“Vaccines appear to be starting to curb new Covid-19 infections in the U.S., a breakthrough that could help people return to more normal activities as infection worries fade,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “By Tuesday, 37.3% of U.S. adults were fully vaccinated against Covid-19, with about 2.7 million shots each day. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows the seven-day average for new U.S. cases has fallen below the 14-day average for more than a week, which epidemiologists said is a strong signal that cases are starting to slide again after a recent upswing.” Dr. Amash Adalja to Science News: “These vaccines will change your life. These vaccines were made to defang or tame the virus, and they’re doing an excellent job at that.”
‘A tough call’: Biden considering mandatory Covid vaccines for U.S. troops The comments from the commander in chief come as the Pentagon has sounded the alarm about service members refusing the shots in large numbers. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/30/biden-covid-vaccines-troops-485099
Biden aims for vaccinating 70% of adult Americans by July 4 https://www.wral.com/ap-source-us-to-shift-vaccines-amid-waning-demand/19659881/ President Joe Biden is setting a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one dose to 70% of adult Americans by July 4, the White House said Tuesday, as the administration pushes to make it easier for people to get shots and to bring the country closer to normalcy. The new goal, which also includes fully vaccinating 160 million adults by Independence Day, comes as demand for vaccines has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their vaccine doses unordered. Biden will call for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and will direct many pharmacies to do the same, and his administration is for the first time moving to shift doses from states with weaker demand to areas with stronger interest in the shots. Biden’s goal is a tacit acknowledgment of the declining interest in shots. Already more than 56% of adult Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 105 million are fully vaccinated. The U.S. is currently administering first doses at a rate of about 965,000 per day — half the rate of three weeks ago, but almost twice as fast as needed to meet Biden's target. Senior administration officials previewed the announcement Tuesday before Biden's planned speech from the White House. It comes as the Biden administration has shifted away from setting a target for the U.S. to reach ‘herd immunity,’ but instead focusing on delivering as many shots into arms as possible. Officials said that Biden's vaccination target would result in significant reduction in COVID-19 cases heading into the summer. To that end, the Biden administration is shifting the government's focus toward expanding smaller and mobile vaccination clinics to deliver doses to harder-to-reach communities. It is also deploying hundreds of millions of dollars to try to boost interest in vaccines through education campaigns and access to shots through community organizations that can help bring people to clinics. Ahead of the Food and Drug Administration's expected authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for adolescents aged 12-15 by early next week, the White House is also developing plans to speed vaccinations to that age group. Biden, the White House said, would "challenge" states to administer at least one dose to that age group by July Fourth and work to deliver doses to pediatricians' offices and other trusted locations, with the aim of getting as many of them fully vaccinated by the start of the next school year. While younger people are at dramatically lower risk of serious complications from COVID-19, they have made up a larger share of new virus cases as a majority of U.S. adults have been at least partially vaccinated and as higher-risk activities like indoor dining and contact sports have resumed in most of the country. Officials hope that extending vaccinations to teens will further accelerate the nation’s reduced virus caseload and allow schools to reopen with minimal disruptions this fall. Biden's speech comes as the White House announced a shift away from a strict by-population allocation of vaccines. The administration says that when states decline the vaccine they have been allocated, that surplus will shift to states still awaiting doses to meet demand. Those states would have the shots available whenever demand for vaccines in their states increases — a key priority of the Biden administration. Governors were informed of the change by the White House Tuesday morning. The Washington Post first reported on the new allocation. This week, Iowa turned down nearly three quarters of the vaccine doses available to the state for next week from the federal government because demand for the shots remains weak. The White House previously resisted efforts to shift vaccine by metrics other than population, with Biden rebuffing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last month when she requested more doses as her state was experiencing a surge in virus cases. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time nearly all states were ordering at or near their population allocations, which is no longer the case. Individual states have made similar shifts internally to account for changing demand. Last week, Washington state changed the way it allocates coronavirus vaccine to its counties. Previously the state doled out supplies to counties proportionate to their populations. But Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday that the amounts now will be based on requests from health care providers.
