteers in the vaccine group and 38 of 15,000 subjects in the placebo group experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection without symptoms which is called asymptomatic COVID-19.

This is evidence that asymptomatic infections are being prevented even after only the first dose. This is wonderful news, as vaccine-induced protection from asymptomatic infection will facilitate herd immunity and the end of the pandemic.

3) Will new versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus succumb to the vaccine?

Fortunately all of the versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus identified to date are neutralized by the COVID-19 vaccines.

The primary way that these vaccines act is by preventing the spike protein on the exterior of the coronavirus from attaching to the ACE2 protein on human cells.

The vaccines do this by triggering the human immune system to produce anti-spike antibodies that attach to the spike protein whenever they encounter it and neutralize the virus.

All 17 versions of the virus tested so far have been neutralized, including the variant that is most common in the United States.

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Licenced as Creative Commons - attribution, no derivatives.

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Should pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine? | The Conversation - The Morning Journal

By Rolf Boone

The Olympian

Vaccinations are set to begin next week at long-term care facilities in Washington state that have registered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a state health official said Wednesday during a media briefing.

Michele Roberts, the acting assistant secretary whos leading COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution at the state Department of Health, said those vaccinations will begin Dec. 28.

Vaccines wont be distributed more widely beyond high-risk health care workers, first responders and residents and staff at long-term care facilities until at least the end of January, she said.

Roberts also updated the number of vaccine doses received so far. The state received 30,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine last week and expects 44,850 doses this week. Next week, the state expects to receive 57,525 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 44,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine, the second approved vaccine which also is administered in two doses, Roberts said.

The state initially expected about 400,000 doses this month, but now that number is closer to 330,000, she said.

Roberts explained the discrepancy, saying prior allocations were inadvertently based on vaccine doses produced, not doses cleared through a quality control process.

Meanwhile, the state is starting to see a downturn in the number of new COVID-19 cases, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, the states epidemiologist for communicable diseases.

Thurston County reported just 22 positive cases on Wednesday. The state Department of Health on Tuesday reported 1,252 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths. The daily confirmed figure is lower than the 2,000-per-day counts recently reported by the state.

Its very promising news, but were not out of the woods yet, Lindquist said about the trend.

Lacy Fehrenbach, deputy secretary for COVID-19 response, said the state avoided a post-Thanksiving spike in positive cases, and she strongly urged residents to limit in-person holiday celebrations to only immediate households.

Dr. Umair Shah, the new state Secretary of Health, reminded everyone to wear a mask, to wash hands and to keep a safe distance from people outside their households.

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COVID-19 vaccinations begin next week at long-term care facilities in Washington state - The Daily World

Arcata Fire Personnel receiving 1st dose by Yolanda Stevens

Press release from Mad River Community Hospital:

It has been nothing short of an extraordinary effort of cooperation between Mad River Community Hospital (MRCH) and multiple agencies in Humboldt County to administer over 300 vaccines to Hospital Tier 1A Staff, with an additional 250 plus vaccines to 13 front line agencies staff to date. This has been such a hard year, really dark, it is nice to be able to literally inject some hope for better times to come, says Tina Wood RN BSN CCRN, Critical Care Manager, MRCH, after administering the first COVID-19 Vaccine in Humboldt County. Vaccines were administered at the hospital to Tier 1A MRCH Employees and those that administer the vaccines with the remaining Tier 1A staff vaccinated within the following days.

The allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines requires each frontline agency must submit to an arduous application process. The Humboldt County Public Health (HCPH) notifies MRCH of available doses and approved agencies, which are picked up through an elaborate process then administered following CDC guidelines. When asked about the experience after receiving his vaccine, Justin McDonald, Fire Chief, Arcata Fire District said, It was painless and we really appreciate Mad River Hospital for hosting all of the first responders.

MRCH is following CDPH/CDC tier protocols for purposes of prioritizing distribution of the vaccine. At this time we are wrapping up Tier 1A, which includes front line workers. In response to the vaccine clinics, Sean Robertson, Fire Chief, Humboldt Bay Fire had this to say, Humboldt Bay Fire is very appreciative to County Public Health and Mad River Hospital for delivering Covid-19 vaccinations in such a rapid and efficient manner. This is a great step in protecting our front-line firefighters who operate in a high-risk environment on a daily basis, as well as to our community on the long road to recovering from this devastating year. We are still a long way yet, and the best practices to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our local economy remain to wear a mask, maintain physical distancing, and wash hands.

