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Georgia site is fourth in US to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccine

A coronavirus vaccine site in Georgia became the fourth US location this week to pause its administration of the Johnson & Johnson jab after concerns over possible adverse reactions, a report said.

Eight people experienced lightheadedness after getting the shot Wednesday at the Cumming Fairgrounds, though health officials believe that could have simply been caused by the hot weather, WSB-TV reported.

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“It was a fainting issue,” Dave Palmer, North Georgia Health District spokesperson, told the outlet.

“We don’t think it’s anything to do with the vaccine. It’s probably more environmental factors,” Palmer said.

Adverse reactions were incurred by less than 2% of the 435 people who received the vaccine at the site, the report said.

“That facility is hard to cool, and we do have fans there, but it was a warmer day,” Palmer told the station. “I think the heat may have had some bearing on it. We’re not sure.”

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The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was also halted in the past week at sites in Colorado, North Carolina and Iowa.

Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations rising in Pennsylvania

Coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations are rising in Pennsylvania, according to state health data. 

The state on Thursday saw some 4,746 additional cases of the novel virus, marking the third day in a row daily new cases have surpassed 4,000, according to estimates from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. 

The 7-day average of new cases in the state is also on the incline, rising to 4,328 on Thursday, representing a roughly 6% increase from a week prior. Overall, 1,064,092 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state to date. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COVID-19 VACCINE CARD

Hospitalizations are also on the rise, per state health data. Some 2,451 Pennsylvania residents were hospitalized as of Thursday, up 26 from the day before. 

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The news comes after the Coal State was found to be one of five states that are driving nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation’s new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period, according to state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Total U.S. infections during the same week numbered more than 452,000.

The situation is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots, though the White House on Friday said states will continue to receive COVID-19 vaccine allocation based on populations, despite recent increases in cases in several regions.

Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that “now is not the time to change” course regarding allocation.

Fox News’ Alexandria Hein and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

COVID-19 vaccines effective against California coronavirus variant: study

Researchers in a new study found that COVID-19 vaccines are effective against a coronavirus variant that first emerged in California and has since become the dominant strain in the Golden State. The findings, published this week as a research letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, bolster evidence of the importance of receiving the vaccine in an effort to prevent severe illness, especially amid emerging variants. 

The study, led by researchers with Duke University, found that the Moderna coronavirus vaccine, as well as a vaccine candidate from Novavax that has not yet been approved for emergency use in the U.S., were both effective against the variant, known as B.1.429.

For the study, the researchers tested blood serum from those who had received either the Moderna vaccine or the Novavax one. They did not test the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because the findings for the Moderna vaccine “would be comparable due to the similarities of the technology used in the two vaccines,” per a university news release accompanying the findings. 

They then exposed the California variant to the blood serum of those who had received both doses of the Moderna vaccine. They found that while there was a small decline in efficacy, the vaccine remained highly protective. 

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Similar results were found when the researchers tested the Novovax jab. 

The researchers also exposed another coronavirus variant, one that was first identified in South Africa late last year, to the blood serum, finding the vaccines had diminished efficacy against that mutation. These were results were in line with the findings of other, separate studies on this specific variant. 

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Still, “the good news is the California variant does not appear to be a problem for our current vaccines,” said author David Montefiori, Ph.D., professor and director of the Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development in Duke’s Department of Surgery, in a statement. 

“That’s important to know because this variant is now as prevalent in the U.S. as the U.K. variant, both of which appear to be more contagious,” he added. 

‘Not the time’ to change COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan, White House says

States will continue to receive COVID-19 vaccine allocation based on populations despite recent increases in cases in several regions, the White House said Friday. Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that “now is not the time to change” course regarding allocation.

In the briefing Friday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Dr. Rochelle Walensky, noted a 2% increase in the seven-day average of daily coronavirus cases and a 7% increase in hospital admissions. She also noted that the agency is working with upper Midwest states to address increases case counts “to understand what is driving” the uptick.

