"FDA Approves HPV Vaccine Gardasil As Throat Cancer Prevention"  Forbes (June 17, 2020)

Last week, the FDA approved Gardasil 9, produced by Merck, to be used as a preventive vaccine for HPV-related head and neck and throat cancers. Of the over 35,000 HPV-related cancers seen annually, 13,500 are cancers of the throat. Over two decades ago, researchers first began to understand that certain head and neck cancers, primarily in non-smoking men in the 40-60-year age range, were caused by HPV, not heavy cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption.

“Public health workers fighting virus face growing threats”  Associated Press and Kaiser Health News (June 12, 2020)

Emily Brown was stretched thin. As the director of the Rio Grande County Public Health Department in rural Colorado, she was working 12- and 14-hour days, struggling to respond to the pandemic with only five full-time employees for more than 11,000 residents. Case counts were rising. She was already at odds with county commissioners, who were pushing to loosen public health restrictions in late May, against her advice. She had previously clashed with them over data releases and control and had haggled over a variance regarding reopening businesses.

“The Anti-Vax Movement’s Radical Shift From Crunchy Granola Purists to Far-Right Crusaders”  Mother Jones (June 18, 2020)

But over the last few years, Limaye has observed a subtle rightward shift: Online anti-vax communities, most of which are on Facebook, have taken on a very different tone. Instead of fretting over unwholesome additives in vaccines, members now rant about government overreach. They describe schools’ immunization rules as an assault on their freedom, and they swap theories about how Bill Gates is working with the government to control citizens with microchips, says Limaye. They’re ‘railing against the government and pharma companies controlling the population.’

“Fact Check: Vaccines do not differ based on insurance”  Reuters (June 9, 2020)

Viral posts on Facebook suggest that children from families on Medicaid or without insurance receive different vaccines than children whose families have private insurance. This claim is false. 

“The next COVID-19 challenge: Convincing people to get flu shots”  The Hill  (June 11, 2020)

Public health officials, doctors and pharmacists who have struggled for decades to convince Americans to get the flu shot are warning it is now more important than ever to get vaccinated as the U.S. faces a potential second wave of COVID-19 in the fall.

“Ask the Expert: Why is vaccine development against COVID-19 disease so difficult?”  American Academy Of Pediatrics (June 17, 2020)

Vaccine development for any infectious disease is a slow and arduous project. It generally requires more than 10 years to produce a licensed product and often costs more than $500 million. For a novel virus that is poorly understood such as SARS CoV-2, the process is particularly complex. However, the need for a safe and effective vaccine is indisputable.

“‘It’s psychologically easier’: how anti-vaxxers capitalized on coronavirus fears to spread misinformation”  The Guardian (June 6, 2020)

While many believe a Covid-19 vaccine will be a ‘ticket out’, experts are concerned getting people to take it is the real challenge.

“When there's a coronavirus vaccine, how will we make sure everybody gets it? That's the job of state immunization registries.” USA Today (June 12, 2020)

A collection of 62 obscure state and local agencies may end up being crucial players in the fight against coronavirus once vaccines become available They’re known as immunization registries and they keeptrack of children’s — and increasingly adults’ — immunizations.

“Opinion: Vaccine supply chain: Federal government must pivot from venture capital seeder to overseer” The Hill (June 16, 2020)

A COVID-19 vaccination campaign with full national coverage will require one of the largest public/private, federal/state/local partnerships in history. This means that the federal government will have to pivot from its venture capital role in seeding vaccine development efforts to an intense managerial and supply chain leadership role.

“Dr. Mark Pandori is working to uncover secrets of COVID-19's spread in Nevada”  Reno Gazette Journal (June 20, 2020)

“There are different lenses to look at this through,” he said of the global pandemic. “The absolute humanity of this is shattering. We have lost half a million people and you can’t look beyond that because we plan to see so many more people die.”  “But from a professional perspective this has caused people like me to use every bit of their experience and knowledge and be pushed to limits like never before.”

 

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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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