The vaccine blame game
In the week since our last newsletter, the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the United States has gone into turmoil. Now, millions of vaccines can expire before they reach people in need.
The Trump administration predicted that 20 million people would receive at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2020. The final number was about four million. And only 365,294 people in nursing homes and long-term care centers were vaccinated, despite more than 2.5 million doses distributed to these facilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Critics say the United States government mismanaged top-down implementation. Federal, state and local authorities blamed each other for logistical problems and funding shortages.
State officials – struggling to deal with outbreaks, mass testing campaigns, overcrowded intensive care units and tracking uncertain contact – say they need more help from the federal government. And local governments are being irritated by state restrictions.
In New York City, only 110,000 people received the vaccine dose – about a quarter of the total number received by the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio asked the state government – which limited vaccination to health care workers and those who live and work in nursing homes – to allow the elderly and essential workers to receive the vaccine.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the problem was a local issue and urged Mr. de Blasio and other local leaders to take “personal responsibility” for his performance. Cuomo also threatened to fine hospitals if they did not increase the vaccination rate.
The $ 900 billion federal pandemic relief package will provide an additional $ 9 billion for vaccination costs. But the funds will arrive long after local health departments start vaccinating residents. The slowdown affects almost all parts of the country.
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In Puerto Rico, a shipment of vaccines did not arrive until the workers who administered them had left for the Christmas holiday.
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In Houston, the city’s health department phone system crashed on the first day of a free vaccination clinic, after receiving more than 250,000 calls.
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In Tennessee, older people lined up on the sidewalk, leaning on walkers and wrapping themselves in blankets as they waited for the county health department to open their free clinic. The clinic ran out of vaccine supplies before 10 am.
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In Florida, vaccine implantation sites remain crowded in places, with people waiting for hours. Governor Ron DeSantis said hospitals could have their future supplies of coronavirus vaccine reduced if they do not administer the doses quickly enough.
The USA is not alone: the Netherlands and France are just two of the many countries that took a long time to implant vaccines. But the level of disorder in the United States, as well as the number of victims of the virus, seems unique.
Vaccines for covid19>
Answers to your vaccine questions
With the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine starting in the USA, here are the answers to some questions you may be asking yourself:
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- If I live in the USA, when can I get the vaccine? While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, most will likely put doctors and residents of long-term care facilities first. If you want to understand how this decision is being made, this article will help you.
- When can I return to normal life after being vaccinated? Life will only return to normal when society as a whole obtains sufficient protection against the coronavirus. Once countries authorize a vaccine, they will only be able to vaccinate a few percent of their citizens, at most, within the first two months. The unvaccinated majority will still remain vulnerable to infection. An increasing number of coronavirus vaccines are showing robust protection against disease. But it is also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they are infected, because they have only mild symptoms or none at all. Scientists still do not know whether vaccines also block coronavirus transmission. So for now, even vaccinated people will need to wear masks, avoid crowds indoors and so on. Once enough people are vaccinated, it will be very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people to infect. Depending on how quickly we, as a society, achieve this goal, life may begin to approach something normal in the fall of 2021.
- If I have been vaccinated, do I still need to wear a mask? Yes, but not forever. Here’s why. Coronavirus vaccines are injected deep into the muscles and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This appears to be sufficient protection to prevent the vaccinated person from becoming ill. But what is not clear is whether it is possible for the virus to flourish in the nose – and to be sneezed or expired to infect other people – even if antibodies in other parts of the body have been mobilized to prevent the vaccinated person from becoming ill. The vaccine’s clinical trials were designed to determine whether vaccinated people are protected from disease – not to find out whether they can still spread the coronavirus. Based on flu vaccine studies and even on patients infected with Covid-19, researchers have reason to hope that vaccinated people will not spread the virus, but more research is needed. In the meantime, everyone – even vaccinated people – will need to think of themselves as possible silent spreaders and continue to wear a mask. Read more here.
- It will hurt? What are the side effects? The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is administered as an injection into the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection in your arm will be no different than any other vaccine, but the rate of short-term side effects appears to be higher than that of a flu vaccine. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines and none have reported serious health problems. Side effects, which may resemble Covid-19 symptoms, last for about a day and are more likely to appear after the second dose. Initial vaccine test reports suggest that some people may need to take a day off from work because they feel bad after receiving the second dose. In the Pfizer study, about half developed fatigue. Other side effects occurred in at least 25 to 33 percent of patients, sometimes more, including headaches, chills and muscle pain. While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign that your own immune system is building a potent response to the vaccine that will provide lasting immunity.
- Will mRNA vaccines change my genes? No. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to prepare the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slide inward. The cell uses mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. At any given time, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules, which they produce to make their own proteins. After these proteins are produced, our cells fragment the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules that our cells make can survive just a matter of minutes. Vaccine mRNA is designed to resist the cell’s enzymes a little more, so that cells can produce extra proteins from the virus and stimulate a stronger immune response. But mRNA can only last a few days at most, before being destroyed.
You can track the launch in the U.S. with our vaccine tracker.
More than 30 other countries, including the United States, have diagnosed cases with the variant, which appears to be between 10% and 60% more transmissible than the original version. It may soon become the dominant form of the virus.
The new variant could end up “exacerbating a relentless increase in deaths and overburdening the already tense health system”, my colleague Apoorva Mandavilli wrote last week.
Resurgences
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An outbreak at a convent near Albany, NY, infected nearly half of its approximately 100 residents. Nine sisters, all over 80, died from Covid-19 in December.
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The California prison system, which has been hit exceptionally by the coronavirus, has started to vaccinate some inmates – but none so far in the 25 prisons that have been most affected by infections.
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Thailand, which has been one of the most successful countries in containing coronavirus, imposed new comprehensive measures on Monday, when infections reached a new daily high of 745.
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Japanese authorities considered declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo for the first time since April. Authorities on Monday requested that restaurants and bars close until 8 pm to prevent the spread of the virus.
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South Korea will extend restrictions in and around Seoul until January 17.
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Zimbabwe close non-essential deals for a month and extend the curfew from 6 pm to 6 am, your information secretary said on Saturday.
Here is a summary of restrictions in all 50 states.
What else are we following
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The sustained loss of smell and taste among some Covid-19 survivors is receiving new attention from scientists, who fear it could affect nutrition and mental health.
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Centers for combating substance abuse are shutting down or relying on virtual programming. People struggling with addiction have started to relapse.
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The NCAA plans to hold its men’s basketball tournament entirely in Indiana in March and early April, in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
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A 60-year-old state senator from Virginia, Ben Chafin, died of complications from Covid-19.
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Israel distributed the first of two doses to more than 10% of its population, in an unusually successful vaccination campaign. The effort did not extend to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority does not appear to have publicly requested doses of vaccines.
What are you doing
Unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid-19 just before Christmas. My family, rightly, did not want me close to them, but they agreed to make me FaceTime to take action whenever I wanted. Ironically, one of my sisters gave my other sister a selfie stick / tripod for Christmas, so they put a phone on the stick and put “me” to see what was going on. It really made me feel like I was there and improved my mood every day, helping me survive isolation. Christmas 2020 will forever be known in our family as “the one with Lora on the stick”. (We are big fans of “Friends”). – Lora Vandevoorde, De Pere, Wis.
Let us know how you are dealing with the pandemic. Send us a reply here, and we will be able to present it in an upcoming newsletter.
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