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WHO says some information suggests elevated danger of hospitalization

WHO says some data suggests increased risk of hospitalization

Maria Van Kerkhove, Head of the Emerging Diseases and Zoonosis Division of the World Health Organization, speaks during a press conference following a meeting of the Emergency Committee on the new coronavirus in Geneva on January 22, 2020.

Pierre Albouy | AFP | Getty Images

A senior World Health Organization official said Tuesday that data from some countries may suggest that the Delta variant puts those infected at increased risk of hospitalization, but doesn’t necessarily kill more people than other strains.

“In terms of severity, we’ve seen some countries suggest an increased risk of hospitalization for people with a Delta variant. We haven’t seen this lead to an increased death rate, ”said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical director on Covid-19. People infected with the Delta variant “didn’t die more often than the other strains,” she said.

Health officials have been grappling with the question for months, waiting for real data in countries where the delta variant is widespread. Van Kerkhove said WHO officials meet daily to discuss the rapidly spreading variant.

Like other strains, the Delta variant is especially dangerous for people with underlying conditions like obesity, diabetes, or heart disease, say WHO officials. However, it is far more contagious than other varieties, so it infects more people and puts a strain on global health systems.

“The risk factors for serious illness and death are the same,” said Van Kerkhove. “If you have underlying illnesses, regardless of your age, you have an increased risk of hospitalization.”

The Delta variant also quickly overtakes all other variants wherever it is recognized, she said.

“The prevalence of the lambda variant is falling … and the delta variant is increasing,” said Van Kerhove. “The delta variant quickly replaces other variants that are in circulation wherever it is identified.”

It is spreading in Central and South American countries and is quickly overtaking the lambda variant that is currently predominant there.

“We still don’t know exactly what impact the delta will have on Latin American countries,” said Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, Incident Manager for the Pan American Health Organization, at a briefing last week.

The delta variant, first discovered by scientists in India in October, has so far spread to at least 142 countries. Found only a few months ago in the US, it now accounts for more than 90% of all sequenced cases, according to the CDC.

The most at risk in the US have been fully vaccinated, with booster doses approved on Friday for people with compromised immune systems and available immediately for administration.

There are currently discussions about opening booster doses to the general population, a move that would violate WHO’s strict recommendations to share doses with the rest of the world before booster doses are given to people who have already received their first vaccinations .

More than 200 million people worldwide have contracted Covid since the pandemic began, doubling from 100 million cases in the past six months. With the more transferable Delta variant spreading rapidly, the number could easily hit 300 million early next year, WHO officials said last week.

“Whether we reach 300 million and how quickly we get there depends on all of us,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week.

– CNBC’s Robert Towey contributed to this report.

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Israeli Knowledge Suggests Potential Waning in Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine

Israeli Data Suggests Possible Waning in Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine

As Israel struggles with a new surge of coronavirus cases, its health ministry reported on Thursday that although effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine remains high against severe illness, its protection against infection by the coronavirus may have diminished significantly compared with this winter and early spring.

Analyzing the government’s national health statistics, researchers estimated that the Pfizer shot was just 39 percent effective against preventing infection in the country in late June and early July, compared with 95 percent from January to early April. In both time periods, however, the shot was more than 90 percent effective in preventing severe disease.

Israeli scientists cautioned that the new study is much smaller than the first and that it measured cases in a narrower window of time. As a result, a much larger range of uncertainties flank their estimates, which could also be skewed by a variety of other factors.

Dr. Ran Balicer, the chairman of Israel’s Covid-19 National Expert Advisory Panel, said that the challenges of making accurate estimates of vaccine effectiveness were “immense.” He said that more careful analysis of the raw data was needed to understand what is going on.

“I think that data should be taken very cautiously because of small numbers,” said Eran Segal, a biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science who is a consultant to the Israeli government on vaccines.

Nevertheless, the new estimates are raising concern both in Israel and elsewhere, including the United States, that the vaccine might be losing some of its effectiveness. Possible reasons include the rise of the highly contagious Delta variant or a waning of protection from the shots over time.

Israel launched an aggressive campaign with the Pfizer vaccine in January, and the country has achieved one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 58 percent of the population fully vaccinated. At the start of the campaign, government researchers began estimating how much the shot reduced people’s risk of getting Covid-19.

They published their results in May, based on records from Jan. 24 to April 3: They estimated that the vaccine was 95 percent effective in preventing infection from the coronavirus in the country. In other words, the risk of getting Covid-19 was nearly 100 percent reduced in vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated ones. The researchers also estimated that the vaccine was 97.5 percent effective against severe disease.

