Experts warn COVID-19 variants could pose issues for years if US doesn’t get more people vaccinated

Experts warn COVID-19 variants could pose issues for years if US doesn’t get more people vaccinated

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restrictions continue being lifted across the United States is more cities and states start fully reopening on Fridays, Chicago’s mayor announced the Windy city has dropped pandemic era regulations, No more mask mandate or social distancing requirements, even offering some free tickets to its famed Lollapalooza music Festival, to vaccinated fans. Now it’s time for you to get up, get out of the house this summer and fully and safely and enjoy the events of the best city on the planet. Our beloved city of Chicago This week. Other major cities like Seattle and Denver across the Biden administration’s goal of having 70% of the adult population vaccinated with at least one dose. By four July new york state on the cusp of reaching that goal, it’s a threshold to states, Governor Andrew cuomo has said, will trigger the end to all of the state’s covid 19 restrictions. New Yorkers can also plan on the return of the famed Macy’s fireworks for Independence Day, according to new york mayor Bill de Blasio. But vaccination rates in certain states remained relatively low, including in states like Alabama Louisiana Mississippi Tennessee and Wyoming. While adults and Children over 12 continue receiving vaccines across the United States, nearly 62% of that population has at least one dose. So far, Experts are split on how urgently Children under the age of 12 should receive their vaccine. They are still at risk of hospitalization and they are still at risk of having adverse side effects. Kids have been isolated for a large proportion of time, but as school starts back in the fall and they’re in classrooms, their in group activities in school sports, it’s going to get colder so people are going to start moving inside. Their risk is going to increase if they’re not vaccinated. Another concern among experts, the mental health of adolescents during the pandemic emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose an alarming 51% among teenage girls during the pandemic. That’s according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released on Friday, but they remain signs of optimism in the global fight against the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of two batches of the johnson and johnson vaccine that were produced at a troubled Baltimore lab, concluding they are safe to use polo sandoval CNN new york.

Experts warn COVID-19 variants could pose issues for years if US doesn’t get more people vaccinated

Video above: Vaccination rates lag in some states as U.S. moves toward reopeningCOVID-19 infections may be on the decline, but the urgency to continue vaccinating the U.S. population is far from over, one expert said.”We are going to need to have a highly vaccinated population for years if not longer. This virus is going to be circulating in the world for a long time,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee.As the virus spread across the globe, it mutated into more transmissible strains — including the Alpha and Delta variants. Though vaccines are shown to be effective against these variants, experts warn it is crucial to get ahead of them with widespread immunization.If the virus continues to spread, it has an increased chance of spawning variants that are even more contagious, Offit said.”When a virus is more contagious, you need to have a higher percentage of the population that is protected, immunized, if you’re going to stop the spread,” he added.As of Monday, 52.5% of Americans had received at least one dose of vaccine, but only 43.7% were fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Offit said by the winter, when the virus is likely to surge again, the U.S. will need to get the number of fully vaccinated up to 80% or higher to protect the population.The good news, Offit said, is that although the spread of more contagious variants may be less inhibited by vaccines, the level of protection still appears to be high.”I think that vaccines will keep you out of the hospital, will keep you out of the ICU, and will keep you from dying,” Offit said.Immune system protection may extend a year after infection, study findsFortunately, people who have been infected with COVID-19 appear to maintain their immune response for at least a year, according to a study published in the journal Nature.Researchers reported that the human immune system’s memory B-cells continue generating protection against COVID-19 for at least a year.Studies have shown that people who recovered from coronavirus infections may be vulnerable to new variants of the virus, but also that vaccines, especially mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, generate a strong response that protects people against those variants. An extra boost with a vaccine may expand the protection that recovered patients have, researchers said.”The data suggest that immunity in convalescent individuals will be very long lasting and that convalescent individuals who receive available mRNA vaccines will produce antibodies and memory B cells that should be protective against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants,” the researchers wrote.”The antibodies produced by the memory cells evolved increased breadth and potency,” molecular immunologist Michel Nussenzweig of The Rockefeller University, who worked on the study, told CNN.Nussenzweig said the research should encourage people who previously had COVID-19 to get vaccinated if they haven’t already. “Yes, they should get vaccinated,” he said, “And if they do they should be bulletproof for SARS-CoV-2.”

Video above: Vaccination rates lag in some states as U.S. moves toward reopening

COVID-19 infections may be on the decline, but the urgency to continue vaccinating the U.S. population is far from over, one expert said.

“We are going to need to have a highly vaccinated population for years if not longer. This virus is going to be circulating in the world for a long time,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee.

As the virus spread across the globe, it mutated into more transmissible strains — including the Alpha and Delta variants. Though vaccines are shown to be effective against these variants, experts warn it is crucial to get ahead of them with widespread immunization.

If the virus continues to spread, it has an increased chance of spawning variants that are even more contagious, Offit said.

“When a virus is more contagious, you need to have a higher percentage of the population that is protected, immunized, if you’re going to stop the spread,” he added.

As of Monday, 52.5% of Americans had received at least one dose of vaccine, but only 43.7% were fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Offit said by the winter, when the virus is likely to surge again, the U.S. will need to get the number of fully vaccinated up to 80% or higher to protect the population.

The good news, Offit said, is that although the spread of more contagious variants may be less inhibited by vaccines, the level of protection still appears to be high.

“I think that vaccines will keep you out of the hospital, will keep you out of the ICU, and will keep you from dying,” Offit said.

Immune system protection may extend a year after infection, study finds

Fortunately, people who have been infected with COVID-19 appear to maintain their immune response for at least a year, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

Researchers reported that the human immune system’s memory B-cells continue generating protection against COVID-19 for at least a year.

Studies have shown that people who recovered from coronavirus infections may be vulnerable to new variants of the virus, but also that vaccines, especially mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, generate a strong response that protects people against those variants.

An extra boost with a vaccine may expand the protection that recovered patients have, researchers said.

“The data suggest that immunity in convalescent individuals will be very long lasting and that convalescent individuals who receive available mRNA vaccines will produce antibodies and memory B cells that should be protective against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants,” the researchers wrote.

“The antibodies produced by the memory cells evolved increased breadth and potency,” molecular immunologist Michel Nussenzweig of The Rockefeller University, who worked on the study, told CNN.

Nussenzweig said the research should encourage people who previously had COVID-19 to get vaccinated if they haven’t already. “Yes, they should get vaccinated,” he said, “And if they do they should be bulletproof for SARS-CoV-2.”

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