Ramona Whittington From: Roxana Cruz Sent: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 4:52 PM To: Medical Directors; Dental Directors; [email protected]; [email protected]; Myrta Garcia; Lindsay Lanagan; catherine.threatt; Abby Villafane; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; Dr Flower Cc: Jana Eubank; Daniel Diaz; Shelby Tracy; Nancy Gilliam; Ramona Whittington; ClinicalTeam Subject: COVID Vaccine Weekly Update: Week 13 (03/08/2021) Attachments: VaccineToolkit_1pger.pdf; COVIDVaccineAllocation-Week13_FQHCs.pdf; Vaccine Updates 03.09.2021.pdf; jama_moore_2021_vp_210037_1614808773.38942.pdf Dear Fellow CMOs and Vaccine Coordinators, Here is your COVID‐19 Vaccine Updates for Week 13 DSHS Allocations (03‐08‐2021)‐ see attached DSHS list This week 100 Health Center sites were allocated 19,100 vaccines To date (through Week 13), Texas Health Center sites have been allocated a total of 124,100 doses Week Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 6 9,900 600 7,500 1,300 17,300 5,875 17,650 11,675 7,400 12,100 0 doses doses doses doses doses doses doses doses doses doses doses 13 77 30 74 70 0 sites 20 FQHCs 5 FQHCs 56 FQHCs 27 FQHCs 56 FQHCs FQHCs FQHCs FQHCs FQHCs FQHCs TACHC has developed a summary table with updated information regarding COVID Vaccines available with a section to preview those that are currently under evaluation for possible approval‐ Please share with your staff to provide the overview for questions they or patients may have regarding differences between vaccines: see attached Also, we recommend your review of the attached JAMA opinion article: “Approaches for Optimal Use of Different COVID‐19 Vaccines: Issues of Viral Variants and Vaccine Efficacy” The Texas Medical Board’s (TMB) recommends practices continue to follow federal & CDC guidelines to help stop the spread of COVID‐19: https://www.texmed.org/TexasMedicineDetail.aspx?id=55898&utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_camp aign=TMT&_zs=NcudA1&_zl=Q54C6 Statement from the Texas Public Health Coalition (TACHC is a member of this group): “In light of the recent decision to rescind the statewide mandate for mask wearing and limiting of business capacity limits, the Texas Public Health Coalition encourages all Texans to continue recommended best practices to limit transmission of the pandemic virus. Our best chance to bring this pandemic to an end depends on two things: successful vaccination of the public and limitation of the spread of virus variants. Get vaccinated and keep wearing masks and maintaining social distance until we have truly beaten this COVID‐19 virus!” MMWR on the Importance of Prevention Strategies: An MMWR released on Friday (3/5), found that increases in both daily cases and death rates slowed significantly within 20 days of mask mandates being in place; and increases in daily 1 death rates and cases grew more quickly between 40‐80 days of restaurants being allowed to resume on‐premises dining. New Initial Guidance for Fully Vaccinated People (Non‐Health Care Settings): Fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks after the 2nd dose of the Pfizer/Moderna vaccine or two weeks after a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There is still a small risk that vaccinated people could still be infected with mild or asymptomatic disease and potentially transmit the virus to others who are not vaccinated. This is an ongoing area of research and the guidance will be updated regularly. The guidance must balance the risk to people who are fully vaccinated, the risk to those who have not yet received a vaccine, and the impact on the larger community transmission, with the benefits of resuming everyday activities. CDC Updates & Guidance CDC released a new set of COVID‐19 guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, and one of the biggest changes has to do with group gatherings. According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people are defined as people who have been vaccinated with both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID‐19 vaccines, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, for two weeks. And under the new guidelines, those fully vaccinated people can: gather indoors with other fully‐vaccinated people without wearing a mask. gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one other household (for example, visiting family members who all live together) without masks, as long as none of those people or anyone they live with is at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID‐19. Underlying conditions that put you at high risk include serious heart conditions, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease. Fully vaccinated people and unvaccinated people should still wear a mask, stay six feet apart, and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces when: they gather with unvaccinated people from more than one household. they're in public. they visit with an unvaccinated person who's at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID‐19, or who lives with someone at increased risk. The CDC also recommended avoiding "medium or large‐sized gatherings" and travel, even if you're fully vaccinated. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided new COVID‐19 guidance for fully vaccinated Americans, the agency didn't provide an update or relax travel measures. The agency maintained that Americans should refrain from traveling, referring to the organization's travel guidance last updated on Feb. 16 (see link below) "Because of the risk of getting and spreading COVID‐19 during travel, fully vaccinated people should still take all CDC‐ recommended precautions before, during, and after travel," read a CDC statement. The CDC may update travel recommendations for fully vaccinated people as that number rises and as they learn more about how vaccines are working in the "real world." www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019‐ncov/travelers Travel | CDC www.cdc.gov Learn about CDC's travel recommendations and tips to stay safe during the COVID‐19 pandemic. While the CDC recommended in February to "delay travel and stay home" according to the website, it did provide guidance points on to how to travel if you must: Get fully vaccinated, if you are eligible and able. Then wait two weeks after full vaccination to travel. o Get tested between one and three days prior to traveling. o Check travel restrictions in advance. 2 o Wear a face mask covering both your nose and your mouth. o Wash and sanitize your hands. o Bring extra face masks and sanitizer. o Try to avoid contact with anyone who may be sick. o Do not touch your eyes, mouth or nose. Exposure to COVID‐19 during travel ‐ A range of 20 ‐80% of individuals with COVID may be asymptomatic (no symptoms) or pre‐symptomatic (have not yet developed symptoms) may feel well and not have any symptoms, but can be contagious without symptoms and spread the virus to others. Therefore, travelers (including children) pose a risk to your family, friends, and community for 14 days after travel. o Get Tested and Stay Home After Travel o Get tested with a viral test 3‐5 days after travel AND stay home and self‐quarantine for a full 7 days after travel. o Even if you test negative, stay home and self‐quarantine for the full 7 days. o If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected. o If you don’t get tested, stay home and self‐quarantine for 10 days after travel. o Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not COVID‐19 Testing and Vaccinations Interactive Map: NACHC’s interactive map shows how many people have been tested and vaccinated each week for COVID‐19 by health centers in each state. Worldometers' U.S. trend charts suggest the pace of new cases is leveling off, while deaths have finally dipped below the peaks seen last April, though still higher than in the summer's "second wave." CDC Update: “When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated” View this email in your web browser Key Things to Know about the COVID‐19 Pandemic: CDC updated their information on key things to know about the COVID‐1 Studies show that COVID‐19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting COVID‐19. Experts also think that getting a CO may help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID‐19. COVID‐19 vaccination is an important tool to help u normal. View information about COVID‐19 and vaccines. Tracking Variants • Variants of Concern: Across the U.S., the UK Variant (B1.1.7) has been identified in >3000 cases, for the South African Variant (B.1.351) 30 cases identified, and only 15 cases for the Brazil Variant (P.1) have been reported. https://www.gisaid.org/hcov19‐variants/ 3,994 genomes collected between November 2020 and February 2021, last updated 2021‐03‐08 https://covariants.org/ Addressing Viral Variants: The best methods to address viral variants include vaccination and public health measures. An article in JAMA by John P. Moore addresses these issues. UPCOMING WEBINARS: The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Immunization Unit will be hosting a webinar this Wednesday, March 10, 2021, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. The webinar will include the information for AIVI vaccine open‐ ordering opportunity for healthcare providers. Please register for the webinar using the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5869162696155204363 The DSHS Immunization Unit will be facilitating a webinar about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Adult Influenza Vaccine Initiative (AIVI), a one‐time allocation of adult influenza vaccine doses, and the opportunity Texas healthcare providers to order the influenza vaccine for the 2020‐2021 season.