Sao Paolo immunizes over 500K people in 34 hours; 99.2% of adults get at least 1 dose

 

From 7:00 pm on Saturday to 7:00 am on Sunday, 13 drive-thru points and three mega stations were open for the immunization of young people between 18 and 21 years old. Saturday (14) registered a record of vaccine applications in a single day: 268,770,000 doses up to 19h.

After 34 uninterrupted hours with the "Virada da Vacina" (Vaccine Marathon), more than 500 thousand people over 18 were immunized against Covid-19 in the city of São Paulo, according to Edson Aparecido, municipal secretary of Health, informed GloboNews .

"We have just closed the numbers of Virada da Vacina. 471,350 doses were registered in our system, we still have 32 thousand doses that did not go up in the system. We exceeded 500 thousand doses applied in 34 hours in the capital", said the secretary.

According to the balance of the secretariat, were applied in the "Virada" 404,398 first doses, 67,020 second doses and 13 single doses. Another 32 thousand doses were applied, but had not yet been released in the city's system until the last update of this article.

According to Aparecido, with this, the city reaches 99.2% of the population over 18 years old with at least one dose of the vaccine against Covid applied. "Now we intend, Monday and Tuesday, to finish completing the vaccination to reach 100% of people over 18 with the first dose in the capital."

The aim of the turnaround was to vaccinate around 600,000 young people from 18 to 21 years old. Saturday (14) registered the record of vaccine applications in a single day: there were 268,770,000 doses up to 19h . Of these, 215,029 were the first dose, 53,734 the second and seven single doses.

In total, the city exceeded the application of 12 million doses since the start of the vaccination campaign in February. Until 17:00 this Sunday, 8,776,321 of the first dose, 3,437,083 of the second dose and 318,179 single doses were applied, totaling 12,531,598.

The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), recalled that the capital had a record of vaccination, with great adherence. "It was very right to carry out the Virada da Vacina Sampa. The balance is very positive and we continue to thank the population of São Paulo for having joined the vaccination," he said.

In addition to the first dose in the target audience, the City of São Paulo also applied the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine this weekend, as many people were unable to get vaccinated between Thursday (12) and Friday (13) due to lack of doses of the immunizing.

According to Aparecido, the supply problem was solved. "We had a supply problem late on Thursday night, we received 210,000 doses on Friday and distributed it to all almost 700 vaccination points in the city of São Paulo. On Saturday and Sunday, we resumed the application of the second dose . We have a normalized stock of AstraZeneca for the application of the second dose. We also have stock of CoronaVac and Pfizer.

After 7:00 pm on Saturday, the UBS and AMAs in the city closed, and until 7:00 am this Sunday, the population had 16 vaccination points, 13 drive-thrus and 3 mega stations.

00:00/01:01

VIDEO: São Paulo city has 34 hours of vaccination in "Virada da Vacina"

During this period, the drive-thru that vaccinated the most was the Anhembi, in the North Zone of the city, with 1,825 vaccines applied. Next, there are the drive-thruses at Shopping Anália Franco (1,779) and at Arena Corinthians (1,584), both in the East Zone of the capital.

At the inauguration of UPA Vila Mariana this Sunday morning (15), Mayor Ricardo Nunes celebrated the numbers of the action. “Adherence was very high, I think it was very right to make the Virada da Vacina, and now we are going to vaccinate until 5 pm today.”

Dawn vaccination points registered long lines of vehicles. According to the De Olho na Fila website , of the City of São Paulo, at 23:30 on Saturday, 11 drive-thru stations had long lines, two medium lines and only one was not moving.

On social networks, one person reported that he faced six hours of waiting at the Clube Athlético Paulistano, in the South Zone. "Disorganization in the traffic around, but everything is wonderful inside. Phew, daughter vaccinated".

Drive-thru stations registered long lines during the night at 'Virada da Vacina' — Photo: TV Globo

In the early morning of this Sunday, the movement was calm in the drive-thrus and mega-stations of the capital.

Vaccination at drive-thrus points included presentations by DJs and cultural groups to attract young people and celebrate the arrival of the vaccine for the over 18 age group.

DJ Flávia Durante, who has been in the area for over 20 years, played this Saturday afternoon at the immunization point at Galeria Prestes Maia, downtown.

"I've played everywhere, and I never imagined playing a vaccination campaign. But it was amazing, it was really exciting to see the younger people being vaccinated," said the artist.

DJ Flávia Durante, who has been in the area for over 20 years, played this Saturday afternoon at the immunization point at the Prestes Maia gallery, in the city center. — Photo: Personal archive/Hector Lima

The drive-thru at Shopping Aricanduva, in the East Zone, had the animation of the collective 'Je Treme Mon Amour'. The DJs played parodies that referred to the vaccine, such as the funk that says: "Take a vaccine, take a vaccine, do the position where I push the syringe".

