Coronavirus positives in Bradenton and Hillsborough Counties (Sarasota: cost of, guidelines)

[wondermint2]

Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Offers Strong Protection but Fuels Concern About Variants

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

The vaccine’s efficacy rate dropped from 72 percent in the United States to just 57 percent in South Africa, where a highly contagious variant is driving most cases.

The variant from South Africa, known as B.1.351, could make things even worse for the vaccine push. Given the speed at which the variant swept through that country, it is conceivable that by April it could make up a large fraction of infections in the United States.

The vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna also show significantly weaker responses against the South African variant. Tests have shown Moderna’s vaccine has a “sixfold reduction” in the antibodies’ effectiveness against the variant, and Pfizer also noted its own reductions, McClatchy News reported.

While less effective than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Johnson & Johnson’s is still considered a strong vaccine by scientists. Annual flu vaccines, for example, are typically 40 to 60 percent effective.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate would require only one shot, as opposed to the two shots required with the Pfizer and Moderna options.

Johnson & Johnson said that it planned to apply for emergency authorization of the vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as next week, putting it on track to receive clearance later in February.

[wondermint2]

Waiting for a vaccine appointment in Sarasota County? Now you can know your place in line

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.her...amp/4306371001

About 10 days after launching a new COVID-19 vaccine registration system, Sarasota County is finally letting people know where their place in line is.

Registrants will now be able to go in at any time to see just how close – or far – they are from getting an appointment.

The new feature comes after people complained that they had registered for a spot in line but had no clue where they stood.

Unlike Manatee County, which uses a lottery to determine appointments, Sarasota’s system is first come, first served.

To see their number, those registered need to log in to the county’s appointment system at: https://member.everbridge.net/730492332670985/login
Their number will show as their account number.

New registrants will be issued a number when they first sign up.

As of 9:15 Friday morning 104,770 were registered to get vaccinated. Sarasota had scheduled 4,072 appointments as of Thursday.

Whoever is 4,073 in line will get the next appointment.

[wondermint2]

Florida residents who want a COVID vaccine can now pre-register online, save their spot

https://www.bradenton.com/news/coron...248865214.html

Seniors 65 and older and people with health conditions that make them extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 can now “save their place in line” by pre-registering for the vaccine in Florida through a new website.

Healthcare workers with direct patient contact and long-term care residents and staff can also pre-register for the COVID-19 vaccine through the new website at: https://myvaccine.fl.gov/

Anyone who pre-registers for a vaccine appointment will be notified when slots become available at state-supported vaccination sites in their county, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is tasked with the state’s vaccine distribution.

Florida residents who do not meet the priority criteria can also sign up to receive email updates to learn when they will be eligible to receive the vaccine.

[wondermint2]

Look Out, Pfizer and Moderna: Here Comes Novavax

https://news.google.com/articles/CBM...S&ceid=US%3Aen

There's a new big story in the coronavirus vaccine race. After the market closed on Thursday, another drugmaker announced positive results from a late-stage study of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Novavax's results from its late-stage study conducted in the U.K. should make its COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, a real contender. The biotech reported that its vaccine achieved efficacy of 89.3%.

Sure, that's a little below the 94.1% and 95% efficacy for Moderna's and Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccines, respectively. However, it's definitely close enough to put NVX-CoV2373 in the top tier of COVID-19 vaccines. When full data are available, the small gap could potentially be reduced.

Novavax's announcement is great news for people in the U.K. Clive Dix, interim chair of the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce, called the results "spectacular." It seems very likely that Novavax will soon secure authorization in the U.K. for NVX-CoV2373 based on its positive data.

However, it's still a waiting game in the U.S. Novavax kicked off its Prevent-19 late-stage study of NVX-CoV2373 in the U.S. and Mexico in late December.

There were some potentially worrisome signs reported by Novavax that could also be concerns for Pfizer and Moderna, though. In a separate phase 2b study conducted in South Africa, NVX-CoV2373 achieved only 60% efficacy in participants who were HIV-negative and 49.4% efficacy overall. Most of the patients who were later diagnosed with COVID-19 were infected with the South African variant. Novavax plans to move forward with clinical studies for boosters and/or combination bivalent vaccines targeting new coronavirus strains.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Florida residents who want a COVID vaccine can now pre-register online, save their spot

Update

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.her...amp/4309414001

The state of Florida introduced a new vaccine registration system for appointments Friday morning, but it is not clear how the new system will affect the hundreds of thousands already in line in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

The state’s new website allows people to register and be notified when there are doses of the vaccine and appointments available where they live. Registrants, according to information released by the Florida Department of Health, will then be contacted and “be assisted in scheduling an appointment.”

There is also a number to call in each county for people who want to register but don’t have access to the internet.

“Whether a resident calls by phone or visits: https://myvaccine.fl.gov/
their place in line will be reserved reliably using Sharecare software,” the state said in a press release.

Samantha Bequer, press secretary for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said counties can decide whether they want to opt-in to the new registration system or not. But if they chose to go participate, “the state will work with them to merge existing waitlists.”

Manatee and Sarasota county officials have not said yet if they would opt-in.

Manatee’s spokesman said the matter was “being discussed.”

