Covid-19 booster shots to be offered in the US

By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 8:38 PM ET, Wed August 18, 2021
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1:30 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

More than 10,000 students are in quarantine in this Florida school district

From CNN's Linh Tran and Evan McMorris-Santoro

As of 7 a.m. ET today, at least 10,384 students are in quarantine across the Hillsborough County Public School District in Florida, according to a spokesperson with the schools.  That’s 4.8% of the student population. Additionally, 338 staff members are in quarantine, making up about 1.4% of the staff population. 

The quarantine numbers do not include those who are vaccinated. The school district warns these numbers are not just school transmission and that students could be in quarantine due to transmission or exposure outside of school.

Hillsborough County said the total number of positive cases are at least 1,695. Of that, 1,197 are students and 498 are staff members.

A total of 28,782 students have opted out of the mask policy. That is 14.44% of the student population but a spokesperson for the school district tells CNN that number has dwindled in the past few days.

2:41 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

Vaccines remain 92% to 95% effective at preventing hospitalizations, New York state data shows

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The New York State Department of Health found that vaccines remained 92% to 95% effective at preventing hospitalizations among the vaccinated, according to its data and analysis on vaccine efficacy.

The study examined rates of cases and hospitalizations among vaccinated New Yorkers older than 18, compared to unvaccinated people from early May to late July, a release from the office said.

Noting that with the emergence of the Delta variant and reduction of certain Covid protocols, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, both populations experienced an increase in cases.

“However, it is important to stress that researchers found vaccines remained about 92% to 95% effective at preventing hospitalizations among the vaccinated,” the press release said.

Unvaccinated New Yorkers “were eleven times more likely to be hospitalized and eight times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated,” the release stated.

The effectiveness of the vaccines declined from about 92% to 80% in reducing cases, the study, which was published by the CDC, showed.

Ultimately medical professionals deduced that vaccines remain “a critically important method in lowering COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.”

New York is the first state to conduct this study.

1:16 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

Disability advocacy group sues Texas governor and state education agency over mask mandate ban  

From CNN’s Carma Hassan and Rosa Flores 

A group of young students with disabilities and underlying medical conditions is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) over the mask mandate ban.  

The federal lawsuit was filed in Tuesday in US District Court for the Western District of Texas by Disability Rights Texas, a legal protection and advocacy agency. 

“Plaintiffs are students with disabilities and underlying medical conditions which carry an increased risk of serious complications or death in the event that they contract COVID-19,” the lawsuit says, noting the conditions include “Down syndrome, moderate to severe asthma, chronic lung and heart conditions, cerebral palsy, and weakened immune systems.”  

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are also under the age of 12, “rendering them ineligible to receive the vaccine under current Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) regulations.”  

The lawsuit says that if “school districts are unable to implement COVID-19 protocol as they each deem appropriate, parents of medically vulnerable students will have to decide whether to keep their children at home or risk placing them in an environment that presents a serious risk to their health and safety” which means “the Governor’s Executive Order and TEA’s Public Health Guidance unlawfully prevent school districts from complying with the ADA and Section 504’s requirement to provide students with disabilities access to a public school education.” 

The lawsuit asks for injunctive relief to prevent the governor and TEA from withholding state and federal education funds from school districts requiring masks.  

“Students with disabilities need in-person schooling more than other student groups, but they must be able to receive instruction and services safely. Many of these students have underlying health conditions and are at high risk for illness and even death due to COVID-19,” Disability Rights Texas said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.  

CNN contacted Abbott’s office and TEA for comment on the lawsuit, but did not immediately hear back.  

1:10 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

New York City mayor says he doesn't anticipate requiring proof of vaccination for students in the fall

From CNN's Laura Ly

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that he does not anticipate the city requiring proof of vaccination for students returning to school in the fall, but that conversations about mandating vaccines for teachers and school staff are ongoing.

“We do not anticipate students having to show proof. We obviously want to know who’s vaccinated and we want to encourage everyone who is not vaccinated to get vaccinated,” de Blasio said.

 “We’ve had conversations with unions representing our school staff of all kinds on the different ways to keep schools safe, but there’s nothing that’s been decided beyond what we’ve announced publicly and if we have anything new to say, obviously, we’re going to be talking about it,” de Blasio added.

To date, over 56% of New York City residents aged 12 to 17 have gotten at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose – a figure that amounts to almost 300,000 kids, the mayor said.

Dr. Jay Varma, deputy commissioner for Disease Control at the New York City Health Department, reiterated Wednesday that the city had great success in keeping Covid-19 transmission rates low with in-person schooling last year.

“We were able to keep rates of transmission among children and among staff at some of the lowest levels there are in the city,” Varma said. “Of course things are going to be different this year. The virus has changed, it has become a bit more dangerous…at the same time, we have a very strong level of defense, which is vaccination.”

Varma also said that last year, the majority of infections in schools were introduced by adults.

“Last year, in our analysis, we found that the majority of infections that were introduced into schools and resulted in transmission were first introduced by adults, so I think that by really pushing as hard as we can on vaccination for those who are eligible, we’re going to be able to keep our schools safe for kids there,” Varma said.

Additionally, a new “Vax to School” ad campaign will be launched by the city in at least eight languages to encourage parents and eligible kids to get vaccinated before the school year starts. De Blasio said city workers have made about 250,000 phone calls to NYC parents so far, providing information on vaccination.