Event producer Nina Souza said that health professionals were honored by Aricanduva's drive-thru team.

At Anhembi's drive-thru, Minhoqueens DJs Mama Darling (Fernando Magrin) and William Medeiros performed; from Agrada Gregos, Nathalia Takenobu, Dan Rodrigues and Diogo Rodrigues; and, from Excusa Any Coisa, DJ Renata Corr.

https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/2021/08/15/virada-da-vacina-na-cidade-de-sp-imuniza-mais-de-500-mil-pessoas-em-34-horas-985percent-dos-adultos-receberam-ao-menos-uma-dose.ghtml

Pandemic drinking soars among Blacks, Hispanics, women with young children: study

 Alcohol consumption increased markedly at the outset of the pandemic and continued to climb through the end of last year, according to a new study on American drinking habits.

The largest increase in excessive consumption — monitored between pre-pandemic February 2020 and the start of the second wave in November — occurred among Blacks, at 510%, according to research funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Excessive consumption rose 39% across all demographics in the same time frame.

The largest increases in average consumption occurred among Black women, at 173%; Hispanic women, at 148%; Black men, at 173%; men of “other race and ethnicity,” at 209%; and women with children younger than 5, at 323%.

“Our study shows that people didn’t just increase their alcohol consumption for a month or two at the beginning of the pandemic — the trend held for nearly the entire year,” said Carolina Barbosa, a behavioral health scientist at RTI International and an author of the study. “Increases in alcohol consumption have been associated with natural disasters and other large-scale events that induce stress and anxiety, and a pandemic certainly fits that description.”

Researchers with the nonprofit RTI International presented their findings last week in the webinar, “One Year Later: How Have American Drinking Habits Changed During the COVID-19 Pandemic?” They are submitting the study to journals for a peer review.

The findings further underscore the racial disparities in health that the pandemic magnified, experts say. And they show the mental health impact of the pandemic on women — particularly those with young children — who have often shouldered greater responsibilities. The crisis seemed to accelerate a trend involving increased alcohol consumption among women.

“Women are more likely to use alcohol to cope with stress, depression and anxiety, and all these are a natural response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Barbosa said. “Alcohol consumption among women has been on the uptick for the past two decades, and our study suggests the pandemic may only exacerbate that trend.”

Several studies have revealed that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Blacks and Hispanics, with many facing job loss, higher exposure to the coronavirus because many are essential workers and fewer resources to cope with stress, among other factors.

“They’re more marginalized communities with less resources,” Barbosa said. “The stress of the pandemic might be higher. While a lot of people can stay home and work, many [Blacks and Hispanics] had to go to work in essential business [jobs]. People consume alcohol to cope with stress.”

The lockdown forced many people in underserved communities to be confined in often small living spaces, where they had to homeschool their children with fewer resources and access to technology, experts say.

Alcohol also became easier to purchase during the pandemic, only complicating matters, experts added. While access to mental health providers was curtailed, many states declared liquor stores and restaurants serving alcohol were essential businesses and allowed alcohol to be delivered or sold for curbside pickup.

“Everything was shut down, but the liquor stores were open, so some people felt they had no choice,” said Dr. Indra Cidambi, medical director and founder of the Center for Network Therapy, an outpatient addiction facility with three New Jersey locations.

“There was a lack of socialization, financial uncertainty, dislocation, and for mental health services, people may be waiting for a couple of months to see someone,” said Cidambi, who was not involved in the study. “There was no [in-person] access to support networks like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous — and initially, for months — some support resources were not available [in any form].”

In an earlier analysis funded by RTI, researchers looked at pre-pandemic consumption habits in February 2020 and compared them with levels from April of that year.

That data revealed a rise in drinking that mirrored the patterns of the latest study, with general average consumption in 2020 rising by 36% between February and April and excessive consumption climbing 27%.

The studies defined excessive drinking as consuming no more than four drinks a day and 14 a week for men, and no more than three per day and seven a week for women and people over 65 years old.

Some of the other findings include:

• Among women, increases in consumption continued throughout the year. More women than men reported excessive drinking between April and November 2020.
• Consumption increased by 1 billion drinks per month among all Americans between February to November 2020.
• 4.6 million more people drank excessively and 9 million more engaged in binge drinking — defined as consuming five or more drinks in two hours for men, and four or more drinks in that same period for women.

A summary of the initial study published last year on the National Institutes of Health website acknowledged that major traumatic events, such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, resulted in increases of alcohol consumption and use disorders. But, it added: “The weeks of isolation imposed by stay-at-home policies and the scale of the current pandemic are unmatched by recent disasters.”

