Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Herd Immunity: Are We There Yet? Sorry, Not Even Close
CNN: US Coronavirus: 70% To 85% Of Americans Need To Be Fully Vaccinated For A Return To Normal, Fauci Says. So Far It's Less Than 2%
About 70% to 85% of the US population should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before the country can begin to return to a sense of normalcy, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Tuesday night. So far, less than 2% of Americans have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Maxouris, 2/3)
In other news about who's in line for the vaccine —
USA Today: Nursing Home Workers Reluctant To Get COVID Vaccine, CDC Study Finds
While residents of nursing homes and their caregivers have been considered a top priority for COVID-19 vaccination, only 38% of nursing home staff accepted shots when they were offered, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Monday. Anecdotal reports have been circulating for weeks that nursing home staff members were turning down vaccination offers, but these are the first national-level figures. "These findings show we have a lot of work to do to increase confidence and also really understand the barriers to vaccination amongst this population," said Dr. Radhika Gharpure, lead author of the study and a member of the CDC’s Vaccine Task Force. (Weintraub, 2/1)
The Baltimore Sun: What Happens After You Get The COVID Vaccine? Here’s What You Should Do And Expect, According To Hopkins Experts
People who get the COVID-19 vaccine may notice some soreness in their arm and other side effects, which is normal. The good news is that the symptoms are usually short lived, according to experts in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. (Cohn, 2/2)
Capital & Main: Data Reveals Dramatic Gap Between COVID Vaccinations And COVID Deaths Among Latinos In L.A. County
Last week, Los Angeles County’s top public health official called the death toll exacted on Latinos by the COVID pandemic “frankly horrifying.” But, at least so far, a population that has performed so much of the essential work that has kept the region’s economy going has been vastly underrepresented among those receiving vaccinations. Preliminary data released by the county on Jan. 29 revealed that between the launch of the vaccination program on December 14 and Jan. 23, just 29% of the people receiving vaccines were Latino, while they make up 52% of COVID deaths in L.A. County, 47% of COVID cases and 49% of the county’s population. African Americans are likewise underrepresented among those receiving vaccines when compared to the rate at which they are dying. About 5% of the people receiving vaccines were Black, while Blacks make up 8% of the COVID deaths in the county, 3% of the cases and 8% of the population. (Goodheart, 2/2)
KHN and KUT: In Austin, Some Try To Address Vaccine Inequity, But A Broad Plan Is Elusive
Communities of color have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic. But advocates in Texas say those communities are likely to have a harder time getting the vaccine in the coming months, so they are urging local leaders to step in. Travis County Judge Andy Brown, the county executive in the Austin area, put together a vaccination event recently. Brown said he’d been hearing concerns that there weren’t enough places to get a covid-19 shot on the east side of Austin, which has more Black and Latino residents and more poverty than other parts of the city. (Lopez, 2/3)
