Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccination Rate Inches Upward In States Where Covid Is Surging
AP: Vaccinations Rise In Some States With Soaring Infections
Vaccinations are beginning to rise in some states where COVID-19 cases are soaring, White House officials said Thursday in a sign that the summer surge is getting the attention of vaccine-hesitant Americans as hospitals in the South are being overrun with patients. Coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters that several states with the highest proportions of new infections have seen residents get vaccinated at higher rates than the nation as a whole. Officials cited Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada as examples. (Hollingsworth and Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/23)
Modern Healthcare: Atrium Health Mandates COVID-19 Vaccines For All Workers
Atrium Health became the latest health system to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees, the health system announced Thursday. The day before, the American Hospital Association threw its support behind vaccine mandates for hospital and health system workers, as did America's Essential Hospitals. A 200% increase in coronavirus-related hospitalizations—99% were for unvaccinated patients—at Atrium facilities drove the decision, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Atrium Health said. (Brady, 7/22)
Detroit Free Press: American Indian Health's Vaccines Ruined In Flood; Clinic Reopens
Detroit's June flooding overtook highways, hurt small businesses and seeped into every nook and cranny of residential basements. It also ruined COVID-19 vaccine doses at the American Indian Health and Family Services clinic in southwest Detroit. Three weeks later, it's back up and running. As of Monday, the clinic had a full stock of Pfizer vaccine and is open for walk-ins and appointments. No one will be turned away, said Jennifer Oprisiu, director of development at AIHFS. (Stein, 7/22)
In other news about the vaccine rollout —
CBS News: After Son Dies Of COVID, Mother Holds Vaccine Drive At His Funeral
Betty Antoine's 46-year-old son Brandon became a COVID statistic—despite her pleading with him to get a COVID-19 vaccine."I begged him, I said, 'You need to take the vaccine, Brandon.' 'Oh, no, mom, I'm not going to take it. And you better not take the vaccine either,' Antoine recalled in a conversation with CBS News' David Begnaud. ... Antoine offered COVID-19 vaccines during his funeral. Three people stepped up that day to take the vaccine and 10 others followed later. "I just wanted them to see Brandon's ashes. I wanted them to know, look, Brandon is dead because he did not take the vaccine," she said. (7/22)
The Washington Post: People Who Have Lost Their Loved Ones To Covid-19 Are Getting Vaccinated, Alabama Doctor Says
A doctor in Alabama had a harrowing message for those still unwilling to get vaccinated. Sharing how she has “made a LOT of progress encouraging people to get vaccinated,” Brytney Cobia, a physician at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, detailed in a Facebook post how numerous “young healthy people” have been admitted to the hospital “with very serious COVID infections.” (Paul, 7/23)
CNBC: NFL Warns Teams Could Forfeit Games If Covid Outbreaks Occur Among Unvaccinated Players
The National Football League plans to operate as normal as possible for the upcoming 2021 season and told teams they would forfeit games and lose money if Covid outbreaks occur due to unvaccinated players. In a memo obtained by CNBC, the NFL informed team executives and head coaches that it doesn’t plan to reschedule games as it did during the 2020 season due to outbreaks. Instead, the league wrote, “postponements will only occur if required by government authorities, medical experts, or at the [NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s] discretion.” (Young, 7/22)
The Atlantic: Unvaccinated Is Different From Anti-Vax
Last week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that COVID-19 is “becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” President Joe Biden said much the same shortly after. They are technically correct. Even against the fast-spreading Delta variant, the vaccines remain highly effective, and people who haven’t received them are falling sick far more often than those who have. But their vulnerability to COVID-19 is the only thing that unvaccinated people universally share. They are disparate in almost every way that matters, including why they haven’t yet been vaccinated and what it might take to persuade them. “‘The unvaccinated’ are not a monolith of defectors,” Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and public-health advocate in the San Francisco Bay Area, tweeted on Saturday. (Yong, 7/22)
In vaccine-development news —
CIDRAP: Study: 2 COVID Vaccine Doses Much More Effective Than 1 Against Delta
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness for one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine against the Delta variant (B1617.2) was much lower compared with one-dose effectiveness against the Alpha variant (B117), according to a UK study yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Two doses, however, narrowed the gap. People are generally considered fully vaccinated with the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines 14 and 15 days after the second dose, respectively. (Van Beusekom, 7/22)
Reuters: Spacing Pfizer COVID Shots Boosts Antibody Levels After Initial Drop - Study
A longer gap between doses of Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine leads to higher overall antibody levels than a shorter gap, a British study found on Friday, but there is a sharp drop in antibody levels after the first dose. The study might help inform vaccination strategies against the Delta variant, which reduces the effectiveness of a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine even though two doses are still protective. (7/22)
