From Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY

Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

April 1, 2021

CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust. Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.

Topics: Vaccine verification issues, Good news for adolescents, Over the counter CoViD-19 tests

Vaccine Verification So here is the problem. You want to go to the next big concert or sporting event and they require proof of vaccination or a CoViD-19 test. So you go online and download a CDC vaccination card and print it out on your home printer. You don’t even need to buy it on the “dark web”, pictures of vaccine cards are readily available on the regular internet. So that leads me to the problem we have. Unfortunately for us, when the CDC developed the vaccination cards, they didn’t put a unique identifier number on the card. My card just has my hand written name and birthdate on it. My vaccine type and lot number are written on the card as well. That’s it. So how do event producers know that the cards are real. That is the problem we have as we move towards more and more events accepting vaccination as a way to enter. There are several solutions in the works but the central problem is that the CDC will not release the database of people who are vaccinated. They created this problem and will not fix it. One great solution in New York State is the Excelsior pass. New York State has teamed up with IBM and given them access to their vaccination database in a safe protected way. I recently signed up for my excelsior pass. It was simple. The app asked me for my name and birth date. It then had me pick the right date of my last vaccination from a choice of 5, the vaccine I received from a choice of 3 and the location of my vaccine from a choice of 5 locations. Once I answered all three questions correctly, it gave me a QR code that is tied to me. At a venue, they can scan that QR code and verify my vaccine status. Other states need to do the same if the CDC will not. I am hopeful that others will see the success of the New York/IBM System and follow suit quickly. I know that CLEAR and others are also working on a solution. Good News for Adolescents that want to go back to school This week, Pfizer announced that their clinical trial found that their vaccine is highly effective in adolescents. This is good news in the effort to reopen middle and high schools. At our current rate of adult vaccinations, we should have enough vaccine to offer vaccinations to kids 12 and up by late summer. Middle and high schools have been more challenging to reopen than elementary schools, for two reasons: Older students are more likely than younger ones to become infected and to transmit the virus, and traditional middle and high school schedules make it difficult to keep students in stable groups. Vaccine hesitancy has been an issue with some parents expressing concerns about getting their kids vaccinated. The Pfizer vaccine did not show any unusual side effects in the kids. Hopefully middle and high schools will look more normal in the fall. Pfizer vaccine lasts at least 6 months According to updated data released by Pfizer today, their vaccine is 91% effective for up to 6 months. It is also 100% effective at preventing severe CoViD-19 disease and was 100% effective against the B.1.351 South African variant which is more resistant to vaccines. Moderna just started their trial of their vaccine against B.1.351. Over the Counter CoVid-19 Tests Today, I awoke to my Alexa playing the NPR morning news. They had a story that the FDA approved two over-the-counter at-home CoViD-19 tests that don’t require a prescription. The Abbott BiNaxNOW and the Quidel Quickvue. These tests will be available at drug stores for around $20-$25. These tests are made for serial testing and the BiNaxNOW will be sold as a set of two to encourager people to do two tests on different days. At-home testing on multiple days will pick up more cases of CoViD-19 and is a good thing. The problem is when asymptomatic people try to use one test to determine if they are safe to go into an event. These tests are not sensitive enough for that purpose. When you are eligible, get your self vaccinated so we can get through this together. Dr. Stu Weiss

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COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY

Coronavirus update for April 1, 2021 World Wide Updates Brazil approves emergency use of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine Chile announces border closures as Covid-19 cases top one million Bolivia will close border with Brazil to contain Covid-19 spread following concerns over variants Sweden targets mid August to offer Covid-19 vaccine to adults instead of June Egypt receives over 800,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX program France could reach “infection peak” in 7 to 10 days UK variant accounts for nearly 9 in 10 new infections in Germany WHO says Europe’s vaccine rollout is “unacceptably slow” amid “worrying” surge Lockdown begins in parts of Austria over Easter break Mass religious festival goes ahead in India, despite Covid fears as country enters second wave Queensland lifts lockdown early for Greater Brisbane Hungary records the deadliest day of pandemic, despite its leading vaccine rollout More than 65,000 die of Covid in Brazil in March Sicily health chief quits over ‘faked data’ Turkey’s new daily Covid cases exceed 40,000-highest level yet German president receives AstraZeneca jab Total Cases Worldwide: 129,993,459 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,834,607 Total Recovered: 104,751,157 US Updates Johnson & Johnson’s contract manufacturer defends quality control at Baltimore vaccine plant Michigan announces first case of variant first discovered in Brazil 30% of the US population has received at least one shot of Covid-19 vaccine, CDC data shows All Maryland residents over age 16 can now pre-register for a Covid-19 vaccine, governor says  Fauci calls loss of 15 million potential Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses “really quite unfortunate”  Pfizer coronavirus vaccine’s protection likely to last longer than 6 months, experts say  Massachusetts sees “uptick in new cases” Major League Baseball postpones opening day game over Covid-19 issues Governors Island in NYC will reopen May 1 as more than 4 million in the city have been vaccinated Dr. Fauci says Pfizer’s new Covid-19 vaccine data is “really very encouraging” March was the busiest month for US air travel since the start of pandemic  Thousands of cases of a worrying variant have hit the US Pfizer says Covid-19 vaccine works against variants, and protection lasts at least six months US nursing homes see a 96% decline in Covid-19 cases since vaccines rolled out in late December CDC warned the UK variant would become dominant by March, and there’s evidence it has Prescriptions not needed for certain at-home COVID tests, FDA says Twitter and eBay asked to crack down on fake vaccine card sales by 45 attorneys general National-Mets Opening Day game postponed due to COVID-19 issues McConnell urges fellow Republicans to get COVID-19 vaccines Total US cases: 31,229,639 Total US deaths: 566,149 Total Recovered: 23,742,473 Total Tested in US: 392,363,238 Total cases in CA: 3,670,266 Total deaths in CA: 59,062 Total cases in TX: 2,798,233 Total deaths in TX: 48,694 Total cases in FL: 2,064,525 Total deaths in FL: 33,519 Total cases in NY: 1,922,945 Total deaths in NY: 50,657 Total cases in IL: 1,248,111 Total deaths in IL: 23,601 Total cases in GA: 1,060,973 Total death in GA: 19,119 Total Vaccines Administered in US: 153,631,404

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