Monthly Archives: July 2021

With coronavirus cases rising among the unvaccinated and efforts to get them shots lagging, there is growing belief in some public health circles that more aggressive tactics are needed to get more of the population inoculated.

California has already tried prizes and game show-style events to encourage people to get vaccinated. But 41% of Californians of all ages have yet to be inoculated. And two troubling and related trends are bringing calls for fresh thinking.

The coronavirus is spreading in California mostly among unvaccinated people. While cases and hospitalizations are still more than 93% lower than they were at the peak, new daily coronavirus cases have nearly tripled over the last month, from about 900 a day to more than 2,600 a day; hospitalizations have risen by nearly 75%, from 915 to 1,594.

Meanwhile, the pace of vaccinations continues to tail off. Only about 58,000 vaccine doses a day are being administered statewide, according to figures compiled by The Times. Though that average could rise as more data are reported, it wont come close to the peak of 400,000 a day.

The solution wont be easy, but officials and experts are pretty confident they know what will work.

First, sending trusted people in communities to advocate for vaccinations at events and doing door-to-door outreach can do wonders in convincing people to get vaccinated, said UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo. Getting vaccines into the offices of primary care physicians, where doctors can answer patients questions directly, can help too.

Another strategy would involve new requirements to get vaccinated, such as at workplaces, Bibbins-Domingo said. Short of that, she said, employers could require unvaccinated workers to get tested daily an approach that has been used elsewhere around the world.

When being vaccinated becomes the more convenient of the two options, that will drive people to be vaccinated, Bibbins-Domingo said. You have to make it slightly less convenient to be unvaccinated at this point.

If you choose to get tested every day, because you dont believe in vaccination, that might be fine. But I think for some, being tested every day or being tested at some very regular interval might be that the thing that says: Well, yeah, when I look at the risk and benefits, the vaccine is looking a little bit better.

Fully vaccinated people do have very good protection against coronavirus infection and illness. Between Dec. 7 and June 7, unvaccinated people in L.A. County comprised 99.6% of its coronavirus cases, 98.7% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 99.8% of deaths.

Nonetheless, outbreaks can still be disruptive and a vaccinated persons chance of getting infected, while quite small, is worse if theyre around unvaccinated and infected people. At the state Capitol, 10 people have recently tested positive for the coronavirus, including some who were fully vaccinated.

Some health experts have suggested that even vaccinated people wear masks voluntarily in indoor public spaces when weekly case rates are high, which would reduce the risk of a breakthrough coronavirus infection.

San Francisco has been a leader in imposing vaccination requirements for certain workers.

Already, San Francisco has ordered all workers in high-risk settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes and residential facilities for the elderly, homeless and jails, to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 15. An exemption will be available for workers with valid religious and medical reasons, and they will be required to get tested for the virus weekly.

San Francisco has also ordered all 35,000 of its city workers including police, firefighters, custodians and clerks to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs, unless they have a religious or medical exemption, once a vaccine has been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Currently, all three available vaccines are being distributed under an emergency use authorization.

The University of California and California State University systems have also announced they will eventually require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties. Dozens of colleges nationwide have said theyll require vaccination for enrollment in the fall, including Yale, Princeton and Columbia.

Even if mandates ultimately become more commonplace, on-the-ground outreach is still essential, experts say. And there is good reason to believe more of it will help.

San Francisco, for instance, has one of the highest vaccination rates in California 75% of residents of all ages are at least partly vaccinated, and 69% are fully vaccinated. While the per capita case rate has increased, its still half of L.A. Countys. And while hospitalizations are up in L.A. County, they remain generally stable in San Francisco.

San Franciscos outreach to the hard-hit Latino community in particular has been a model, with 72% of Latino residents having received at least one dose a rate even better than white residents, 65% of whom are at least partially vaccinated. In much of the U.S., the vaccination rate for Latinos lags behind white residents.

There have been teams that go out to places like San Franciscos Tenderloin District, where they interact with people on the streets, in stores and churches to promote vaccinations and administer the shots.

And that kind of interaction can make the difference: Some people can work long hours, and having vaccination advocates make their pitch and answer questions causes someone to finally decide to take the shot, Bibbins-Domingo said.

