‘Game changer’ COVID-19 drugs trickle out to patients amid challenges

LYNN — The city is offering COVID-19 booster shots in the City Hall foyer this week and next during its COVID-19 vaccination hours. ... Kiame Mahaniah, chief executive officer at the Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC), is also encouraging people to get vaccinated and get the booster shot.

“There is a natural waning of immunity that is expected over time, especially with a virus that mutates so quickly,” Mahaniah said. “A booster essentially provides your immune system with the information it needs to fight the next COVID exposure.”

In addition to the vaccine clinics at City Hall, Mass General Brigham and LCHC are offering vaccines, but LCHC is only offering them for its patients.

LCHC CEO Discusses COVID19 Booster Shots and FDA Approval

“All things are subject to interpretation.  Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”  — Nietzsche As a medically-trained leader, I strongly believe in the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness and have supported the immunization campaign to the best of my and my institution’s ability. How then, do I approach vaccine hesitancy? First, I keep my anxiety in context. We are lucky to live in Massachusetts, with a vaccination rate high enough to prevent a devastating society-wide outbreak. It means our emergency rooms are available for other life-threatening issues; intensive care unit beds are there when we need them. The disasters we are now seeking to prevent are at a personal and family level. We can’t forget about other killers, still out prowling: cancer, heart disease, accidents, strokes, diabetes. Dead is dead. Losing a loved one to a car accident is scant improvement over losing them to COVID-19. If you are worried about new, vaccine-resistant and deadly variants emerging amongst the unvaccinated, you should be donating money and political support to COVAX, a global vaccine effort. Second, I don’t consider those who are unvaccinated irrational or enemies of the State. As individual citizens and as a society, we daily make decisions detrimental to our health. We love fast food, we ride motorcycles without helmets, we have sex without protection, we don’t forgive and carry grudges for years, we binge watch shows instead of sleeping and we don’t get our 8,000 steps. ...

Selling Shots, One Block at a Time

A randomized evaluation of a nationwide information campaign on Facebook found that short messages from physicians and nurses had a significant impact on reducing holiday travel and decreasing subsequent Covid-19 infection rates. Researchers found that the campaign, which reached almost 30 million Facebook users, was an impactful and cost-effective way to slow the spread of Covid-19 and enact behavior change. This study was designed by an interdisciplinary research team, based on a growing body of literature on the effectiveness of physicians as public health messengers, to test how these messages would work at scale. The research team includes academics from MIT, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Online Care Group, Stanford University, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, Yale University, Lynn Community Health Center, Johns Hopkins University, St. Anthony North Family Medicine, Paris School of Economics, and McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas. ...

LYNN — As the vaccine rollout continues, the Lynn Community Health Center is hosting community-based events to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and to encourage people to get vaccinated. Ciao Cafe and Bistro, located at 41 Sutton St., is hosting a community meal and COVID-19 vaccine event from noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, where the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines will be distributed. This event will also consist of an informational discussion about the vaccines and will provide health insurance enrollment information and assistance. ...

LYNN — The COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Lynn Tech will begin to ramp down its operations at the end of the month, the city and Lynn Community Health Center (LHCH) announced Thursday. Saturday, June 26 will be the last first-dose session offered at the clinic. There will be second-dose-only clinics offered at that location every Thursday from 1 to 8 p.m. beginning July 1 and continuing for the rest of the month. “I am incredibly proud of and thankful for our teams from the City of Lynn and Lynn Community Health Center for their outstanding efforts to establish and operate the Lynn Tech vaccination site,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “There are many people behind the scenes and on the front lines on site that stepped up and worked tirelessly to ensure that the process was accessible and as smooth as possible for our community as they became eligible to receive the vaccine.” In addition to the Lynn Tech site, the city worked with other community health organizations to offer mobile vaccine clinics at places of worship, businesses, community organizations and flag-raising events. As of June 16, 59 percent of Lynn residents have received at least one shot of their COVID-19 vaccine and 51 percent are fully vaccinated. During the height of the vaccination rollout, the Lynn Tech vaccination site was administering over 1,200 vaccines a day and more than 6,000 per week. To date, there have been 83,909 vaccine shots administered and 42,801 people have been fully vaccinated through the clinic and the mobile vaccination efforts. “The close of the Lynn Tech site is a milestone for us. I am extremely proud of our health center staff for their immense work to quickly develop and operate the Lynn Tech vaccination site,” said LCHC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kiame Mahaniah. “As a health center, we look forward to this next phase of our vaccine rollout as we continue to provide both vaccinations and vaccine education to our neighbors.” ...

COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Initiative: Investment in community health centers