From a peak of over 8,600 cases a day in January, cases plummeted in the following months until only a few dozen people were testing positive on a daily basis across Israel. The vaccine most likely played a part in that drop, along with the tight restrictions that the government imposed on travel and meetings.

Israel began relaxing its restrictions in the spring. In late June, the cases surged again. Now, over a thousand people are testing positive each day, leading Israel to restore some restrictions this week.

Updated 

July 23, 2021, 2:47 p.m. ET

Some of the people that tested positive for the coronavirus in the new surge were fully vaccinated. Epidemiologists had expected such breakthrough infections, as they do with all vaccines.

Researchers at the Ministry of Health took another look at the effectiveness of the vaccine, limiting their analysis to the surge from June 6 to July 3. In that period, they estimated, the effectiveness of the vaccine at preventing infections was down to 64 percent.

More recently, they ran another analysis. This time, they looked at cases between June 20 and July 17. In that period, they estimated, the vaccine’s effectiveness was even lower: just 39 percent against infection.

Still, they estimated that the vaccine’s effectiveness against serious disease remained high, at 91.4 percent.

If a vaccine has an effectiveness of 39 percent that does not mean that 61 percent of people who got vaccinated were infected by the coronavirus. Instead, it means the risk of getting infected is 39 percent less among vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated. So even at that lower percentage, the data shows that vaccinated people have significantly less risk of getting infected than unvaccinated people.

The small number of people in the latest study means that the true effectiveness might be lower or higher. Making the numbers even more uncertain is the fact that the new surge has not yet spread evenly across the whole country. Travelers who have picked up the highly contagious Delta variant have brought it back to neighborhoods where vaccination rates are relatively high.

Understand the State of Vaccine Mandates in the U.S.

The new outbreaks have yet to swamp communities of Orthodox Jews or Arab Israelis, where vaccination rates are lower. That imbalance may make the vaccine seem less effective than it really is.

Also, the ages of people vaccinated vary significantly during the different time periods studied. For example, the people who got their vaccines in January were different than those who got them in April in one major respect: They were over 60. If more people who got vaccinated in January are now getting infected, it may not have to do with the vaccine itself, but with their advanced age — or some other factor that researchers have yet to take into consideration.

Still, the new estimates have prompted some researchers to ponder what might be happening to the vaccines. The Delta variant grew more common in Israel in June, raising the possibility that it might be good at evading the vaccine.

In Britain, where Delta began surging earlier in the year, researchers estimated the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the variant, based on a review of everyone in the United Kingdom who got vaccinated up till May 16. On Wednesday, they reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that it is 88 percent effective against symptomatic Covid-19.

Another possibility is that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is gradually becoming less potent. The Ministry of Health researchers found that people who were inoculated in January were having breakthrough infections at a greater rate than people vaccinated in April.

If the vaccine is indeed waning after six months, the implications can be enormous. It can influence the Israeli government’s current deliberations about whether to give people a third shot. Dr. Segal says that if the vaccines are indeed losing some of their potency, then it might be wise to roll out boosters to fight the Delta-driven outbreak.

“If a third booster is safe and if it seems that it really would give a benefit, I think this is something we should definitely do as quickly as possible,” he said.

Dr. Balicer, who is also the chief innovation officer at Clalit Health Services, said that he and his colleagues are working on their own study on the effectiveness of the vaccine in Israel, using Clalit’s health care records to take into account such confounding factors.

“I think there is definitely some waning, but not as much as hypothesized based on the crude data, and it’s not just waning to blame,” Dr. Balicer said. “We are now trying to figure it out in a clean way.”

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One Dose of J.&J. Vaccine Is Ineffective Towards Delta, Examine Suggests

One Dose of J.&J. Vaccine Is Ineffective Against Delta, Study Suggests

The coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson is much less effective against the Delta and Lambda variants than against the original virus, according to a new study published online on Tuesday.

The results show that the 13 million people who used the J. & J. The vaccine may need to be given a second dose – ideally one of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines, the authors said.

However, the conclusions contradict those from smaller studies published earlier this month by Johnson & Johnson, which suggest that a single dose of the vaccine is effective against the variant even eight months after being vaccinated.

The new study had not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal and was based on laboratory experiments. However, it is consistent with observations that a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine – which has a similar architecture to the J. & J. Vaccine – only shows about 33 percent effectiveness against symptomatic diseases caused by the Delta variant.

“The message we wanted to get across wasn’t that people were making the J. & J. Vaccine, but we hope it will be reinforced with in the future either another dose of J. & J. or a boost with Pfizer or Moderna, ”said Nathaniel Landau, a virologist at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine who led the study.

