Items

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  2021-01-19

  Incoming CDC Director to Prioritize Communication, COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

  As Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, prepares to assume the role of CDC director on January 20, the former professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham Women’s Hospital faces a myriad of challenges wrought by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. January 21st marks the 1-year mark since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States, while current data indicate the country has surpassed 400,000 deaths. In comparison, the 1918 flu pandemic took 675,000 American lives, while the US reported a total of 405,000 fatalities during World War II. Even at the unprecedented speed with which pharmaceutical companies have developed vaccines for COVID-19, rollout has been fragmented at the state level while racial disparities in administration rates are beginning to become apparent. In an effort to improve the national rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Walensky plans to increase the CDC’s communication to combat any hesitancy in receiving the vaccine, and indicated she wanted to increase media appearances above those made by current director Robert Redfield, MD, who departs with any remaining Trump administration officials Wednesday. She said making sure science-based communication is effectively disseminated to the public in layman’s terms is a top priority. “Science is now conveyed through Twitter. Science is conveyed on social media, on podcasts, and in many different ways. And I think that's critical,” Walensky said during a livestreamed interview with JAMA's Howard Bauchner, MD, the journal's editor-in-chief. When confronting vaccine hesitancy or anti-vaxxer sentiment on social media, “There's just this massive void and the right information, I think, is not getting out there… I want to make sure that the science is conveyed. We have to say it to one another. We have to say it to the public. And then we have to say it in other forms.” Internally, Walensky hopes to bolster the voices of scientists already employed by the CDC. Under the Trump presidency, “they have been diminished. I think they've been muzzled,” Walensky said. “This top tier agency—world renowned—hasn't really been appreciated over the last 4 years, and really markedly over the last year. So I have to fix that.” Although some states have been widely successful in administering the allotment of COVID-19 vaccines they were given, many have reported roadblocks. Part of the Biden administration’s plan to enhance rollout is to expand vaccine allocation to 4 key locations: federally qualified health centers, community vaccination centers (ie, stadiums), mobile units, and pharmacies. “Part of the challenge with COVID-19 was that we had a frail public health infrastructure to start. It wasn't ready to tackle what it was given,” Walensky said. As director, she hopes to bring this reality to Congress’ attention. “We're in this because we had warnings for many, many other public health scares in the last 20 years and we didn't fix our public health infrastructure and our data infrastructure,” in response to those tests. In order to meet President-elect Biden’s goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days, the constraints currently faced by federal and state governments need to be mitigated. “We have to titrate our supply and our eligibility so that we somehow hit the sweet spot, wherever it is we are, with how much supply we have and how many people are eligible,” Walensky said. While the CDC set the initial guidelines for vaccine eligibility and revised them this month, the Trump administration left actual rules and distribution processes to states, resulting in wide variation across the country. Some states adopted stricter standards that led to the waste of vaccines, while loose adherence has led to long lines and confused residents. Expanding the population of those eligible to administer the vaccine can also help alleviate these roadblocks. These individuals can include retirees, the Public Health Commissioned Corps, medical military, upper level medical and nursing students, dentists and veterinarians. Increasing both the number of vaccination sites and vaccinators will also help address the equity problems brought to light by the pandemic. “We want to make sure that we can deliver volume, but also volume to the people in places that might be harder to reach.” In a collaborative approach, the federal government will step in at a state-by-state level and offer help based on each state’s unique challenges, Walensky said.
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  2021-09-07

  The Possibility of COVID-19 after Vaccination: Breakthrough Infections

  COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing infection, serious illness, and death. Most people who get COVID-19 are unvaccinated. However, since vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection, some people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID-19. An infection of a fully vaccinated person is referred to as a “vaccine breakthrough infection.”
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  2021-04-15

  The Klamath Tribes halt use of Johnson and Johnson vaccine

  The Klamath Tribes stopped administering the J&J vaccine on April 9, 2021 after concerns of major side effects, a few days before the FDA and CDC paused administering of the vaccine.
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  2020-03-18

  All We Have Is Each Other

  From the start of Covid-19 schools begin to get cancelled and change their way of teaching the students. Children, teens, adults, and seniors had to change everything involving their lifestyle. What we knew as a normal life could no longer be the same. Everyone had to be cautious of their surroundings and use protection gear. Before everything changed our lives my family and I would always get together every sunday. After the CDC recommended that there should be an approximate of 8 people per house in gatherings we decided to not get together as often since a family member worked in a senior home and we had learned that at that time seniors were more likely to get the virus. As the number of cases grew in Arizona and the border closed we didn't get time to see some family. It has been over a year since I haven't seen my grandparents. We call each other to see how we are doing. In my household it is only my mom and I along with my 3 dogs. What we took out of this was better bonding time, school ended early and jobs started to lay off employees because there weren't enough jobs. I had time to train my dogs and learn more commands, which was fun. I learned to do new things. My mom is a cosmetologist so she taught me how to cut hair, and how to apply gel polish. As things started to calm down families around my neighborhood would come out their front yard together and play with their kids and pets more. Families would eat outside and have a good time. But now everything is going back to normal. Sporting events are getting open to the public, and schools are going back to in person. I had learned that many families around my neighborhood shared the same experience.
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  2021-04-17

