Francis Collins on medical advances, vaccine hesitancy and Americans’ ill health : Shots

December 10, 2021 Vera

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins served for 12 years under three presidents and presided over an expansion of the agency’s budget and efforts to develop new cures to diseases.

Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins served for 12 years under three presidents and presided over an expansion of the agency’s budget and efforts to develop new cures to diseases.

Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

It’s Dr. Francis Collins’ last few weeks as director of the National Institutes of Health after 12 years, serving under three presidents.

Collins made his name doing the kind of biomedical research NIH is famous for, especially running The Human Genome Project, which fully sequenced the human genetic code. The focus on biomedicine and cures has helped him grow the agency’s budget to over $40 billion a year and win allies in both political parties.

Still, in a broad sense, Americans’ health hasn’t improved much in those 12 years, especially compared with people in peer countries, and some have argued the agency hasn’t done enough to try to turn these trends around. One recently retired NIH division director has quipped that one way to increase funding for this line of research would be if “out of every $100, $1 would be put into the ‘Hey, how come nobody’s healthy?’ fund.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, Collins answers NPR’s questions as to why — for all the taxpayer dollars going to NIH research — there haven’t been more gains when it comes to Americans’ overall health. He also talks about how tribalism in American culture has fueled vaccine hesitancy, and he advises his successor on how to persevere on research of politically charged topics — like guns and obesity and maternal health — even if powerful lobbies might want that research not to get done.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Selena Simmons-Duffin: After you announced you’d be stepping down from the director role, you told The New York Times that one of your “chief regrets” was the persistence of vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic. How are you thinking about the role NIH could play in understanding this problem?

Francis Collins: I do think we need to understand better how — in the current climate — people make decisions. I don’t think I anticipated the

Hospitals react to block of vaccine mandate for health care employees

December 6, 2021 Vera

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – On Tuesday, a Louisiana federal judge issued a preliminary injunction to block the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers nationally.

Decide Terry A. Doughty in the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana issued a individual injunction from the federal court get in Missouri that utilized to only 10 states.

Indiana Lawyer General Todd Rokita’s business verified that Tuesday’s ruling did prevent vaccine demands for wellness care workers nationwide, with the exception of Alaska, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, New Hampshire, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, given that individuals states are already less than a preliminary injunction.

WANE 15 attained out to nearby hospitals for their reactions.

Parkview Wellbeing verified they have been informed of the block but did not elaborate on how or if it adjustments just about anything for their workers.

Lutheran Well being Network sent this assertion:

We are conscious of the preliminary injunction concerning the Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) vaccination need for health care workers nationwide. Lutheran Health and fitness Network continues to strongly really encourage vaccination because it offers the most security from COVID-19 and rising new variants. The greater part of our caregivers have already chosen to be vaccinated and much more are deciding on to be vaccinated now. We remain committed to maintaining a safe natural environment for our people and caregivers, which contains next CDC guidelines for masking of all suppliers, patients and visitors and routine testing for any unvaccinated staff associates.
Like a lot of the nation, Lutheran Wellness Network hospitals are seeing an enhance in admissions of COVID-positive patients. We at present have capacity in the two clinical and essential units and can supply treatment to anyone needing health-related notice. It is a day-to-day circumstance, and we keep an eye on our potential carefully.
I would direct you to IDOH’s District 3 hospitalizations facts for historic knowledge on COVID admissions considering that that will be a lot more representative of the complete local community. https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/2393.htm

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Allen County’s well being Commissioner Dr. Matthew Sutter reported he avoids the lawful element of the injunction but he trusts the mandates will operate on their own out by the courts.

“From my viewpoint getting additional persons vaccinated is superior than owning much less people today

Vaccine mandate looming for neighborhood hospitals, overall health care staff

November 20, 2021 Vera

Community wellbeing officials and workers are getting ready for the looming federal mandate that would call for about 17 million wellness treatment employees in 76,000 hospitals, nursing properties and other health care facilities to be absolutely vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4.

