See below for media and publication updates from our working group and local teams:

In a Number of States Hit Hard by the Latest Wave, Vaccine Skepticism Has Barely Budged. Overall, 64 percent of Americans said they had received at least one shot, 8 percent plan to get vaccinated, 10 percent are uncertain whether they will be, and 18 percent do not plan to get one. (Morning Consult, 8/26/21)

See also: Vaccine Hesitancy Is Still Strong In Many COVID-19-Battered States (FiveThirtyEight, 8/31/21)

Vaccine Refusers Don’t Get to Dictate Terms Anymore. Getting a shot to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 is both a social responsibility and the best way to hasten the end of the pandemic, and if you don’t believe that, we’re not waiting around for you to step up. (The Atlantic, 8/29/21)

I wrote about why I got a COVID vaccination. Then I was fired from my job. The National Religious Broadcasters fired Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications, Friday for opinions expressed in a Aug. 1 column in which he recommended that Christians get a COVID-19 vaccination. The Religion News Service reported that NRB executives told Darling that his public comments violated the organization’s policy of neutrality on COVID-19 vaccines. (USA TODAY, 8/30/21)

See also: Unvaccinated Pastor Who Almost Died Of COVID Now Preaches The Importance Of Vaccines (NPR, 8/29/21)

Back to School, Back to Work: A Community Conversation about Protecting Ourselves and our Loved Ones. Join the Maryland Center for Health Equity for a 90-minute discussion about the COVID-19 Delta variant and what you can do to help yourself and your family transition back to work and school. We will hear from a panel of public health professionals, physicians, and local representatives to answer your questions. (University of Maryland, 9/1/21)

Why false claims about Covid-19 vaccines and infertility are so powerful. False claims about vaccines and fertility also tap into larger trends in American culture: a skepticism around medical treatments and an emphasis on natural “wellness,” especially where female reproduction is concerned. Wellness ideology can offer women, who have historically been dismissed and discriminated against in medical settings, a sense of control over their bodies, even if that control is based on false information. (Vox, 8/30/21)

See also: I Was Nervous About Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine While Pregnant. Here's What Convinced Me to Do It (TIME, 9/1/21)

This Is the Moment the Anti-Vaccine Movement Has Been Waiting For. In state after state, vaccine opponents have gradually leveraged their state and local Republican parties to their ends, riding the “freedom” wave that has become so central to party messaging today. Hence the seamless marriage between anti-vaccine activists and groups protesting mask mandates and lockdowns. (New York Times, 8/31/21)

See also: A Georgia vaccine site had to close after protesters bullied health care workers: ‘This is absolutely wrong’ (Washington Post, 9/1/21)

Nurses Are Battling Vaccine Misinformation From Their Own Colleagues. Nursing has been ranked one of the most trusted professions by the public for decades, underlining the damage that misinformation can do in nurses’s hands. Melody Butler, a registered nurse and executive director of Nurses Who Vaccinate, says when an unvaccinated patient is admitted to the hospital, they sometimes say they didn’t get the shot because of misinformation that came from a health care worker. “Some patients will tell us ‘I have a family friend who’s a nurse who suggested I didn’t,’ or they came across some information being shared somewhere and it’s traced back to a medical health care worker,” says Butler. (Slate, 8/31/21)

See also: Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccines Among Healthcare Assistants: A National Survey (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 8/27/21

When Vaccines Aren’t an Option: Life for Families With Children Under 12. Polls show that a considerable number of parents do not intend to get their children vaccinated even when shots become available. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 25 percent to 30 percent of parents with younger children would “definitely not” get them vaccinated. A Gallup poll found that 46 percent do not plan to do so. But millions of other families are in anxious limbo, waiting for a vaccine, as the Delta variant leads to a swell of new cases, including in children. (New York Times, 9/2/21)

See also: We Should Vaccinate Children in High-income Countries Against COVID-19, Too (Practical Ethics, 8/28/21)

Women of Color and LGBTQ+ People Are Taking on the Invisible Work of the Vaccination Effort. Now, stopping additional devastation is up to the same people who have experienced the trauma of the pandemic. They’re rising up across the country to try to inch the vaccination effort forward where national campaigns, advertisements and even workplace incentives have fallen short. (Them, 8/30/21)

COVID-19 Community Corps Call. Join President Obama and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for remarks on the latest vaccination efforts in the U.S. The webinar will take place on September 7, 2021, 3 PM ET. (HHS, 9/21)