“What is happening in Michigan and Minnesota is similar to what we’re seeing across the country with increasing cases associated with youth sports,” she said, noting that the activities linked to clusters are both club and school-related.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COVID-19 VACCINE CARD

However, she cautioned that the increasing numbers are not indicative of school-based transmission and that states should continue to follow guidance in safely reopening classrooms to students.

Zients also confirmed that about one in four U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated, but cautioned that the work is far from over. He reaffirmed that Johnson & Johnson, despite a manufacturing snafu in recent weeks, plans to fulfill its promise to deliver 100 million doses by the end of May. However, after delivering 11 million doses several weeks ago, this week the company delivered just shy of 2 million.

The inconsistency in supply is expected Zients said, as the company is “earlier in the manufacturing process and not in a regular weekly cadence that Moderna and Pfizer have achieved.”

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He said the company is working with the FDA to bring another plant onboard that will help increase supply and manufacturing capabilities.  

What you need to know about your COVID-19 vaccine card

The golden ticket to a post-pandemic world is a shot in the arm — and the flimsy paper proof of it.

With close to a quarter of Americans now vaccinated against COVID-19, people are increasingly wondering what to do with their vaccine card. The small yet vital piece of documentation serves as the only physical proof many now have that they’ve been vaccinated against the novel virus, and a growing industry of post-vax creators are rushing to supply the market with holders to protect the cards. Others are offering to laminate them or digitize them. 

Here’s a guide on what to know before you permanently cover your card in plastic, buy it a case or, unfortunately, have the bad luck of losing it. 

Should I laminate my vaccine card? 

Office supplies behemoths Staples, Office Depot and Office Max have all offered to provide their lamination services for free in the name of permanently encasing vaccine cards in a thin layer of protective plastic. But is it a good idea to laminate your card?

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The Health Department has no official insight, but some warn that you may regret laminating your card in case a need arises to mark it with a booster shot, which is an extra dose of a vaccine after the initial dosage.

“Many people are laminating, but there’s also the possibility that there will be the need for booster shots,” New York City Councilman and Health Department Committee chair Mark Levine told Slate. “And so, some people have recommended you hold off on laminating, in case you have to write a third date on there. In fact, Dr. [Anthony] Fauci has stated that it’s possible that within six to 12 months, we might simply just ask people to get a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna as opposed to a booster shot, because that might suffice to manage the threat of the variants.”

Where can I buy a vaccine card protector?

For those looking for a more easily reversible form of protection than laminating, the internet has quickly become saturated with affordable cases for vaccine cards. Amazon alone has a multitude of choices, from a “heavy-duty” two-pack of clear vinyl plastic cases that come with a clip to a “badge cardholder”-style option or a case that comes in eight different color options, all of which cost under $10 each. 

What to do if you lose your vaccine card

The fact that you received the vaccine is stored in larger databases, not only on that single piece of paper. If you lose it, the CDC recommends reaching out to the state health department or the pharmacy you received the shot at to see if they can print you a replacement record — but do not reach out to the CDC: It does not have vaccination record information. 

And soon, the paper record may be relevant only as a strange, physical token of the pandemic: Vaccine passports including New York State’s Excelsior Pass allow residents to maintain an easily accessible digital record of their vaccine status, so they may gain entry to certain venues and businesses. 

What to know about digital vaccine cards 

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In addition to governmental vaccine passports, other private companies are launching their own digital vaccination certificates, including GoGetVax’s VaxYes. 

The CDC has also created an app, called V-Safe, to serve as a post-vaccination health checker. V-Safe serves not as a digital record of your vaccination but as a kind of survey to gauge vaccine side effects.

Click for more from NYPost.com.

COVID-19 patient receives lung transplant from living donors

TOKYO – Doctors in Japan announced Thursday they have successfully performed the world’s first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a patient with severe lung damage from COVID-19.

The recipient, identified only as a woman from Japan’s western region of Kansai, is recovering after the nearly 11-hour operation on Wednesday, Kyoto University Hospital said in a statement. It said her husband and son, who donated parts of their lungs, are also in stable condition.