Other experts said the results are what they expected as all vaccines seem to work better when given in two doses. “I have always thought and often said that J. & J. Vaccine is a two-dose vaccine, ”said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Dr. Moore pointed to several studies in monkeys and humans that showed greater effectiveness with two doses of the J. & J. Vaccine compared to a dose. He said the new study was particularly credible because it was published by a team with no ties to any of the vaccine manufacturers.

But the data from the new study “doesn’t speak about the whole nature of immune protection,” said Seema Kumar, a spokeswoman for J. & J. Company-sponsored studies suggest that the vaccine “produces strong, sustained activity against the rapidly spreading Delta variant,” she said.

The delta variant is the most contagious version of the coronavirus to date. It accounts for 83 percent of infections in the United States, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

The variant could also be responsible for a recent surge in infections: although they’re still low compared to last winter, cases are increasing in all 50 states and hospital admissions are increasing in almost all. In the two weeks ended Tuesday, there were an average of 268 deaths per day in the nation.

Delta can cause more breakthrough infections than previous forms of the virus, but more than 99 percent of hospitalizations and deaths occur in unvaccinated people. The vaccination rates in the country have stalled, almost 60 percent of adults are fully protected against the virus.

Several studies have shown that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines retain their effectiveness against the coronavirus, including all variants identified so far. For example, a recent study showed that the vaccines trigger a sustained immune response in the body that can protect against the coronavirus for years.

Updated

July 20, 2021, 4:10 p.m. ET

But evidence for the J. & J. The vaccine was limited as it was introduced later than the mRNA vaccines. Most of the studies on the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines were conducted in medical centers and hospitals, based on samples from staff who had received the mRNA vaccines.

The J. & J. The vaccine has also been followed by reports of blood clots and a rare neurological syndrome, as well as contamination problems at a Baltimore manufacturing facility.

Small studies published by researchers associated with J. & J. suggested that the vaccine against the Delta variant was only slightly less effective than against the original virus and that the antibodies stimulated by the vaccine grew in strength within eight months.

Dr. Landau would likely have seen a similar increase in the vaccine’s effectiveness if they looked at the data over time, said Dr. Dan Barouch, a virologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The data for the J. & J. The strength of the vaccine against the Delta variant on day 29 is not much different from what was reported in his own study, said Dr. Barouch.

“Basically, I don’t see any discrepancies,” he said. “The question is that of kinetics, it’s not just size, because immune responses are not static over time.” The new study does not consider other components of the immune system either, he added.

Dr. Landau and colleagues examined blood samples from 17 people who received two doses of an mRNA vaccine and 10 people who received one dose of the J. & J. Vaccination.

The J. & J. Vaccine started with less potency than the mRNA vaccines and showed a greater potency drop against the Delta and Lambda variants. “The lower baseline means that what is left against Delta is very weak,” said Dr. Moors. “That is a major concern.”

Very few vaccines are given as a single dose because the second dose is needed to raise antibody levels, noted Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Persons familiar with the J. & J. Vaccines “rely on this primary response to maintain high levels of antibody, which is particularly difficult against the variants,” she said.

Boosting immunity with a second dose should raise antibody levels high enough to counter the variants, she said.

For the second shot, let’s turn to an mRNA vaccine rather than another J. & J. Shot, Possibly Better: Several studies have shown that combining a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine with a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccine is more effective than two doses of AstraZeneca.

The Food and Drug Administration has said, “Americans who have been fully vaccinated don’t need a booster right now,” and the agency is unlikely to change its recommendations based on laboratory studies. But the new data should cause the FDA to reconsider its recommendations, said Dr. Landau: “I hope you read our paper and think about it.”

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The place Does Weed Come From? A New Examine Suggests East Asia.

Cannabis Was Domesticated in East Asia, New Study Suggests

By sequencing genetic samples of the plant, they found that the species had most likely been domesticated by the early Neolithic period. They said their conclusion was supported by pottery and other archaeological evidence from the same period that was discovered in present-day China, Japan and Taiwan.

But Professor Purugganan said he was skeptical about conclusions that the plant was developed for drug or fiber use 12,000 years ago since archaeological evidence show the consistent use or presence of cannabis for those purposes began about 7,500 years ago.

“I would like to see a much larger study with a larger sampling,” he said.

Luca Fumagalli, an author of the study and a biologist in Switzerland who specializes in conservation genetics, said the theory of a Central Asian origin was largely based on observational data of wild samples in that region.

“It’s easy to find feral samples, but these are not wild types,” Dr. Fumagalli said. “These are plants that escaped captivity and readapted to the wild environment.”

“By the way, that’s the reason you call it weed, because it grows anywhere,” he added.

