December 16, 2021

The military’s ground branches have released some of the most dramatic statistics yet of the punishments imposed on troops who refused mandatory coronavirus vaccines, as a small but stubborn cohort of service members appears intent on calling the Pentagon’s bluff.

The Marine Corps reported Thursday that it had discharged 103 Marines for refusing to take the vaccine – the first in a pool of as many as 10,000 in that service alone that remain unvaccinated following the Marines’ deadline at the end of November. Though the service with the highest refusal rate has said it would grant some leeway to them to change their minds, its chief said this month in an appeal to unvaccinated Marines, “We’re not bluffing.”

Also on Thursday the Army reported it had relieved six active-duty commanders for refusing the shot, including two battalion commanders – the position considered among the most consequential for rising Army leaders. It has also issued 2,767 “general officer written reprimands” for soldiers who have similarly refused.

Though the service provided less detail on the number of soldiers it intends to discharge, it provided a series of troubling statistics that point to a similar showdown early in the new year with the more than 6,200 active-duty soldiers whose permanent exemption requests are still pending and the almost 3,900 who have refused the vaccine without any pending or approved exemption.

Read more at U.S. News & World Report.

December 16, 2021

One of the main circulating influenza viruses has changed and the current flu vaccines don’t match it well any more — an indication they may not do much to prevent infection, researchers reported Thursday. But they are still likely to prevent severe illness.”From our lab-based studies it looks like a major mismatch,” Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania who led the study, told CNN.

It’s bad news for the vaccine, he said. Influenza vaccines protect against four different strains of the flu: H3N2, H1N1 and two strains of influenza B. Hensley’s study only covers H3N2, but that happens to be the main circulating strain.

The vaccine mismatch may help explain an outbreak of flu at the University of Michigan last month that affected more than 700 people. More than 26% of those who tested positive had been vaccinated against flu — the same percentage as those who tested negative. That indicates the vaccine was not effective in preventing infection.

Read more at CNN.

December 13, 2021

Vaccine hesitancy is hardly limited to shots against Covid-19. Even the HPV vaccine, which can prevent as many as 90 percent of six potentially lethal cancers, is meeting with rising resistance from parents who must give their approval before their adolescent children can receive it.

The Food and Drug Administration licensed this lifesaving vaccine in 2006 to protect against sexually transmitted infection by HPV, the human papillomavirus. Most of us will get infected with HPV during our lifetimes, certain strains of which can lead to cancers of the cervix, vagina and vulva in women; cancers of the anus and back-of-the-throat in both women and men; and penile cancer in men. HPV can also cause genital warts.

But the vaccine only works if it’s administered before people become infected by the virus. And that often means getting vaccinated before teens and young adults have any form of sexual activity, including oral sex and skin-to-skin contact without penetration.

More than half of adolescents ages 15 to 19 report having had oral sex, and one in 10 say they have had anal sex. Unless they are vaccinated, more than 80 percent of women become infected with HPV by age 50. And while most infections clear on their own, enough persist to cause many thousands of cancers years later. There is no treatment for an HPV infection.

Read more at The New York Times.

December 15, 2021

Booster shots of the Covid-19 vaccines already in use are enough to combat the fast-spreading omicron variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, said Wednesday at a media briefing.

That is, it is unlikely the shots will need to be reformulated to target omicron specifically.

“Our booster vaccine regimens work against omicron. At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster,” Fauci, also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.

While the delta variant still accounts for the vast majority of Covid-19 cases in the country, the omicron variant has been detected in at least 36 states. It currently accounts for about 3 percent of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In some states, it’s even higher, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during the briefing. The agency projects that omicron could account for 13 percent of new cases in New Jersey and New York.

The proportion of omicron cases is expected to grow in the coming weeks, Walensky said, adding that the number of new omicron cases doubles about every two days. In comparison, cases of the delta variant appear to double every two weeks.

While vaccine manufacturers have said they are looking into developing shots targeting omicron, Fauci suggested that may not be necessary.

Read more at NBC News.

