• OC Health Care Agency Press Release, 10/25/21, The OC Health Care Agency (HCA) has begun offering booster shots of the Moderna and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccines for certain populations, following recommendations from the Western States Scientific and Safety Review Workgroup, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  READ MORE
   

• OC Health Care Agency Press Release, 10/22/21, To prepare for the next phase of vaccination distribution, the OC Health Care Agency continues to monitor activity by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices regarding the administration of booster shots of the Moderna and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson, or J&J) COVID-19 vaccines.  READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 10/20/21, US lays out COVID-19 vaccination plan for kids 5-11: 9 things to know. The White House on Oct. 20 detailed its plan for vaccinating children ages 5-11 against COVID-19, so that the vaccines can be quickly distributed and made equitably available upon FDA authorization and a CDC recommendation. READ MORE
   

• CDC Newsroom, 10/7/21, The Hidden U.S. COVID-19 Pandemic: Orphaned Children - More than 140,000 U.S. Children Lost a Primary or Secondary Caregiver Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. New study highlights stark disparities in caregiver deaths by race and ethnicity, calls for urgent public health response. One U.S. child loses a parent or caregiver for every four COVID-19-associated deaths, a new modeling studyexternal icon published today in Pediatrics reveals. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 10/7/21, Pfizer seeks FDA approval for vaccine’s use in kids 5-11: 5 things to know. Pfizer said Oct. 7 it submitted its request for the FDA to extend its COVID-19 vaccine's emergency use authorization to include children between ages 5 and 11. The FDA has tentatively scheduled a meeting on Oct. 26 to review Pfizer's request. The agency's decision is expected between Oct. 31 and Nov. 25, according to The New York Times. READ MORE
   

• Health and Human Services Press Release, 10/5/21, New HHS Report: Vaccination Linked to a Redution of Ove a Quarter Million COVID-19 Cases, 100,000 Hospitalizations, and 39,000 Deaths Among Seniors. The study, which was conducted by researchers with HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), found that vaccinations were linked to a reduction of approximately 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations, and 39,000 deaths among Medicare beneficiaries between January and May 2021. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 10/1/21, California's vaccination mandate: Early results. While some healthcare workers remained unvaccinated as California's COVID-19 vaccination mandate took effect Sept. 30, health systems reported that many have complied, according to The New York Times. California issued an order Aug. 5 requiring workers in healthcare to be vaccinated. It applies to those who work in indoor healthcare settings, including hospitals, where care is provided to patients, or patients have access. Workers who do not qualify for a medical or religious exemption needed to receive their first dose of a one-dose regimen or their second dose of a two-dose regimen by Sept. 30. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 10/1/21, COVID-19 antiviral pill cut hospitalizations in half, Merck says. Merck's COVID-19 antiviral drug molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50 percent in a phase 3 trial, the drugmaker said Oct. 1. Molnupiravir, developed in partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, was tested in nonhospitalized adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who were at risk for developing severe disease. READ MORE
   

• Becker's Hospital Review, 9/30/21, CDC forecasts drop in COVID deaths for 1st time since June: 4 takeaways. The number of newly reported U.S. COVID-19 deaths will likely drop over the next four weeks, according to the most recent CDC estimates. READ MORE
   

• Becker's Hospital Review, 9/29/21, CDC issues health advisory to boost vaccination rates among pregnant people. Although pregnant people have a higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, only 31 percent of pregnant people were vaccinated as of Sept. 18, prompting the CDC to issue a health advisory Sept. 29. READ MORE
   

• Associated Press News, 9/26/21, US has enough COVID-19 vaccines for boosters, kids' shots. With more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines available, U.S. health authorities said they’re confident there will be enough for both qualified older Americans seeking booster shots and the young children for whom initial vaccines are expected to be approved in the not-too-distant future. READ MORE
   

• CDPH Press Release, 9/24/21, Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters, The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccine is recommended six months or later following the primary vaccination series for certain individuals, outlined below. READ MORE
   

• Washington Post, 9/24/21, CDC director defends decision to endorse booster shots for adults in high-risk jobs. A day after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky broke with her agency’s advisory committee to recommend booster shots for adults with high-risk jobs, she pushed back against the notion that she had overruled her experts. READ MORE
   

• Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 9/24/21, Healthy Habits, Healthy Kids. Fewer cases of COVID-19 have been reported in children (ages 0-17 years) compared with adults.^1–3 Rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations are also lower in children than in adults. However, weekly rates of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have recently increased in children ages 11 years and younger. In fact, these hospitalization rates are the highest they have been since the start of the pandemic. The increases come as many schools across the country have resumed in-person learning. READ MORE
   