The study was led by Ren Guangpeng, a botanist at Lanzhou University in the western Chinese province of Gansu. Dr. Ren said in an interview that the original site of cannabis domestication was most likely northwestern China, and that the finding could help with current efforts in the country to breed new types of hemp.

To conduct the study, Dr. Ren and his colleagues collected 82 samples, either seeds or leaves, from around the world. The samples included strains that had been selected for fiber production, and others from Europe and North America that were bred to produce high amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s most mood-altering compound.

Dr. Fumagalli and his colleagues then extracted genomic DNA from the samples and sequenced them in a lab in Switzerland. They also downloaded and reanalyzed sequencing data from 28 other samples. The results showed that the wild varieties they analyzed were in fact “historical escapes from domesticated forms,” and that existing strains in China — cultivated and wild — were their closest descendants of the ancestral gene pool.

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Hashish Was Domesticated in East Asia, New Research Suggests

Cannabis Was Domesticated in East Asia, New Study Suggests

By sequencing genetic samples from the plant, they found that the species was most likely domesticated in the early Neolithic. They said their conclusion is supported by pottery and other archaeological evidence from the same period discovered in what is now China, Japan, and Taiwan.

But Professor Purugganan said he was skeptical of the conclusions that the plant was developed for drug or fiber consumption 12,000 years ago, as archaeological evidence shows that cannabis was consistently used or present for these purposes around 7,500 years ago.

“I would like a much larger study with a larger sample,” he said.

Luca Fumagalli, author of the study and a biologist in Switzerland who specializes in conservation genetics, said the theory of Central Asian origin is largely based on observational data from wild samples in that region.

“It is easy to find wild samples, but they are not wild types,” said Dr. Fumagalli. “These are plants that have escaped captivity and adapted to the wild environment.”

“That’s why you call it grass, by the way, because it grows all over the place,” he added.

The study was led by Ren Guangpeng, a botanist at Lanzhou University in western China’s Gansu Province. Dr. Ren said in an interview that the original location of cannabis domestication was most likely in northwest China and that the discovery could help in the country’s current efforts to breed new strains of hemp.

To conduct the study, Dr. Ren and colleagues 82 samples, either seeds or leaves, from around the world. Samples included strains selected for fiber production and others from Europe and North America bred to produce high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s most mood-altering compound.

Dr. Fumagalli and his colleagues then extracted genomic DNA from the samples and sequenced them in a laboratory in Switzerland. They also downloaded and re-analyzed sequencing data from 28 other samples. The results showed that the wild varieties they analyzed were indeed “historical escapes from domesticated forms” and that existing varieties in China – cultivated and wild – were their closest offspring of the ancestral gene pool.

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Hundreds of thousands might be affected by lengthy Covid, British research suggests

Symptoms, spread and what to look out for

Healthcare workers in North Memorial’s 2019s South Six and South Seven Intensive Care Units treated patients critically ill with COVID-19 on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020 at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minn.

Aaron Lavinsky | Star Tribune via Getty Images

A study in England looking at persistent Covid-19 symptoms suggests that around 2 million people in the country may have had the condition known as “long Covid.”

The study, part of Imperial College London’s REACT research which is tracking the virus in England, saw 508,707 people across the country of roughly 56 million asked whether they’d had Covid (confirmed or suspected), and asked about the presence and duration of 29 different symptoms linked to the virus.

Among the 76,155 participants that said they had experienced a symptomatic Covid infection, 37.7% said they experienced at least one symptom lasting 12 weeks or more, while almost 15% of people said they had experienced three or more symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more.

The symptoms of long Covid can vary, with people reporting ongoing fatigue, shortness of breath, memory loss or problems with concentration (dubbed “brain fog”), insomnia, chest pain or dizziness, as well as other symptoms. But it is still poorly understood and scientists don’t yet know why some people continue to have symptoms post-Covid, and others none.

“In this large community-based study of symptoms following Covid-19 among adults aged 18 years and above in England, participants reported high prevalence of persistent symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more,” the researchers at Imperial noted of their latest study.

Extrapolating the findings in the study to the wider Covid backdrop in England, where there have been 4.07 million Covid cases confirmed to date, the study could mean that over 2 million adults who have had the virus in England may have experienced some form of long Covid.

“Estimates ranged from 5.8% of the population experiencing one or more persistent symptoms post-Covid-19 (corresponding to over 2 million adults in England), to 2.2% for three or more persistent symptoms (just under a million adults in England),” the researchers noted.

They said that their estimates of the proportion of people with persistent Covid symptoms were higher than in many other studies, although previous estimates have varied widely.

