1/12/2021
HELLO
County adds 220 new cases, three new fatalities this past week
“Harrison County Judge Chad Sims announced Monday that this past week the county has seen 220 new cases of COVID-19, along with three new fatalities from the virus.
This past week the county averaged 31 new cases per day, with hospitalization percentage at 25 percent as of Saturday.” (Not yet reflected on State charts above)
THANK YOU MARSHALL NEWS MESSENGER FOR YOUR TIMELY AND EXTENSIVE LOCAL PANDEMIC COVERAGE. J. Harris
COVID-19 Vaccination Hub Providers
J. Harris: No, Harrison County is not on this list, but two Hub outlets announced yesterday in Tyler:
Click on “Vaccine” then “Click here to register.” The NET is one of two Hubs that will be giving injections to anyone who wants one, when they are available., which will be intermittently for now. The NET is The Northeast Texas Health District, which is an association of several area counties (not Harrison) that have a wonderful website with information which is largely taken from the same state site that I use. Greg County joined this association within the last year, I believe. …. I cannot find anyone to tell me much about this organization. I don’t know if Harrison County should or could join and what the advantages of membership might be. I suspect there would be some costs. They do a nice job of informing their member counties what is going on with Covid and take most public health responsibilities from the member counties.
I believe that most folks should continue to get on the local vaccine waiting lists as well as all the new ones that are being formed and take either one of the vaccines that are offered ASAP. I must say that were I to be reaction prone, I’d rather get my vaccination in a hospital setting with immediate hospital access. Otherwise, I’d take the first vaccine I could get.
Allergic Reactions Including Anaphylaxis After Receipt of the First Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, December 14–23, 2020 During December 14–23, 2020, monitoring by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System detected 21 cases of anaphylaxis after administration of a reported 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (11.1 cases per million doses); 71% of these occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination. Locations administering COVID-19 vaccines should adhere to CDC guidance for use of COVID-19 vaccines, including screening recipients for contraindications and precautions, having the necessary supplies available to manage anaphylaxis, implementing the recommended postvaccination observation periods, and immediately treating suspected cases of anaphylaxis with an intramuscular injection of epinephrine.
J. Harris: Reactions are RARE and reversible. I have not seen reports of any deaths. If you have had anaphylactic reactions in the past, carry your Epi Pen with you, even though vaccination sites are also equipped to handle reactions (just not as quickly getting your epi out of your purse. (If you don’t know what an anaphylactic reaction is, you have never had one.)
How do you get a COVID-19 vaccine? In Texas’ rollout, it’s a game of luck and chance.
“In Texas, eligibility is now divided into two phases. The first, or 1A, is ongoing and prioritizes health care workers who have contact with COVID patients and to residents and staff at long-term care facilities. The second phase, 1B, was announced Dec. 28 and has much broader criteria. It is available to those over 65 or anyone over 16 with at least one serious health issue that puts them at higher risk, including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart conditions, sickle cell disease, pregnancy or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“The stakes for getting the vaccine right could not be higher, health experts say. But there is growing concern that the state’s parameters are too broad, and officials shipped out the vaccine without specific guidelines to make sure it was delivered where needed most…
State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, zeroed in on the lack of planning. “We’ve not had a national strategy from the very beginning of this pandemic. We still don’t have one. And we certainly have not had a statewide strategy,” she said. “Why would we expect this to be any different?”
COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Frequently Asked Questions
J. Harris: This answers some of your questions while also annoying the dickens out of you.
New Hopkins Selections:
6-month Consequences of COVID-19 in Patients Discharged from Hospital: a Cohort Study (The Lancet) The long-term health consequences of COVID-19 remain largely unclear. The aim of this study was to describe the long-term health consequences of patients with COVID-19 who have been discharged from hospital and investigate the associated risk factors, in particular disease severity. At 6 months after acute infection, COVID-19 survivors were mainly troubled with fatigue or muscle weakness, sleep difficulties, and anxiety or depression. Patients who were more severely ill during their hospital stay had more severe impaired pulmonary diffusion capacities and abnormal chest imaging manifestations, and are the main target population for intervention of long-term recovery.
FROM HOPKINS:
Confirmation of COVID-19 in Gorillas at a California Zoo The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) announced confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in three gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in California. These are the first gorillas in the United States to be confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2. Samples from several gorillas were taken after two began coughing. All eight of the gorillas in the troop are being re-sampled and monitored. The gorillas are expected to fully recover. It is suspected that they acquired the infection from an asymptomatic staff member with COVID-19, despite precautions taken by the zoo.
(Please avoid close contact with all local Gorillas.)
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