The authors recommended addressing the climb in drinking by continuing to monitor it, with a particular focus on marginalized communities. They also suggested studying the potential lingering harms of the consumption trend after the pandemic, extending the study of alcohol consumption patterns for this year and for the full length of the health crisis, and supporting efforts to prevent and address the ramifications of increased drinking.

“Policymakers should be prepared to respond to the public health consequences of such a sudden, sustained increase in alcohol consumption,” Barbosa said. “I would also encourage them to consider lessons learned from the pandemic.

“For example, relaxing regulations during the pandemic to allow curbside pick-up and extending privileges for home alcohol deliveries may have contributed to increased consumption, and now some of these relaxed regulations are being permanently adopted.”

The Consumer Federation of America released a statement depicting the study’s findings as an alarm that cannot be ignored.

“This data reinforces the case for commonsense policies to inform consumers about the dangers associated with alcohol,” said Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at Consumer Federation of America. “And public health authorities should be doing more to alert consumers to the dangers of alcohol, including its outsized contribution to cancer, including breast cancer and colon cancer. In particular, Congress should revisit the 1987 law that set the health warning statement for alcohol and amend it to include a cancer warning.”

Researchers interviewed 1,018 people for the initial study, and focused on 993 who were of legal drinking age. For the second study, they selected about 557 of 790 who reported alcohol consumption during the study period, according to Barbosa.

RTI International describes itself as an independent, nonprofit research institute whose objective “is to address the world’s most critical problems with science-based solutions,” according to its website. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is part of the National Institutes of Health.

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/08/pandemic-drinking-soars-among-blacks-hispanics-women-with-young-children-study-says.html

Feds tell Florida superintendents money is there if state blocks pay over mask mandates

 The U.S. Department of Education has come to the rescue for Florida school districts that have instituted classroom mask mandates in rebuff of an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a letter dated Friday, Aug. 13, Miguel Cardona, secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said he had notified DeSantis that local school districts may use federal COVID-19 relief funds to make up for any action the state of Florida may make to withhold pay from superintendents and school board members in response to classroom mask mandates.

"This includes paying the full salaries of educators (including superintendents) and school board members, regardless of whether the State moves to withhold some of their salary as Florida is threatening," the Cardona writes.

Alachua County Public Schools and several other Florida school districts have required students to start the school year wearing masks as a safety measure against COVID-19, consistent with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DeSantis issued an executive order forbidding such mandates and has suggested the state Department of Education could withhold money for salaries in districts that don't comply. He has since back-peddled a bit from that position.

The governor's office acknowledged on Friday that the state has no direct control over the pay of superintendents and school board members who aren't state employees.

Instead, the governor's office is suggesting that the state will withhold funding to school districts in the exact amount of the salaries of the superintendents and school board members infringing the rule. The office added that the school officials should "own their decisions" when it comes to the consequences of the lost funding.

And in an emergency meeting a week ago, the state Board of Education said children in public schools would be allowed to use Hope Scholarships to transfer to a private school or to another public school if they felt they faced “harassment” in response to COVID-related decisions, including to go without a mask in class.

Alachua County Superintendent Carlee Simon and members of the school board have made appearances over the past week on national television news casts and been featured in the national press over these issues.

Cardona, is his letter to Florida school superintendents, says, "On behalf of the Department, I want to thank you for all that you are doing to support Florida’s

students. In these unprecedented and difficult times, the leadership and courage that you are showing will make a difference in the lives of the students whom you serve.

"The Department remains eager to support you, Florida’s educators, and your students and families as we move forward together," Cardona concludes.

The letter was first delivered to Michele White, director of the Florida Association of School Administrators, and forwarded to local school districts late Friday afternoon.

DeSantis and other Republican governors have engaged in a war of words in recent weeks with President Joe Biden. DeSantis has said the heavy flow illegal migration at the border with Mexico is substantially to blame for the recent spike in COVID-19 infections. 

DeSantis said Wednesday he would "fight back vociferously" against any attempt by the Biden administration to find a way to pay the salaries of school officials that defy his state ban on mask mandates.

"If you're talking about the federal government coming in and overruling parents and our communities, that would be something that we would fight back vociferously against," DeSantis told reporters in St. Petersburg outside of an elementary school.

https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/education/2021/08/13/feds-tell-florida-superintendents-money-there-if-state-blocks-pay/8131379002/

Making the case for plant-based vaccines

 A pair of researchers at Université Laval, Quebec claim that more effort should be made to develop plant-based vaccines. Hugues Fausther-Bovendo and Gary Kobinger have published a Perspective piece in the journal Science espousing the benefits of plant-based vaccines and suggesting how they might be made.

