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Extra COVID vaccine may help protect transplant patients

AP Medical Writer A small study offers the first hint that an extra dose of COVID-19 vaccines just might give some organ transplant recipients a needed boost in protection. Even as most vaccinated people celebrate a return to near normalcy, millions who take immune-suppressing medicines because of transplants, cancer or other disorders remain in limbo — uncertain how protected they really are. It’s simply harder for vaccines to rev up a weak immune system. Monday’s study tracked just 30 transplant patients but it’s an important step toward learning if booster doses could ...

Celebrations (and questions) greet US vaccine donation plan

Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa — U.S. plans to donate 500 million more COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries were met Thursday with both celebration and hesitation amid questions over whether the effort will be enough to help poor regions desperate for doses. Some health officials and experts expressed hope that the pledge would encourage more donations to ease the inequities in vaccine supplies that have become pronounced in recent months. Other observers stressed that the doses needed to roll out quickly. “Saving lives requires shots in arms now. Not at the end ...

US increasingly unlikely to meet Biden’s July 4 vax goal

Associated Press WASHINGTON — For months, President Joe Biden has laid out goal after goal for taming the coronavirus pandemic and then exceeded his own benchmarks. Now, though, the U.S. is on pace to fall short of his aim to have 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July 4. The White House has launched a month-long blitz to combat vaccine hesitancy and a lack of urgency to get shots, particularly in the South and Midwest, but it is increasingly resigned to missing the president’s vaccination target. The administration insists that even if the goal isn’t reached, ...

Vaccine protection may diminish need for yearly boosters

AP Medical Writer Scientists have found clues that the world’s leading COVID-19 vaccines offer lasting protection that could diminish the need for frequent booster shots, but they caution that more research is needed and that virus mutations are still a wild card. Critical studies are underway, and evidence is mounting that immunity from the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna does not depend exclusively on antibodies that dwindle over time. The body has overlapping layers of protection that offer backup. Pfizer and Moderna have fueled booster questions by estimating that ...

Minn. offers giveaways for getting COVID-19 vaccine

Associated Press/Report for America ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz hopes giveaways including Minnesota State Fair tickets, fishing licenses and state park passes will help pick up the pace of coronavirus vaccinations in Minnesota, which has slowed. The Democratic governor on Thursday announced that 100,000 people who are vaccinated between Memorial Day weekend and the end of June will be eligible to choose between nine vaccine reward options. The incentives include college baseball tickets, amusement parks passes and a $25 Visa card, among other options. Walz called the incentive ...

Biden orders more Intel investigation of virus origin

Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered U.S. intelligence officials to “redouble” their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory. After months of minimizing that possibility as a fringe theory, the Biden administration is joining worldwide pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak, aiming to head off GOP complaints the president has not been tough enough as well as to use the opportunity to press China on alleged obstruction. Biden asked U.S. ...