News Room

As the final stage of vaccine trials are happening across the country, health officials are working on a plan for how to give it out once it’s approved. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control confirms that a memo went out to all governors explaining how federal health officials are preparing for widespread distribution of the COVID 19 vaccine in the fall and distribution centers should be operational by November 1.  

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sent a letter last week to the nation’s governors with an urgent request. The Trump administration wanted them to do everything in their power to eliminate hurdles for vaccine distribution sites to be fully operational by Nov. 1. The Aug. 27 letter, obtained by McClatchy, asked governors to fast-track permits and licenses for new distribution sites. “The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program,” Redfield wrote.

College students on campus will behave like the 18- to 24-year-olds that they are. They will gather in groups to hang out, socialize amongst themselves, and act in a manner that is frequently in exact conflict to what is needed to keep campuses open this fall. Threats of student expulsion and punishment will not work. Embracing students as partners in campus reopenings is the strategy that has the best chance of succeeding.

In parts of the United States, autumn is coming. The mornings have a coolness. The dogwood leaves show an edge of color. And outside pharmacies, the banners of fall are appearing: “Flu shots here.” This year in particular, health authorities hope Americans will listen. The overlap of the influenza season and the coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm the health care system if people don’t take the vaccine and the incidence of flu is high. Planners are worried about renewed pressure on hospital beds and protective equipment, and less visible pressure on laboratories, which have to use the same machinery and supplies to analyze diagnostic tests for both Covid-19 and flu.