12:53 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

It's "conceivable" that Covid-19 booster shots will help reduce transmission, Fauci says

From CNN's Jacqueline Howard

White House
White House

It is "conceivable" that the planned rollout of Covid-19 booster shots could help reduce the spread of disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday.

"Transmissibility is a bit more tricky than looking at a clinical phenomenon, such as infection, seriousness of disease and hospitalization," Fauci said during a virtual White House coronavirus briefing.

Data shows a booster shot prompts the body to produce a new batch of antibodies, Fauci said. These catch the virus as it tries to enter the body, and could stop the virus from multiplying in the nose and throat after someone breathes it in.

"The increase with a boost is really quite striking – multiple-fold increase – that it is conceivable that that would be important in lowering the level of virus in the nasopharynx, which could have an impact on transmission. I certainly hope that's the case," Fauci said. 

"If it is, then you could really get multiple benefits from doing this. You can get benefits for disease, severity of disease, and then ultimately infection and transmission. But the bottom line with full transparency – we don't know that right now," he added.

12:55 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

Surgeon general: White House is not jumping ahead of the FDA and CDC process for boosters

From CNN's Jacqueline Howard

White House
White House

The White House's plan to offer coronavirus booster shots to vaccinated adults starting Sept. 20 still depends on whether the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes boosters and whether the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends those boosters, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Wednesday.

"I want to be very clear: We are not skipping the very important FDA and ACIP process here. They have an incredibly important role to play in evaluating safety and making recommendations for vaccines. We respect that, we honor that and that will be a part of this process as well," Murthy told a White House briefing.

"The reason that we are not waiting for many more weeks to announce this, it falls into two buckets. One is transparency. We had told the public when we see a signal in the data we will tell them when we are concerned, when we think boosters may be required down the line. We are fulfilling that promise today," Murthy said.

"The second reason is we also want to ensure that people and states and localities and the public more broadly can plan. You can't turn on a booster effort with the flip of a switch. You have to lay the groundwork," he continued.

 

12:06 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

Booster shots are like giving extra life jackets to people who already have them, WHO official says 

From CNN’s Naomi Thomas

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies programme, said on Wednesday that giving Covid-19 booster shots is like handing out extra life jackets to people who already have them.

Regardless of what agreement science comes to on benefits from booster doses, “the reality is, right now, today, if we think about this in terms of an analogy, we’re planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets. While we’re leaving other people to drown without a single life jacket,” Ryan said during a news briefing in Geneva. 

“That’s the reality,” he continued. “Science is not certain on this. There is clearly more data to collect. But the fundamental ethical reality is we’re handing out second life jackets while leaving millions and millions of people without anything to protect them.” 

12:26 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

“Data consistently demonstrate a reduction of vaccine effectiveness against infection over time,” CDC director says

From CNN's Jacqueline Howard

White House
White House

Three separate studies demonstrate how protection against Covid-19 infection that vaccines provide may decline over time, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House virtual briefing on Wednesday. 

One of the studies, conducted in New York, found that vaccine effectiveness against new Covid-19 diagnoses declined from 92% to 80% over time from May 3 through July 25, based on the state's vaccine records.

"This allowed New York to study vaccine effectiveness against infection over time for more than 10 million New Yorkers of all ages," Walensky said, adding that the data will be published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) today.

Another study, conducted by the Mayo Clinic, analyzed vaccine effectiveness for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines among more than 80,000 people across all ages using data through July 16, Walensky said, adding, "Like we saw in the New York data, vaccine effectiveness against infection declined over time."

The Mayo Clinic study found that effectiveness fell from 76% to 42% among those who received the Pfizer vaccine and from 86% to 76% among those who received the Moderna vaccine. "These data are currently available on a pre-print server," Walensky said.

A third study, to be published today in the CDC's MMWR, found that vaccine effectiveness against Covid-19 infection among nursing home residents declined from 75% in March to 53% in August, Walensky said.

"Taken together, you can see that while the exact percentage of vaccine effectiveness over time differs depending on the cohort and setting studied, the data consistently demonstrate a reduction of vaccine effectiveness against infection over time," Walensky said. "Despite waning vaccine effectiveness against infection, data analyzed through July continue to demonstrate a stable and highly effective protection against severe illness and hospitalization for people who are vaccinated."

12:47 p.m. ET, August 18, 2021

Getting a booster "will be just as easy and convenient" as getting vaccinated for Covid-19 

From CNN's DJ Judd

White House
White House

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters at Wednesday’s Covid-19 briefing that getting a booster shot will be just as easy as getting the first shot.

“I want to be clear, the President's whole of government vaccination effort is ready to get every American who needs one a booster shot,” Zients told reporters, adding, “Thanks to the aggressive actions we have taken to establish our vaccination program, it will be just as easy and convenient to get a booster shot as it is to get the first shot today. We have enough vaccine supply for every American.”

Zients pointed to the more than 80,000 vaccination sites available to Americans across the country, including 40,000 local pharmacies, pledging, “boosters will be free, regardless of immigration or health insurance status, no ID or insurance required.”

Vaccinated Americans should pursue a vaccination eight months after their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, per Zients, who told reporters Wednesday the administration will “continue working closely with states, healthcare providers, pharmacies, and national and community-based organizations to ensure Americans know they should get a booster shot eight months after their second shot, and we will be laser focused on getting boosters to long-term care facilities to make sure residents and staff get their shots and are safe and protected.”