Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

Arlington National Cemetery 2015

The video below was made from footage of our visit to Arlington National Cemetery in 2015. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, each element of the guard’s routine has meaning, down to the number of steps taken up and down the black mat. According to the website:

“The Guard marches 21 steps down the black mat behind the Tomb, turns and faces east for 21 seconds, turns and faces north for 21 seconds, and then takes 21 steps down the mat. Next, the Guard executes a sharp “shoulder-arms” movement to place his/her weapon on the shoulder closest to the visitors, signifying that he or she stands between the Tomb and any possible threat. The number 21 symbolizes the highest symbolic military honor that can be bestowed: the 21-gun salute.”

Arlington National Cemetery YouTube video music attribution:

Americana – Aspiring by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200092

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

FDA and CDC Lift Pause on J&J COVID-19 Vaccine

After a safety review today, the FDA and CDC lifted the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. See the full announcement on the FDA website.

Virtual Information Sessions On Covid-19 Vaccines Update

Just some quick thoughts on the Virtual Information Session on COVID-19 Vaccines, Session 2 on 4/19/2021. This was another enlightening presentation. I just noticed that you’ll have to scrub forward to about 10 minutes and 30 seconds to start playback on the YouTube recording. This gap might be edited out in the near future.

It’s worth noting that the risk for getting blood clots from COVID-19 infection is greater than the risk for getting them from the vaccines, according to Dr. Pat Winokur, University of Iowa and Dr. Caitlin Pedati, IDPH. There were other educational answers to very good questions from the audience.

Don’t forget the third session on Saturday, 4/24/2021 at 10:00 a.m. in Spanish only for the YouTube event while the WebEx event will be a bilingual event. See this link for full details.

Virtual Information Sessions on Covid-19 Vaccines

There will be three live, free, virtual information sessions on the COVID-19 vaccines starting today at 10:00 a.m. Guest speakers include Pat Winokur, MD, Executive Dean, Carver College of Medicine; Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS); Professor of Internal Medicine–Infectious Disease. The third session will be available in Spanish. The sessions are scheduled for April 17, 19, 24.

Addendum: The first presentation this morning was very informative and a recording of it will be available at the link above.

Addendum: The video recording of today’s event doesn’t start until about 8 minutes and 27 seconds after you click on the start play button, so you can scrub ahead to that point to avoid the wait.

Addendum: This afternoon around 3:00 PM when I looked at the video recording the lag time problem on startup had been fixed.

CDC Update on Pause of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine

The CDC is updating information about the pause in administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine because of a small number of reported cases of rare and severe blood clots after receiving the vaccine. See the link here for updates as new information becomes available. You can also find the updates page in the menu link above titled “CDC GUIDANCE COVID-19 VACCINES.” I’ll stick this post to the top of the blog for now.

The CDC web page about this issue offers important guidance for health care professionals and patients.

See the video below from the University of Iowa for more information:

CDC and FDA Recommend Pause of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

The CDC and FDA issued a joint statement about pausing the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine on April 13, 2021 because of concerns about rare but serious blood clots associated with it. See the FDA YouTube below for more information. There will be a meeting today of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to review the cases and assess further significance. The Iowa Department of Public Health has recommended that all agencies pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The recommendation is being followed, comments by University of Iowa Health Care experts are reported in the Daily Iowan. The CDC has posted a Health Alert Network notice.