Weekly Digest: Another Vaccine, Pregnancy and Vaccines, Vaccine Hesitancy, Visiting Vaccinated Parents

A summary of important health news from the past week.

Johnson & Johnson brings another effective Covid-19 vaccine to the arsenal – in a single dose

By: Julia Belluz and Umair Irfan

Johnson & Johnson released its phase 3 clinical trial results this Friday. The report shows that the single-dose vaccine was 66% effective at preventing detectable illnesses. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine differs from those provided by Pfizer and Moderna, which require two-doses. While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine efficacy results are not as high as those from Pfizer and Moderna, the vaccine’s performance is a complete game changer. This highly effective single-dose vaccine could ramp up global vaccination effort.

Pregnant Women May Receive COVID-19 Vaccines Safely, W.H.O. Says

By: Apoorva Mandavilli

The World Health Organization has shifted its guidance for pregnant women considering getting a COVID-19 vaccine, now declaring there are no known risks that outweigh the benefits of vaccination in pregnant women. Before the W.H.O. changed its guidance, their recommendation was in opposition to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s stance. The new agreement between the world’s leading public health organizations brings clarity to pregnant women who are deciding on whether they should get the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Denise Jamieson, an obstetrician at Emory University, believes W.H.O.’s vaccination guidance revision provides a key opportunity for pregnant women to get vaccinated and protect themselves from the detrimental risks of COVID-19. Historically, pregnant women have been excluded from clinical trials, resulting in a paucity of scientific data on the safety of vaccines in women and their unborn children. However, Pfzier and Moderna are beginning to examine the effects of the COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant women to bridge the gap in scientific data.

What To Say To People Hesitant About The Coronavirus Vaccine

By: Michel Martin

NPR’s Life Kit is a lifestyle podcast series offering listeners expert advice on everything from finances to sleep to deep-cleaning hacks and parenting. In a recent episode about vaccine hesitancy surrounding the novel COVID-19 vaccines, host Michel Martin and Boost Oregon founder, Nadine Gartner, discuss strategies that listeners can employ to encourage vaccine-reluctant loved ones and associates to become immunized. Included in the interview are pointers on how to approach vaccine-hesitant individuals, what kind of language is appropriate and what kinds to avoid, the different reasons why individuals may be vaccine-hesitant, and why having conversations like these, especially now, are of such importance.

Is It Safe to Visit Your Vaccinated Parents If You Are Unvaccinated?

By: Ashley Welch

As COVID-19 vaccine rollouts prioritize frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 65, many families are finding themselves in a position where their parents and grandparents are vaccinated but the rest of the family is not. This raises a question after almost a year of quarantine: is it safe to visit our families? Dr. Colleen Kelley, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, said that while the vaccine is moving the country in the right direction, “we are not in a zero risk situation and a few things need to happen before we get down to even a minimal risk situation.” A minimal risk situation includes getting a majority of the population fully vaccinated, a milestone we are not yet close to reaching. Experts suggest that, while gatherings with vaccinated adults are more safe, it is still advised to social distance, wear a mask, practice proper hand hygiene, and hold outdoor activities if possible. Crowded spaces are still high risk and should be avoided.

The Big Number: During pandemic, heart surgeries plummeted by 53 percent

By: Linda Searing

The significant drop in heart surgeries in 2020 came from national data that included 717,103 heart surgery patients and over 20 million Covid-19 patients. Major areas that saw a severe reduction in heart surgeries included those that saw the highest rates of Covid-19 during the beginning of the pandemic, such as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Possible reasons for the decrease include patients canceling or postponing their elective surgeries due to a fear of contracting Covid-19, and hospitals not having enough resources or time to tend to non-Covid-19 patients.