WP Perspectives – Feb. 7, 2022

Posted on by krislandrum
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Focus on Facts

  • Healthcare providers who have conducted COVID-19 testing, administered COVID-19 vaccines, or provided treatment for uninsured individuals with a COVID-19 primary diagnosis after Feb. 4, 2020 can request claims reimbursement through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement program.
  • Intranasal vaccines are under development and may stop the coronavirus in mucosal linings of the airways. Nasal immunization has shown to be effective in protecting mice, ferrets, hamsters and monkeys against the coronavirus.

 

  • As a state program, VDH will not participate in the distribution of the federal free N-95 mask program recently announced by the White House. However, federally funded health care clinics and pharmacies may offer the masks, which will be distributed incrementally based on supply. To find the masks locally, the public can visit Pharmacies Participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. They may need to call the local pharmacies to confirm there are masks in stock and available.

 

  • Medicare, which covers roughly 60 million Americans, will provide free over-the-counter rapid coronavirus tests beginning in the spring, according to the federal government’s Medicare and Medicaid agency. The policy would “allow Medicare beneficiaries to pick up tests at no cost at the point of sale and without needing to be reimbursed.” Under the plan, which will also apply to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, Medicare will pay eligible pharmacies and health providers to offer the tests. The administration did not say how many pharmacies would participate.

News You Can Use

  • Community Ambassadors are volunteers who help keep Virginians safe by sharing COVID-19 updates and materials from top experts and sources. Community Ambassadors reach out to family and friends, share content on social media, forward newsletters or post fliers. They engage others in small ways that add up to big ways, reaching neighbors and peer groups to class rooms, faith communities, and businesses next door. To learn more, visit COVID Community Ambassadors.  Sign up here.
  • Latina superhero

    CovidLatino is focused on providing critical & timely information to ease the burden of COVID-19 on Latinx communities. This project brings together a collective of academic institutions, community-based organizations, researchers, advocates, and artists to create culturally-tailored and empirically-based COVID-19 information that is relevant and timely.

covid home test

  • The US Postal Service will deliver at-home COVID-19 test kits during this week, and experts are cautioning people to get their tests out of the elements. Test results can be less accurate if the test is done and the specimen or the test is from an extreme cold or extreme heat. If your test sits in your mailbox or on your doorstep for hours, or even days, bring it indoors and let it come to room temperature before using it. Ideally, test kits should be stored at temperatures between 35 and 85 degrees, and in a dry setting. As with any test, if the results do not make sense, do another test to validate. Tests that are observed by a connected telehealth proctor are more accurate, and if you have that option, use it.

COVID-cabulary

Spikevax & Comirnaty

On January 31, the FDA granted full approval to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna, which will now be known as Spikevax. The vaccine had been authorized for emergency use for more than a year.

In August 2021, the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, known as Comirnaty.

Just for Fun

"I am the Maskalorian, the giver of masks."

Maskolorian

"It is the way," he says as he hands out free masks. Sometimes it takes a little humor to show how serious a situation is. Read the article.

The Epi-Center

Epidemiology is the science at center of public health.

VAERS - Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System  https://vaers.hhs.gov/

VAERS is run by the CDC and the FDA to collect and analyze reports of adverse events that happen after vaccination. It is a national early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines. VAERS is not designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem, but it is especially useful for detecting unusual or unexpected patterns of adverse event reporting that might indicate a possible safety problem with a vaccine. This way, VAERS can provide CDC and FDA with valuable information that additional work and evaluation is necessary to further assess a possible safety concern.

Anyone can submit a report online or over the phone, or they can contact their healthcare provider to report an adverse reaction. Healthcare providers are required by law to report to VAERS if an adverse event occurs within the specified time period after a vaccination, and vaccine manufacturers are required to report to VAERS all adverse events that come to their attention.

A report to VAERS does not mean that a vaccine caused the adverse event. Reports can be submitted even if it is not clear that the vaccine caused the problem. Some VAERS reporting is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. It is impossible to know if the symptoms were caused by the vaccine without additional investigation and information.

Anyone can view VAERS data. Anti-vaccine groups have started to use VAERS data in misleading ways, often cropping out disclaimers and other information about the data.

80-90% of incidents reported to VAERS are mild side effects like arm soreness or fever.

Knowingly filing a false VAERS report is a violation of Federal law punishable by fine and imprisonment.

COVID-19 Data

Franklin County
Henry County
Martinsville
Patrick County

Cases

10,035
10,452
2,960
3,259

Hospitalizations

318
499
190
141

Deaths

145
221
103
78
cumulative total
as of 02/04/22

% Fully Vaxed & Boosted/3rd Dose

50.4  &  24
51.4  &  23.2
61  &  23
42.8  &  20.6

cumulative total as of 02/04/22  

COVID-19 Conversations header

The Third Year of COVID-19: Is This the New Normal?

speaker mug shots

The latest COVID-19 Conversations webinar gives insight into what we have learned from the omicron variant, and how that knowledge, as well as an evolving understanding of vaccine efficacy, emerging therapeutics, and public health guidance can help us move toward the new normal.