The university said it was the world’s first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a person with COVID-19 lung damage. Transplants from brain-dead donors in Japan are still rare, and living donors are considered a more realistic option for patients.

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“We demonstrated that we now have an option of lung transplants (from living donors),” Dr. Hiroshi Date, a thoracic surgeon at the hospital who led the operation, said at a news conference. “I think this is a treatment that gives hope for patients” with severe lung damage from COVID-19, he said.

April 9, 2021: This combination of radiographs provided on April 9, 2021, by Kyoto University Hospital, shows the chest of a patient before the surgery, left, and after the surgery, right. 
(Kyoto University Hospital via AP)

Kyoto University said dozens of transplants of parts of lungs taken from brain-dead donors to patients with COVID-19-related lung damage have been carried out in the United States, Europe and China.

The woman contracted COVID-19 late last year and developed breathing difficulties that rapidly worsened. She was placed on a life support machine that works as an artificial lung for more than three months at another hospital because her lungs were so severely damaged.

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Even after she was free of the virus, her lungs were no longer functional or treatable, and the only option for her to live was to receive a lung transplant, the university said.

Her husband and son volunteered to donate parts of their lungs, and the surgery was conducted at Kyoto University Hospital by a 30-member team headed by Dr. Date. Her husband donated part of his left lung, and son gave part of his right lung.

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She is expected to be able to leave the hospital in about two months and return to her normal life in about three months, the university said.

A year after COVID-19 superspreader, family finds closure

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. – With dish soap, brushes and plastic water jugs in hand, Carole Rae Woodmansee’s four children cleaned the gravestone their mother shares with their father, Jim. Each scrub shined engraved letters spelling out their mother’s name and the days of her birth and death: March 27, 1939, and March 27, 2020.

Carole passed away on her 81st birthday.

That morning marked a year since she died of complications of COVID-19 after contracting it during a choir practice that sickened 53 people and killed two — a superspreader event that would become one of the most pivotal transmission episodes in understanding the virus.

For the siblings, the somber anniversary offered a chance at closure after the pandemic stunted their mourning. They were finally holding a memorial befitting of their mother’s footprint in the community.

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“The hardest thing is that there was no goodbye. It was like she just disappeared,” said Carole’s youngest child, Wendy Jensen.

After cleaning, the siblings reminisce. They say their father must be happy to be back with his wife of 46 years. They thank them for being good parents and recall how their mother used to say “my” before calling their names and those of other loved ones.

“I was always ‘My Bonnie,’” Bonnie Dawson tells her siblings. “I miss being ‘My Bonnie.’”

“She had been missing Dad for a long time,” eldest sibling Linda Holeman adds. Their father, Jim, passed away in 2003.

Of the more than 550,000 people who have died of the virus in the United States, Carole was among the first. Her death came just weeks after the first reported outbreak at a nursing home in Kirkland, about an hour south of Mount Vernon. Carole, who survived heart surgery and cancer, had fallen ill at her home. Bonnie took care of her until they called the paramedics.

March 27, 2021: Family members and friends sing as they gather around the headstone Carole Rae Woodmansee shares with her husband Jim (who died in 2003) at Union Cemetery in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., north of Seattle, following a memorial service.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“You’re trying to say goodbye to your mom, and they’re telling you to get back. It was a very hard, emotional … to have to yell, ‘I love you, Mom,’ as she’s being wheeled out the door with men standing in our yard 10 feet out because they didn’t want to be near our house,” Bonnie said.

The rehearsal of the Skagit Valley Chorale, a community choir made up mostly of retirees and not associated with the church where they practiced, happened two weeks before Gov. Jay Inslee shut down the state. The choir had taken the precautions known at the time, such as distancing themselves and sanitizing. But someone had the virus.

“The choir themselves called us directly, and they left a voicemail. The voicemail said a positive person in the choir, 24 people now sick,” said Lea Hamner, communicable disease and epidemiology lead for Skagit County Public Health. “It was immediately evident that we had a big problem.”