Its also important that the people delivering the messages and shots are well trusted in the community.

It is the linking to the conversation to the actual getting of the shot and getting the shot from somebody you know and trust that are the one-two punch to get the job done. And it has been working, Bibbins-Domingo said.

Its just a slow strategy, she added. But there are no shortcuts. We have to double down on doing this again especially for people for whom there are some barriers, whether it is just having the conversation or mistrust.

Convincing younger adults by using some combination of the following messages can work: Infected people who were unvaccinated have a greater risk of long-term illness, and unvaccinated people are at greater risk of transmitting the virus to friends and family, including people who have compromised immune systems and might be more likely to get sick.

For many, the personal touch may also be vital especially when it comes to combating misinformation surrounding the shots. As Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. Countys health services director, noted Tuesday: Relationships really matter.

One-on-one conversations its very labor intensive, not always very fast, it takes time. But thats been the best thing that has really helped, she said.

In Santa Clara County, which also has a high vaccination rate and stable hospitalizations, officials identified census tracts with the lowest vaccination rates and focused on them to launch vaccination clinics. Theyve also focused on essential workers in industries like child care, education and agriculture, and have worked with unions and employers to reach more people.

In the Central Valley, UC Merced Community and Labor Center Executive Director Ana Padilla said there still needs to be better access to the vaccine and good information about it to people like agricultural workers, who are now working the busiest time of the year. She suggested that there be a greater effort to link trusted community-based groups to administer vaccines near work sites, which will be better equipped to answer questions from workers.

If you work 8 to 8 every single day of the week so that you have enough money to get through those hard winter months, you dont have the options [to seek vaccinations] that other folks might believe that you have, Padilla said.

L.A. County where 60% of residents of all ages have at least one dose, and 52% are fully vaccinated is taking a similar approach in focusing vaccination clinics in hard-hit areas. But L.A. County has a far more vast challenge its the nations most populous county, and blanketing the county with intense outreach efforts might be more difficult here.

Times staff writer John Myers and intern Melissa Hernandez contributed to this report.

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Unvaccinated may require tougher tactics amid COVID-19 surge - Los Angeles Times

An employee wearing a protective mask, leaves a menu on a table at the beach bar of the Divani Apollon Palace hotel, on the first day of the opening of hotels in Greece, following a nationwide lockdown against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece, June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

ATHENS, July 14 (Reuters) - Tourism is not to blame for a surge of COVID-19 infections in Greece, the tourism minister said on Wednesday after the government reintroduced restrictions aimed at saving the summer season.

Greece, which relies on tourism for a fifth of its economy, kicked off the season in May, hoping that revenue would reach about half of the record it saw in 2019 when more than 30 million people visited the country.

"The opening of tourism was done very carefully, in the first 10 days of July just 74 out of 105,609 samples taken at the country's entry points were positive, just 0.07%," Haris Theoharis told a Greek hoteliers conference.

"Our country does not have a problem with the opening of its borders," he said. "The rise in infections is not related to tourism."

The government is betting on at least a partial revival of its tourism sector this summer, but is worried about the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

About 41% of Greeks are fully vaccinated so far. Tourists need to show they have been vaccinated or present a negative PCR test to enter the country.

Greece reported 3,109 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a level last seen in early April, bringing the total number of infections since the first case was detected in February last year to 444,783. COVID-19 related deaths have reached 12,806.

The country will require customers at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the government said on Tuesday, to combat a surge in infections. read more

"We can not allow deniers of science to lead our country into adventures," Theoharis said in reference to people still refusing to get vaccinated.

Reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Tourism not contributing to surge of COVID-19 infections in Greece - Reuters

Medical student Camila Vernica Souza Freire

Brazilian medical student Camila Vernica Souza Freire is helping to research how the "infodemic" in science is similar to biological outbreaks, by analyzing behavior of the scientific publishing ecosystem during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Freire, who is currently a medical student at the Bahiana School of Medicine and Public Health and a junior researcher at the Brazilian Metascience Research Group (BMRG), says that during the pandemic there was a deluge of research and with the sheer quantity of papers, it was hard to make sense of whether quality research was being done.