How, or if, the new registration site will affect those already waiting in Sarasota and Manatee is unclear, though.

Both counties, and others in the state, have created their own registration systems in recent weeks to help manage the nearly overwhelming number of people wanting a chance to get a vaccine that is in short supply.

Sarasota County, which just upgraded its system yesterday to make it easier to track where a person was in line, said this morning that 104,770 people are already registered.

Manatee County has said more than 130,000 people are registered for its lottery system.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Florida residents who want a COVID vaccine can now pre-register online, save their spot

Update # 2

Sarasota and Manatee counties opt out of statewide vaccination registration system

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.her...amp/4309414001

Both Manatee County and Sarasota County have opted out of a new vaccine registration system launched by the state Friday morning.

"More than 100,000 parties have enrolled in our standby pool, and we don’t want to cause confusion locally by asking people to enroll in a separate system," Nick Azzara, a spokesman for Manatee, said in an email.

"Like many other Florida counties that have had an online registration up and running for several weeks," he said, "Manatee County is opting out of the new state enrollment system.

Florida's new registration system for vaccination appointments was launched Friday morning to some confusion, leaving hundreds of thousands already in line in Sarasota and Manatee Counties confused about where they stood.

Steve Huard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota, said the county plans to stick to its current system.

"We continue working through" what's already in place, he said.

[wondermint2]

5,100 more COVID-19 vaccine appointments to be scheduled for Manatee County seniors

https://www.bradenton.com/news/coron...248876629.html

Starting Monday, another 5,400 seniors will be contacted to confirm appointments for a vaccine. This round of shots will be administered between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5 at Tom Bennett Park, 400 Cypress Creek Blvd., Bradenton. The county says 1,700 appointments will be booked per day.

As officials begin scheduling new COVID-19 appointments next week, Manatee County is warning residents not to sign up for a vaccine using the state’s new COVID-19 vaccination registration website.

Because there are no state-run vaccination locations in the county, signing up through the state’s system will not expedite or ensure a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. Instead, residents are urged to visit: https://mcg-covid19.s3-us-gov-west-1...com/index.html
to sign up, as long as they are at least 65 years old and have proof of Florida residency.

“We understand many seniors are extremely anxious to get their vaccinations, but the new state enrollment site will not result in an appointment at one of the county’s vaccination sites at this time,” Public Safety Director Jacob Saur said in a prepared statement Friday afternoon. “If people are in our standby pool, they’ve done all they should to be ready.”

[wondermint2]

Brazil’s New COVID Strain Raises Big — and Scary — Questions

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

What is happening in Manaus? In the U.S., mercifully, the pandemic appears to be gradually subsiding, for now — even as Joe Biden warned, in his inauguration speech, that the darkest and deadliest months may still be ahead, the number of newly infected Americans had already fallen dramatically from its late-December peak.

The U.K. and South Africa strains have generated both the most coverage and the most research, but the most concerning may be the Brazilian one, also called P.1.

In the Amazonian city of Manaus, where antibodies had been previously estimated in 76 percent of the population, there has been a horrifying and deadly dramatic second wave, right in the middle of Brazilian summer in a place believed to have developed a quite robust community immune protection and perhaps true herd immunity.

A new “Comment” published Wednesday in the Lancet surveys what we know about the Manaus variant, and offers four possible explanations for what has happened there. None of them are good. Three are quite terrifying.

[wondermint2]

CDC issues rule requiring travelers to wear face masks

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

All travelers using public transportation will now be required to wear a face mask, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a new order issued late Friday aimed at containing Covid-19 case counts across the country.

Passengers will be required to follow the new rule while “boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel” on planes, buses, subways, trains, ferries and ride-share vehicles, the guidelines say.

The new order states masks must completely cover a traveler's nose and mouth. Face shields, scarves and bandanas are not permissible forms of coverings, the CDC said.

Children who are under 2 years old and those who can’t wear a mask due to a disability are exempted from the order, which is is set to take effect on Monday at 11:59 p.m.

The CDC’s new rule goes further than an executive order signed by President Joe Biden last week that required face masks to be worn on federal properties and during interstate travel.

The CDC said that while it “reserves the right” to enforce the order through criminal penalties, it will be relying on an honors system practiced by passengers.

[wondermint2]

COVID-19 vaccine has arrived for school employees 65 and older in Manatee County

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/co...ty/ar-BB1dern9

Monday marks the first day of February and the start of a new school week. But for hundreds of employees in the School District of Manatee County, it will mean so much more.

In the days leading up to the weekend, district leaders sent a message to approximately 300 employees age 65 and older: COVID-19 vaccinations will be available at two school campuses on Monday and Tuesday.

"The vaccine given will be the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which requires two doses 28 days apart," the message continues. "Information on scheduling an appointment for the second vaccination will be provided at a later date via email."

Through a partnership between MCR Health, the school district and the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County, any eligible employee can sign up for a vaccine.

Those employees will receive a vaccine at either Southeast High School or Manatee Elementary School. MCR Health operates a clinic at each campus.

Until the recent announcement, school district employees had to sign up for the county's standby pool and hope for the best. That list included more than 100,000 people as of Friday.