Coronavirus News Roundup: Many US Adults Prefer Pharmacies for COVID-19 Vaccination, CDC Issues Guidance for Fully Vaccinated Americans

The COVID-19 vaccination effort is well underway in the US, with over 98.2 million administered doses and 10.1% of the population fully vaccinated against the virus as of press time.

This week, a recent survey found that US adults prefer a pharmacy over a mass event for receiving COVID-19 shots, and the CDC issued first recommendations for people fully vaccinated against the virus.

Here’s a roundup of the latest coronavirus-related news:

Survey: US Adults Prefer a Pharmacy Over a Mass Event to Receive COVID-19 Vaccines

Most Americans prefer to receive their COVID-19 vaccines from a trusted health care provider, such as their pharmacist or physician, rather than being immunized at a mass event, according to the results of a recent survey.

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Protecting Pharmacists: The PPE Every COVID-19 Vaccinator Needs Now

In our current COVID-era, when we think about personal protective equipment (PPE) we’re primarily thinking about protection against the airborne transmission of the coronavirus. We must look at the whole picture. During non-COVID times, it is estimated that HCPs experience up to 800,000 potentially infectious exposures to blood through needlesticks and splashes. This number will, undoubtedly, increase due to the high numbers of vaccinations administered quickly and in a wide range of traditional and nontraditional settings. 

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CDC Issues First Recommendations For People Fully Vaccinated for COVID-19

The CDC have produced the first set of guidelines for people who have received either 2 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or the 1 dose of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.

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Women Pharmacists Are Leading Successful COVID-19 Vaccination Programs

The news, whether on the internet or television or in your local newspaper, is chock-full of vaccine stories. Patients read the headlines and pick up the phone and call the pharmacy for information. Small community pharmacies can field 100 phone calls or more a day for patients to be put on the “list.” Forget the internet; most patients, especially the elderly, want to speak to a human, a human who can get them this life-preserving shot in the arm.

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IDSA: Safe return to school is possible

One year ago, schools, colleges, and universities made the rapid shift to online learning to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The start of the 2020-2021 academic year initiated the debate over whether students could now safely return to classrooms, and what would be required to do so, which resulted in a massive patchwork of approaches across the United States. Now, with 3 available vaccines and a much greater understanding of COVID-19, the debate continues.

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