A recent NPR/Marist poll found that one in four Americans said they would refuse a coronavirus vaccine outright if offered. Another 5% are "undecided" about whether they would get the shot. Although the numbers were highest for Republican men and residents of rural areas, there were still a significant number of people across all ages and demographic groups who claim they Read More
A more easily spread coronavirus variant first identified in England last year has now become the dominant strain in the U.S., the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Continue Reading CDC Says More Read More
What started as a slow trickle of people became a flood of cars over Easter weekend at the FEMA vaccination center in Yakima. And as April 15 approaches (when all adults are eligible for vaccination in Washington), some Seattleites are heading East for a coveted Covid-19 shot. Read More
Johnson & Johnson is reporting a setback in its effort to produce tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses, saying a contract production plant in Baltimore produced an ingredient that failed quality control tests. The material was made by Emergent BioSolutions, according to Johnson & Johnson. Read More
A small percentage of people who’ve been vaccinated in Washington and Idaho have become infected with COVID-19. Health officials say that’s not a sign the vaccine doesn’t work, or that people should cast aside public health guidelines. Read More
New clinical trials showed that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine elicits "100% efficacy and robust antibody responses" in adolescents from 12 to 15 years old, the drug company announced Wednesday. The trial included 2,260 participants; the results are even better than earlier responses from participants ages 16 to 25. Read More
Washington state is opening up COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16 and older starting on April 15, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday. The federal government had directed states to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccination by May 1, but most states had earlier plans, with more than a dozen opening eligibility to all adults this week. Read More
COVID-19 cases are going up in Whitman County. And that’s concerning for the public health department. Late Friday afternoon, Whitman County Public Health released a statement warning residents to reconsider social and other activities outside their homes that could increase their risk of exposure to COVID-19. Read More
Yakima County will soon get a boost to its existing vaccine distribution at an existing site set up at county fairgrounds. But unlike other sites around the state managed directly through the state, including in the Tri-Cities, Wenatchee and Spokane, the Yakima site will have the support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Read More
Washington’s eviction moratorium will be extended through June and two million more Washingtonians will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine beginning March 31. Continue Reading Governor Says More Washingtonians Read More
Children have now received their first doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, as the company studies the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for kids ages 6 months to less than 12 years old. Continue Reading Moderna Gives 1st Vaccine Read More
President Biden is aiming for the country to begin to find a degree of normalcy and begin to move on from the coronavirus pandemic by the July 4th holiday, Biden announced in his first prime-time address Thursday night from the White House on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. Read More
Jeannie Eylar says Pullman Regional Hospital began vaccinating its more than 500 employees around Christmas. Eylar is the hospital’s chief nursing officer. By mid-January, she says about 50% had received their shots. She and her colleagues set a goal of inoculating 75% by March 1. Read More
The new guidance is specific to freedoms that vaccinated people can resume in their own homes, but the agency warns that everyone – even those who are vaccinated – should continue to follow recommended guidelines in public settings, including masking. Read More
As the newest coronavirus vaccine makes its debut, the American public has a new set of deliberations before walking into their vaccine clinic — go with the new arrival or stick with the two vaccines that have already gone into the arms of more than 50 million Americans? Read More
Grocery store employees and other essential workers in Washington, regardless of age, will be eligible to begin getting the COVID-19 vaccine later this month, followed in April by people who have two or more medical conditions. Read More
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was produced in part through the use of cell lines derived from an aborted human fetus. In a statement released this week, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that this feature of the vaccine raises questions about its permissibility. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says that following President Joe Biden's direction to states to prioritize vaccinating teachers, preK-12 educators, school staff and licensed childcare workers have been added to the current vaccination tier. Read More
It’s a fact that simply being eligible for a vaccine in America doesn’t mean that you can instantly get one. Yet the ability to get to the front of the line isn’t the same for everyone. ProPublica has found that, whether intentionally or not, some vaccine programs have been designed with inherent barriers that disadvantage many people who are most at risk of dying from the Read More
A third COVID-19 vaccine is on the way, and this one requires only one shot for immunization. The Food and Drug Administration authorized Johnson & Johnson's vaccine for emergency use Saturday, a day after a panel of advisers to the agency voted unanimously (22-0) in its favor. Read More
The problems have occurred in numerous company locations across several states. The Washington State Department of Health, citing a complaint it received this month, told NPR it had halted COVID-19 vaccine distribution to the company. Other regulators have also received complaints or stopped providing the vaccine. Read More
In clinical trials, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine appears to be 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 — compared to about 95% for Moderna and Pfizer. That has some people wondering if they should avoid the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Absolutely not, says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. Read More
Vaccine supply chains are extremely specialized and sensitive, relying on expensive machinery, highly trained staff and finicky ingredients. Manufacturers have run into intermittent shortages of key materials, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office; the combination of surging demand and workforce disruptions from the pandemic has caused delays of four to 12 Read More
So far the vaccine supply pipeline is expected to remain relatively steady, unlike in many other jurisdictions in the country. Tribal leaders say they plan to keep holding the Biden administration accountable to the U.S. government's treaty obligations to deliver health care. There's an obvious legacy of mistrust toward the federal government throughout Indian Country. Read More