For more information about how early doses of the vaccine will be allocated in California, please view the state guidelines here: http://ow.ly/9OJl50CTBTL

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Mad River Community Hospital Paving the way for COVID-19 Vaccination - Redheaded Blackbelt

OAK CREEK Dressed as an elf, Routt County Public Health Director Roberta Smith spent a cold but sunny Christmas Eve morning administering COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers and frontline responders at South Routt Medical Center.

Ken Rogers, district manager of the medical center in Oak Creek, received the first vaccine of the day and the first Moderna vaccine administered in Routt County. The vaccines are part of the initial batch of 100 Moderna doses received this week by the public health department.

Rogers said he didnt even feel the shot, but emotionally, he said it felt wonderful.

It is great this is out there, and we want to show the vaccine is safe for everyone, Rogers said.

The Thursday clinic was the first place vaccines have been administered in Routt County outside of UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs.

While the Pfizer vaccines can be kept on recharged dry ice for five days outside of the ultra-low freezer, the Moderna vaccines are logistically much easier and can be stored in a regular freezer. They also can be drawn directly from the vial and dont need to go through the same reconstitution process.

Frontline health care workers who dont work at the hospital began receiving vaccines Wednesday, along with some long-term care staff, dental workers and EMS personnel.

Steamboat hospital staff began vaccines Dec. 17.

All of the Steamboat Emergency Center staff who wanted a vaccine received one Wednesday, said physician/owner Dr. Dallas Bailes.

Bailes noted the center has unintentionally become a popular COVID-19 testing center, often bringing in people who cant get tested elsewhere or want it done quickly.

At one point, we were turning away 50 people a day, he said.

Just in the past few days between when the vaccine was available to hospital health care workers but not yet to the emergency center staff there were at least 12 positive COVID-19 cases that came through the doors.

We are getting positives every day, Bailes said.

On getting the vaccine himself, Bailes said he was comfortable with the science.

The benefits outweigh any risk in continuing to do what I do without having any protection, Bailes said.

Rogers also talked about the daily contact his team has with potentially positive COVID-19 patients, especially given they offer testing every day and have tested more than 1,300 people.

South Routt dentist Dr. Reanna Messer said she was excited to receive her shot from Smith on Thursday.

Its a good step toward normality, Messer said.

Messer said she did have some hesitancy at first about the vaccine, but once she did her own reading and research on the clinical trials, she felt comfortable. Messer also noted dentists and dental hygienists are some of the highest risk people because every day, they are generating aerosols from the mouths of their patients.

For the more rural South Routt population where there have been fewer cases than Steamboat, Rogers noted in recent weeks the pandemic has hit closer to home, with most everyone now knowing someone who contracted the virus.

He also emphasized the importance of health care professionals displaying confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

We practice evidence and science-based medicine, Rogers said.

Rogers said South Routt Medical Center receives numerous calls from people wanting to get vaccinated, and they are keeping a list though that is in no way a list of who will get the vaccine first, as the details for administering the next phase of the vaccine are still being worked out.

With some leftover vaccines from the mornings allotment, Smith said shed be calling Caseys Pond to see about covering more of their staff, who began receiving vaccines Wednesday.

Smith said Walgreens is scheduled to begin the first vaccinations of Caseys Pond residents Monday. At this time, the local Walgreens, which is contracted with the federal government, is starting only with the Doak Walker House.

It is not known when the rest of the residents the assisted living and residential living groups will begin getting vaccines, which also includes the 13 residents at The Haven in Hayden.

On Monday, Smith said she will work with UCHealth staff to determine where to best utilize the hospitals allocation of 200 Moderna vaccines and determine whether some of those will be transferred to the public health department.

There are a lot more people in category 1B, Smith noted, which covers health care workers with less direct contact and first responders.

The county will soon be offering vaccines to staff and inmates at correctional facilities, and law enforcement who did not receive a vaccine this week.

Smith said her team wont be waiting on Walgreens to get more of Caseys Pond and The Haven residents vaccinated, provided they have the supply of vaccines ready to go.

If all the vaccines allotted to Walgreens for long-term care arent needed once they do come available, Smith said she is sure they will be needed elsewhere, and the contract between Walgreens and the government is not a barrier for public healths goal to get the 1A group covered as quickly as possible.

As the shipments of the vaccine become more regular, Smith said the process should move smoothly as they begin Phase 2 of administration, which includes, among others, people over 65 and with high-risk health conditions, grocery store workers and school staff and people living in high-density settings.

People will also soon be able to go to their private providers for the vaccine, she said, including the South Routt Medical Center.

