CDC Notifies States, Large Cities To Prepare For Vaccine Distribution As Soon As Late October

[sam_gordon]

And it’s entirely self-inflicted.

But that means it's still around. Eradicated means it's gone. Period. End of story. Not a "few cases", not "extremely rare", but gone.

 

[DeniseJH]

Here’s the thing: I respect the fact that at first, not everyone will be able to be vaxxed. But by the time everyone has the opportunity? Then I’m not wearing a mask if I don’t have to. It’s on you at that point.

Much better!

 

[Colleen27]

I can’t find the article where I got that from. So it’s probably not correct.

My county does not have a mask mandate, but when I go to the store, I would say 99% of the shoppers have one. But how much of the spread is really attributed to walking past someone in Publix?

I wear a mask every time I go out. For my work I wear an N95 when I’m in close contact with anyone. I don‘t go to bars and have only been to one restaurant since March (Whispering Canyon Cafe) . I am currently quarantining thanks to an outbreak at my daughter‘s daycare.

The vaccine can’t come fast enough.

Mask compliance varies wildly from place to place, even over the spread of a relatively few miles, which makes me think our overall compliance is pretty iffy. At the gas station where I stop for coffee in the morning, I'm often the only masked customer in the place - I'd guess about 70-80% of their customers don't wear masks and their employees have been expressly told not to raise the issue. At my local grocery, which does attempt some enforcement (and gives a free disposable mask to anyone who comes in without), I'd put it at around 70% compliance. But in my mother's neighborhood, only 40 miles away in the Detroit suburbs, I rarely see anyone in a store without a mask and some people even wear them outdoors while walking dogs and such.

I agree that not a lot of spread is from in-passing encounters, but in places where mask compliance is low the problem becomes employees who are spending an extended time in the space with all the customers' germs are catching it, then passing it on to other customers. In March, the supply shortages we were having were problems getting things to the shelves. Now, the problem we're having is that stores have so many employees testing positive or quarantining because of exposure to a positive that they can't keep the place fully staffed.

I'm fairly comfortable saying the next time there's a pandemic and a new vaccine is pushed out relatively quickly (not a bad thing) that yes, I'll be willing to wait.

Personally, I think that's a case by case judgment call and that the notion of "consistency" in this is silly. If we were talking about a pandemic with the lethality of ebola or SARS or the rapid contagion of measles or the long-term impacts of polio, we likely wouldn't even be having this conversation about vaccine comfort levels. Weighing the risks of a new vaccine is inherently a relative calculation that has to be weighed against the risks of the disease itself... and in the big picture sense, covid-19 is on the milder end of the disease spectrum.

 

[dvcgirl67]

And it’s entirely self-inflicted.

In this country, yes it is self-inflicted. That's not the case in other parts of the world where there is extreme poverty and a lack of any discernible public health infrastructure.

It'll be interesting to see if the "vaccine hesitancy" holds up in this country. The latest poll that I saw from last week was an improved slightly from 50% to 58%. I guess we'll have an idea of how it's going by how quickly we move up in the vaccine queue so to speak. Right now, any of us who are healthy and under 65 years old are being told "late spring/early summer" before we get our vaccine. If we start hearing that we can get one a lot sooner, that could be due to a hesitancy/fear in the general population.

 

[mousefan73]

Greetings from Germany, just learned a bit more on how vaccines will be distributed. Each county will have a vaccine center built in public spaces. Larger counties will have more than one. Great for my mom as our county's is in some old ballroom that is only a 10 minute walk for her. Mobile teams will be used for in-home or in- patient care, etc.

 

[ronandannette]

Greetings from Germany, just learned a bit more on how vaccines will be distributed. Each county will have a vaccine center built in public spaces. Larger counties will have more than one. Great for my mom as our county's is in some old ballroom that is only a 10 minute walk for her. Mobile teams will be used for in-home or in- patient care, etc.

Can you tell us a little more about when you expect distribution to start, and in what quantities?

 

[bcla]

Mask compliance varies wildly from place to place, even over the spread of a relatively few miles, which makes me think our overall compliance is pretty iffy. At the gas station where I stop for coffee in the morning, I'm often the only masked customer in the place - I'd guess about 70-80% of their customers don't wear masks and their employees have been expressly told not to raise the issue. At my local grocery, which does attempt some enforcement (and gives a free disposable mask to anyone who comes in without), I'd put it at around 70% compliance. But in my mother's neighborhood, only 40 miles away in the Detroit suburbs, I rarely see anyone in a store without a mask and some people even wear them outdoors while walking dogs and such.