"Globally, we were fighting a deluge of low-quality evidence," she says, adding that the project she is a part of at the BMRG is focused on analyzing a year's worth of published papers to see what happened with the volume and quality.

What the COVID infodemic project headed by Gabriel de Arajo Grisi and Joo de Deus Barreto Segundo found was that the infodemic was not just a media buzzword, it was real.

"In this emergency, we've been given the false idea that we need to slow down the rigor, for example, the review process is faster for Covid-19 papers."

"It has been interesting to observe the volume of publications during the pandemic and how it might have shaped health care policies," she says, adding that together with the political context in Brazil, the epidemic of fake news and problematic actions by the federal government based on low-quality evidence, was crucial to motivate a better understanding of the behavior of these publications.

Freiregrew up in Salvador, Bahia and says her grandfather encouraged her curiosity about the world.

"Although my grandfather was not an academic man, he used to prompt my questions about the world, the universe and how things work," she says, "he really believed I was the smartest kid in the world... not true, but very cute of him."

She says that this lead to her decision to pursue an undergraduate degree in relating to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine. In the end, she chose medicine, but she was sure that research would be the path she wanted to take.

Freire says her mentor Luis Cludio Correia, who is also the advisor of the meta-science project, has helped her "visualize science through purpose" and learn the value of the communication of science.

She says researchers from low-income and developing countries face disparities, fewer incentives and fewer opportunities to work in science within their own geographic location and especially in science centers of global importance.

"There is evidence that research from the Global South is viewed with bias by researchers, clinicians and institutions around the world," she says.

Freire says that globally female researchers are striving for the same conditions, opportunities and relevance, so adding the challenges of the Global South on top of that make it an even bigger challenge.

"Women researchers from Global South must strive to continue working, despite the discouragement and the statistics of gender inequality in science that do not ease," she says.

Professor Dr. Luis Cludio Correia (closest to the door), with the members of the Brazilian ... [+] Metascience Research Group. Picture of my science group (BMRG).

Another young Brazillian making a difference is Ester Borges Santos, who is a researcher at Brazilian web governance and freedom of speech think-tankInternetLaband a computer teacher and coordinator at Minas Programam.

She and her colleagues at Minas Programam are aiming to create more opportunities for young black women by developing a welcoming, inclusive virtual study group on gender, race, and technology.

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This Brazillian Med Student Is Unlocking Mysteries Of The Covid-19 Infodemic - Forbes

July 14, 2021

State grants will increase student engagement and support academic progress

Posted in: Homepage News, Science and Technology, University

Montclair State University will receive more than $1.4 million from the State of New Jersey to support programs that help address the impacts of COVID-19 on postsecondary students.

Governor Phil Murphy and Secretary of Higher Education Brian Bridges announced the grants July 12, with Montclair State among 35 public and public-mission private institutions receiving $30 million in state aid to implement vetted best practices that increase college completion, address barriers to student success, and develop sustainable systemic reforms.

In addition to a $100,000 grant to fight food insecurity among students, Montclair State was awarded:

These programs are designed to increase student engagement and support academic progress at a time when the challenges facing underrepresented and low-income students have been compounded by the global pandemic, explains President Susan A. Cole. Montclair State is steadfast in our resolve to meet those challenges in service to our students and the community.

Our institutions of higher education have provided a high quality of education to our students throughout the pandemic, despite challenging circumstances, said Governor Murphy. Supporting our institutions will continue to be a priority as they work to provide an equitable educational experience for students, prepare them for the jobs of the future and meet challenges ahead.

Through this critical federal funding, New Jersey is prioritizing students needs and ensuring our workforce will be ready to meet the challenges of tomorrows post-pandemic economy, said Secretary Bridges. We appreciate that institutions are committing to this challenge and look forward to learning from the innovative best practices implemented, as we strive to meet the states goal of 65 percent of residents earning a high-quality credential by 2025.

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University Awarded $1.4M To Address Impacts Of COVID-19 News Center - Montclaire News

A nurse holds a syringe containing a coronavirus vaccine made by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a unit of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), at a vaccination center during a government-organized visit, in Beijing, China, April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

BEIJING, July 14 (Reuters) - Several areas in China will start vaccinating teenagers this month against COVID-19, state media and local authorities said, as the country steps up its inoculation campaign.