  Corona Culture Products #2 UV Light Sanitizing Box

  This is a photograph of a UV light box for sanitizing items that may have been infected with COVID. This professional and stylish looking box was a long time coming. In late spring 2020, as summer was approaching, the CDC and leading doctors announced that the UV rays in sunlight killed the Coronavirus on surfaces within minutes. This led people to hang their masks in their car windows, and leave things outside to sanitize them. It was also believed to be safer to be outside on a sunny summer day because the sunlight would kill the COVID virus in the air and on objects. This primitive method is not available all the time and cannot be taken inside though, so companies created various products that produced UV light that were portable and could be used inside. While a late bloomer to the UV trend, this is a perfect example of the use of UV light against COVID. As you can see from the descriptive packaging, any small items, especially phones, can be put into the box, and after 10 minutes will be sanitized. Great care was taken to point out its effectiveness as seen in the "kills 99.9% of germs" and "laboratory proven technology" statements on the front of the package. Of course, it's not just useful but is discreet and stylish as it looks like a purse or a make-up bag. This item is important because it shows the lengths people went to try and keep their things clean. It also shows the power of fads during Corona. Everyone jumped at the chance to try UV light when it was first announced, yet it decreased in importance for most people after summer 2020. Like all the Corona Culture products, it reveals the depth to which Corona became imbedded into the U.S.'s consciousness.
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  2021-04-11

  Kristina Erickson Oral History, 2021/04/11

  Conversation with Kristina Erickson an Arizona K-12 educator. Ms. Erickson weigh-ins on the March 15th executive order, in-person instruction, COVID protocols and procedures, and the future of education in her community
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  2020-12-22

  Air Travel

  Despite health warnings from the CDC, air travel in the US exceeded 1 million daily passengers for three consecutive days since last Saturday. If you're planning to travel, the health agency recommends getting tested one to three days before the trip and three to five days afterward. They also encourage you to "reduce non-essential activities for a full 7 days after travel, even if your test is negative.”
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  2020-11-08

  COVID-19 Hotspot Counties: March 2020 - July 2020

  The map shows how serious this pandemic is in the United States and how widespread COVID-19 really is. This is important to me because it will remind me of the time living during this pandemic.
• 2020-10-06

  What is it going to take for Wisconsinites to take COVID-19 seriously?

  I find myself to be very troubled with the division of our current society. I live in Wisconsin and we have a democratic governor who, like many other governors, declared a public health emergency. In early March Governor Evers issued a mask mandate, put restrictions on the size and length of time of gatherings, shut down in-person school, and closed bars and restaurants. Although we continued to see increased cases and were able to track the spikes in cases to gatherings that defied the Safer-At-Home order, Republicans challenged and overturned the Safer-At-Home order after just sixty-two days. Calling the order an abuse of power, those who stood in opposition declared victory. We continue to be the only state where legislature (or the lack of) is what is driving our response to COVID-19. After the restrictions were lifted (in entirety), many in the state resumed life as ‘normal’. There were a good number of events cancelled. Their organizers cited liability when they were attacked for making the hard decision to shut down this year. The events that did move forward drew record attendance. My friend Randy is one of the many Americans who lost his job. He tried to make up for his lost income by promoting his band and he was able to book several gigs. After his fourth gig, he and several band members contracted the virus. Randy and his disabled daughter were both hospitalized. Jenna spent close to a week on a ventilator. Thankfully, she recovered. It could have been so much worse. People who chose to continue to wear masks, socially distance, and whether in support of the Governor or looking out for their own health and safety, continue to exercise caution were (and still are) publicly and brutally harassed. My husband has an incurable cancer. Although he is in remission, we remain vigilant with limiting our exposure as much as possible. A few months ago, we went to a hardware store and as we attempted to enter the store, two gentlemen (a term I use as loosely as possible), heckled us by calling us sheep and yelling “BAAAAA” as we tried to enter the store. Not wanting to make a scene, we turned around and left. On the way home, I called the store to report the incident. My thought was the family owned business was losing customers by no fault of their own so they should be made aware. I asked for a manager and ended up speaking with the owner. His response was to cite the fifth amendment and offer the option to take my business elsewhere. How did we become a society where it is OK to openly mock people who are just trying to keep themselves healthy? Fast forward to just a few days ago. On October 3rd, the Center for Disease Control reported that Wisconsin is now considered an epicenter of an outbreak having a reported 17,000 positive cases in seven days. It did not have to be this way. Why must the virus be so politicized? What happened to thinking of others? Most importantly, what is it going to take for Wisconsinites to take COVID-19 seriously?
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  04/03/2020

  Not a Testing Site

  In March 2020, Target, in tandem with other major retailers, announced that their company would assist in efforts to expand COVID-19 testing. This sign posted on the entrance to a west Wichita, Kansas, Target store makes it clear to customers that this particular site was not one of those facilities. Taken on April 3, this photo reflects the painstakingly slow expansion of the country's testing capabilities.
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  03/15/2020

  CNN sets the podiums 6 feet apart in accordance to CDC guidelines, prior to the Sunday Democratic primary debate between Biden and Sanders

  Measures are being taken as the CoVid-19 is impacting even the 2020 presidential election cycle