December 10, 2021

With nearly 5 million children ages 5 to 11 now vaccinated against COVID-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says real-world monitoring finds vaccines are safe for young children.

Crucially, the CDC hasn’t identified any concerns with the temporary heart inflammation known as myocarditis, a potential side effect of mRNA vaccines seen in rare circumstances in teenagers and young adults.

“We haven’t seen anything yet,” Walensky told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton in a rare in-person interview from CDC headquarters in Atlanta. “We have an incredibly robust vaccine safety system, and so if [problems] were there, we would find it.”

Read more at ABC News.

December 14, 2021

DENVER (CBS4) – Travelers and employees at Denver International Airport now have a chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot just steps away from the security lines. On Monday, the airport and Safeway held the first of six booster clinics scheduled throughout December.

The clinics are open to everyone, including employees and passengers. Appointments must be booked online, organizers said. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being offered. 

“It’s a great opportunity for those individuals, especially going into the holidays,” said Nikki Price, director of pharmacy operations for Albertsons Safeway Pharmacies. 

Kris Pacheco, who said he’s worked at the airport for more than 10 years, was among the first to stop by the clinic for his booster shot Monday. With some of the busiest days of the year just a week away, the ongoing threat of COVID-19 is at the top of his mind.  

Read more at CBS4 Denver.

December 15, 2021

Nearly 20 percent of children ages 5 to 11 in the United States have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine since the shots were approved for them in early November.

Several New England states are leading the vaccination effort for young children, with vaccinations in Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island all above 35 percent — far higher than the nationwide average of 19 percent, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But at the county level there’s a disparity. Fewer than 10 percent of children in rural counties are vaccinated, half the rate of their urban counterparts.

About 6 percent of vaccinations went to 5- to 11-year-olds in rural counties, even though 13 percent of kids in that age group live in rural areas, according to the analysis. About 94 percent of vaccinations for kids 5-11 come from urban areas, while 87 percent of young kids live in urban areas.

Read more at NBC News.

December 14, 2021

One year ago, nurse Sandra Lindsay sat down in a slate blue chair at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, rolled up her white sleeve and made history.

Lindsay arrived at work that Monday knowing she would be among the first people in her hospital – and the United States – to get vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus. But she had no idea she would be the first, outside of clinical trials.

Since then, she has appeared on national television to advocate for vaccination, been celebrated in a ticker-tape parade for health care workers, and was recognized for her courage by President Joe Biden during a ceremony at the White House. The scrubs she wore were donated to the National Museum of American History as part of the collection that will record this chapter of life in the U.S. “I can’t even wrap my head around that,” Lindsay told the PBS NewsHour.

Read more at PBS News.

December 14, 2021

Nearly 800,000 Americans have died so far during the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half those deaths occurring during 2021.¹ One year into the U.S. vaccination effort, much attention has focused on the stubborn persistence of the pandemic, which has been fueled by new, more- transmissible variants and the millions of Americans who have not gotten their shots. However, the positive impact of the rapid development and deployment of highly effective vaccines — the reduction in deaths and hospitalizations — has been less obvious.

In July, we reported that the U.S. vaccination program had averted 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations, primarily by blunting a surge in the Alpha variant during spring 2021.² Since that report, nearly all of the U.S. has experienced a wave of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant. More than 1,000 Americans are dying each day.

Read more at The Commonwealth Fund.

December 16, 2021

Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday that he expects omicron to become the dominant form of COVID-19 in Colorado as he announced that health officials believe they have identified the state’s first case of community transmission of the variant.

Polis said five people in Colorado have been infected with the omicron variant so far. He didn’t provide details on the suspected community transmission case.

State health officials said Thursday that omicron has been detected in wastewater samples taken in Boulder, Aurora and in the southwest Denver metro area. The variant has also been found in a sample or samples taken from the South Adams County Water & Sanitation District.

“Omicron is coming,” Polis said at a news conference at the Aurora Municipal Center.

The governor urged people to get a COVID booster shot to ensure they are protected against the new variant, which was first detected last month in South Africa.

Read more at The Colorado Sun.