China, which has managed to rein in domestic infections, has administered 1.4 billion vaccine doses, or two-fifths of the global total of 3.47 billion doses.

This month, the southwestern region of Guangxi and the city of Jingmen in the central province of Hubei will start vaccinating those aged between 15 and 17, and children between 12 and 14 in August, state media and local disease control officials said in reports on Tuesday.

By the end of October, authorities there aim to have fully vaccinated all eligible in the age group of 12 to 17.

China has approved two domestically developed vaccines, one produced by Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) and the other produced by a Beijing firm affiliated with Sinopharm, for those aged between three and 17.

The world's most populous country, with a population of 1.4 billion, does not regularly disclose how many people have been fully vaccinated, but late last month a state broadcaster said the nationwide rate had exceeded 40%.

Several local authorities said this month that public places, from supermarkets to train stations, will check vaccination credentials and record personal details of unvaccinated visitors, to nudge more people to get doses.

China is expected to vaccinate at least 70% of target groups by the end of this year, Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, told the official Xinhua news agency last month, without giving details of the groups.

Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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China to start giving COVID-19 shots to teenagers this month - Reuters

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands skyrocketed by more than 500% over the last week, the countrys public health institute reported Tuesday. The surge follows the scrapping of almost all remaining lockdown restrictions and the reopening of night clubs in late June.

The weekly update showing that nearly 52,000 people in the Netherlands tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week came a day after caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized for the June 26 lockdown relaxation and called it an error of judgment.

Rutte backtracked Friday and reintroduced some restrictions in an attempt to rein in the soaring infection rate. Bars again have to close at midnight, while discotheques and clubs were shuttered again until at least Aug. 13.

The Netherlands, along with other European nations, is facing a rise in infections fueled by the more contagious delta variant just as governments hoped to greatly ease or eliminate remaining pandemic restrictions during the summer holiday season.

With infections rising around France, President Emmanuel Macron on Monday cranked up pressure on people to get vaccinated and said special COVID passes would be required to go into restaurants and shopping malls starting next month.

The Dutch public health institute said that of the infections that could be traced to their source, 37% happened in a hospitality venue such as a bar or club. Infections among people ages 18-24 surged by 262%, followed by a 191% rise in 25-29 year-olds.

Despite the alarming rise in confirmed cases, hospital admissions increased by a modest 11%, or 60 COVID-19 patients, over the week, the institute said. Twelve of the admissions were to intensive care units.

More than 46% of the Netherlands adult population is fully vaccinated, and more than 77% of the countrys adults have had at least one shot. Health authorities said more than 1.3 million people would receive their first or second doses this week.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said Monday that the late June loosening of restrictions combined with a lack of social distancing and the delta variant has had, of course, an accelerating effect. You can unfortunately see that with hindsight.

Other countries in Europe are scrambling to accelerate coronavirus vaccinations in the hope of outpacing the spread of the more infectious delta variant.

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Follow all AP stories on the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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Dutch COVID-19 infections soar by 500% in a week - Associated Press

JOHANNESBURGViolence and looting in parts of South Africa, triggered by the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma, are broadening to reflect more deep-seated problems in the continents most developed economy, where a third pandemic lockdown is exacerbating economic pain and joblessness that has disproportionately affected the poor.

Police,nowbolstered by asmalldeployment of soldiers, struggled for a third day to contain crowds ransacking warehouses and shopping centers in the economic capital of Johannesburg and the port city of Durban.In hospitals, doctors already stretched by a record wave of Covid-19 infectionshad trouble caringfor the injured, with many nurses and other staff unable to come to work because of roadblocks and the broader insecurity, officials said.

The countrys police ministry warned that the continued blockage of some of South Africas main transport routes could within days lead to shortages of food and other essentials and that mass gatherings could prompt a fresh rise in Covid-19 cases. At least 72 people have died amid the instability, officials said Tuesday, some trampled to death in shopping-center stampedes.

People are tired and frustrated with the whole situation, said Abram Lekganyane, who usually sells durags, sunglasses and masks at a stall at the Pan Africa Shopping Centre in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra. Mr. Lekganyane said he checked on his wares in a nearby storage facility and saw people leaving with everything from plasma televisions to sound systems and groceries.

