US Drop in Vaccine Demand has Some Places Turning Down Doses + More
US Drop in Vaccine Demand has Some Places Turning Down Doses
Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste.
As the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses in the U.S. outpaces demand, some places around the country are finding there’s such little interest in the shots, they need to turn down shipments.
“It is kind of stalling. Some people just don’t want it,” said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department in rural Kansas’ Decatur County, where less than a third of the county’s 2,900 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.
CDC Investigating 3 Deaths After J&J Vaccine, New VAERS Data Include 584 More Reports of Deaths After COVID Vaccines
Data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the number of injuries and deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following COVID vaccines showed a notable increase in reports of injuries and deaths compared with last week’s numbers.
VAERS is the primary government-funded system for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S. Reports submitted to VAERS require further investigation before a causal relationship can be confirmed.
Every Friday, VAERS makes public all vaccine injury reports received as of a specified date, usually about a week prior to the release date. Today’s data show that between Dec. 14, 2020 and April 16, a total of 86,080 total adverse eventswere reported to VAERS, including 3,186 deaths — an increase of 584 over the previous week — and 10,152 serious injuries, up 1,867 since last week.
CDC Panel Votes to Resume Use of J&J COVID Vaccine Without Restrictions
An independent advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted Friday 10 – 4 to recommend the continued use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine after the single-dose shot was paused over blood clotting concerns. The panel did not recommend adding any extra warning about the risk of rare blood clotting disorders.
The recommendation by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has to be approved by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before becoming official government policy.
The ACIP said the link between blood clots and J&J’s COVID vaccine was “plausible,” but concluded the vaccine’s benefits still outweigh the risks and recommended the vaccine for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
CDC Panel Finds 15 blood Clot Cases, 3 Deaths Possibly Linked to J&J Vaccine
An investigation into Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine found that two more women have died from a rare blood clotting disorder that may be linked to the shots, according to an advisory panel that was meeting Friday to discuss whether the vaccination rollout should resume.
The panel found 15 women who were diagnosed with the condition — known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS — out of nearly 8 million J&J vaccine doses administered in the U.S. so far. Three of them died, seven remain hospitalized and five are recovering at home, according to a slide presentation shared during the meeting.
Moderna Mafia? Pfizer Pham? Vaccine Factions are Forming Online.
“I got the vaccine, and the first thing I get asked by people who have it is, ‘Which one?’” says Vega, in an email to Vox. “The response is either ‘Me too!’ or, ‘I got a different one.’” She, like many other vendors on Etsy, has been printing these shirts for barely a week when we speak, and already has made over 30 sales without much of an advertising effort. “It’s definitely something people are searching for. I get daily orders at this point.”
The vaccines did not arrive with a partisan branding campaign. Pfizer and Moderna aren’t buying up billboards and TV commercials to overpower the airwaves and besmirch the rival inoculations. The shot is free to all Americans, and experts have repeatedly explained that the vaccines are all very effective at preventing severe illness. (Though the CDC and FDC have called for a pause in distributing the Johnson & Johnson shot after six women out of the 7 million people who have had the vaccine developed blood clots.) But none of that has stopped the population from attributing old-fashioned consumer allegiance to their injection.
With Demand Uncertain and Its U.S. Manufacturing in Limbo, AstraZeneca Still Aims to Seek FDA Nod for COVID-19 Vaccine
Its COVID-19 vaccine has been vilified and its manufacturing network has been questioned, but AstraZeneca is still planning to apply for emergency use authorization of its shot in the U.S., a company spokesman confirmed.
A month ago, after AZ said its vaccine succeeded in phase 3 testing, an AstraZeneca executive said the company would apply for an emergency nod in America in the first half of April.
“Assuming that the approval will take place in a fast way, we hope to deliver 30 million doses instantly,” Ruud Dobber, vice president of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals business unit, told CNBC.
77 Inmates at Iowa Prison Given Overdoses of COVID-19 Vaccine, Officials Say
Dozens of inmates at an Iowa prison were given overdoses of a COVID-19 vaccine, officials said.
Two medical staff members from the Iowa Department of Corrections incorrectly administered the vaccine — developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech — to 77 inmates at the Iowa State Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison for men located in Fort Madison, about 90 miles southeast of Iowa City. The dosages given exceeded the amount recommended by the vaccine manufacturer, according to Cord Overton, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Sandy Springs opens concert series with no COVID restrictions
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported:
City Council decided to open the outdoor concerts with no COVID-19 restrictions during an April 6 work session, noting Gov. Brian Kemp’s new executive order to end a ban on large gatherings.
In Sandy Springs, City Green Live concerts start April 30 at City Springs. The Concerts by the Springs series begins May 9 at Heritage Amphitheatre. Both series will open to full capacity crowds with no mask or social distancing requirements. The event will have free lawn seating and ticketed table seating.
Tickets for the two concert series went on sale Friday.
Sandy Springs Communication Director Sharon Kraun said signs will be posted at concerts suggesting concert-goers wear masks and social distance.
Letters to the Editor: How Corporations Can Save Us From Republican Vaccine Refusers
Robb Willer and Jay Van Bavel lack imagination when it comes to convincing Republicans to get vaccinated. Any number of experts and “heroes” have urged vaccinations, obviously to unsatisfactory effect.
Perhaps a better answer can be found in your report on some corporations walking back their original vow not to donate to Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying President Biden’s electoral victory. In order to ease their conscience, why not have these businesses make their donations in honor of those Republicans who get vaccinated?
They’re going to give the money anyway, so let them publicly acknowledge every $10 or $20 is in the name of whomever can prove they have been vaccinated. Instead of trying to hide their donations, the corporations can make them seem like a public service and perhaps even get some favorable publicity.
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