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Another stumbling block into getting the vaccine outā¦frontline workers who refuse to get vaccinated.
They are frontline workers with top-priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it.
At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half of the 700 hospital workers eligible for the vaccine were willing to take the shot when it was first offered. At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, one in five frontline nurses and doctors have declined the shot. Roughly 20% to 40% of L.A. Countyās frontline workers who were offered the vaccine did the same, according to county public health officials.
So many frontline workers in Riverside County have refused the vaccine ā an estimated 50% ā that hospital and public officials met to strategize how best to distribute the unused doses, Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari said.
The vaccine doubts swirling among healthcare workers across the country come as a surprise to researchers, who assumed hospital staff would be among those most in tune with the scientific data backing the vaccines.
The scientific evidence is clear regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines after trials involving tens of thousands of participants, including elderly people and those with chronic health conditions. The shots are recommended for everyone except those who have had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.
Still, skepticism remains.
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āIām choosing the risk ā the risk of having COVID, or the risk of the unknown of the vaccine,ā Lu said. āI think Iām choosing the risk of COVID. I can control that and prevent it a little by wearing masks, although not 100% for sure.ā
Some of her co-workers have also declined to take the vaccine because theyāve gone months without contracting the virus and believe they have a good chance of surviving it, she said. āI feel people think, āI can still make it until this ends without getting the vaccine,āā she said.
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Itās NYC all over again.
California funeral homes run out of space as COVID-19 rages
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From the NYT Coronavirus newsletter NYT Coronavirus debrief
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson closed schools and declared a strict national lockdown in England in an attempt to contain a more contagious variant.
- A pharmacist at a Wisconsin hospital, an āadmitted conspiracy theorist,ā destroyed 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine because he thought they werenāt safe, police said.
- India approved a locally made vaccine, as well as one made by Oxford-AstraZeneca, for emergency use.
- In the United States, over 20.7 million people have tested positive and at least 352,397 have died. Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and news on vaccines in development.
The vaccine blame game
In the week since our last newsletter, U.S. distribution of coronavirus vaccines has descended into turmoil. Now, millions of vaccines could expire before they reach people in need.
The Trump administration predicted 20 million people would receive at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2020. The final figure was about four million. And only 365,294 people in nursing homes and long-term-care centers have been vaccinated, despite more than 2.5 million doses distributed for those facilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Critics say the U.S. government has mismanaged the rollout from top to bottom. Federal, state, and local officials blamed each other for botched logistics and funding shortfalls.
State officials ā struggling to handle outbreaks, mass testing campaigns, overflowing intensive care units and uncertain contact tracing ā say they need more help from the federal government. And local governments are chafing at state restrictions.
In New York City, only 110,000 people have received a vaccine dose ā about a quarter of the total number received by the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the state government ā which has limited vaccinations to health care workers and those living and working at nursing homes ā to allow older people and essential workers to receive the vaccine.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo asserted that the problem was a local issue, and urging Mr. de Blasio and other local leaders to take āpersonal responsibilityā for their performance. Mr. Cuomo also threatened to fine hospitals if they did not step up the vaccination rate.
The $900 billion federal pandemic relief package will provide an additional $9 billion toward vaccination costs. But funds will arrive long after local health departments have started vaccinating residents. Slowdowns touch almost every part of the country.
- In Puerto Rico, a shipment of vaccines did not arrive until the workers who would have administered them had left for the Christmas holiday.
- In Houston, the city health departmentās phone system crashed on the first day of a free vaccination clinic, after receiving more than 250,000 calls.
- In Tennessee, older people lined up on a sidewalk, leaning on walkers and wrapping themselves in blankets while they waited for a county health department to open its free clinic. The clinic exhausted its supply of vaccine before 10 a.m.
- In Florida, vaccine rollout sites continue to be overwhelmed in some places, with people waiting for hours. Gov. Ron DeSantis said hospitals may have future supplies of coronavirus vaccine reduced if they do not administer doses quickly enough.
The U.S. is not alone: The Netherlands and France are just two of several countries that have been slow to roll out vaccinations. But the level of disorder in the U.S., as with the virusās toll, seems unique.
You can follow the U.S. rollout with our vaccine tracker.
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Why?
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The thing to remember about this case is that she had not had the second shot, and theyāve been uncertain if the vaccine will prevent it entirely or simply mitigate the worst symptoms. So itās not necessarily a bad sign for the vaccine, but it may be for convincing people that itās effective.
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Agree with you hereā¦I was so alarmed at first, but obviously the 2nd shot would be the reinforcement for protection we hope.
And yesā¦people could be just looking for the excuse not to take it.
Itās a red (possibly purple) state Texas. They have their own version of what Covid is, and what the vaccine may do according to their information channels, and spokespeople.