“Our comparatively high estimate, at 37.7% of people with Covid-19 experiencing one or more symptoms at 12 weeks, may partly reflect the large list of symptoms we surveyed, many of which are common and not specific to Covid-19. However, we asked participants only about symptoms that they related to a confirmed or suspected episode of Covid-19, and not to symptoms more generally.”

Scientists are still investigating long Covid, and experts have urged the British government to address its public health implications; the National Health Service has opened long Covid assessment centers, for example.

“A substantial proportion of people with symptomatic Covid-19 go on to have persistent symptoms for 12 weeks or more, which is age-dependent. Clinicians need to be aware of the differing manifestations of Long Covid which may require tailored therapeutic approaches,” researchers at Imperial said.

The survey data was collected between Sept. 15 last year and Feb. 8 and the study is a preprint, and has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal. 

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70 % Covid Vaccination Fee Might Be in Attain, New Ballot Suggests

70 Percent Covid Vaccination Rate May Be in Reach, New Poll Suggests

A new poll suggests the US may be on track to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the adult population against Covid-19 by the summer.

In the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 62 percent of respondents said they had received at least one dose of vaccine, up from 56 percent in April. At the same time, around a third of those classified as “waiting” stated that they had already made vaccine appointments or that they would have planned to do so shortly.

Dr. William Schaffner, National Infectious Disease Foundation medical director and vaccine expert, found the results encouraging.

“I think there are many people on the fence worried about things moving too fast and possible side effects. However, those concerns will be allayed as more friends and acquaintances celebrate the vaccination,” said Dr. Schaffner, who did not participate in the monthly survey, the Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor.

“You get a growing sense of comfort and security that ‘people like me’ will be vaccinated,” which he said was essential in building confidence in the vaccines.

The two populations that saw the largest increases in vaccination rates from April to May were Latino adults (from 47 percent to 57 percent) and adults without a college degree (from 48 percent to 55 percent).

The telephone survey of 1,526 adults was conducted in English and Spanish from May 18-25.

On May 10, the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for children 12 years and older. The survey found that 40 percent of parents said either their child has already received at least one dose or will soon receive one.

However, the parents of younger children were much more cautious. Only about a quarter expressed willingness to have their children vaccinated once the shots have been approved for them.

The results suggest that efforts to protect as many young students as possible from Covid-19 at the start of the school year may face obstacles.

While public health experts welcomed the continued improvement in vaccination rates, they found that the pool of most willing adults was shrinking.

“There is almost no low hanging fruit at this point, but there is a path to a slow but steady increase in vaccination rates through improved access, information, advocacy and incentives,” said Drew Altman, president and chief executive officer of Kaiser Family Foundation.

President Biden’s goal is to achieve 70 percent adult vaccine coverage by July 4th. Dr. Schaffner said he thought the goal was possible. “We have to work harder,” he said.

The survey authors said the target was realistic because in addition to 62 percent of adults who received at least one dose, another 4 percent said they wanted the shot as soon as possible and another 4 percent – a third of the ” “wait and see” group said they had made an appointment or intend to do so within three months.

Despite the positive news, vaccination rates in adults who previously reported significant hesitation (7 percent) or outright rejection (13 percent) have remained unchanged for several months. And a third of the “wait and see” group said they would wait at least a year before taking the picture.

The survey also looked at attitudes towards vaccination incentives and the impact of government news about the shots. Financial incentives, such as the million dollar lottery in Ohio for the newly vaccinated, are being pushed back a little.

However, the survey found that such rewards can be successful motivators for people to get the shots. Fifteen percent of non-vaccinated adults in the survey said their state’s offer of $ 100 may make them reconsider, as well as free transportation and tickets to a sporting event or concert.

Earlier this month, people vaccinated at an event at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama were able to complete two winning laps on the track. (Cars and trucks, yes; motorcycles, no.) Similar incentives are being offered across the country.

About 20 percent of unvaccinated workers said they would be more likely to get the shots if their employer gave them paid time off for the dates and time needed to recover from side effects.

The report also showed that the public had some confidence in the government’s health-related messages, although many were confused by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement earlier this month that vaccinated people could largely avoid face masks and social distancing. Over half said the CDC’s guidelines were generally clear and accessible, but about 40 percent found them confusing and cloudy.

Notably, 85 percent of people who were not vaccinated said that the CDC’s new guidelines no longer made them ready to be vaccinated.

But another cohort viewed government approval as a potential launch vehicle. The survey found that a third of unvaccinated adults, including 44 percent in the “wait and see” group, said they would be more likely to receive a vaccine once it received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech recently announced that they are making progress towards this goal.