The spark may have been Zuma. Now its a revolution against the lockdown, because nothing is being provided, he said.

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South Africas Looting, Violence Reflect Inequalities Exacerbated by Covid-19 Pandemic - The Wall Street Journal

Late last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released sweeping new guidance for public schools, prioritizing in-person learning and making masks optional for fully vaccinated students (a recommendation that Virginia will soon adopt, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported).

The news came less than 24 hours after the states Department of Health announced that a second child under the age of 10 a boy from Stafford County had died from COVID-19. The risk of severe disease and hospitalization among children is still lower than it is for adults, according to the CDC. But for many public health experts, the upcoming school year is a looming reminder that children remain one of the most vulnerable populations for catching and spreading new cases of COVID-19.

Its going to depend so much on the local context of the school system, said Dr. Taison Bell, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Virginia. Children under 12 arent yet eligible for a shot, and likely wont be until later this fall. But growing research shows that vaccinations among adults can be key to protecting younger age groups.

For instance, Im in Charlottesville, and we have relatively high uptake rates, Bell continued. The teachers, the custodial staff and other adults in the building theyre much more likely to be protected. Thats a much lower-risk scenario compared to some areas of Virginia that still have low rates of vaccination.

Some of the clearest data comes from countries or regions with exceptionally high vaccination rates among the adult population. Israel, for example, has one of the highest per-capita vaccination rates in the world, and reopened most school buildings by March. But case rates still dropped dramatically among children younger than 11, as they did for people 16 and older.

Similar evidence came from Serrana, Brazil, where 98% of adults have been vaccinated. Research found that symptomatic infections dropped by roughly 80% among both adults and unvaccinated children as a result, according to reporting in Nature, an academic journal.

So, theres data showing that once vaccinations start picking up in adults, you actually have protection in children, Bell said. Children are less likely to be infected, and thats because the most common mode of transmission to a child is from an adult theyre in close contact with.

Experts are hoping the message will resonate as schools prepare for what, in some cases, will be the first return to full in-person learning since the start of the pandemic. Kids and young adults have made up a growing share of the states new infections since early April a trend that could be driven by the rise of more contagious variants. And while the risk of severe outcomes are lower for children, they can happen.

Students at Watkins Elementary in Chesterfield County attend class wearing masks. Chesterfield returned to all virtual learning after Thanksgiving.

A recent CDC study of hospitalizations among 12 to 17-year-olds found they were far more prevalent among Black and Latino children, as well as children with underlying medical conditions. Virginia has also recorded 76 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C a rare COVID-associated condition thats also disproportionately affected Black and Latino youth.

For Bell, it underscores the importance of individual vaccination, a message many public health experts worry has gotten lost in the later stages of the state and national campaign. Much of the early messaging around vaccines focused on herd immunity the idea that with enough people vaccinated, COVID-19 would eventually stop circulating.

But some officials have become less than enamored with the concept as a way to promote vaccination. One reason, Bell said, is that theres no clear understanding of how many people need to be protected to actually attain herd immunity. The more contagious a disease, the larger theraising their estimates.

The problem is that it tends to simplify it down to, Whats the percent that we need to get protection? he said. And its much more complicated than that. It also tends to gloss over the impact that vaccinations can have at the local level. By early May, for example, researchers were estimating that Northern Virginia could avoid another surge in cases thanks to high uptake in the region.percentage of the population. And with variants now making up the vast majority of infections, officials have been

We put the focus so much on herd immunity that the importance of personal vaccination has kind of gotten lost, Bell said. And now the people we need to vaccinate are the ones who are reluctant or just dont feel that its necessary for them.

Protecting children who arent yet eligible for a dose is just one area where individual vaccination can make a significant difference. While the U.S. may never reach true herd immunity, the virus can be significantly curtailed as more people are immunized at the local level. Those protections extend to adults who in some rare cases cant receive the vaccine, or who may receive less protection due to pre-existing conditions.

Its especially important given the rise of the Delta variant, which now makes up just over 20% of sequenced cases among Virginians aged 0 to 19, according to data from VDH. Spokeswoman Melissa Gordon said those numbers are likely an undercount, given that not all samples of the virus are tested.

