Vaccines vs. virus and misinformation
Pace of vaccine shipments ramping up to reach thousands of locations by next week, while pace of new cases and deaths keeps outstripping any relief. Epidemic of false information also spreading.
Much to catch up on. Note several links to stories about misinformation and COVID-19 communications, in addition to the latest spot news stories from around the web. Tomorrow will bring the Moderna vaccine review before FDA advisors and updated cases and death forecasts.
A healthcare worker in Alaska was hospitalized after a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Unlike reactions observed last week in the United Kingdom, this individual did not have a history of allergic reactions, although further investigation is underway.
The U.S. Government reports it delivered vaccines to 145 sites on Monday, 425 on Tuesday and expects 886 deliveries today. Two of the shipments were returned to Pfizer because monitoring equipment detected that they were found to be 12 degrees colder than the specified -80°C shipping temperature. Thousands of shipments will begin reaching nursing homes and long-term care facilities next week, according to Gen. Gustave F. Perna, COO of Operation Warp Speed, in a Wednesday briefing.
Media outlets are giving considerable attention to the new at-home COVID-19 test that was cleared by the FDA earlier this week (see yesterday’s newsletter.) At about $30, the test kits will be available starting in January. NPR’s Rob Stein gave a clear explanation of how these tests can play a role in controlling new spreading of COVID-19.
California’s numbers keep getting worse. As the state sets new records for daily deaths, it also sees rapidly increasing numbers of new cases - which strongly points towards even more deaths in the next several weeks. Gov. Newsom Tuesday activated the states’s mass casualty plan so that thousands of body bags and temporary morgues are available.
An analysis of COVID-19 cases in Mississipi between September-November finds strong evidence for COVID-19 spreading via children who bring the virus into their homes from gatherings outside the home — but not from their schools. Notable is that the majority of these gatherings were with people who did not wear face coverings or observed social distancing guidelines or who did not follow these guidelines when non-household members visited their homes.
“Lost on the Frontline” database: The joint project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian tracking U.S. healthcare workers who died of COVID-19 now tallies 1,463 people from the front lines of healthcare dead from the pandemic. The project now has an interactive feature showing deaths by state, occupation, race and other factors - and linking to more than 300 profiles of those who died trying to take care of patients during this year.
Covuity? KoviMerna? What brand names should be used for the new COVID-19 vaccines? STATNews reports on the rush to name the new vaccines — a process that has been accelerated, just like the clinical development.
Reviewing the misinformation: Kaiser Health News recaps how false COVID-19 stories contributed to the USA’s death and disease toll. Misinformation about COVID-19 started circulating even before the pandemic was declared, but American political leaders and other influencers took false narratives to an unprecedented level. Now, the false information fuels objections to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Two former CDC officials told the New York Times how White House officials interfered repeatedly with CDC scientific and other information during the COVID-19 response. Examples include an order to remove specific social distancing guidance for restaurants or to include Ivanka Trump’s advice for schools.
Many of the same people spreading false information about COVID-19 - and especially about vaccines — are the same people spreading false information about the presidential election and other topics, according to The New York Times.
A paper published by JAMA Network Open finds that German people respond better to public health messages with more details about uncertainty than generalizations.
Florida officials changed COVID-19 death reporting in ways that falsely suggested the death rate had declined dramatically in the two weeks before the November 3 election, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
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