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The place are unvaccinated Individuals touring? Massive cities, examine suggests

Where are unvaccinated Americans traveling? Big cities, study suggests

Vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans have different attitudes about traveling this spring, according to a marketing tech company. And they don’t differ in the way you might assume.

Data from New York’s Zeta Global suggests that given the rise in travel bookings, unvaccinated Americans are more comfortable traveling – and to more populated places – than vaccinated people.

Vaccinated people wait longer to travel

Zeta Global conducted a survey of 3,700 US consumers in mid-March and combined the results with information on hotel and airport visits by respondents in February and March.

In the survey, 67% of vaccinated respondents said they won’t travel until the end of May, but only 59% of non-vaccinated Americans said they would wait that long.

Vaccinated care more about health measures

More than 80% of vaccinated people who responded to the survey said they were concerned about public health restrictions at intended destinations, compared with just 38% of unvaccinated travelers who shared this concern.

It is possible that vaccinated people will be more comfortable traveling when there are health restrictions, while non-vaccinated travelers will be more interested in how local restrictions limit their travel, said David Steinberg, CEO of Zeta Global.

The survey found that 62% of unvaccinated travelers were “not at all” concerned with public health restrictions in their travel destinations, while only 19% of vaccinated travelers said so.

Travel to different places

Zeta Global data showed that the top travel destinations for February and March as a whole were New York City, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and two cities in Florida – Orlando and Tampa.

However, the trends diverged when broken down by travelers’ vaccination status, said Neej Gore, the company’s chief data officer.

Top travel destinations for vaccinated travelers

  • Minneapolis-St. Paul
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Washington, DC
  • Boston
  • Baltimore
  • Cincinnati
  • Indianapolis

Source: Zeta Global, hotel and flight visit

“Vaccinated Americans choose locations in the Northeast and Midwest,” Gore told CNBC, adding that the unimmunized had traveled to locations in the south and locations along the west coast.

Top travel destinations for unvaccinated travelers

  • Houston
  • Miami-Fort Lauderdale
  • The angel
  • Salt Lake City
  • San Antonio
  • Seattle-Tacoma
  • Austin, Texas
  • Little Rock, Ark.

Source: Zeta Global, hotel and flight visit

However, April travel data showed a shift in travel habits. Unvaccinated people went to densely populated cities, while the unvaccinated went to vast areas according to travel dates compiled by Zeta.

“Las Vegas is the city with the greatest relative change,” said Gore, citing data showing that the number of unvaccinated travelers visiting Las Vegas hotels tripled in April from the previous month during the month The number of vaccinated visitors there has declined.

Similarly, the number of unvaccinated travelers going to Florida in April increased (+ 6%) but declined (-16%) among vaccinated travelers.

Unofficially known as “Big Sky Country,” Montana attracted more vaccinated than unvaccinated Americans last month.

Mike Kemp | In Pictures Ltd. | Corbis historical | Getty Images

The trends in Florida are primarily due to in-depth travel to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Zeta Global said. Trips there increased by 77% for unvaccinated travelers and 33% for vaccinated travelers.

While the Northeast and Midwest continue to be popular destinations for vaccinated travelers, “more vaccinated respondents are currently traveling to the Northwest,” said Gore, based on data showing an increase in vaccinated travelers to Oregon, Washington, Montana and Dakotas.

Travel to these states did not increase among unvaccinated people, with the exception of Oregon, which, according to the company, is mainly due to increased travel by both groups to Portland.

Northeast Europeans fly less

Adobe’s Digital Economy Index 2021, published last month, showed regional differences in summer travel habits. The report showed that Northeast Europeans fly less than other Americans. The flight bookings in March come from the region and only account for 56% of the prepandemic levels. This number does not match the booking setbacks from the West (63%) and the South (70%) and the Midwest (75%).

Adobe’s research shows that Northeasterners’ flight purchases are more closely related to regional vaccination rates. For every 1% increase in vaccinations in the Northwest, there was a 3.2% increase in flight bookings, the highest of any region in the United States.

It is those who are not vaccinated who should be afraid of traveling.

Harry Severance

Duke University School of Medicine

“The northeast was badly hit in the early days of the pandemic, which likely caused residents to restrict themselves when it came to travel and social interactions,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.

However, the area is densely populated, said Schreiner, so that “viable alternatives for seeing family and friends” exist.

“A large part of the US population is accessible to New York by car,” he said.

“Increased risk” for those not vaccinated

Harry Severance, an associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine, said people who were vaccinated early are more likely to be concerned about contracting Covid-19 and have a better knowledge of the acute and chronic effects of the disease.

“So I suspect that this group will continue to have significant concerns about contracting the disease after vaccination,” he said.

