Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Hesitancy Has Waned, Poll Suggests
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Has Decreased, Survey Says
Of 1,061 people who were hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the end of 2020, 32% were at least partially vaccinated by spring 2021, and 37% said they were likely to be, according to a research letter published today in JAMA Network Open. The researchers surveyed 3,439 people from Aug 9 to Dec 8, 2020, of whom 1,061 said they were vaccine hesitant. While follow-up from Mar 2 to Apr 21, 2021, showed that most people in this subgroup were either vaccinated (32%) or said they were likely to be (37%), 32% said they were unlikely to be vaccinated. (9/24)
Axios: America Has Fallen Behind On Coronavirus Vaccinations
The U.S. has fallen from the top of the world's list of most-vaccinated countries, largely due to the substantial percentage of Americans who don't want the vaccine. Vaccine mandates are becoming much more common in the U.S., and children under 12 will likely become eligible for vaccines within the next few months — both of which should help boost the vaccination rate here. (Owens, 9/25)
CNN: Teens Are Not Getting The Covid-19 Vaccine Even At Clinics Made For Them
Leaders of the nonprofit Neighbor2Neighbor had high hopes for their Covid-19 Vax to School clinic in Randolph County, Georgia. Their rural town about 170 miles south of Atlanta has not fully embraced Covid-19 vaccines, but the group's clinics earlier in the year were popular. After the county schools temporarily closed due to Covid-19, they knew this one was needed. So, the bright blue and green Phoebe Putney Health System mobile Covid-19 vaccine bus made the half-hour drive from Albany this month. Nurses in scrubs that matched the logo hustled in and out of a former school building, wheeling in plastic crates of vaccine supplies. The vaccination target for this clinic was one of the most difficult to reach anywhere: teens. (Christensen, 9/26)
Bloomberg: To Reach Vaccine Holdouts, Scientists Take A Page From Digital Marketing
Public-health researchers seeking new ways to persuade vaccine holdouts to take coronavirus shots are turning to the strategies of the digital marketing industry to figure out how to win over the reluctant. Companies that use online ads to sell products try out various colors, phrases, typefaces and a whole host of other variables to determine what resonates with consumers. So why not, the thinking goes, apply the same sort of A/B testing to figure out how best to promote vaccines? (Brown, 9/25)
CNN: Get Vaccinated To Help Prevent More Variants Down The Road
Adequate rates of vaccination can help prevent the rise of new mutations that could force people to get booster after booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday. The CDC and the US Food and Drug Administration recommended booster shots for many Americans last week to help preserve their immunity. But that doesn't necessarily mean people will need to keep getting boosters. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told CBS's "Face the Nation." (Elamroussi, 9/26)
In other vaccine developments —
ABC11 Raleigh-Durham: 3D Printed Vaccine Patch Pioneered At UNC Could Revolutionize How We Distribute Vaccinations
New technology coming out of UNC Chapel Hill could change everything about how vaccines are administered. Scientists at UNC and Stanford created a 3-D printed vaccine patch that's as small as the tip of your finger. The vaccine patch uses microneedles just long enough to attach to the skin. From there, the vaccine directly targets immune cells in the skin. The brains behind the new vaccine patch said it creates an immune response 10 times stronger than a typical vaccine injection that sends its contents into muscle. (9/26)
