COVID-19 Vaccines and Herd Immunity

With coronavirus vaccines now available, what are the timeline and prospects for "herd immunity" and return to a new normal? Marc Lipsitch of @HarvardPublicHealth returns to JAMA's Q&A series with Paul Biddinger, MD, Director of @MassGeneralHospital's Center for Disaster Medicine, to discuss. Recorded December 17, 2020.

Additional Resources:
1. Article: Herd Immunity and Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Control

2. Patient Information: What is Herd Immunity?

3. Video livestream: Herd Immunity as a Pandemic Strategy

• Earn Free CME credits by watching JAMA Livestreams and completing a brief questionnaire.

Topics discussed in this interview:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Dr Biddinger's role in Massachusetts
1:33 Vaccine distribution in Massachusetts
3:57 Who was prioritized for the vaccine?
4:38 Deciding who to prioritize
5:19 Distribution to hospitals
6:34 Are spouses also eligible for vaccination?
7:21 Are any doses going to nursing homes?
8:08 Initial rollout surprises
9:10 NAM vs ACIP rollout recommendations
11:55 Phase 2 distribution in Massachusetts
12:23 How long will the first phase take?
13:49 When does phase 2 begin?
14:29 Vaccinating influencers to address hesitancy
18:02 When do we get to herd immunity?
25:43 As more vaccines become available, who gets vaccinated next?
28:50 Number of people who need to be vaccinated
33:28 Moderna and Pfizer distribution in the coming weeks
34:37 Cold chain for Moderna
36:04 Vaccinating placebo recipients
39:40 Delaying second doses to vaccinate more people
42:04 Other vaccine candidates - what's next?
44:00 Distribution to low income countries
44:33 Vaccinating people previously infected with COVID
45:53 Path to mRNA vaccines being approved
48:26 Outlook for the next 2-3 months
52:39 Closing remarks

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more from JAMA

Follow the JAMA Network

=====================================================================
#JAMALive #Coronavirus #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #Pandemic

[JAMANetwork]

Topics discussed in this interview:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Dr Biddinger's role in Massachusetts
1:33 Vaccine distribution in Massachusetts
3:57 Who was prioritized for the vaccine?
4:38 Deciding who to prioritize
5:19 Distribution to hospitals
6:34 Are spouses also eligible for vaccination?
7:21 Are any doses going to nursing homes?
8:08 Initial rollout surprises
9:10 NAM vs ACIP rollout recommendations
11:55 Phase 2 distribution in Massachusetts
12:23 How long will the first phase take?
13:49 When does phase 2 begin?
14:29 Vaccinating influencers to address hesitancy
18:02 When do we get to herd immunity?
25:43 As more vaccines become available, who gets vaccinated next?
28:50 Number of people who need to be vaccinated
33:28 Moderna and Pfizer distribution in the coming weeks
34:37 Cold chain for Moderna
36:04 Vaccinating placebo recipients
39:40 Delaying second doses to vaccinate more people
42:04 Other vaccine candidates - what's next?
44:00 Distribution to low income countries
44:33 Vaccinating people previously infected with COVID
45:53 Path to mRNA vaccines being approved
48:26 Outlook for the next 2-3 months
52:39 Closing remarks

[onelove]

If the roles were reversed and younger people were more likely to die our grandparents and parents would do absolutely everything and anything to protect us!

[internationaltax]

Our vaccine supply through at least June is severely limited. Thus, the decision of who to vaccinate when is inherently rationing a critical item. Rationing has always in the past caused some degree of rule breaking, even criminality, by those who can't get the item. Your discussions appear not to consider this. Also, when rationing a critical item, you must consider the impact on survival of our society. You clearly recognized this in your first tier or phase. It is not clear you are considering this beyond that first tier or phase. "Equity" is irrelevant if the allocation causes social breakdown, or even civil unrest. Finally, with very limited supply, encouraging vaccination is likely moot.

[rdv]

I agreed teachers should have priority.

[badalyanarman]

Thank you for interesting illumination.

[jaludwick]

There are people in the placebo group that I saw got the meningitis vaccine for the placebo.

[livebetterfitness]

Could the mutated strain last longer on surfaces?