NEW: ISU researchers provide valuable insight into Hispanic vaccination access. When Johns Hopkins’s Communivax Coalition began searching for researchers to examine access to COVID-19 vaccines in underserved populations in order to guide pandemic response efforts, Idaho State University stepped up to provide a picture of vaccination in Southeast Idaho’s rural Hispanic community. At the beginning of January 2021, researchers from the College of Arts and Letters and the Division of Health Sciences teamed up and assembled 20 anthropology, Spanish, public health, premedical and nursing students to gather data and be listed as co-authors on the final report. This data was then used to make recommendations for the continuing response to the COVID pandemic. (Idaho State University, 10/19/21)

Christian nationalism and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Using a new nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, we find that Christian nationalism is one of the strongest predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and is negatively associated with having received or planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Since Christian nationalists make up approximately 20 percent of the population, these findings could have important implications for achieving herd immunity. (Vaccine, 10/29/21)

See also: Religious exemptions threaten to undermine US Covid vaccine mandates (The Guardian, 10/19/21)

COVID-19 and pregnancy: Women regret not getting the vaccine. Since the pandemic began, health officials have reported more than 125,000 cases and at least 161 deaths of pregnant women from COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And over the past several months, hospitals and doctors in virus hot spots have reported a sharp increase in the number of severely ill pregnant women. (AP, 10/19/21)

See also: Why vaccinated people dying from Covid-19 doesn't mean the vaccines are ineffective (CNN, 10/19/21)

Behind the Numbers: Building Community Trust in Vaccination. Join a panel of experts, advocates, and community ambassadors for a 60-minute webinar hosted by the International Vaccine Access Center to discuss the VALUE Baltimore project. For VALUE, which stands for Vaccine Acceptance & Access Lives in Unity, Education & Engagement, communities are central partners in vaccine policy. Panelists will discuss elements of Baltimore’s success in reaching nine VALUE communities as well as remaining challenges, such as attaining an 80% COVID-19 vaccine coverage rate while building trust in communities that face tough challenges well beyond the pandemic. The webinar will take place on October 26, 2021, 12 PM ET. (IVAC, 10/21)

Biden Administration Announces Update on Operational Planning for COVID-⁠19 Vaccinations for Kids Ages 5-11. In anticipation of the FDA’s independent advisory committee meeting on October 26 and the CDC’s independent advisory committee meeting on November 2-3, today the Biden Administration is announcing a plan to ensure that, if a vaccine is authorized for children ages 5-11, it is quickly distributed and made conveniently and equitably available to families across the country. (White House, 10/20/21)

Blockchain Technology, A Practical Solution To Vaccine Verification Systems. Due to the decentralized and encrypted nature of blockchain technology, information stored on the blockchain ledger is extremely tough to tamper with. That addresses a very crucial requirement of a vaccination verification system, which is ensuring the security and privacy of personal data. (Forbes, 10/20/21)

Preferences for COVID-19 vaccination information and location: Associations with vaccine hesitancy, race and ethnicity. Our findings suggest that the US vaccination program, in which PCPs are not currently at the center, needs to be adjusted to leverage the potential of healthcare providers to influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake among hesitant and minority individuals. As the COVID-19 vaccine is now widely available, a shift in delivery from mass vaccination sites and retail pharmacies to doctor’s offices may be an important means of overcoming vaccine hesitancy and achieving equity. (Vaccine, 10/29/21)

True activism is protecting public health — not whatever Kyrie Irving is doing. Science tells us the coronavirus spreads easily in enclosed spaces, and science tells us we’re less likely to spread the virus and create variants when we get vaccinated. Businesses and municipalities that impose vaccine mandates are acting in accordance with science. If Irving opposes vaccine mandates, it literally is an anti-science view. (MSNBC, 10/13/21)

See also: Adam Silver sought player vaccine mandate, supports New York’s rules in Kyrie Irving stalemate (Washington Post, 10/19/21)

A Florida school says vaccinated students must stay home for 30 days after each shot, citing a false claim that they'll infect others. "What kind of nonsense is this?" Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University, told WSVN. "They made that up. That's science fiction — not even science fiction because it's pure fiction." None of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines contain the virus that causes COVID-19. (Business Insider, 10/18/21)

See also: Pfizer vaccine 93% effective at keeping adolescents 12-18 out of the hospital, CDC says (USA TODAY, 10/19/21)

Moderna won't share its vaccine recipe. WHO has hired an African startup to crack it. The World Health Organization has hired the company, called Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, as part of a $100 million plan to figure out how to make an mRNA vaccine against COVID that is as close as possible to the version produced by Moderna. (NPR, 10/19/21)

See also: Opinion: The Biden administration needs to share the Moderna vaccine recipe with the world now (Washington Post, 10/20/21)

Domestic Funding for COVID-19 Vaccines: An Overview. The following provides an overview of both (1) appropriations and (2) allocations and obligations for selected domestic COVID-19 vaccine related activities. (With the exception of the mandatory funding provided by ARPA, all funding amounts discussed below are classified as discretionary.). (Congressional Research Service, 10/19/21)

In secret vaccine contracts with governments, Pfizer took hard line in push for profit, report says. A new report by Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group that gained access to a number of leaked, unredacted Pfizer contracts, released Tuesday sheds light on how the company uses that power to “shift risk and maximize profits,” the organization argues. (Washington Post, 10/20/21)

The political fight over vaccine mandates deepens despite their effectiveness. Republicans have grown increasingly hostile to the notion of mandatory vaccines — despite vaccine mandates existing in the background in parts of the United States since the 19th century — and have parlayed the fight against COVID-19 into a political battle, with vaccine mandates as the latest frontier in the great American defense of freedom and liberty. (NPR, 10/17/21)

FDA clears Johnson & Johnson and Moderna booster shots for millions of people. The ruling will now be handed off to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its vaccine advisory committee, which has scheduled a meeting Thursday to discuss Moderna and J&J’s booster data. If the committee issues a recommendation, and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off, additional shots for those vaccines could be distributed immediately to eligible people. (CNBC, 10/20/21)

Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccines: CDC’s Recommendations for COVID-19 Primary Series in Children 5–11 years old. During this COCA call, CDC will provide an overview of its recommendations and clinical considerations for administering primary series in children between 5–11 years old. The call will take place on November 4, 2021, 2-3 PM. (CDC, 10/21)

More Covid Vaccine Boosters Are Coming. Who Should Get Them? In the next few days, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to debate who should receive booster shots for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, a follow-up to last week’s Food and Drug Administration committee meeting. By the end of this week, if those agencies’ directors approve, many millions more Americans should be eligible to receive additional shots. (Wired, 10/20/21)