On why Smith elected to stick a needle into some arms herself Thursday and Friday, I love it, she said. Its fun to be a nurse again and not sit on Zoom calls all day.

Asked if shed be giving out any shots on Christmas Day, No, Smith said. I need to knit.

To reach Kari Dequine Harden, call 970-871-4205, email kharden@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @kariharden.

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COVID-19 vaccines arrive in South Routt | SteamboatToday.com - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Maine plans to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines as more doses arrive next week, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.

Assisted-living facilities and emergency medical responders will be among the recipients of vaccines in week three of Maines rollout. The 19,125 doses the state will receive also will be used to expand the effort to vaccinate hospital workers and nursing residents and staff, the state said.

The Maine CDC also launched its online COVID-19 vaccine dashboard on Wednesday, providing a central location for information about immunization for patients and health care professionals alike. The site answers frequently asked questions such as who receives priority for the vaccine, and also includes a vaccination counter, which as of 9 p.m. was at 8,001 statewide.

So far, only one person who has been vaccinated in Maine, a health care worker who was inoculated at Maine Medical Center on Tuesday, has experienced a strong allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC reported. It is the first such case of anaphylaxis reported in Maine and one of a small number across the country. The unidentified worker, who had a predisposition to allergic reactions, was doing well at home on Wednesday after being treated and observed at the hospital for several hours, the CDC said.

No other serious reactions have been reported among the Mainers who have been vaccinated in hospitals and nursing homes across the state. They were joined Wednesday by some of the first EMTs in the state to get vaccinated.

The Maine Med employee who had an allergic reaction to a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Tuesday evening had a history of severe allergies and past experience with anaphylaxis, said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth.

Hospital staff conducting the vaccination clinic were aware of the employees medical history and observed the person after being vaccinated, as required for all COVID-19 inoculations, Mills said. Symptoms of anaphylaxis can include widespread rash and swelling, plummeting blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and difficulty breathing.

The person started showing symptoms of an allergic reaction after 10 minutes, and it advanced to anaphylaxis after 20 minutes, Mills said. The person was given an epinephrine pen injection and transported to the emergency room for further treatment, which could have included steroids, oxygen and intravenous fluids, she said.

Everything worked as it should have, said Mills, who was among the medical volunteers administering vaccines Tuesday night. The person stayed at the hospital for several hours for observation and was doing well at home today.

The employee will not be able to receive a second dose of the vaccine, which is required to provide maximum protection, but was glad to at least get a single dose, Mills said.

Mills said an anaphylactic reaction to inoculation is similar to that of someone who has a severe allergy to bee stings or nuts, which is why epi pens are available at each vaccination station and the observation area.

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, said Wednesday that the anaphylaxis experienced by the Maine Med employee was similar to those reported in other states and other countries, and that such reports remain rare.

Reactions of this sort have and will continue to happen, he said. Reactions of this sort have thankfully been the extreme rarity.

At least seven people in the United States have reported severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines, which had been administered to more than 1 million Americans as of Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. CDC.

In Alaska last week, three health care workers were treated for anaphylactic reactions shortly after receiving the vaccine and have recovered. One had no previous allergies.

The U.S. CDC recommends that all people receiving the vaccines be monitored on site for 15-30 minutes, depending on whether the recipient has a history of severe allergic reactions. Vaccine providers should have medications and equipment such as epinephrine, antihistamines, stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs ready.

Normal side effects include pain and swelling at the injection site, and possible fever, chills, fatigue and headaches through the rest of the body, according to the U.S. CDC. If redness or tenderness around the shot increases after 24 hours, the person should contact their health care provider.

Because the vaccine requires two doses to be effective, the U.S. CDC recommends that people who experience side effects receive the second shot unless their health providers say otherwise.

In Maine, the next vaccine shipments will be used to continue immunizing front-line health care workers and nursing home residents and staff, and to expand vaccine access to assisted-living facilities and to emergency medical responders, according to the Maine CDC.

The coming shipments are expected to include 10,725 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 8,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine. All told, Maine health authorities say theyll have enough doses to vaccinate about 64,775 people in the first three weeks of distribution.

Some of the first vaccines for EMTs were administered Wednesday to members of the York County Incident Management Team, according to a news release from the county government.

Fred Lamontagne, who serves as operations chief for the team, said his goal was to administer 80 doses by the end of the day. Lamontagne is also chief of the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department, which received 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine on Tuesday.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard contributed to this report.

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Maine prepares to expand COVID-19 vaccine rollout; reports first allergic reaction - Press Herald