Experts: Seeking a third dose of Covid vaccine prematurely is a ‘dangerous trend’ — here’s why

Jul 16 2021

As Covid numbers rise and the more contagious delta variant spreads throughout the United States, people want to know what they can do stay safe. With talk of some vaccines being less effective against infection with delta, and news of third booster mRNA shot being tested and in some countries selectively administered, some people are even wondering if they should try and hack more protection — by independently seeking out a third shot or by mixing and matching vaccines. But Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, cautioned people who are “voluntarily thinking about [getting] an additional dose,” during a press briefing Monday.

Source: CNBC

The Sports Teams Getting the COVID Vaccine Are Getting an Edge

Jul 16 2021

The Philadelphia Phillies have COVID problems, several months after it became easy for them to avoid COVID problems. Over the weekend, third baseman Alec Bohm tested positive, landing on the COVID injured list for at least 10 days. Via contact tracing, three others (starting pitcher Aaron Nola and relievers Bailey Falter and Connor Brogdon) have joined him on the shelf.

Source: Slate

Vaccine Mandates Seem to Work

Jul 16 2021

That’s increasingly the message from hospitals to their vaccine-hesitant staffers, as it becomes increasingly clear that mandates are the only way to make sure the shots become near-universal among them. The Houston Methodist system went first among U.S. hospitals, announcing a staff vaccine mandate in April. It brooked a lawsuit but also won some impressive numbers: Among 26,000 employees, just 153 resigned or were fired. The rest went from 85% vaccinated to 100%, aside from 600 who were exempted for religious or medical reasons, including pregnancy.

Source: Bloomberg

Videos reduce HPV vaccine hesitancy among parents

Jul 16 2021

During a communication experiment, brief videos of a pediatrician announcing to parents that their child is due for an HPV vaccine and easing their concerns reduced HPV vaccine hesitancy, data showed. The CDC has previously reported that there has been some progress in adolescent HPV vaccination rates — 71.5% of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years received one or more doses of the HPV vaccine and 54.2% completed the HPV vaccination series in 2019, compared with 68.1% of teenagers who received one or more doses of HPV vaccine and 51.1% who completed the vaccine series in 2018. However, disparities in HPV vaccination rates remain, according to the agency.

Source: Healio

Vaccines given in last 20 years could prevent 50 million deaths

Jul 16 2021

New research, led by the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium, including researchers at Imperial College London, assessed the impact of vaccination activities against 10 infectious diseases across 112 countries.

Source: Medical Xpress

Colleges, universities with Covid vaccination mandates facing pushback

Jul 16 2021

Hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation are requiring students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to campuses in the fall, but the mandates may be difficult to enforce fully. Some schools such as Princeton University are requiring students to be fully vaccinated by Aug. 1, but it's still unclear how others will manage vaccination and mask mandates — or what alternatives to on-campus learning may be offered to students who aren't inoculated against Covid-19.

Source: NBC

Why a famous anti-vaxxer saw the light — and got the COVID-19 vaccine

Jul 16 2021

Getting the COVID-19 shot is not a big deal for most, but for Heather Brooke Simpson, the experience exorcised the demons of her anti-vaccine past. “It was liberating to know I was doing my part to end the pandemic for good,” Simpson exclusively told The Post. The 30-year-old’s enthusiasm for the vaccine flies in the face of her old beliefs.

Source: NY Post

Homeopathic Doctor Is Charged With Selling Fake Covid-19 Vaccine Cards

Jul 16 2021

A homeopathic doctor in California is the first person to face federal charges for selling fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, the authorities said. The doctor, Juli A. Mazi of Napa, Calif., also sold Covid-19 “immunization pellets” to patients, federal prosecutors said. She was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of false statements related to health care matters, according to a criminal complaint. Ms. Mazi faces up to 20 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, the authorities said.

Source: NYT

Opinion: How the GOP crusade against vaccines could get even more dangerous

Jul 16 2021

Until recently, whenever someone wanted to assert that susceptibility to anti-science conspiracy theories was not solely the province of the right, an example they could cite was the sort-of left-leaning embrace of the anti-vaccine crusade. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the most prominent opponent of vaccination, the picture many people had of a vaccine opponent was a liberal parent from Santa Monica fighting with their school district over whether to get their kids immunized.

Source: WP

Can vaccinated people get long Covid? Doctors say risk is 'very, very small'

Jul 16 2021

Coronavirus infections leading to long-haul Covid-19 in fully vaccinated people are probably very rare, experts say. The Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to significantly reduce infections, as well as the risk of severe consequences of the illness, including hospitalization and death. That means that if a fully vaccinated person does become infected, the illness is much more likely to be mild.

Source: NBC