We are seeing demand for the COVID vaccine in N.C. drop off -- they are taking steps to close mass vaccination centers. The intent is to focus on smaller, distributed vaccination sites -- with a focus on locating in areas with low vaccination rates. This is coupled with trying to outreach via churches and other community organizations plus increasing the vaccinations performed by drug stores. Drive-thru vaccinations at PNC Arena to end next week https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/drive-thru-vaccinations-at-pnc-arena-to-end-next-week/19660279/ After a three-month run, Wake County will close its largest vaccination clinic, outside PNC Arena, next week. The drive-thru clinic in the arena parking lot is giving only second doses to people and will give its final shots on May 12, said Ryan Jury, who oversees the county's vaccination efforts. Another clinic at the Wake County Commons building on Carya Drive will close May 22, he said. “We’re moving to smaller, regional locations across the county to increase and enhance the access, but the capacity won’t be what it was weeks ago,” Jury said. "The focus is shifting a little bit from this mass craze to move as fast as possible to really trying to be articulate but also being a resource for the community for the long term.” To get the vaccines to various parts of the county, clinics will be held at the following locations: Wake County Public Health Center on Sunnybrook Road in east Raleigh Wake County Human Services Center on Departure Drive in north Raleigh Northern Regional Center in Wake Forest Southern Regional Center in Fuquay-Varina Eastern Regional Center in Zebulon The first three are already open, while the clinic in Fuquay-Varina will begin next week, and the one in Zebulon will start the week of May 24. Officials also will continue rotating clinics through area parks in the coming weeks. Nearly half of adults in North Carolina have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, and 42 percent are fully vaccinated, according to state Department of Health and Human Services data. But after weeks of rapid increases in those percentages, the growth in the vaccination rate has slowed to a crawl lately. With demand for shots declining, Wake County has started to allow walk-ins at its clinics, so people no longer have to sign up for an appointment. Unused doses have started to pile up at places like Hayes Barton Pharmacy in Raleigh. "That's the volume that we have," pharmacist Brent Talley said, showing boxes of Johnson & Johnson vaccine in storage. "We've just got to find arms for it." Talley said he hopes to give 600 shots on Thursday at Hayes Barton Baptist Church. So far, just 50 people have signed up. Calls to request vaccination appointments have slowed since the federal health officials briefly paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine last month over a rare blood clotting disorder in about a dozen women who had gotten the vaccine. "I think that whole news just created a lot of hesitancy, not just about the Johnson & Johnson, but I think about everything," he said. "If anyone was on the fence, I think it has at least kept them on the fence about getting them." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have since given the green-light for providers to resume using the vaccine. Jury said Wake County expects an uptick in demand when the FDA authorizes the Pfizer vaccine for youths ages 12 to 15, which is expected next week. More than 60,000 youths in Wake County fall into that category.
Based Biden https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...den-covid-vaccine-patent-waiver-b1842731.html US announces support for patent waiver on Covid vaccines Biden administration backs effort to waive intellectual property provisions to boost global vaccine access Joe Biden’s administration supports waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, following global pressure to temporarily suspend patent provisions in the face of the public health crisis. “These extraordinary times and circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” US trade ambassador Katherine Tai announced on Wednesday. The World Trade Organization is mulling whether to temporarily waive the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, which has effectively provided pharmaceutical companies monopoly control over vaccine production, potentially locking out poor countries from expanding their supplies. More than 100 developing countries have urged the organisation to waive those restrictions following a proposal that was filed jointly by India and South Africa back in October 2020. Humanitarian aid groups and more than 400 government officials across the EU, including the World Health Organization’s director general, have also urged the WTO to lift intellectual property provisions on vaccines and equipment. In the US, congressional Democrats have pressed the White House to reverse the US position, established under Donald Trump’s administration. The Biden administration “believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections” for vaccine production, Ms Tai said in a statement. Mr Biden’s administration will “actively participate in text-based negotiations” with the WTO “to make that happen,” she said, adding that those negotiations “will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved.” WTO general director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged members to share vaccine supplies and find a “pragmatic way forward” on the TRIPS waiver. More discussions on the issue are expected in the coming weeks. “Too many people are dying, as many members have already repeated with numbers,” she told the WTO’s general council on Wednesday. “We need to treat this whole issue with a sense of urgency.” Shares in major pharmaceutical companies fell sharply following Ms Tai’s announcement, with Pfizer, Moderna, BioNtech and Novavax share prices plunging to session lows. Facing questions about US support for the proposal as India and South America face alarming rates of infections, White House officials in recent days have pointed to other efforts to expand global vaccine production and distribution, with a patent waiver representing only a partial solution. “Going back and forth, consuming time and lawyers in a legal argument about waivers – that is not the end game,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, told Financial Times this week. “People are dying around the world and we have to get vaccines into their arms in the fastest and most efficient way possible.” Other officials pointed to other efforts to scale-up distribution and help produce vaccines in other countries, including a pledge to share up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and shipping out materials to help India boost production of its own Covishield vaccine. Moderna – one of three drug makers with available vaccines in the US, including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson – has also pledged up to 500 million doses of its vaccine to Covax, the United Nations effort to boost global vaccine supply. Through its agreement, the company will provide its first 34 million doses by the end of the year with the rest through 2022. In an interview from July 2020, Mr Biden told activist Ady Barkan that he “absolutely, positively” supports waiving patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines. “This is the only humane thing in the world to do,” Mr Biden said. A video of Mr Biden responding to whether he supports sharing vaccine technology without a patent blockade has urged the president to “keep his word”. In the video, Mr Barkan says “all eyes will be on America” as the WTO convenes this week. “We will decide the answer to the world’s plea,” he says. “What kind of leadership will we display? The answer, Mr President, is up to you.”
