The CDC must be transparent about the side effects people may experience after getting their first shot of a coronavirus vaccine, doctors urged during a meeting Monday with CDC advisors. Dr. Sandra Fryhofer said that both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines require two doses and she worries whether her patients will come back for a second dose because of potentially unpleasant side effects after the first shot. Both companies acknowledged that their vaccines could induce side effects that are similar to symptoms associated with mild Covid-19, such as muscle pain, chills and headache.
The rise of COVID-19 cases in San Diego is part of a pattern being seen statewide and that might mean a strain on the health care system in the coming weeks. “When you see the numbers more than double in just under three weeks, we’re concerned,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in his California COVID-19 update Tuesday.
The government is preparing to ship the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in “just a few weeks,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II said Tuesday as the Trump administration started to brief presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s transition team on coronavirus planning.
States will have final say on how to prioritize who gets the first doses of any coronavirus vaccines, HHS Secretary Alex Azar told reporters on Tuesday. A CDC vaccine advisory committee is set to meet as soon as the FDA authorizes the first vaccine, to determine which groups should get early access to the shot. But governors will have "final say," Azar said, raising the possibility that Americans could face widely differing distribution plans depending on where they live.
After notifying a family their loved one had died from Covid-19, ICU Dr. Ken Remy felt compelled to send a message to emphasize how critical wearing a mask, social distancing and washing your hands are to reduce the transmission.
Federal health officials are likely to shorten their recommendation for how long people should quarantine to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus from the current 14 days to as few as seven.