As the world continues to grapple with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, researchers around the world continue to look for new ways to vaccinate people against similar infections as it appears likely that this will not be the last pandemic. As part of that effort, some in the field have begun to look at alternative vaccine types. In their paper, Fausther-Bovendo and Kobinger suggest that developing plant-based vaccines might be a very good approach.

Vaccines are typically produced in bacterial or eukaryotic systems, and they have proven to be very effective. However, they have high production costs. Plant-based vaccines, the authors suggest, would be far cheaper to produceand could have several other benefits as well.

One is that plant-based vaccines would be far less resource intensive. Instead of bioreactors, vaccines could be grown in fields like crops. Another benefit comes from the very nature of plants—they cannot be infected with the types of human pathogens that lead to the need for vaccines. Also, prior research has shown that plant-based vaccines tend to produce a stronger immune response than those made in other ways. And plant-based vaccines have higher yields than other methods. And finally, in some cases, plant-based vaccines could be administered directly as a food product, with no extracting or processing needed.

The authors note that making plant-based vaccines is not unheard of; there is one that is currently being produced and used to treat Gaucher disease. Also, just before the pandemic struck, a plant-based vaccine for influenza made its way through Phase III clinical trials, with promising results. And right now, one team is working on a plant-based vaccine for COVID-19. They suggest governmental regulating bodies around the world need to become more familiar with the benefits of plant-based vaccines so that guidelines can be written to promote such an approach if plant-based vaccines are ever to become a new standard.

More information: Hugues Fausther-Bovendo et al, Plant-made vaccines and therapeutics, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abf5375

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-case-plant-based-vaccines.html

Biden offers cash to Florida schools that defy Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mask ban

 The Biden administration is offering cash to Florida school districts that defy Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mask ban as COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations rose in the state.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Friday sent a letter to DeSantis and the Florida education commissioner saying school districts can at their “sole and complete discretion” use federal funds to pay the salaries of administrators and board members withheld by the state for defying the order.

“We are eager to partner with [the Florida Department of Education] on any efforts to further our shared goals of protecting the health and safety of students and educators,” Cardona wrote.

“If FLDOE does not wish to pursue such an approach, the Department will continue to work directly with the school districts and educators that serve Florida’s students.”

A DeSantis spokeswoman blasted the Biden administration for wanting to spend federal funds “on the salaries of superintendents and elected politicians, who don’t believe that parents have a right to choose what’s best for their children, than on Florida’s students, which is what these funds should be used for.”

US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona talks the importance of getting the necessity to get vaccinated in regards to schools on Aug. 9, 2021.

AP

The Republican governor last month signed an executive order banning school districts from making face masks mandatory for students and staff defending “parents’ freedom to choose.” The order came days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended all students and staff wear masks when they return this fall.

On Monday, the governor’s office threatened to withhold the salaries of school board members and superintendents who did not comply with the ban. DeSantis has also threatened to withhold state funding from districts as well.

But Cardona said that local school leaders should be allowed to make their own mask rules.

“Any threat by Florida to withhold salaries from superintendents and school board members who are working to protect students and educators (or to levy other financial penalties) can be addressed using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funds at the sole and complete discretion of Florida school districts,” Cardona wrote.

Ira Gardner, 7, holds his sign supporting masking in schools at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida.

Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Florida received over $7 billion in support funds as part of the American Relief Plan, 90 percent of which is designated for ESSR funding, according to Politico. Cordona accused the school of not delivering school districts that funding by May 24 when it should have.

“In fact, it appears that Florida has prioritized threatening to withhold State funds from school districts that are working to reopen schools safely rather than protecting students and educators and getting school districts the Federal pandemic recovery funds to which they are entitled,” he wrote.

President Biden has been feuding with DeSantis over the mask mandate ban — and recently personally personally called school districts who have stood up to the order, according to the Miami Herald.

He told one, Broward County, stands ready to support their school districts and communities to get back to safe, full-time, in-person learning,” the Herald reported.

Four Broward County district teachers died of COVID-19 within the span of 24 hours this week, Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco told CBS News.

Broward and Alachua County are only two of the state’s 67 districts that have adopted mask mandates.

A spokeswoman for DeSantis strongly criticized the move from the Biden administration.

Marta Lavandier/AP

Cardona added that he is “deeply concerned” about the governor’s executive order as the state’s coronavirus outbreak seems to be taking a turn for the worse.

Florida health officials said Friday that the number of deaths from COVID-19 jumped significantly to 1,000 this week, from the 600 reported the previous week, raising the state’s death toll to 40,766.

Hospitalizations rose slightly on Friday from 15,358 to 15,441 patients, including about 3,200 who are in intensive care units. 

The Sunshine State is now averaging 21,680 cases per day over the last week, officials said.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/14/biden-offers-cash-to-florida-schools-that-defy-desantis-mask-ban/