Vaccine Nw

Vaccines don’t last forever. This is by design: Like many of the microbes they mimic, the contents of the shots stick around only as long as it takes the body to eliminate them, a tenure on the order of days, perhaps a few weeks.

What does have staying power, though, is the immunological impression that vaccines leave behind. Defensive cells study decoy pathogens even as they purge them; the recollections that they form can last for years or decades after an injection. The learned response becomes a reflex, ingrained and automatic, a “robust immune memory” that far outlives the shot itself, Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis, told me. That’s what happens with the COVID-19 vaccines, and Ellebedy and others told me they expect the memory to remain with us for a while yet, staving off severe disease and death from the virus at extraordinary rates.  Full Story: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/09/waning-immunity-not-crisis-right-now/619965/

Last updated on 09/11/2021 03:13 PM

Updated 25 June 2021, pursuant to updated interim recommendations 

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has issued its policy recommendations for the rollout of  the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

According to SAGE, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is safe and effective. The priority is to start vaccinating health workers at high risk of exposure, followed by older adults, before immunizing the rest of the population. 

Full Article: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-can-take-the-pfizer-biontech-covid-19--vaccine

Last updated on 08/22/2021 12:31 AM

This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and getting vaccinated will help protect you against developing severe COVID-19 disease and dying from COVID-19. You may experience some mild side effects after getting vaccinated, which are signs that your body is building protection.

Full Article:https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/side-effects-of-covid-19-vaccines

Last updated on 08/17/2021 08:28 PM

This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.

COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe, effective and life-saving. Like all vaccines, they do not fully protect everyone who is vaccinated, and  we do not yet know how well they can prevent people from transmitting the virus to others. So as well as getting vaccinated, we must also continue with other measures to fight the pandemic.

Full Article: 

Last updated on 08/17/2021 08:25 PM

This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.

Last updated on 08/17/2021 08:16 PM

• A top World Health Organization official said that data from some countries may suggest that the delta variant causes an increased risk of hospitalization in those infected.
• “In terms of severity, we have seen some countries suggest that there is increased risk of hospitalization for people who are infected with the delta variant,” a top WHO official said.
• Full Story:https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/17/who-says-some-data-may-suggest-increased-risk-of-hospitalization-from-delta-.html

Last updated on 08/17/2021 08:12 PM

If India was to accurately account for all the Covid-19 deaths in the country, it would likely double the confirmed global death toll for 2021.

The country may have undercounted its pandemic fatalities by seven or eight times, a new study conducted by researchers in India, Canada, and the US has found. This would take India’s Covid-19 mortality from the official 422,022 to between 3.1 and 3.4 million. To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 4.18 million people have died of Covid-19, of which about 2 million were in 2021.  Full Story: https://qz.com/india/2039756/indias-actual-covid-19-death-toll-could-be-eight-times-higher/?utm_source=YPL

Last updated on 07/29/2021 08:27 PM

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took to the airwaves on Wednesday to explain her agency’s renewed recommendation for face masks as a protective measure against COVID-19 even among vaccinated people, and to again encourage unvaccinated Americans to get their shots. 

Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced Tuesday that the CDC is now recommending resuming the use of face masks in public settings in areas with high rates of transmission, after dropping that guideline back in May. 

Last updated on 07/29/2021 08:24 PM

Forty-two states saw an increase in COVID-19 cases last week from the week before, a sign that the pandemic is not yet over in the United States.

Only Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia saw a decline in cases over the seven-day period that ended Saturday from the previous week.

The rate of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks, and less than half of all Americans, 47.9%, are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walinsky says more than 99% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. in June were among unvaccinated people. In addition, preliminary data indicates that over the past six months, nearly all of the COVID-19 deaths in various states have occurred in unvaccinated people, she said.

Full Story:    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/07/11/infections-up-42-states-cpac-attendees-cheer-low-vaccination-rate/7928562002/

Last updated on 07/11/2021 05:27 PM

• The highly contagious delta variant is the fastest and fittest coronavirus strain that will “pick off” the most vulnerable people, the World Health Organization said.
• Delta has the potential “to be more lethal because it’s more efficient in the way it transmits between humans,” the WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan said.
• Full Story: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/covid-delta-who-says-variant-is-the-fastest-and-fittest-and-will-pick-off-most-vulnerable-.html

Last updated on 06/21/2021 08:52 PM

• The Biden administration announced it will send 55 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread in low- and middle-income nations.
• The 55 million vaccine doses are the remaining portion of 80 million shots President Joe Biden has committed to donating abroad.
• Earlier this month, the administration said it would send the first 25 million doses to South and Central America, Asia, Africa, neighboring countries and U.S. allies.
• Full Story: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/covid-vaccine-us-to-split-55-million-doses-between-latin-america-asia-and-africa-.html

Last updated on 06/21/2021 08:49 PM

• Covid-19 booster shots will be free to the public if they are needed to control the ongoing pandemic, David Kessler, chief science officer of the White House Covid-19 response team, told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday.
• “We do have the funds to purchase the next round and to assure if there are boosters that they are free just as the last round,” Kessler said at a Senate hearing.
• Full Story: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/11/us-official-says-covid-booster-shots-will-also-be-free-to-the-public-.html

Last updated on 05/11/2021 08:29 PM

India reported its highest daily death toll — 4,187 people — on Saturday, weeks into the world's worst wave of coronavirus cases that's leaving people without lifesaving hospital beds, oxygen and drugs. 

In all, nearly 240,000 people in India are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, with reported infections topping 21 million.

Full Story: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/08/995021124/india-sees-deadliest-day-of-pandemic-with-covid-19-deaths-topping-4-000

Last updated on 05/09/2021 10:07 PM

• The United States will share 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine with other countries.
• Cases continue to spike around the world.
• New infections in the U.S. have slowed, and the Biden administration said it would make materials for vaccine production available to India as the country deals with a surge of cases. Full Story. U.S. to share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine with other countries

Last updated on 04/26/2021 06:32 PM

• The Biden administration said it will immediately make raw materials needed for India’s coronavirus vaccine production available as the country’s Covid-19 infections surge.
• India set a new global record for coronavirus cases this weekend.
• The U.S. response comes after Britain, France and Germany pledged aid to India over the weekend.  Full Story.https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/25/us-to-give-india-raw-materials-for-vaccines-medical-supplies-to-fight-covid.html

Last updated on 04/26/2021 02:55 PM