COVID-19 Vaccine Resources

• CDPH , 4/13/21, State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts. Today, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released the most recent statistics on COVID-19, including updated data and tiers for reducing COVID-19 in the state under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. READ MORE

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4/13/21, Joint CDC and FDA Statement on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine. As of April 12, more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen ) vaccine have been administered in the U.S. CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine. READ MORE

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4/2/21, When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated, COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic. READ MORE

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 4/2/21, Fully vaccinated people can travel: CDC revises guidelines. Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can travel "at low risk to themselves," both within the U.S. and internationally, but must still continue social distancing and mask-wearing, according to new CDC guidance. READ MORE

• CNN News, 4/1/21, Ongoing trial shows Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine remains highly effective after six months. Protection likely lasts even longer than that, vaccine experts say, but they say having data showing good protection six months after people were vaccinated is good news.

  The vaccine remains more than 91% effective against disease with any symptoms for six months, the companies said in a statement. And it appeared to be fully effective against the worrying B.1.351 variant of the virus, which is the dominant strain circulating in South Africa and which researchers feared had evolved to evade the protection of vaccines, the companies said. READ MORE

• NPR News, 3/25/21, Few Facts, Millions of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online.  The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. According to recent data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, you're three times more likely to get struck by lightning. READ MORE

• Cal OES News, 3/25/21, State Expands Vaccine Eligibility to 50+ Californians Starting April 1 and All Individuals 16+ on April 15 Based on Expected Supply Increases. Starting April 1, individuals aged 50+ will be eligible to make an appointment, and individuals 16+ will be eligible to make an appointment to be vaccinated starting on April 15. READ MORE

• CDPH Fact Sheet, 3/11/21, Vaccines for People with High-Risk Medical Conditions or Disabilities. On March 15, people with certain significant, high-risk medical conditions or disabilities will become eligible for vaccines statewide, to help save the lives of people who are at high-risk of death and severe complications from COVID-19. READ MORE

• CDC, 3/8/21, CDC issues first Set of Guidelines on How Fully Vaccinated People Can Visit Safely with Others. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its first set of recommendations on activities that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely resume. READ MORE

• CDC Newsroom, 2/28/21, Media Statement from CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, on Signing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Recommendation to Use Janssen’s COVID-19 Vaccine in People 18 and Older. Today, I signed CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that endorsed the safety and effectiveness of Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)’s COVID-19 vaccine and its use in people age 18 and older. READ MORE

• FDA U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 2/27/21, FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Third COVID-19 Vaccine, Today, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the third vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The EUA allows the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S for use in individuals 18 years of age and older. READ MORE

• APNews.com, 2/25/20, Governor’s Vaccine Plan Aims to Reopen California Classrooms, California released a new plan Thursday outlining how the state will allocate vaccines to education workers as Gov. Gavin Newsom continues to push to reopen more schools to in-person instruction. READ MORE

• AP News, 2/24/21, FDA Says Single-dose Shot from J&J Prevents Severe COVID. Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe COVID-19, according to an analysis released Wednesday by U.S. regulators that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic. READ MORE

• Stat-Health, 2/24/21, Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Performs As Well in the Real World as in Clinical Trials, New Study Concludes. Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine performed as well in the real world as it did in the clinical trial that led to its use, a large study conducted in Israel concluded. READ MORE

• PBS News Hour, 2/24/21, FDA Says Johnson & Johnson’s Single-dose Shot Protects Against COVID-19. Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe COVID-19, according to an analysis by U.S. regulators Wednesday that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic. READ MORE

• Becker’s Hospital Review, 2/23/21, 3 Reasons COVId-19 Vaccines Remain in Short Supply, Though the U.S. has invested billions of dollars in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing and invoked the Defense Production Act to boost supplies needed to make the vaccines, there are still not enough doses to meet demand, Kaiser Health News reported Feb. 23. READ MORE

• KHN News, 2/23/21, After Billions of Dollars and Dozens of Wartime Declarations, Why Are Vaccines Still in Short Supply? The U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in manufacturing, used a wartime act dozens of times to boost supplies and yet there’s still not enough Covid vaccine on the way to meet demand — or even the government’s own goals for national immunization. READ MORE

• ENDPOINT News, 2/21/21, FDA Issues New Recommendations to Take on COVID-19 Variants, The FDA on Monday unveiled recommendations for vaccine, drug and diagnostic test developers to address the impact of Covid-19 variants on the efficacy and performance of their products. READ MORE

• PBS News, 2/17/21, How will we know we’ve reached herd immunity for COVID-19? Health officials around the world are racing to vaccinate enough people to stop the spread of COVID-19, but what qualifies as “enough” is still an open question. READ MORE

• NPR News, 2/16/21, Winter Storm Disrupts COVID-19 Vaccinations, Closing Clinics And Delaying Shipments. The massive storm sweeping across the country isn't only bringing subzero temperatures and widespread power outages to much of the U.S., it's also putting a freeze on COVID-19 vaccine distribution in several states and cities. READ MORE

• NPR News, 2/8/21, White House COVID-19 Adviser Andy Slavitt Says There Are No Vaccine ‘Silver Bullets.” The U.S. is currently administering about 1.4 million vaccination shots a day. About 9.5% of people in the U.S. have already gotten one dose. READ MORE

• Harvard Health Publishing, 2/8/21, COVID-19 Vaccines: Safety, Side Effects – and Coincidence. As the pandemic rages on. It’s increasingly clear that widespread vaccination is essential to help contain it.  READ MORE

• Town Hall, 2/4/21, From COVID to Independence Meeting #3. Hear the latest information about COVID-19 vaccine, sponsored by the OC Health Care Agency and the City of Huntington Beach. Watch here: https://youtu.be/RqLvaWczupM

• The Atlantic, 2/2/21, The Second COVID-19 Shot Is a Rude Reawakening for Immune Cells. Side effects are just a sign that protection is kickng in as it should.  READ MORE

• The White House Briefing Room, 2/2/21, President Biden Announces Increased Vaccine Supply, Initial Launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, and Expansion of FEMA Reimbursement to States. 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 4/13/21)
  • 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