Chicago’s Mass Vaccination Sites Are ‘Not Enough’ for Vaccine Equity
Staying up all night. Constantly refreshing the webpage. Trying to book an appointment for the Covid-19 vaccine in Chicago has looked a lot like scoring tickets to your favorite band’s concert. Ashwini Deshpande of Vernon Hills struggled for nearly one month to book appointments for her 77-year-old grandparents, who live in Chicago. With overloaded call […]
The State of Vaccine Supply: Opaque and Unpredictable
Even as the pace of vaccination against covid-19 has steadily accelerated — hitting an average of 1.3 million doses a day in the last days of January — the frustration felt by many of those unable to secure an appointment hasn’t waned. Why, they wonder, can’t I get one if 100 million shots will soon […]
With Few Takers for Covid Vaccine, Howard University Hospital CEO Takes ‘One for the Team’
Administrators at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., were thrilled to be among the city’s first hospitals to get a Covid-19 vaccine, but they knew it could be a tough sell to get staffers to take the shot. They were right. The hospital, located on the campus of one the nation’s oldest historically Black colleges, […]
Inside the First Chaotic Days of the Effort to Vaccinate America
One tray of Covid-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer contains 975 doses — way too many for a rural hospital in Arkansas. But with the logistical gymnastics required to safely get the Pfizer vaccine to rural healthcare workers, splitting the trays into smaller shipments has its own dangers. Once out of the freezer that keeps […]
Demand for Covid Vaccines Expected to Get Heated
Americans have made no secret of their skepticism of Covid-19 vaccines this year, with fears of political interference and a “warp speed” timeline blunting confidence in the shots. As recently as September, nearly half of U.S. adults said they didn’t intend to be inoculated. But with two promising vaccines primed for release, likely within weeks, […]
Protection from pertussis by the TdaP vaccine doesn’t last very long
Harvard Health Blog When my patients come in for their 11-year check-up, I give them the TdaP vaccine. I explain to them that a big part of the reason we give it is to protect them against pertussis, or whooping cough. I talk about outbreaks that are happening all the time, how it can be […]
Flu vaccination: Win some, lose some
If you got a flu shot last year and it didn’t work, don’t reject vaccination. During last year’s battle of The People vs. Influenza, the virus gained the upper hand. Early in the 2014-15 flu season, a new strain of the virus emerged against which the existing vaccine offered virtually no protection. Hospitalizations for flu […]