As opposed to the mandate for non-public organizations, the emergency purchase issued Nov. 4 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does not give overall health treatment staff who refuse vaccination the option of finding tested in lieu of immunization.

Employees at Avita Wellness System, with services in Richland and Crawford counties, final Friday ended up sent an email by Jerome Morasko, the clinic president and CEO, stating that each individual wellbeing treatment employee at Avita must be vaccinated for COVID “in order to remain in the Medicare and Medicaid software.”

“In purchase to continue to be in the Medicare and Medicaid system Avita Health Program ought to comply with this mandate,” Morasko said in the medical center conversation attained by the News Journal.

Mandate ‘not popular’ with many workers associates

“I know that this is not well-liked with lots of of our employees, but I am asking for your entire cooperation in complying with this mandate,” Morasko said in the email.

The Nov. 12 e-mail to Avita workers states that the Nov. 4 order from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Solutions (CMS) requires mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all well being care personnel. This is different than the OSHA mandate that is now on hold in the federal court procedure and that mandate relates to the general market (non-health care). This CMS mandate consists of all wellbeing care personnel, employees, professional medical personnel and APP’s with privileges who offer on-site services, staff members, pupils, volunteers, reps, sellers and contractors. In get to continue to be in the Medicare and Medicaid program Avita Wellbeing Procedure should comply with this mandate,” Morasko wrote.

The mandate requires all wellbeing treatment staff members to have the initially of a two-dose vaccine or a solitary dose vaccine by Dec. 5, and to be thoroughly vaccinated by Jan. 4.

“We have been operating on a system on how to roll out this mandate, and we will supply you with an updated coverage and rules,” Morasko claimed.

The Information Journal attained out to Amanda Hatcher, Avita spokeswoman, on Monday, inquiring if nurses have been likely to drop their jobs if not vaccinated.

Hatcher

NY health care workers will no longer have religious exemptions to vaccine mandate, court rules

November 6, 2021 Vera

New York State health care workers will no longer have a religious exemption to the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate after a federal appeals court vacated a temporary injunction Friday.

The three-judge panel in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also sent the two court cases back to the lower courts to continue.

The ongoing court cases stem from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order that all hospital and long-term care facility workers were required to get at least one dose of the vaccine by September 27.

CNN has reached out to the New York State Department of Health for comment, and details of how many exemptions the state has already provided.

An attorney for plaintiffs in one of the cases vowed to take the case to the US Supreme Court Friday.

“New York’s mandate forces an abominable choice on New York healthcare workers: abandon their faith or lose their careers,” said attorney Cameron Atkinson, who represents three nurses. “They have committed their futures to God’s hands, and we remain optimistic that the United States Supreme Court will strike down New York’s discriminatory mandate as violating the First Amendment.”

In the second case, 17 health care workers, many of them unnamed doctors, residents and nurses, filed a lawsuit last month objecting to the New York State Department of Health’s vaccine mandate, which didn’t allow for religious exemptions. A judge issued a temporary restraining order on September 14 related to the religious exemptions.

CNN reached out to an attorney representing these health care workers for reaction.

Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the court’s decision.

“On Day One, I pledged as Governor to battle this pandemic and take bold action to protect the health of all New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement. “I commend the Second Circuit’s findings affirming our first-in-the-nation vaccine mandate, and I will continue to do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe.”

Religious exemptions granted to almost 16,000 workers before ruling, official said

Nearly 16,000 health care employees in New York State have been granted religious exemptions by their employers prior to Friday’s court ruling, the state’s health department confirmed to CNN Friday night.

That’s 15,844 employees of hospitals, nursing homes, adult homes, Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHA), Licensed Home Care Service Agencies (LHCSA) and hospice facilities, said Jeffrey Hammond, deputy director of communications for the New York State Department of Health.