“Coronavirus infections in the U.S. are now at their lowest levels in seven months, thanks to the vaccines,” Axios reports. “The vaccines are turning the tide in America’s battle with the coronavirus. Deaths and serious illnesses have dropped significantly, and now cases are falling too — an important piece of protection for the future, if we can keep it up.” New York Times: U.S. Covid outlook reaches most hopeful point yet.
This vaccination effort will only go well if people continue to get vaccinated. Otherwise this story will not end well. ‘Doomsday scenario’: Lagging vaccine rates stir fears of dangerous variants Officials say the virus remains a persistent enough threat to potentially mutate into something that puts even vaccinated people at heightened risk. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/06/coronavirus-vaccine-rates-variants-485475 Health officials are worried that pockets of the country slow to get vaccinated against Covid-19 could turn into breeding grounds for more dangerous virus variants, mimicking the experience in South Africa and Brazil. Vaccination rates have been falling for weeks in parts of the South and mountain West, prompting the White House to rethink its vaccination strategy to reach those reluctant or unwilling to get the shots. Nearly 45 percent of all Americans have at least one dose compared to 33 percent of Alabamans. The rates are roughly the same in Mississippi and Louisiana and only slightly better in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Tennessee and Wyoming, where hospitals are no longer overrun but case counts have plateaued. Officials say the virus remains a persistent enough threat to kill hundreds each day and potentially mutate into something that puts even vaccinated people at heightened risk. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday it is essential to quickly get vaccination rates to 70 percent in each community to cut chains of virus transmission,because "variants are a wildcard that could reverse this progress we have made and could set us back." But with doubts growing about the ability to reach the 70 percent target, the question is whether the country’s luck curbing the pandemic will hold out. Sequencing of the virus to detect mutations may be one of the best public health tools for warding off a potential disaster. But the actual sequencing being done in the U.S. is still below ideal levels, and there are no guarantees that it can provide enough early warning that the stealthy, evolving virus won’t turn into something far more dangerous. “Every successive transmission is an opportunity for a new variant to emerge,” said Joseph Kanter, Louisiana’s state health officer. "We have been quite fortunate that the variants that have emerged remain fairly good matches to the vaccines we have. We are not guaranteed to be so fortunate in the future.” While all viruses mutate as they spread, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 has evolved relatively slowly compared to HIV and influenza.But occasionally one or more mutations — or random changes — will produce a new variant that behaves differently than existing strains of the virus. The huge number of Covid cases worldwide has fueled numerous "variants of concern," so named because they appear to be more transmissible, more virulent or render vaccines less effective. The highly contagious variant B.1.1.7, first identified in the U.K, is now the dominant strain in the U.S. and has been blamed for rising hospitalizations among younger people. Variants that originated in hard-hit places like New York, California and India have also been identified. “Every time there is a new variant, there is a nervous question we ask: 'Is this the doomsday scenario?'" said Shereef Elnahal, CEO of University Hospital in Newark, N.J., and a former state health commissioner. The U.S. to date has been fortunate that all three vaccines authorized for use appear to work relatively well against the known variants, even though the one first identified in South Africa has posed a challenge for some other shots in use elsewhere or still under development. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told POLITICO Wednesday that the risk of dangerous variants may already be diminished because of the recent pace of vaccinations. “If an overwhelming portion of the population is vaccinated, it’s unlikely you’ll see the kind of surge like we saw in January,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to get to that end game.” The states struggling the most to vaccinate are the same ones that have a host of poor public health outcomes, particularly in rural communities. Local and state officials point to conservative-leaning populations often skeptical of government, as well as spotty health infrastructure that leaves lower-income residents struggling to access a medical provider. Mississippi state health officer Thomas Dobbs last week said many rural residents are unaccustomed to seeking care until they are sick, and that it’s going to take more than a few public service announcements to change the culture. In Alabama, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, cases have increased slightly over the last month, concerning public health officials who fear it’s only a matter of time before a variant of concern emerges. “It’s a very real threat,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the infectious disease division at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. “If you have a population that is not well vaccinated and you combine that with a lot of activity likely to spread the virus — where things could take off.” The Biden administration