Hamner and her team went to work interviewing choir members, often repeatedly, and those with whom they came in contact after the practice, a total of 122 people. They meticulously pieced together the evening, tracking things like where people sat and who ate cookies or stacked chairs.

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That level of access and detail is rare among outbreak investigations, Hamner said, so when cases waned in the county a few weeks later, she sat down to write a report.

“There was a lot of resistance to calling it an airborne disease,” Hamner said. “But we found this middle ground of this disease that can both be droplet and airborne. So that was a big shift. After the paper, the CDC started to acknowledge airborne transmission.”

The outbreak had gained notoriety after a Los Angeles Times article, prompting other researchers to study the event, further cementing the conclusion that the virus traveled through the air at the rehearsal.

“I think this outbreak in the choir is viewed … as the one event that really woke people up to the idea that the virus could be spreading through the air,” said Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech professor and expert in airborne transmission. Marr was among 239 experts who successfully lobbied the World Health Organization to change its guidelines on transmission.

The other person who died from the choir practice was 83-year-old Nancy “Nicki” Hamilton. Originally from New York, Hamilton settled north of Seattle in the 1990s. She put out a personal ad in the Everett Herald, and that’s how she met her husband.

“We went down to the bowling alley in Everett,” said 85-year-old Victor Hamilton. “We picked it up from there.”

Hamilton hasn’t been able to hold a memorial for her. Their families are spread throughout the country, and he’d like to have it in New York City if possible. He’s eyeing June 21 — her birthday.

In nearby Mount Vernon, family and friends stream into Radius Church, gazing at an installation of a few dozen photos of Carole that the siblings put together. Wendy also displays a quilt her daughter made using Carole’s music camp T-shirts.

Pastor Ken Hubbard tells attendees the service isn’t really a funeral, but a memorial, a chance to share stories about Carole.

“I’m pretty sure her prayers saved my life a time or two,” grandson David Woodmansee says.

Loved ones recall Carole’s devotion to her family, faith and music. Others remember how she welcomed them into her family, gave piano lessons and did volunteer work for her church.

They sing “Blessed Assurance,” her favorite hymn. Its lyrics were among her last words to her children from the hospital.

After the service, the family returns to the cemetery to lay flowers. They sing again too, closing the day with a spontaneous, smile-filled rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Later, Wendy reflects on the choir practice where her mother contracted the virus, noting the knowledge gained from it that helped advance preventative measures.

“As far as we know, that was God’s plan, for her to be a help in that.”

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“I think my mom would be willing to give up her life in order to save lives,” Bonnie said. “That was the kind of person she was.”

US suicides dropped amid coronavirus, defying pandemic expectations

NEW YORK – [Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)]

The number of U.S. suicides fell nearly 6% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic — the largest annual decline in at least four decades, according to preliminary government data.

Death certificates are still coming in and the count could rise. But officials expect a substantial decline will endure, despite worries that COVID-19 could lead to more suicides.

It is hard to say exactly why suicide deaths dropped so much, but one factor may be a phenomenon seen in the early stages of wars and national disasters, some experts suggested.

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“There’s a heroism phase in every disaster period, where we’re banding together and expressing lots of messages of support that we’re in this together,” said Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “You saw that, at least in the early months of the pandemic.”

An increase in the availability of telehealth services and other efforts to turn around the nation’s suicide problem may have also contributed, she said.

The number of U.S. suicides fell nearly 6% in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic — the largest annual decline in at least four decades, according to preliminary government data.
(AP Photo/David Goldman)

U.S. suicides steadily rose from the early 2000s until 2018, when the national suicide rate hit its highest level since 1941. The rate finally fell slightly in 2019. Experts credited increased mental health screenings and other suicide prevention efforts.

The number fell further last year, to below 45,000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a recent report. It was the lowest number of U.S. suicide deaths since 2015.

Many worried that such progress might end when COVID-19 arrived.

