Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana, CommuniVax co-PI, was recently featured in a Washington Post investigation examining why Hispanic adults report some of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the U.S. despite being among the most eager to get vaccinated. Watch the video here.

Our next webinar, "Community Experiences with CommuniVax: Carrying Equity in COVID-19 Vaccination Forward in Local Areas," will be held on September 15, 2-3 PM ET.

The webinar will consider the impact of research and outreach in 4 local areas, which together represent a mix of Black and Hispanic/Latino communities in rural to urban areas. Local leaders and public health officials will hear about these communities and what they are doing to address COVID-19 vaccination and equity challenges..

Misinformation and the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign. Nirav Shah (Director, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention) and Joe Smyser (CEO, the Public Good Projects) share the latest insights from the field. Tune in to hear about Maine CDC’s social media strategy, learn about existing expertise health agencies can leverage to counter misinformation, and stay up to date with challenges at the intersect of traditional media, social media, and health information. (ASTHO, 8/25/21)

The Best Birthday Present in 2021? A Covid Vaccine. Turning 12 has taken on added significance this summer, as tweens line up for shots allowing them to see friends and play sports again. (New York Times, 9/5/21)

Update: American Public Opinion and Vaccination Requirements. Majorities of Americans now favor requiring people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to travel by airplane, stay in a hotel, attend events with large crowds, dine in a restaurant and go to their office or work site. (Gallup, 9/3/21)

By The Numbers: Who’s Refusing Covid Vaccinations—And Why. The fact that Covid-19 has become a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” has been well-covered, and it dominates communications from public health authorities. However, millions of Americans who are eligible for shots still choose not to get them, and FDA approval of Pfizer’s vaccine doesn’t seem to have changed the rate of vaccinations nor people’s views on getting it. Some of those sitting out the shot are adamantly opposed to the vaccine while others claim to still be on the fence. Here’s a look at the adults who are still refusing to get a Covid vaccine, according to an analysis of nationwide polls. (Forbes, 9/5/21)

Police unions vs. vaccine mandates: The workers drawing a line in the COVID battle. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents some ​​355,000 members, recently compared vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany – now a notable a right-wing talking point that several conservative lawmakers and pundits have employed over the past couple months. (Salon, 9/4/21)

Lack of a Vaccine Mandate Becomes Competitive Advantage in Hospital Staffing Wars. The market for health care labor, strained by more than a year and a half of coping with the pandemic, continues to be pinched. While urban hospitals with deeper pockets for shoring up staff have implemented vaccine mandates, and may even use them as a selling point to recruit staffers and patients, their rural and regional counterparts are left with hard choices as cases surge again. (KHN, 8/31/21)

State troopers accused of making fake vaccination cards resign after colleagues turn them in. Making or buying a counterfeit card violates federal laws, as it entails the unauthorized use of an official government agency’s seal, according to the FBI. Those linked to a fake vaccination card can face a fine and a prison sentence of up to five years. The FBI warned unvaccinated people earlier this year: “Do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information.” (Washington Post, 9/8/21)

U.S. Reaches 75% of Adults With at Least One Vaccine Dose. The U.S. response to the pandemic remains a patchwork and a political battleground, with some prominent Republican governors downplaying the importance of vaccines and blocking public health measures such as mask mandates. (Bloomberg, 9/7/21)

Biden Will Require Vaccines For Federal Workers As Part Of A New COVID Strategy. President Biden is set to deliver remarks Thursday on what the White House calls a new six-pronged strategy to contain the delta variant of the coronavirus as cases continue to surge across the country. As part of the strategy, Biden will announce that federal workers and contractors will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19, eliminating an option for unvaccinated workers to be regularly tested instead. (NPR 9/9/21)

See also: The Open Society Foundations Call on G20 to Mobilize $50 Billion to Vaccinate the World (Open Society Foundations, 9/3/21)

The leaders of the FDA and CDC are reportedly pushing back on Biden's booster-shot plan, saying they need more time and data. Top health officials have told the White House they need more time and data before authorizing extra doses, The New York Times reported Friday. The heads of the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the White House they may be able to recommend boosters for only some recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the next few weeks. (Business Insider, 9/3/21)

Biden is expected to call for global vaccine summit. The summit would be held during the United Nations General Assembly meetings the week of Sept. 20. Topics would include coordination among leaders worldwide to collectively tackle the health crisis and address inequities, including that the developing world has lagged behind on vaccinations. (Washington Post, 9/8/21)

See also: Democrats launch ‘Global Vaccination Caucus’ in effort to boost worldwide doses (Washington Post, 9/3/21)

Why Business Leaders Need to Mandate the Covid-19 Vaccine. This power that leaders have is missing from the debate about vaccine mandates. Both proponents and opponents seem stuck on the legalistic view that mandates compel people to get vaccinated. But this ignores the potent symbolic value that mandates provide, especially in times of intense societal flux. (Harvard Business Review, 9/3/21)

We’re Asking the Impossible of Vaccines. No infection means no disease, no death, and no transmission, the absolute immunological trifecta. It’s why sterilizing immunity has often been framed as a “holy grail,” what researchers aim for when they’re designing their shots. But sterilizing immunity also has been a source of trouble. (The Atlantic, 9/9/21)

Effect of Vaccination on Transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The authors provide empirical evidence suggesting that vaccination may reduce transmission by showing that vaccination of health care workers is associated with a decrease in documented cases of Covid-19 among members of their households. This finding is reassuring for health care workers and their families. (New England Journal of Medicine, 9/8/21)

One Vaccine Makes More Antibodies Than Another. Does it Matter? One small U.S. study found waning levels of antibodies with Pfizer’s vaccine, particularly in an older group of people. And a larger study from Belgium found that Moderna’s shot may generate more antibodies than Pfizer’s. But what this all means in the real world is still unclear. While billions of doses of vaccine have been administered around the world, researchers are still working to understand the nuances of how long their protection lasts, and how it differs from one person to another. . (Bloomberg, 9/4/21)

See also: New Studies Find Evidence Of 'Superhuman' Immunity To COVID-19 In Some Individuals (NPR, 9/7/21)

Bears, baboons, tigers are getting COVID vaccines at zoos across the U.S. The Oakland Zoo is among dozens of zoos, research institutions, and sanctuaries that have requested the vaccines from veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis. The requests came in the wake of news that great apes at the San Diego Zoo became the first zoo animals in the country to receive the vaccines; that was in February. (National Geographic, 9/20/21)

COVID Vaccines: The Latest on Variants and Breakthrough Infections. This virtual event, featuring Drs. Amesh Adalja, Nahid Bhadelia, Akiko Iwasaki, and Marion Pepper, will convene leading scientific and medical experts to discuss the most pressing questions around COVID-19 vaccines vaccines concerning variants and breakthrough infections. A public Q&A will follow the expert discussion. The webinar will take place on Monday, September 13, 2021, 12:30-1:45 PM ET. (Aspen Institute, 9/21)

Moderna turns to biotech startup to ramp up Covid vaccine manufacturing. National Resilience will manufacture mRNA to produce the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at its facility in Mississauga, Ontario, for worldwide distribution. The company is headquartered in San Diego and Cambridge, Mass. (STAT, 9/8/21)

Women said the COVID vaccine affected their periods. Now more than $1.6 million will go into researching it. Combined, the five NIH-funded studies – conducted by researchers at Boston University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Michigan State University and Oregon Health and Science University – will likely incorporate between 400,000 and 500,000 participants, including adolescents and transgender and nonbinary people. (Seattle Times, 9/7/21)