Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

CDC Publishes Data Prompting the Mask Guideline change

Today the CDC posted the data supporting the change in the mask guidelines for the fully vaccinated. It’s in the July 30, 2021 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) describing the outbreak of several hundred new cases of the Delta variant COVID-19 infection in Barnstable County, Massachusetts following July 4th events. Those who were fully vaccinated shed virus as much as the unvaccinated.

Organizers of the Iowa State Fair and those planning to attend, take note.

Brown CM, Vostok J, Johnson H, et al. Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Including COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections, Associated with Large Public Gatherings — Barnstable County, Massachusetts, July 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 30 July 2021. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7031e2external icon.

Update on Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices Meeting July 22, 2021

Presentation slides for the ACIP meeting today are available here. Updates to clinical communication indicate that, while patients with a history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) are eligible for any of the authorized vaccines, they should discuss with their clinical teams the availability of mRNA vaccines given the association of GBS with the J&J vaccine.

For the summary of the issues regarding giving booster vaccine doses to immunocompromised patients, see data from slide 15 onwards.

Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices Meeting July 22, 2021

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet with the CDC July 22, 2021 to discuss COVID-19 vaccine boosters for immunocompromised individuals and the association of the J&J vaccine with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. See the draft agenda here.

New FDA Warning Regarding association of Guillain-Barre Syndrome with J&J Covid-19 Vaccine

On July 13, 2021, the FDA issued a revision to the J&J COVID-19 vaccine fact sheets regarding the increased risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) with the vaccine. According to the announcement, the benefits still outweigh the risks for getting the vaccine and so far no causal association has been found. GBS is rare and has been associated with other vaccines, including the flu vaccine. GBS has not been associated with the mRNA vaccines, so far.

New Namesake for Johnson County

I never knew until today that Johnson County; Iowa had originally been named for a slaveholder. That has changed since the Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted to rename the county for distinguished African American scholar, Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson on June 24, 2021. Read the Iowa Now story for the details. The drive to rename the county for Dr. Johnson, an accomplished University of Iowa alumna, began last year with an on-line petition that gathered 1,000 signatures, led by David McCartney, an archivist in UI Libraries’ Special Collections.

According to the Iowa Now story, the drive to rename the county for Dr. Johnson was also in the context of the deaths of several African Americans by police officers earlier this year. It reminds me of another famous African American, James Alan McPherson, a long-time faculty member at the Iowa Writers Workshop, for whom a local neighborhood park was recently renamed. Part of the drive for that came from members of Black Lives Matter.

McPherson was written about in the book Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era, edited by former UI faculty, Lena and Michael Hill. Although Dr. Johnson was not mentioned in their book, she certainly could have been because of her towering status as an educator, historian, and activist.

Support for the change also came from Leslie Schwalm, professor of gender, women’s and sexuality studies, and members of Dr. Johnson’s family.

Results of CDC Emergency Meeting Today on COVID-19 Vaccine Safety

The ACIP presentation slide sets available for June 23, 2021 regarding safety of COVID-19 vaccine including myocarditis and pericarditis and booster doses are here. Updated CDC recommendations for myocarditis and pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination are here. Data does not support recommending booster doses currently although monitoring will continue.

Update: CDC Emergency Meeting June 23-25, 2021 on COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Including Myocarditis

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) emergency meeting is re-scheduled for June 23-25, 2021 to discuss COVID-19 vaccine safety including myocarditis after Vaccine Safety Technical Work Group assessment. You can find a webcast link and the draft of the working agenda details here. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee report slide set summary as of May 31, 2021 is on slide 26. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) news story is here.

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/