Editor's Note From December 14 to December 23, 2020, monitoring by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System found 4,393 (0.2%) adverse events after administration of 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Of these adverse events, 21 were determined to be cases…

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Editor’s Note As of January 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the number of distributed COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna is 17,020,575 doses, with 4,836,469 already administered.

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Editor’s Note On December 20, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) updated its interim vaccine allocation recommendations. In Phase 1b, COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to persons aged 75 years or more and non-healthcare frontline essential workers. In Phase 1c, the vaccine should be…

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Editor's Note This study, led by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed biweekly nationally representative survey data to describe changes over time in the public’s likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Among 8,167 respondents, the likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine declined from 74% in early April…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on January 2, 2021, that a total of 13,071,925 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been distributed, and more than 4.2 million had been administered, according to the January 2 Reuters. The report also noted that 2,217,025 of the doses, which comprise…

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Editor's Note Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) President Connie Steed, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, on December 16, issued a statement urging healthcare workers and the public to get vaccinated with the COVI-19 vaccines when they are available. APIC supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s…

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Editor's Note The first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech's newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use reached 141 of 145 targeted locations on the first day of its national rollout, a Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman told Reuters. Four island territories—American Samoa, Guam, North Mariana Islands, and the US…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on December 11 that it would purchase 100 million additional doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine, which was developed by Moderna with scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is scheduled for a December…

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A November 2020 survey from National Nurses United, the largest union of RNs in the US, rang some alarm bells about the preparedness of healthcare facilities bracing for influenza season along with COVID-19 case surges. Among the more than 15,000 nurses surveyed by the union, 30% named staffing shortages as…

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The latest surge of COVID-19 cases has put many hospitals in a precarious position, with shortages of staff, space, and supplies. Lessons learned earlier in the pandemic cannot necessarily shore up systems that have been overwhelmed with patients. Throughout most of 2020, some patients postponed medical or surgical care. When…

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