White House officials on Friday confirmed the extent of the weather's chilling effect on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, saying this week's storms created a backlog of some 6 million doses affecting all 50 states. Continue Reading Extreme Read More
The COVID-19 vaccines are here, but if it's your turn to get vaccinated, how are you supposed to sign up? The answers vary by place, so NPR created a tool to help you understand how things work in your state and connect you with local resources. And we're sharing guiding principles and advice for navigating the process below. Read More
President Biden has finalized deals to buy 200 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of July, increasing the likelihood of delivering on his promise to have all Americans inoculated by mid-summer. Continue Read More
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now blocked from Instagram after he repeatedly undercut trust in vaccines. Kennedy has also spread conspiracy theories about Bill Gates, accusing him of profiteering off vaccines and attempting to take control of the world's food supply. Read More
The Washington state Department of Health told us they aren't keeping track of who's eligible and who's not among those vaccinated, but anecdotal evidence suggests ineligible people are getting vaccines at many clinics across the state. This happens because each provider must come up with its own process for checking eligibility, and most rely on the honor system. Read More
With millions of older Americans eligible for COVID-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty. The efforts to vaccinate people who are 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent scheduling systems. Read More
Scientists estimate that somewhere between 70% and 85% of people need to be immune from the coronavirus before the disease will wane through a process known as herd immunity. Both natural immunity and vaccines can play a role in achieving that goal. But getting there won't be easy. Read More
While millions of Americans wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors around the country have gotten early access to the scarce drug or offers for vaccinations, raising complaints about favoritism tainting decisions about who gets inoculated and when. Read More
Gov. Brad Little issued a new executive order Thursday that will require vaccine providers to publicly report additional data as part of an effort to inject more transparency in the vaccine rollout. Continue Reading Governor Brad Read More
The study was conducted in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa. The vaccine did better at preventing disease in the U.S. – 72% — and less well in South Africa – 57% efficacy. The efficacy seen in Latin America was 66%. Read More
The biotech company Novavax says its COVID-19 vaccine is 89% effective at preventing the illness, according to an interim analysis of a large study conducted in the U.K. The results come from a clinical trial involving more than 15,000 volunteers, of whom more than a quarter were older than 65. Read More
President Biden announced Tuesday that his administration is working to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use, with the goal, the White House says, of having enough vaccine supply for the entire adult U.S. population by the end of the summer. Read More
About 500 people made it into line at the COVID-19 mass vaccination event in the Tri-Cities. This is part of a larger set of mass events across the state kicking off this week — including clinics in Spokane, Wenatchee and Ridgefield, in Clark County. Read More
As reports emerge across the country of health facilities throwing out unused and spoiled COVID-19 vaccines, some state governments are failing to track the wastage as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving officials coordinating immunization efforts blind to exactly how many of the precious, limited doses are going into the trash and why. Read More
Washington state plans to roll out mass doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at regional hubs starting Monday, Jan. 25. But some local officials say they received little notice and that they’re far from ready. Continue Reading Read More
At the University of Idaho, for example, students who receive a vaccine will be allowed to skip mandatory midsemester coronavirus testing. “At this time, we do not plan to require vaccination, but it is highly recommended,” President C. Scott Green and Provost Torrey Lawrence said in a Friday memo to the campus community. Read More
The state of Washington, hamstrung as many states have been by a slow distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, will deploy the National Guard, set up mass vaccination sites and create a new public-private partnership to lead a renewed effort to get the vaccine into the arms of people. Read More
As the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, three big questions loom. First, can someone who has been vaccinated still spread the disease? Second, will the vaccine remain effective as the virus itself evolves? And third, how long will the vaccine's protection last? Read More
At sunrise Thursday, a line of cars stretched well over a mile from a Sequim city park, through the town, and out onto U.S. Highway 101. Sequim police officers started turning people away and telling them to come back another day even before the first of 600 vaccine doses was injected. Read More
The agriculture industry is asking Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee to move migrant farmworkers and food factory workers closer to the front of the line for the coronavirus vaccine because they perform work that cannot be delayed or performed remotely. Read More
Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's push to make a COVID-19 vaccine available in record time, added $628 million to a federal contract with Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based contract manufacturer, "to advance manufacturing capabilities and capacity for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as well as therapeutics," the Department of Health and Human Services Read More
Idaho’s teachers and school staff serving students in grades pre-K through 12th are cleared to start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Brad Little and public health officials announced Tuesday afternoon. Continue Reading Idaho K-12 Read More
In the small town of Oak Creek, Colo., — a three-hour drive from Denver, assuming the roads are clear — Gene Bracegirdle, a firefighter and EMT in training, is getting his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Continue Reading Read More
People age 70 and older as well as some people living with an elder will be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. The state Department of Health on Wednesday provided awaited details for whose turn comes when to get the precious and scarce shots. Read More
A new Crosscut/Elway Poll of Washington voters conducted between Christmas and New Year’s Eve found 55% intended to get vaccinated, including 37% who were certain to get vaccinated as soon as they could. Eighteen percent said they were very likely to get the vaccine, but 27% said they planned to wait and see and 15% were certain they would not get vaccinated. Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning health care workers that any changes to the authorized dosing schedules of COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered significantly place public health at risk and undermine "the historic vaccination effort to protect the population" from the coronavirus pandemic. Read More