Delta, which can evade immune system protection, is more contagious than other forms of the virus. Preliminary research has also indicated it may cause more severe disease. A single dose of vaccine is much less protective against the variant, which makes high uptake rates and complete vaccination especially important for fighting the spread. Cases are currently surging in states like Missouri, where low vaccination rates and a lack of protective measures have allowed the virus to circulate widely.

Their ICUs are over capacity, Bell said. Their staff are overwhelmed. So for communities here with low vaccine uptake rates, Im very, very concerned about the fall and winter. I cant express it any better. The difference is that its truly preventable at this point.

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What's the best way to protect young Virginians from COVID-19? Experts say it's getting more adults immunized. - Fauquier Times

Psaki and members of the White House COVID-19 response team have explained that the trusted messengers who will be going door to door to provide information about the vaccines will be doctors, faith and community leaders, and other volunteers not federal employees. She said the campaign is actually a continuation of an effort that has been ongoing since at least April.

So, those are the people who are the trusted messengers around the country. And we believe that we need to empower these individuals to continue to work in communities to make sure people know that these vaccines are safe, that they can save lives, Psaki said in a July 8 press briefing.

Even before the first vaccines were rolled out in mid-December, Biden himself said on Dec. 4 that he would not federally mandate that Americans get a vaccine when he became president.

No, I dont think it should be mandatory, then-President-elect Biden said in response to a question about possible vaccine mandates. I wouldnt demand it to be mandatory, but I would do everything in my power, just like I dont think masks have to be made mandatory nationwide, Ill do everything in my power as president of [the] United States to encourage people to do the right thing.

In a July 12 press briefing, Psaki reaffirmed that the federal government would not mandate vaccinations although, she said the administration would support entities that do require the shots.

Thats not a decision that we are making. Thats not a that is not our intention from the federal government, she said in response to a question about local mandates. There will be decisions made by private-sector entities, by universities, by educational institutions, and even perhaps by local leaders, should they decide that is how to keep their community safe. If they decide to make that decision, we certainly support them in that step.

We asked Greenes office for support for her claim that vaccinations would be required as part of the door-to-door campaign. We have not yet received a reply.

The freshman Republican congresswoman from Georgia made other claims in her tweet that we have previously addressed.

She said there have been 5,946 reported deaths after taking the #COVID19 vaccine, leaving the misleading impression that the deaths were caused by the vaccines.

It is true that 5,946 deaths were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, as of July 6. But [r]eports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states on its website.

As weve written before, anyone can submit a report of an adverse event to VAERS regardless of whether the vaccine was a factor. In the case of deaths, health care providers are required to report any death after COVID-19 vaccination to VAERS, even if its unclear whether the vaccine was the cause, the CDC says.

A review of available clinical information, including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records, has not established a causal link to COVID-19 vaccines, the CDC said of death reports. However, recent reports indicate a plausible causal relationship between the J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine and TTS, a rare and serious adverse eventblood clots with low plateletswhich has caused deaths.

As of July 6, the Food and Drug Administration and CDC had identified 38 cases of the rare blood clotting condition, which is known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS. There have been three deaths from the condition among those cases, as of May 7.

Greene also tweeted that the vaccine is NOT FDA approved which is true, but misleading.

As weve noted, the FDA has authorized three COVID-19 vaccines including the one manufactured by Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. In order to grant an emergency use authorization, regulators must determine that the product may be effective and the known and potential benefits of a product outweigh its known and potential risks a standard that is typically less stringent than the standard full licensure, which is called a biologics license application, or BLA.

However, for the three COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA set up more rigorous EUA requirements that resemble the process for a BLA. The FDA required at least one well-designed Phase 3 clinical trial that demonstrates the vaccines safety and efficacy in a clear and compelling manner and wanted to see at least two months of follow-up data on half or more of the participants.

Greene disregards the rigorous clinical trials and real-world evidence that show the vaccines have been safe and effective.

According to CDC data, the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths from COVID-19 has declined by about 94% since the vaccines became available in the U.S. The seven-day average of daily deaths was 2,779 on Dec. 14; as of July 11, it was down to 176.

Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna have filed for final approval of their vaccines.

Finally, while claiming that 33,631,656 Americans SURVIVED covid, Greene did not acknowledge that more than 600,000 U.S. deaths have been attributed to the disease. Even some individuals who have survived an infection have reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and side effects that persist for months.

Whats more, only a small percentage of recent COVID-19 deaths have been people who were vaccinated, according to government data.

In a July 1 White House COVID-19 response team briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that preliminary data from a collection of states since January suggest 99.5% of deaths from COVID-19 in these states have occurred in unvaccinated people.

With vaccines available across the country, the suffering and loss we are now seeing is nearly entirely avoidable, she said.

Walenskys remarks are in line with an Associated Press analysis that found that nearly all of the people in the U.S. who died from COVID-19 in May were not vaccinated.

About 150 out of more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths that month were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average, the AP reported.

The news service also said that fully vaccinated people accounted for less than 1,200 or about 1.1% of more than 107,000 COVID-19 related hospitalizations that month.

Editors note:SciChecks COVID-19/Vaccination Projectis made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation hasno controlover our editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while decreasing the impact of misinformation.

Biden, Joe. Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and the Vaccination Program. Transcript. Whitehouse.gov. 6 Jul 2021.

Taylor Greene, Marjorie. @mtgreenee. 5,946 reported deaths after taking the #COVID19 vaccine. The vaccine is NOT FDA approved. 33,631,656 Americans SURVIVED covid. But Biden & the Dems are coming to your front door to force you to take the vax, schools say your healthy kids need it, and you still think your free? Twitter. 9 Jul 2021.

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Walensky, Rochelle. Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials. Transcript. Whitehouse.gov. 1 Jul 2021.

Johnson, Carla K. and Mike Stobbe. Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated. Associated Press. 24 Jun 2021.

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Greene's Deceptive Claims of Forced COVID-19 Vaccinations and Vaccination 'Deaths' - FactCheck.org

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. Blake Bargatze, 24, was the only one in his family to not get vaccinated and now he remains in a hospital ICU more than three months after contracting COVID-19, according to his family.

I just dont ever want anybody else to go through this, his mother Cheryl Nuclo told Channel 2s Matt Johnson.

Bargatze was infected with the virus in April while in Florida, his family says, and has needed a double lung transplant and months of intensive care at hospitals in three states.

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The Gwinnett County native vaped regularly, but his mother says he has no underlying conditions.

No diabetes, no hypertension, she said. Just a 24-year-old kid.

Bargatze is getting treatment at a Maryland hospital after being transferred there from Atlanta for his transplant. His family says he likely picked up the virus at an indoor concert.

He had called me that Friday when he got the results, Nuclo said, and hes like, Mom, youre going to be mad. I got COVID.

Doctors across the country say virtually all of their COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.

He wanted to wait a few years to see you know, if theres any side effects or anything from it, said Paul Nuclo, his stepfather. As soon as he got in the hospital, though, he said he wished he had gotten the vaccine.

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As of Tuesday night in Georgia, 669 people are in hospitals battling the disease.

That number had been declining for months but its been slowly going up since late last month.

I do worry that we probably will expect some impacts in the Atlanta metro, said Dr. Amber Schmidtke with the University of St. Mary in Kansas. Were already seeing patient census for COVID-19 increase in hospital region D which is the Atlanta metro.

Case are up 23% in Georgia according to the latest White House COVID-19 Task Force report. Deaths are down 44%.

However, Dr. Patrick OCarroll with the Atlanta-based Task Force for Global Health worries about the more transmissible Delta variant amidst a rise in patients.

The people who havent been vaccinated are is as much in danger now because of the Delta variant than they were 12 months ago, Dr. OCarroll said.

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For Cheryl Nuclo, shes thankful her son is still fighting, and now pushing for others to get a shot.

Maybe if some people were kind of on the fence and swaying, he wants them to see what might be the extreme of what can happen, she said. Not using a fear tactic, but it can happen.

Friends of Bargatze are helping raise money for his medical expenses and his recovery. You can find out more about that here.

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He wished he had gotten the vaccine: Local man battling COVID-19 from ICU for months - WSB Atlanta