ABC News -
April 19, 2021
A decision to lift the suspension of administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine might occur by Friday, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "But no indication they will stop using it?" "This Week" Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz asked Fauci. "I really don't think so, Martha," Fauci responded, stressing that he did not want to get too far ahead of federal regulators.
NPR -
April 19, 2021
Kyle is one of a growing number of workers who are benefitting from a strong push by some companies to provide shots at employment sites, all in coordination with local and state health authorities. It's part of a broader push by these companies to remove potential barriers to get the vaccines for their workforces. Some are even offering financial or work incentives to get their workers to get the shot.
The Atlantic -
April 19, 2021
Which, if any, of these new frontiers might be linked to serious side effects? Which, if any, of the other vaccines could be drawn into this story, too? How can a tiny but disturbing risk be mitigated as we fight our way out of this pandemic? And what might be the implications for vaccine design in the years to come? To answer these questions, scientists will have to figure out the biology behind this rare blood condition: what exactly causes it; when and why it happens. This is not an easy task.
Reuters -
April 16, 2021
The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine to 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said on Thursday. While the duration of immunity after vaccination is being studied, booster vaccines could be needed, David Kessler, chief science officer for President Joe Biden's COVID-19 response task force told a congressional committee meeting. "The current thinking is those who are more vulnerable will have to go first," he said.
AP -
April 16, 2021
Nearly half of American adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 30% of adults in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. But the picture is still relentlessly grim in parts of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia as variants of the virus fuel an increase in new cases and the worldwide death toll closes in on 3 million.
AP -
April 16, 2021
A new wave of public health advocacy that is multilingual, culturally sensitive, entertaining and personal is rapidly replacing mundane public service announcements on TV, radio and online in the battle to stamp out vaccine disinformation circulating in communities of color and get more people vaccinated. … The Biden administration this month launched a multimillion-dollar promotional campaign targeting communities where vaccine hesitancy is high and asked 275 organizations — from the NAACP to Ciencia Puerto Rico — to spread the word about vaccine safety and effectiveness.
The Atlantic -
April 16, 2021
Vaccines have promised, to the rest of the world, a return to a semblance of normal life … But they were not designed for, or tested extensively on, immunocompromised or immunosuppressed individuals, whose immune systems have been subdued by underlying conditions, environmental exposures, drugs, or viruses such as HIV. With their defenses down, many of these people can’t yet count on what the rest of us can: that the new shots will protect them from the coronavirus.
Reuters -
April 16, 2021
Wealthy governments are looking to COVID-19 shots from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc to keep their vaccination programs on track, as safety concerns and production problems sideline vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson, public health experts and industry analysts say.
USA Today -
April 16, 2021
Budweiser is the latest brand to raise awareness for the COVID-19 vaccines by offering free beer to those who get vaccinated. The Anheuser-Busch beer brand has brought back its popular Budweiser Clydesdales and a puppy for the commercial called "Reunited with Buds," which posted to YouTube Thursday and is scheduled to run on national television April 26, the company told USA TODAY.
AP -
April 15, 2021
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine will remain in limbo for a while longer after government health advisers declared Wednesday that they need more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot — and if so, how big the risk really is. The reports are exceedingly rare — six cases out of more than 7 million U.S. inoculations with the one-dose vaccine. … At an emergency meeting, advisers to the CDC wrestled with the fact that the U.S. has enough alternative shots to vaccinate its population but other countries anxiously awaiting the one-and-done vaccine may not.
CNN -
April 15, 2021
About 5,800 people who have been vaccinated against coronavirus have become infected anyway, the CDC tells CNN. Some became seriously ill and 74 people died, the CDC said. It said 396 -- 7% -- of those who got infected after they were vaccinated required hospitalization. It's the first indication from CDC of how effective the vaccine is in real life -- and the first indication the vaccines do not protect completely against severe disease and death. … To date, no unexpected patterns have been identified in case demographics or vaccine characteristics," the CDC told CNN via email.
ABC News -
April 15, 2021
With coronavirus shots now in the arms of nearly half of American adults, the parts of the U.S. that are excelling and those that are struggling with vaccinations are starting to look like the nation’s political map: deeply divided between red and blue states. … The emerging pattern: Americans in blue states that lean Democratic appear to be getting vaccinated at more robust rates, while those in red Republican states seem to be more hesitant.
STAT -
April 15, 2021
Merck said Thursday that it has seen “encouraging” results in a clinical trial of an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 early in the disease’s course. At the same time, the company said it will stop efforts to develop both that drug and a second medicine for patients who have already been hospitalized with the disease. The drug giant licensed the anti-Covid pill, molnupiravir, from Ridgeback Biotherapeutics last July.
Vox -
April 15, 2021
The Covid-19 vaccine is free to every American — no exceptions. It’s possible, if unlikely, that you might receive a bill or something that looks like a bill from your health insurance company anyway. This just happened to my colleague Sara Morrison … She had received an explanation of benefits from her insurer, Cigna, saying she owed 57 cents for her first dose of the vaccine. … That may sound like a trivial amount, but anything that creates any more confusion or hesitancy about getting the Covid-19 vaccine is an obstacle to ending the pandemic. Previous research has shown that even small out-of-pocket costs, as little as $10, can lead patients to postpone lifesaving medical treatment.
NBC News -
April 15, 2021
A recent study of coronavirus vaccines led by Dr. Matthew Snape, a professor at the University of Oxford in the U.K., sent Twitter users and "Harry Potter" fans into a frenzy this week.
BuzzFeed News -
April 15, 2021
Emptying airplane middle rows could limit passengers' exposure to the coronavirus during flights by a third, suggests a study released on Wednesday. … The airplane simulations showed a 23% reduction in exposure for the closest scenario: a person separated from an infected passenger by an empty middle seat, compared against sitting right next to them. For a simulation of three rows of airline seats, the reduction in exposure was 57% for passengers separated from infected ones by empty middle seats.