I agree that not a lot of spread is from in-passing encounters, but in places where mask compliance is low the problem becomes employees who are spending an extended time in the space with all the customers' germs are catching it, then passing it on to other customers. In March, the supply shortages we were having were problems getting things to the shelves. Now, the problem we're having is that stores have so many employees testing positive or quarantining because of exposure to a positive that they can't keep the place fully staffed.



Personally, I think that's a case by case judgment call and that the notion of "consistency" in this is silly. If we were talking about a pandemic with the lethality of ebola or SARS or the rapid contagion of measles or the long-term impacts of polio, we likely wouldn't even be having this conversation about vaccine comfort levels. Weighing the risks of a new vaccine is inherently a relative calculation that has to be weighed against the risks of the disease itself... and in the big picture sense, covid-19 is on the milder end of the disease spectrum.

In my neck of the woods in California, it's pretty close to 100% compliance, although occasionally I'll see someone who isn't covering the nose.

I totally get that Covid-19 is pretty mild overall, but isn't it stressing out hospitals in many parts of the country? When it's bad, it seems to be really bad.

But the important thing here is that I don't see a way out until there is a vaccine.

 

[RamblingMad]

In my neck of the woods in California, it's pretty close to 100% compliance, although occasionally I'll see someone who isn't covering the nose.

I totally get that Covid-19 is pretty mild overall, but isn't it stressing out hospitals in many parts of the country? When it's bad, it seems to be really bad.

But the important thing here is that I don't see a way out until there is a vaccine.

It really doesn't matter right now. I saw plenty of Thanksgiving gatherings yesterday. No one wearing masks for those gatherings. Plenty of opportunity for it to spread. A week from now, we'll see the impact, and it's going to be ugly.

 

[mousefan73]

Can you tell us a little more about when you expect distribution to start, and in what quantities?

I believe we are in the same situation as in the states. Pfizer/ Moderna have also applied to the EU version of the FDA. Those in charge are saying the first will get it already this year. Same with us nursing home and front line health care.

 

[Colleen27]

In my neck of the woods in California, it's pretty close to 100% compliance, although occasionally I'll see someone who isn't covering the nose.

I totally get that Covid-19 is pretty mild overall, but isn't it stressing out hospitals in many parts of the country? When it's bad, it seems to be really bad.

But the important thing here is that I don't see a way out until there is a vaccine.

I was really impressed by mask compliance in the Bay Area last time we were out there (last month). People were wearing them even outdoors in more crowded spaces, despite the fact that we were there during a weekend with record-breaking heat and poor air quality because of the fires which combined to make outdoor masking considerably more uncomfortable than it is here in Michigan.

I agree that a vaccine is the easiest/quickest way out of this on a societal level and that the virus is putting a lot of stress on our already-stressed medical system. Frankly, that's as much about the way we have structured our health care delivery systems as about the virus itself - even a bad flu season can cause local/regional stress as systems have streamlined and consolidated away a lot of "excess" (in ordinary times) capacity. But that's a different question from the individual-level risk benefit analysis that goes into choosing to get the vaccine. We're not a country where "do it for the greater good" is a particularly powerful motivator, so it is going to boil down to how many people believe the risks of a rapidly-developed vaccine are lower than the risks of the virus itself.

 

[mousefan73]

Oh and this is also going to be a shock for many of you but in Germany I’ve recently learned only doctors are allowed to give vaccination shots. There can be exceptions for pharmacists and some nurses to be trained. That is one of the factors they are trying to figure out when they are making these vaccination centers. That is why our city was picked to have one of these because we are basically a medical city with many rehabilitation centers with Drs. And most doctors offices arc concentrated here. I never realize this but when I think about it whenever we would get our shots it was always the doctors that gave them to us.

 

[bcla]

It really doesn't matter right now. I saw plenty of Thanksgiving gatherings yesterday. No one wearing masks for those gatherings. Plenty of opportunity for it to spread. A week from now, we'll see the impact, and it's going to be ugly.

I was referring to near universal compliance in public places. In personal settings people let down their guard. I haven’t had a meal with some relatives in our designated social bubble, but while I might wear a mask, they don’t seem to care. We only do it for limited visits where we’re trading supplies and food. We’re like “just leave it on the porch”, while they’re insisting that we still need to come in.

