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Only 59% of Americans think it’s essential they be vaccinated against the coronavirus to feel safe at public activities, according to a new poll. And although boosters provide significantly better protection than a two-shot treatment of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, just 47% of Americans think it’s essential that they get boosted.
The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also underscores what authorities call alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11. Just 37% of parents consider it essential that their children are vaccinated.Â
In Minneapolis, 36-year-old public health researcher Colin Planalp faults health authorities for not making the importance of vaccinating kids more clear to the public. Planalp said he got his 6-year-old son vaccinated as soon as he could.
“Kids can get really sick from COVID,†he says.
Also in the news:
â–ºPeople who had slight changes in their menstrual cycle after getting the COVID-19 vaccine only experienced those changes for a brief time period, as a new study “reassures” there is little risk in fertile individuals getting inoculated.Â
►Singer-songwriter Elton John has tested positive for COVID-19, canceling two shows in Dallas, Texas, on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. The shows originally were scheduled for June 2020, but were postponed during the first wave of the pandemic.
►The Danish government announced its plans to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions at the beginning of February. If approved by parliament, Denmark would be the first country in the European Union to fully lift domestic restrictions.
📈Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 72 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 876,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 361 million cases and over 5.6 million deaths. More than 210 million Americans – 63.5% – are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘What we’re reading: Many people with disabilities have yet to return to airports, protecting themselves from the coronavirus that could either feel like a rough bout of flu or take their lives.
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Moderna booster shot focuses on omicron
Moderna announced Wednesday that its first participant had been dosed with the company’s booster shot that is specifically targeting the omicron variant. The news comes a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans of their own. Booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have proved highly effective at preventing omicron-related hospitalizations, according to data from the CDC, which shows the doses were 90% effective at keeping people out of the hospital after they had become infected with the omicron variant.Â
Moderna’s study will include two cohorts: participants who previously received both doses of the Moderna vaccine with the second dose being at least six months ago and participants who have received the two initial doses as well as a Moderna booster at least three months ago.
Jewish advocacy groups condemn mandate comparisons to Holocaust
Thursday marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany’s Auschwitz concentration camp. Days prior to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, intended to honor the 6 million Jews and other victims of the Holocaust, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was easier to live in Hitler’s Germany than today’s world with COVID-19 mandates.
“Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,†he said at a Washington, D.C., anti-vaccine rally Sunday. “Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run. And none of us can hide.â€
Jewish advocacy and Holocaust awareness organizations jumped to condemn Kennedy’s words. The Auschwitz Memorial called his comparisons a “sad symptom of moral & intellectual decay.†Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said his comments are “deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive and deeply troubling.â€
“Those who carelessly invoke Anne Frank, the star badge, and the Nuremberg Trials exploit history and the consequences of hate,†the U.S. Holocaust Museum wrote.
Kennedy’s comparisons of COVID-19 mandates to Nazi Germany are only one of many made by prominent people, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and FOX commentator Tucker Carlson, over the last two years.Â
Spotify to keep Joe Rogan, drop Neil Young
Spotify said Wednesday that it is working on removing rock legend Neil Young’s music from the platform in response to his claims it spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Young wrote an open letter on Monday to his manager and a Warner Bros. Records executive, demanding his classic collection of songs be pulled due to the disinformation and specifically called out Spotify’s popular podcast host Joe Rogan.
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,†Young said. “They can have (Joe) Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Two days later, Spotify obliged.
– Terry Collins, USA TODAY