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If itās like the flu shot, it takes a couple of weeks after getting it to have any immunity.
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I read somewhere (BBC?) that for the Pfizer, immunity is 7 days after the 2nd shot.
But, TBH, these sound more like guesstimates, all this is new, they are just trying to reassure and answer questions.
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@CNa1 @dragonfly9 @GracieC One person responded to me on twitter that another reason many healthcare workers are leary of the new vaccine is that apparently the SARS vaccine had bad side effects for some:
I looked it up and there are some articles about this. I will note, though, that these new vaccines are, well, new, and untested, and different from the SARS vaccine, which is both good but also, understandably, worrisome for some given these apparent past issues and the speed with which the vaccines were rushed to market. I can personally testify that long-term effects often donāt come out until much later for a variety of meds, for obvious reasons, and unfortunately that frightens many. All told, though, I still believe that the biggest reason many are wary of this vaccine is Trumpās involvement. A lot remains to be seen, but I still believe the vaccines are one of our best hopes to get this under control, along with enforcing better practices.
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Well put
I see their fearsā¦
We/I just hope that enough 'good guys - CDC, FDA (all acting in good faith) were doing their job.
And well, Dr. Fauci.
I learned from all this coverage and ABC TV Dr. Ashtonās approach and says this is what Drās use as deciding factors.
Ask these questions -
What are the risks? (fully unknown)
What are the risks of not doing something? (?)
What are the benefits of taking vaccine? (Covid, long haul Covid symptoms, death)
What are the benefits of not taking the vaccines?
Sigh
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Hey, @matt, you may want to update the front page.
It seems that the report of a new strain in the U.S. is false, and in fact officials tried to stop the report from spreading but Dr. Birx pushed it.
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Two more life-saving Covid drugs discovered
Two more life-saving drugs have been found that can cut deaths by a quarter in patients who are sickest with Covid.
The anti-inflammatory medications, given via a drip, save an extra life for every 12 treated, say researchers who have carried out a trial in NHS intensive care units.
Supplies are already available across the UK so they can be used immediately to save hundreds of lives, say experts.
There are over 30,000 Covid patients in UK hospitals - 39% more than in April.
The UK government is working closely with the manufacturer, to ensure the drugs - tocilizumab and sarilumab - continue to be available to UK patients.
As well as saving more lives, the treatments speed up patientsā recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week.
Both appear to work equally well and add to the benefit already found with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone.
Although the drugs are not cheap, costing around Ā£750 to Ā£1,000 per patient, on top of the Ā£5 course of dexamethasone, the advantage of using them is clear - and less than the cost per day of an intensive care bed of around Ā£2,000, say experts.
Lead researcher Prof Anthony Gordon, from Imperial College London, said: āFor every 12 patients you treat with these drugs you would expect to save a life. Itās a big effect.ā
In the REMAP-CAP trial carried out in six different countries, including the UK, with around 800 intensive care patients:
- Nearly 36% of intensive care Covid patients receiving standard care died
- The new drugs reduced that by a quarter, to 27%, when given to patients within 24 hours of them entering intensive care
Prof Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: āThe fact there is now another drug that can help to reduce mortality for patients with Covid-19 is hugely welcome news and another positive development in the continued fight against the virus.ā
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: "The UK has proven time and time again it is at the very forefront of identifying and providing the most promising, innovative treatments for its patients.
āTodayās results are yet another landmark development in finding a way out of this pandemic and, when added to the armoury of vaccines and treatments already being rolled out, will play a significant role in defeating this virus.ā
The drugs dampen down inflammation, which can go into overdrive in Covid patients and cause damage to the lungs and other organs.
Doctors are being advised to give them to any Covid patient who, despite receiving dexamethasone, is deteriorating and needs intensive care.
Tocilizumab and sarilumab have already been added to the governmentās export restriction list, which bans companies from buying medicines meant for UK patients and selling them on for a higher price in another country.
The research findings have not yet been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal.
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A thread on why you should get the first shot even if uncertain if you can get the second one:
Other recent developments.
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Maskless Republicans during the Capitol Hill Insurrection
And the fallout 1 more case on Congress
A third lawmaker has tested positive for Covid-19 in the days since a mob roamed through the halls of Congress and forced lawmakers to jam into cloistered secure rooms where a number of Republicans were not wearing masks.
The announcement came as a grim reality has begun to dawn on Capitol Hill: The riot on Wednesday may have started a coronavirus superspreader event.
On Tuesday, Representative Brad Schneider, Democrat of Illinois, said that he had received a positive virus test, following similar statements from two other Democrats, Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Pramila Jayapal of Washington.
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Nearly 4500 dead.
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Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access
States were anticipating a windfall after federal officials said they would stop holding back second doses. But the approach had already changed, and no stockpile exists.
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