Severance said the thought process is changing as evidence shows people who have been vaccinated are “less susceptible” to Covid-19 infections, and when they do get sick, infections are typically mild with a “significantly reduced ability to spread the disease.” “.

“It is those who are not vaccinated who should be afraid to travel,” he said.

“Those who are not vaccinated are at increased risk when they congregate in large groups of likewise unvaccinated people,” Severance said, “especially when these groups congregate from across the country as the risk increases, various Being exposed to Covid variants. ” . “

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$100 as Incentive to Get a Shot? Experiment Suggests It Can Pay Off.

$100 as Incentive to Get a Shot? Experiment Suggests It Can Pay Off.

What’s the best way to convince the millions of Americans who are not yet vaccinated against Covid-19 to get their shots?

The reassuring public service announcements about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine have increased. But more and more people are realizing that it takes more than information to influence those who hesitate.

In recent randomized survey experiments by the UCLA Covid-19 Health and Politics Project, two seemingly strong incentives emerged.

About a third of the unvaccinated population said paying cash would make them more likely to get a shot. This suggests that some governors are on the right track. For example, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice recently announced that the state would give young people $ 100 bonds if they were vaccinated.

Similarly, willingness to take vaccines increased for those asked about a vaccine if it meant they did not have to wear a mask or social distance in public, compared to a group who were told they still did Do these things.

The UCLA project, which is still ongoing, has surveyed more than 75,000 people in the past 10 months. This collaboration between doctors and social scientists at UCLA and Harvard measures people’s pandemic experiences and attitudes in political and economic terms, while also demonstrating their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

In order to assess the effectiveness of different messages in vaccine intake, the project randomly assigns non-vaccinated respondents to groups who see different information about the benefits of vaccination. Random assignment makes the composition of each group similar. This is important because researchers can conclude that differences between groups in people’s intentions to get vaccinated are due to the messages each group saw, rather than other underlying attributes.

Last October, one group saw messages framing the benefits of vaccination in a selfish way – “It will protect you” – while others saw messages framing the benefits in a more social way: “It will protect you and those around you. “The subtle change did little; About two-thirds of the people in both groups said they intend to take the pictures.

Another experiment examined the persuasiveness of certain endorsements. Proponents included prominent figures such as then President Donald J. Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, but also more personal medical sources like “Your Doctor”.

Most of the effects were minor. The statement by their doctor, pharmacist, or insurer that the vaccine was safe and effective had no discernible impact on vaccination intentions, although confirmation from Dr. Fauci increased the likelihood of admission by about six percentage points.

Endorsement by political figures sparked strong reactions from the partisans, with Mr Trump’s endorsement decreasing acceptance among Democrats in 2020 and increasing acceptance for Republicans to a lesser extent. President Biden’s approval reduced Republican acceptance in 2021. There was evidence in 2021 that Trump approval could increase Republican acceptance, but the impact was much less than when he was in office.

Updated

May 4, 2021, 3:12 p.m. ET

Last month, researchers randomly selected unvaccinated respondents to see news about financial incentives. Some people have been asked about the chances of getting a vaccine if it came with a cash payment of $ 25. other people were asked if they wanted to get $ 50 or $ 100.

About a third of the unvaccinated population said paying cash would make them more likely to get a shot. The benefits were greatest for those in the group who received $ 100, which increased willingness (34 percent said they would get vaccinated) by six points over the $ 25 group.

The effect was greatest for unvaccinated Democrats, 48 ​​percent of whom said they were more likely to be vaccinated if provided with a $ 100 payment.

Some previous research shows that paying for vaccines can backfire, and in the UCLA study, about 15 percent of people who were not vaccinated report a decline in vaccination due to payments. But at this later stage in a vaccination campaign – when attention is now on hesitation – the net benefits seem to be leaning towards payment.

The incentive to stop wearing a mask and to distance oneself socially in public also had a strong result. On average, mask loosening and social distancing guidelines increased the likelihood of vaccine intake by 13 points. The Republicans saw the biggest gains, with an 18-point increase in vaccination readiness.

These results show both the difficulty of getting the remaining unvaccinated people to clinics and the promise of efforts aimed at that. While most of the messaging effects have been minor, cash payments seem to motivate the Democrats, and the relaxation of the warning guidelines seems to be working for the Republicans. (The CDC recently relaxed guidelines for wearing masks outdoors for vaccinated individuals.)

The movement towards vaccinations among the reluctant may increase over time and as people observe the effects of vaccination on those who were vaccinated first. When we asked unvaccinated people why they didn’t try to get a shot, 38 percent said they were concerned about the side effects and 34 percent said they didn’t think the vaccine was safe. Persuasion that shows the brevity or absence of side effects and the safety of the vaccination can allay these fears. Still, a quarter of those unvaccinated say they just don’t trust the government’s motives, and 14 percent say Covid-19 does not pose a threat to them. These people will be harder to convince.