 

[godisney14]

So masks are 100% effective?

When two people wear masks properly, yes, it is more effective than a vaccine. It does not rely on an individual’s immune system. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that.

I don't believe we know that yet. I think that these Pharma companies will continue to test for antibodies of early recipients as we go along.

These companies will continue to collect data for a couple years (as what is typically done before regulatory approvals are given in a non-emergency state).

“still around” translates to literally a few cases a year. And almost entirely limited to vaccine deniers.

Even a few cases a year is the literal definition of not being eradicated.
I agree to some extent that there may be people who have not had a polio vaccine due to denial, but there are also legitimate cases where people who are allergic to it have not gotten it.

 

[aggiedog]

There are plenty of people who can not be vaccinated for valid, medical reasons, including pretty much every very young infant.

 

[TLSnell1981]

When two people wear masks properly, yes, it is more effective than a vaccine. It does not rely on an individual’s immune system. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that.


These companies will continue to collect data for a couple years (as what is typically done before regulatory approvals are given in a non-emergency state).


Even a few cases a year is the literal definition of not being eradicated.
I agree to some extent that there may be people who have not had a polio vaccine due to denial, but there are also legitimate cases where people who are allergic to it have not gotten it.

Any mask?

 

[Jonfw2]

When two people wear masks properly, yes, it is more effective than a vaccine. It does not rely on an individual’s immune system. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that.

You want to bet that daily cases in the US start plummeting a few weeks after the vaccine is fully approved?

There are plenty of people who can not be vaccinated for valid, medical reasons, including pretty much every very young infant.

Well that’s the great thing about very young infants- they aren’t very young infants for too long.

This is also exactly why the rest of us need to get it- to protect those who can’t.

 

[Pyotr]

When two people wear masks properly, yes, it is more effective than a vaccine. It does not rely on an individual’s immune system. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that.


These companies will continue to collect data for a couple years (as what is typically done before regulatory approvals are given in a non-emergency state).


Even a few cases a year is the literal definition of not being eradicated.
I agree to some extent that there may be people who have not had a polio vaccine due to denial, but there are also legitimate cases where people who are allergic to it have not gotten it.

That’s not true and thinking like that is one of the reasons we are in this mess.

 

[dvcgirl67]

These companies will continue to collect data for a couple years (as what is typically done before regulatory approvals are given in a non-emergency state).

Yes, they will. However, it seems like the data may be impacted by participants being released early from the trial, or dropping out of the study early on their own I know Pfizer has requested to "unblind" their study, so that participants who received the placebo will know. But I don't think that means that they want all placebo recipients to drop out all at once.

I read that Moderna has language in their agreement with study participants that they will be informed about whether or not they received the placebo. I guess the rub is that if all of the placebo recipients now get the vaccine, it will impact the long term results of this study. If they lose the control group, well, it makes sense that the results may be compromised. Apparently there is a lot of discussion regarding this issue between the F.D.A, N.I.H the Pharma companies and the panel of experts that will ultimately sign off on emergency use.

I read that one woman in the J&J study was contemplating dropping out altogether (which is her right), not because of any issues with that vaccine, but because of the apparent success of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. She's a front line healthcare worker who takes care of high risk patients, and also has two high risk family members. She wanted to help, and hoped for the real vaccine. But she took an antibody test on her own, and now knows she got the placebo. And so she got into the trial for the right reasons, but now wants out for completely understandable reasons.

Here's one piece that gets into this topic.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharm...id-trial-placebo-recipients-want-real-vaccine

 

[aggiedog]

Well that’s the great thing about very young infants- they aren’t very young infants for too long.

Well, those young infants get older, but there always seems to be a new crop taking their place, and they are generally attached to other people that seem to move about society. So, yes, getting vaccinated if you're medically able helps those that simply can't be vaccinated. Wearing your mask until enough people have been vaccinated so that spread is less likely is also important.

 

[jlwhitney]

You want to bet that daily cases in the US start plummeting a few weeks after the vaccine is fully approved?



Well that’s the great thing about very young infants- they aren’t very young infants for too long.

This is also exactly why the rest of us need to get it- to protect those who can’t.

I am still on the side that normalcy will come sooner then some say between a combination of nature of viruses, treatments and vaccines and hopefully less coverage in the news so people stop thinking everything is covid and freak out.

The other good point about young infants is that its actually easy to protect them when going places and they don't lick everything they see yet.