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The pandemic sparked a wave of business closures. Millions of people were forced to stay at home, many of them alone. In surveys, more Americans reported depression, anxiety and drug and alcohol use. Adding to that dangerous mix, firearm purchases rose 85% in March 2020.

But the spring of last year actually saw the year’s most dramatic decline in suicide numbers, said the CDC’s Farida Ahmad, the lead author of a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association that detailed the decline.

Suicide had been the nation’s 10th leading cause of death, but dropped to 11th in 2020. That was mainly due to the arrival of COVID-19, which killed at least 345,000 Americans and became the nation’s No. 3 killer. But the decline in suicide deaths also contributed to the ranking fall.

The CDC has not yet reported national suicide rates for 2020, nor has it provided a breakdown of suicides by state, age or race and ethnicity.

Moutier is anxious to see more data. For example, while overall suicides decreased last year, it’s possible that suicides by youths and young adults did not, she said.

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She’s optimistic the recent declines will mark the beginning of a lasting trend. But she also worries there may be a delayed effect on the mental health of many people, as they get past the pandemic’s initial threats but sink into grieving the people and things they lost.

“There’s sort of an evolution of mental health distress,” she said. “It’s possible we will see the whole mental health ramifications of this pandemic” later.

Coronavirus survivors might experience more intense COVID-19 vaccine side effects, experts say

Coronavirus survivors who receive the COVID-19 vaccine may experience more intense side effects following the first dose, experts say. 

Two small studies, one from researchers with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and the other from researchers at the University of Maryland, suggested that those who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, were more likely to have side effects from the first shot. Both studies also found that those who already had the virus developed higher levels of antibodies following their first shot compared to those who were not previously infected. 

Experts say this response is likely because a survivor’s immune system already recognizes the virus.

“When your immune system is seeing something that you’ve seen before, you’re all revved up for it,” Dr. Mark Cohen, the chief medical officer at Piedmont Hospital, in Atlanta, Ga., told a local news station. “So the cell response, the antibody response comes on much faster, much more [intensely. And with that is all the inflammatory activity that comes along with it.”

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“Tylenol, Ibuprofen is very effective at knocking those out in a day, a day and a half. It’s very short,” Cohen added of how to mitigate any post-vaccination symptoms. 

Since the coronavirus vaccine rollout, experts have stressed the importance of receiving the second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccine, both of which require two doses, even if you experience intense side effects following the first shot. 

While those who have received the first dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer jabs have some level of immunity against the novel coronavirus, people are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks following their second dose. Both vaccines are considered about 95% effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus infection following the second dose, and, at this time, immunity for both vaccines is thought to last for at least six months. 

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MRNA VACCINES AND CONVENTIONAL ONES?

But questions remain around what possible impact on immunity receiving just one dose could have.

“When you just leave it at one dose, the question is, how long does it last? And when you’re dealing with variants, you’re in a tenuous zone,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), recently said.

Wisconsin nearing 2M COVID-19 vaccine doses administered

Nearly 2 million people in Wisconsin have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, state health data shows. 

As of Wednesday, about 34% of Wisconsin residents — roughly 1,987,677 people — have received at least one dose, while about 21%, or some 1.2 million residents, have completed their vaccine series. 

Health officials administered more than 49,000 doses on Tuesday alone. Wisconsin has a 7-day average of 49,498 doses administered, per state health estimates. 

The news comes after one health official said last month that the Badger State could see coronavirus herd immunity by July amid the vaccination efforts there. 

MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 IN WISCONSIN THAN HAVE BEEN INFECTED, STATE HEALTH DATA SHOWS

Julie Willems Van Dijk, the deputy state health secretary in Wisconsin, said in March that the state should have enough COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June to vaccinate some 80% of residents age 16 and older. If this occurs, the state could achieve herd immunity by July, she said at the time. 

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Vaccine eligibility expanded in the state last month as well, with those ages 16 to 64 with certain underlying medical conditions now able to get the vaccine. However, state health officials, in line with a directive from President Joe Biden, expect to make all residents ages 16 and older eligible by May 1, regardless if they have an underlying health condition or not.