• AP News, 9/23/21, US sets the stage for COVID booster shots for millions. The U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 stood on the verge of a major new phase as government advisers Thursday recommended booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans — despite doubts the extra shots will do much to slow the pandemic READ MORE
   

• Primary Care News, 9/22/21, Booster Dose of J&J COVID-19 May Increase Immunity New research indicates two doses of the vaccine boosts immunity from 74 to 94 percent Getting a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine substantially increased its protection, the company announced Tuesday. According to the results of a new clinical trial, two doses of the vaccine boost immunity to 94 percent from the 74 percent offered by a single dose, the company said in a statement. READ MORE
   

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Press Release, 9/17/21, CDC to Invest $2.1 Billion to Protect Patients and Healthcare Workers from COVID-19 and Future Infectious Diseases. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a $2.1 billion investment to improve infection prevention and control activities across the U.S. public health and healthcare sectors. The Biden-Harris Administration, working through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is investing American Rescue Plan funding to strengthen and equip state, local, and territorial public health departments and other partner organizations with the resources needed to better fight infections in U.S. healthcare facilities, including COVID-19 and other known and emerging infectious diseases. READ MORE
   

• Washington Post, 9/17/21, California is seeing covid-19 cases drop. Has the state turned the tide on the delta variant? The delta variant of the coronavirus roared into California midsummer, striking hard even in places where many people were vaccinated. Cases spiked. Hospitals again began to swell with patients. The daily death toll climbed into the triple digits for the first time in months. But after a season in which the highly transmissible variant wreaked havoc on the nation, California is reporting sustained progress against delta. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Review, 9/15/21, Biden, health execs to meet on vaccination strategies. President Joe Biden will meet Sept. 15 with the CEOs of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and other companies about his plan to fight the pandemic, including vaccination mandates, according to The Wall Street Journal. A White House official told the newspaper participants are expected to focus on how they are expanding requirements and how mandates have boosted employee vaccination rates. READ MORE
   

• Practice Update, 9/14/21, Frequency of Long-Term Symptoms Up With Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test. The frequency of long-term symptoms associated with COVID-19 is higher among individuals who self-reported ever receiving a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test, according to research published in the Sept. 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 9/10/21, US COVID cases fall for first time since late June: 11 CDC stats to know. The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has decreased for the first time since late June, according to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 9/10/21, Mu unlikely to replace delta as dominant variant, virologists say. The delta coronavirus variant, which accounts for 99 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases, will likely maintain its dominance over new variants such as mu (B.1.621) and lambda (C.37), virologists told The Wall Street Journal. The virologists said they expect delta to outcompete these strains because of its high transmissibility. In short, other variants can't spread to susceptible people as fast as delta can, which gives it a leg up. READ MORE
   

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 9/10/21, Biden mandates vaccine for all federal workers as part of new plan to combat delta - 9 details. As part of his strategy to contain the pandemic, President Joe Biden revealed Sept. 9 a mandate that federal workers and contractors be vaccinated against COVID-19, without the option to undergo weekly testing. President Biden administration's latest mandate eliminates an earlier rule in July that gave federal employees who were unvaccinated the option to undergo weekly testing. Federal workers now have about 75 days to get fully vaccinated. Those who fail to comply will first go through the "standard human resources process and then face progressive disciplinary action," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a Sept. 9 news conference. READ MORE
   

• Practice Update, 9/3/21, Covid-19: How Many Variants Are There, and What Do We Know About Them? Mutant After Mutant. Mutations will happen, and soon we will run out of letters in the Greek alphabet. The key is to figure out which mutations make the virus more of a threat. Here are some basic features that should be reported for each variant. READ MORE
   

News and Information Archive

• Herd Immunity is Only Possible with a Vaccine by Bernadette Boden-Ablala, MPH, DrPH; Dan M. Cooper MD; Clayton Chau, MD, PhD; Casey Dorman, PhD
  • There has been much debate around the concept of herd immunity since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a public health term, the idea of herd immunity is that if enough people are protected against an infection because they have been exposed and developed antibodies, transmission of the infection slows and ultimately new outbreaks are halted because much of the population is no longer susceptible. Some people suggest that COVID-19 can best be controlled by allowing the virus to run its course and achieve enough numbers of infected persons to reach herd immunity. We suggest that there is some confusion about the use of this term and that there are strong reasons for not pursuing that approach. READ MORE

• Trust the Truth: Not the Myths by Casey Dorman, PhD (Updated 4/27/21)
  • Vaccines are not being given to children and adolescents because they have not yet been tested with that age, not because they have been found to be dangerous to children and adolescents. READ MORE