Hammond provided a

CDC advisers back Moderna and J&J COVID vaccine boosters : Shots

October 31, 2021 Vera

A health care worker administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at Life of Hope Center in New York City.

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A health care worker administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at Life of Hope Center in New York City.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is backing the roll out of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine boosters in line with the Food and Drug Administration’s authorizations issued Wednesday. The CDC is also supporting a mix-and-match approach to booster vaccination.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky called the recommendations an “example of our fundamental commitment to protect as many people as possible from COVID-19.”

The announcement came just hours after the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of booster doses.

For Moderna, the panel said a booster should be given to people on the same terms as the Pfizer-BioNTech booster. That would cover people 65 and older, people 18 and older in long-term care settings and people 50 to 64 with relevant underlying medical conditions. The booster may be given to people 18 to 49 years with certain medical conditions and to people 18 to 64 who have COVID-19 risks related to their work or who live in certain institutional settings.

For Johnson & Johnson, the panel’s advice was simpler: A booster is recommended for people 18 and older at least two months after their initial immunization.

What to know about your risk of a serious or fatal breakthrough COVID infection

A CDC presentation and draft voting language said that the same vaccine used for initial immunization should be used as a booster dose but that a mix-and-match approach is OK when the primary vaccine isn’t available or a different vaccine is preferred.

During the committee discussions, several members pushed back against this preference for boosting with the same vaccine. They argued that a more permissive approach to mix-and-match would ease the administration of booster doses.

The FDA authorizes Moderna and J&J COVID vaccine boosters

After a brief break late in the deliberations, CDC staff returned with revised voting questions that were neutral on which vaccine should be used as a booster for the J&J and Moderna vaccines. The revised questions don’t explicitly mention which vaccine should be used as a booster, which clears the way for mix-and-match boosting without restrictions.

According to the CDC, more than 189 million people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, about 57% of the population. Hospitalization rates are nine to

Religious Vaccine Exemption Stays for NY Health Care Workers | New York News

October 14, 2021 Vera

By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York health care workers will be able to seek religious exemptions from a statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a lawsuit challenging the requirement proceeds, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge David Hurd in Utica had issued a temporary restraining order a month ago after 17 doctors, nurses and other health professionals claimed in a lawsuit that their rights would be violated with a vaccine mandate that disallowed religious exemptions.

Hurd’s preliminary injunction Tuesday means New York will continue to be barred from enforcing any requirement that employers deny religious exemptions. And the state cannot revoke exemptions already granted.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will fight the decision in court “to keep New Yorkers safe.”

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“My responsibility as governor is to protect the people of this state, and requiring health care workers to get vaccinated accomplishes that,” she said in a prepared statement.

State health officials said that as of Tuesday, facilities reported 7,070 hospital workers, or 1.4% of total employees, had claimed a non-medical exemption, as did 2,636 nursing home workers, or 1.8% of employees.

Hurd wrote that the health care workers suing the state were likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim. The question presented in this case, Hurd wrote, is whether the mandate “conflicts with plaintiffs’ and other individuals’ federally protected right to seek a religious accommodation from their individual employers. The answer to this question is clearly yes.”

“This is clearly just a ridiculous government overreach,” said Christopher Ferrara, the Thomas More Society special counsel who represented the plaintiffs. “You can’t do this to people. You can’t call them heroes one day and then throw them out on the sidewalk the next day.”

Hochul’s administration began requiring workers at hospitals and nursing homes to be vaccinated on Sept. 27 and more recently expanded the requirement to include workers at assisted living homes, hospice care, treatment centers and home health aides.

The plaintiffs, all Christians, oppose as a matter of religious conviction any medical cooperation in abortion, including the use of vaccines linked to fetal cell lines in testing, development or production, according to court papers.

Several types of cell lines created decades ago using fetal tissue exist and are widely used in medical manufacturing, but the cells in them today are clones of the early cells, not the original tissue.

The COVID-19