is still grappling with how to address these pockets of the country with stubbornly high Covid caseloads and low vaccine uptake. During the recent coronavirus spike in Michigan, federal personnel helped with sequencing, testing, tracing and offered more therapeutics in an effort to quell the worst outbreak in the country. The CDC is spending $3 billion to help local officials expand their vaccine programs and, in March, the federal health department sent $250 million to states so they could partner with community organizations to get out the message that the vaccines are safe and effective. The government is also working to significantly increase sequencing capacity in the coming months with the infusion of $1.7 billion for variant surveillance and response measures included in March’s Covid relief package. The money will help the CDC, state labs and academic researchers develop new ways to sequence the virus and better share information on where and how variants are spreading. “Our biggest threat to progress would be a variant that was capable of eluding the therapeutics and vaccines that we currently have,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the lead author of the funding provision. “That's why I feel like we have to be so vigilant.” For now, though, public health officials have been reluctant to mandate the vaccine or set up any kind of government passport system to verify a person's vaccination status. Instead, they’re stressing that the country break down vaccine resistance incrementally and not resign itself to pockets of unvaccinated Americans where Covid spreads. “This laissez-faire attitude is not the right one,” said Oscar Alleyne, chief of programs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
Germany is not happy with Biden's support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents, predicting 'severe complications' https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-objects-biden-support-covid-vaccine-patent-waiver-2021-5 Biden's support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents has had a mixed reaction from EU countries. A spokesperson for the German government said it would cause "severe complications," per Bloomberg. Experts have said lifting vaccine patents may not be that effective in easing global shortages. Germany pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden's support for a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, one of the first rich nations to explicitly oppose the move. A spokesperson for the German government said waiving patents would cause "severe complications" for vaccine production in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. The US announced its support for the move on Wednesday, following pressure from more than 100 developing-world countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Several EU countries and the UK had been against the move. Those nations previously blocked discussion of a patent waiver at the WTO's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) council, according to Foreign Policy. The same countries — which have some of the world's best vaccine supplies and largest pharmaceutical companies — had a mixed reaction to the US announcement. A spokesperson for the German federal government said Thursday: "The US suggestion for the lifting of patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines has significant implications for vaccine production as a whole," according to Deutsche Welle (DW). "The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future,' the statement said. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, told an online conference that the bloc is "ready to discuss" the US proposals, DW reported. "Our priority is to ramp up production to achieve global vaccination," she wrote in a tweet. "At the same time we are open to discuss any other effective and pragmatic solution. In this context we are ready to assess how the US proposal could help achieve that objective." French President Emmanuel Macron had in the past objected to the waiver. But after the US announcement he changed tack, and said he was "absolutely in favor," France24 reported. A French government spokesperson sounded a note of caution about how helpful a waiver might be, however. The spokesperson argued that there are more important problems in vaccinating the world, namely limited production capacity and ingredients, Reuters reported. The official added: "I would remind you that it is the United States that has not exported a single dose to other countries, and is now talking about lifting the patents." The temporary suspension of vaccine patents is just one piece of the puzzle, and would not by itself solve the world's shortages, as Insider's Allison DeAngelis has reported. Pharmaceutical companies have long argued that removing patents diminishes the incentive for companies to take the financial risks of developing new treatments in the first place. Beyond that, there is a great deal of expertise and technology needed to boost production beyond the patented information itself, as one expert told DeAngelis. "Opening the patents is like disclosing a high quality chef's shopping list," said Jacob Becraft, CEO of mRNA startup Strand Therapeutics. "You can figure out exactly where they get their truffles from, their high quality pork. But you're never going to replicate their menu." Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel was nonplussed by Biden's announcement, saying it would not affect the company's bottom line. "I didn't lose a minute of sleep over the news during the night," he said during Moderna's first-quarter earnings statement.