As schools begin to reopen across the nation, parents, guardians, and caregivers will be making decisions based on numerous factors, such as individual preferences, health concerns, work situations, and school considerations. Many schools are offering parents and guardians a choice between in-person and virtual modes of instruction. CDC’s Decision-Making Tool is designed to help parents, caregivers, and guardians weigh the risks and benefits of available educational options to help them make decisions about sending their child back to school. It includes:

Information on COVID-19 and why safely reopening schools is so critical.

Help you assess your child’s and your family’s risk of COVID-19;

Consider factors that will help you make a choice, if offered, of instructional format (e.g. virtual, in person, or a hybrid option); and

Prepare for the school year, regardless of format.

Visit the CDC to use this decision-making tool

During this pandemic, we remain committed to sharing news and information from local and national media about COVID-19 and immunization-related topics. Each week we’ll continue to review clips from across the U.S., from various news outlets and platforms, and bring you ten timely and relevant links.

“Coronavirus contextualized, 17th edition: Exploring, through data, COVID-19 in Nevada and beyond” The Nevada Independent (July 24, 2020)

Welcome to the 17th installment of “Coronavirus Contextualized,” a recurring feature in which we explore some of the numbers swirling around in the time of coronavirus. Through these stories, we hope to parse the numbers, including confirmed cases of COVID-19, people tested, number of hospitalizations and deaths, and provide some context to them.

“3 Simple Ways to Combat Vaccine Disinformation Online During National Immunization Awareness Month” Shot of Prevention (July 27, 2020)

If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s this — viruses aren’t the only things that can spread quickly. Disinformation makes its way across the globe at a relentless pace, confusing some people who don’t know who to trust and misleading others who only want to protect their families.”

“What you must know about vaccines for seniors” KFOR 4 (August 5, 2020)

Most people think that vaccinations are just for kids, but adults, especially seniors over age 65 who tend to have weaker immune systems, need their shots too. This is doubly important now, during the coronavirus pandemic when seniors need to stay as healthy as possible. Here’s a rundown of what vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend all seniors should get, and how they’re covered by Medicare.”

‘The doctor said, ‘Not to worry. It’s just the flu.’ His throat started fluttering. They worked feverishly on his little body. I couldn’t watch.’: Mom urges ‘we need to do better’ after losing son to flu” Love What Matters (July 26, 2020)

When we become parents, we dream of watching our children grow up…Joseph was a healthy little boy. He would get sick occasionally with a little cold, but that was it…After Joseph passed, we held him for a long time. I remember looking at his beautiful face and thinking, ‘He’s going to just wake up. He’s going to wake up, and we’ll go home, just like we were supposed to.’ The doctor came in to talk to us and she informed us he was the 85th child to die that year from flu. I was incredulous. ‘People don’t die from flu,’ I said. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as now I know these tragedies happen every year.

“COVID-19 and the flu: Avoiding the double whammy” The Hill (August 1, 2020)

The news is filled with reports of overwhelmed health care providers, ventilators at capacity, and hospitals in crisis mode due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. As we look ahead just a couple months, we could be facing a far more grim scene when COVID-19 and influenza are both circulating in our communities. Data released last month showed patients co-infected with influenza B and COVID-19 have a higher risk of poor health outcomes.

Podcast: “The Big Conspiracy” Vax Talk (July 27, 2020)

Often, when we scratch beneath the surface of someone who is anti-vaccine, we find conspiracy theories abound. We are also seeing them grow during the time of COVID. Why are anti-vaxxers prone to conspiratorial thinking and what can we do to turn people toward rational thought, instead? In this episode, Karen and Nathan discuss these very matters with Dr. Stephan Lewandowski, an expert on the matter from the University of Bristol.

"6 Myths about Coronavirus Herd Immunity, Debunked By Doctors” Bustle (July 27, 2020)

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, people wondered if herd immunity might make it safe to travel and work again. If enough people got COVID-19, survived, and became immune, surely that’d stop the virus in its tracks, right? It's a bit more complicated than that, researchers tell Bustle.

"The eerie similarities between the anti-mask and the anti-vax" CNN Health (August 4, 2020)

In the confusion and chaos of a global pandemic, a small but significant group of people who refuse to wear masks has emerged despite the now established evidence of their efficacy. If their emphasis on personal freedom, their misrepresentation of science and their passion to defend their position feels familiar, it is likely because the tactics have been used for years by another group--the anti-vaxxers.

"How another video of COVID-19 misinformation went viral on Facebook"  The Verge (July 29, 2020)

The video that captured the public imagination this week lacks a name as catchy as “Plandemic” — it was a live stream of a press conference organized by a group known as the Tea Party Patriots, who are funded by wealthy Republicans — but it was seen much more widely, in much less time.

"Virus misinformation proving highly contagious" Las Vegas Review-Journal (July 29, 2020)

As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight to the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures.

"Vaccine Trials Should Reflect America’s Diversity"  Scientific American (July 27, 2020)

Racial minorities and those with underlying health conditions may be at a greater risk from coronavirus infection, but have historically been less likely to be included in clinical trials.
 

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Prepare, Don’t Panic. To inform Nevadans statewide, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Governor's Office have created this website to better share information and resources as it pertains to the current status of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact within the state of Nevada. https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/

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