The Big Cities Health Coalition, Ariadne Labs, and Boston Children's Hospital have developed tools to support public health officials, employers, researchers, and planners in mapping and tackling COVID-19-related inequities:

COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years — United States, December 14, 2020–July 31, 2021. As of July 31, 2021, coverage with ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine among adolescents aged 12–17 years was 42%, and 32% had completed the series. Series completion rates varied widely by state, ranging from 11% to 60%, and was 25% for adolescents aged 12–13 years, 30% for those aged 14–15 years, and 40% for those aged 16–17 years. (CDC, 9/3/21)

See also: CDC Staff Floats 'Risk-Based Approach' to Potential Booster Doses (MedPage Today, 8/30/21)

Rural Vaccinations Climb by Fastest Rate in Six Weeks. In the past three weeks, the weekly number of new vaccinations of rural residents has climbed by more than two thirds, an indication that concerns about the current spike in new infections are affecting vaccination uptake. Last week, 292,898 rural residents completed their Covid-19 vaccinations. In late July, only 150,000 new vaccinations were being completed each week in rural counties. (Daily Yonder, 8/31/21)

See also: Vaccination Rates Rose In August As COVID Cases Surged Due To The Delta Variant (NPR, 8/31/21)

States press forward on vax passports without Biden’s guidance. The rise of the Delta variant and a surge of counterfeit vaccination cards have added urgency to an effort that could speed the reopening of the country but has been a flashpoint for critics on the right, who view use of the credentials for certain activities as government overreach with possible privacy concerns. (POLITICO, 8/30/21)

See also: Fake Vaccination Cards Were Sold To Health Care Workers On Instagram (NPR, 9/1/21)

15 million Covid vaccine doses thrown away in the U.S. since March, new data shows. Four national pharmacy chains reported more than 1 million wasted doses each, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to a public records request. Walgreens reported the most waste of any pharmacy, state or other vaccine provider, with nearly 2.6 million wasted doses. CVS reported 2.3 million wasted doses, while Walmart reported 1.6 million and Rite Aid reported 1.1 million. (NBC, 9/1/21)

In a major blow to vaccine efforts, senior FDA leaders stepping down. Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research & Review and 32-year veteran of the agency, will leave at the end of October, and OVRR deputy director Phil Krause, who’s been at FDA for more than a decade, will leave in November. The news, first reported by BioCentury, is a massive blow to confidence in the agency’s ability to regulate vaccines. (Endpoints News, 8/31/21)

Fired, sick or both: The financial price you could pay for choosing not to get vaccinated. Federal equal-employment opportunity laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all workers physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, as long as employers comply with the reasonable-accommodation provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a news release that specifically addressed vaccine mandates. (Washington Post, 8/27/21)

NFL says it would welcome vaccine mandate for players following small Covid outbreak. The NFL also said it’s still in discussions with the NFLPA on additional testing for vaccinated players. Currently, these players are tested every 14 days, but the league wants to move that to every seven days. Unvaccinated players are required to be tested every day, including off days and during their bye week. (CNBC, 8/30/21)

See also: Why So Many Tennis Players Don’t Want the Covid Vaccine (New York Times, 8/30/21)

New data confirm Covid vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalization. For adults under the age of 75, the shots were at least 94 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations, a rate that has remained steady for months. Protection against hospitalization did decline in July for adults 75 or older, but still remained above 80 percent. (New York Times, 8/30/21)

This “Waning Immunity” Argument Against the FDA’s Covid Vaccine Approval Is a Scientific Quagmire. One thing is still unambiguously clear. We need to vaccinate the unvaccinated and under-vaccinated – everywhere. That remains urgent, both scientifically and morally. Casting doubts on the vaccines with smoke and mirrors, and scaring well-protected people into boosters before they’re needed, are both natural enemies of that absolute goal. Superficial and scientifically specious hot takes on powerful medical platforms is the last thing we need. (PLOS, 8/31/21)

Inside Pfizer’s labs, ‘variant hunters’ race to stay ahead of the pandemic’s next twist. Monitoring the virus so closely has yielded some surprises, including calling into question old assumptions about vaccines: Recipients have protection before the vaccines have generated a significant antibody response, for example, a finding that is leading researchers to devise new methods of evaluating future vaccine candidates. (STAT, 8/30/21)

Moderna Seeks U.S. Authorization for Covid Booster Shot. The new filing puts the Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company only slightly behind rivals Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in seeking official go-ahead for a third-dose booster. Those companies filed initial booster data with the FDA last month. (Bloomberg, 9/1/21)