Data from the project shows how eager Americans are to get back to normal activities. Among people who work outside of their home, 76 percent of respondents said they want to go back to the way they did before the pandemic, and 66 percent said it would be safe to do so by April. These numbers are similar regardless of vaccination status.

The April survey also asked people what social activities they had done in the past two weeks. About 30 percent said they eat in a restaurant. 17 percent said they had attended a personal religious meeting. and 11 percent met with a group of more than 10 non-family members. Almost everything took place inside.

The vaccination rates for people doing these activities largely reflect the rates in the general population, which means that not everyone who is on the go has received the vaccine.

32 percent of restaurants said they were fully vaccinated (53 percent said they weren’t vaccinated at all). The balance between people attending face-to-face religious gatherings was roughly the same – 41 percent said they were fully vaccinated and 41 percent said they were not vaccinated at all.

Most people at social events with more than 10 non-family members were not fully vaccinated, although the proportion of people vaccinated was higher at indoor gatherings (40 percent) than at outdoor events (27 percent).

People venture into social spaces, but around them unvaccinated people are still more numerous than those vaccinated in many places – and vaccination rates are slowing down. Reversing this trend takes more than passionate pleas from politicians, friends, or medical professionals. There may be a need to deliver real rewards beyond the health benefits of the vaccine.

Lynn Vavreck, Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Order at UCLA, is a co-author of “Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Controversy for America”. Follow her on Twitter at @vavreck. She is also the Principal Researcher on the UCLA Covid-19 Health and Policy Project, with Arash Naeim, Neil Wenger and Annette Stanton of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Karen Sepucha of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

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Health

A New Research Suggests College students Can Be Simply Three Toes Aside Safely

A New Study Suggests Students Can Be Just 3 Feet Apart Safely

School closings have been a contentious issue since the pandemic broke out, and a new study has sparked debate over the 6-foot rule of social distancing and whether it can be relaxed in the classroom, which would make it easier for children to get to school .

The new study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases last week, suggests that public schools may be safe to reopen for personal instruction as long as children are three feet apart and other mitigation measures such as carrying Masks are respected.

Jill Biden and members of her husband’s administration embarked on a concerted campaign for the safe reopening of schools as parents and educators grew increasingly frustrated with recurring politics from district to district.

When asked about Jake Tapper’s new report on CNN’s State of the Union program on Sunday, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, admits that the study appears to be three feet long enough to contain transmission of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not yet issued official guidelines on shortening the recommended six-foot rule, although Dr. Fauci said the agency is investigating the data.

“What the CDC wants to do is collect data, and when data shows you are three feet tall, they will act accordingly,” said Dr. Fauci. He added that the agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, was informed about the new research results and that the CDC is also carrying out its own studies. “I don’t want to be ahead of the official guidelines,” he said.

Updated

March 14, 2021, 6:19 p.m. ET

While the CDC’s advice remains at six feet of social distancing between students, the World Health Organization has recommended one meter or 3.3 feet of distancing, and the study found the latter was enough to limit school-related cases. The CDC recommendations call for six feet of social distancing in schools in counties with high Covid transmission rates. CDC officials could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Some experts have suggested that toning down on social distancing recommendations could be an important step in getting kids back into the classroom. Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, suggested in a tweet that the CDC guidelines may change and that is “good. Because 6 feet doesn’t protect teachers. But it keeps kids out of school. “

“Do you want to open schools safely? Masks. Ventilation. Testing. Vaccination of teachers / staff. That’s the list, ”tweeted Dr. Yeh.

The new study, published March 10, compared the incidence rates of coronavirus cases among students and staff in Massachusetts school districts that required at least two meters of separation with those that required only three meters of separation, and found no statistically significant differences in infection rates among employees or students.

Class disturbed

Updated March 9, 2021

The latest on how the pandemic is changing education.

The researchers, who controlled community rates of coronavirus in their analysis, concluded that guidelines for less physical distancing in schools can be safely applied as long as other measures, such as universal masking, are in place.

The study’s authors looked at the incidence of coronavirus infections among staff and students in approximately 242 school districts in Massachusetts with varying in-person tuition from September 24 to January 27, 2021.

Children are less likely to need to be hospitalized when infected with the coronavirus, and children under the age of 10 are less likely to be infected than teenagers. The actual incidence of infections may not be known, however, as children and adolescents are far less likely to develop serious illnesses than adults and are less likely to be tested.