Medical Professors Believe in Vaccines

Medical Professors Say Vaccines Proving Effective

More Vaccinations Necessary to Combat Delta Variant Spread and New Variants

By Theresa Ho

In September, the CDC reported that 63.5% of the total U.S. population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 54.2% of the total U.S. population was fully vaccinated. According to the CDC, the United States is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases in most of the country following a surge of the Delta variant and continued low vaccination coverage in many communities. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that 83% of Coloradans currently hospitalized for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Combining Science, Faith and Community to Combat COVID-19

Dr. Oveta Fuller is an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Her research team has explored the molecular mechanisms of entry into cells of human pathogenic viruses and how such viruses cause disease. She is part of the FDA advisory committee that has reviewed the three COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States. During an interview that began on the phone and continued over email, Fuller discussed coronavirus, the COVID-19 vaccine, and working with communities to address health disparities.

Fuller explained that the amazing feat of scientific research to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines occurred because of unprecedented cooperation between scientists, the government and regulatory agencies during a time of pandemic.

“They came together with resources from each – some brought research funding, some had studied the spike protein of other coronaviruses, and some had studied messenger RNA carrier technology and how to package materials for stability. These came together with the provision of upfront funding so that researchers could make a full throttle effort without knowing if the approaches taken would work. We are so grateful for the high vaccine protection against disease,” she said.

The only thing that differs from what usually occurs, Fuller said, was the ability to document the longer-term vaccine effects.

“In the midst of much loss of life, we did not have that luxury,” she said.

She added that negative effects from vaccines emerge usually within the first weeks or months after vaccination. There is no precedence or reason these COVID-19 vaccines will differ.

Fuller is not convinced, however, that currently available data support a need for everyone to get a booster shot. She explained that the data provided in the recent Pfizer application for licensing of an immune boosting third dose were not as extensive as the results from the clinical trials of the original application in December 2020. Evidence to support a third dose was presented from the Minister of Health of Israel. They are using a third injection of Pfizer vaccine as a booster strategy to combat illness from a surge of the Delta virus variant.

“Their data indicated that antibody levels were lower before they started giving the booster to older people who were becoming ill from infection by the Delta virus variant. With the third dose, primed immune systems responded with stronger protection. Hospitalizations and deaths in Israel now are decreasing,” Fuller said. “But, there’s a huge difference between Israel and the U.S. First, Israel’s vaccination level of those over 12 years was high. Secondly, they only used Pfizer vaccine in Israel, so providing a boost also of Pfizer was simpler for everyone. We have three different vaccines and just over 54% of the U.S.A. population fully vaccinated. This means over 40% of our population is not vaccinated. These are very different circumstances. Third, Israel is a highly homogenous country with extensive health care and a younger population. The U.S.A. is a highly heterogeneous country with an older population. It’s almost like comparing apples to oranges, or perhaps apples and cucumbers. The features are very different.”

The advisory committee did not think there was compelling evidence yet for waning immunity in the U.S. to suggest that every person currently needs a booster. Thus, the application to license Pfizer for a third dose for those 16 and older was not recommended for approval. Instead, the committee recommended emergency use author-

ization availability of a third Pfizer dose for those aged 65 years old or those in medical or other high risk occupations.

Fuller conducts research with the Trusted Messenger Intervention, which involves moving science advances into wider use in communities through engaging networks of faith leaders in communities. She has conducted prevention implementation research through using a science-based intervention, Trusted Messenger, to reframe perspectives on HIV/AIDS and leadership actions within networks of religious leaders. She uses similar principles to help combat COVID-19.

“[The community leaders] are major opinion leaders and gatekeepers in their communities,” she said. “We provide them with a fundamental science background so that they are more capable and confident in helping people to get to and use available resources. This reduces misconception and misinformation. The approach is used with COVID-19, except the response is not rigorously documented as in the HIV research. We seek to change real-time practices that affect the COVID-19 pandemic. People need the truth on what is known, and they need to hear truth from people that they trust. We try to be accessible and trustworthy.

She believes that getting the pandemic and the virus under control depends on communities working together. If there are people that are reproducing the virus, she said, then it will be difficult to get rid of, or at the very least, get virus transmission down to a manageable level.

“There are some, a relative few, who cannot get immunized,” she said. “The rest of us must take on responsibly masking, distancing and vaccination as possible to protect them.”

“Yes, there may be fear –fear of the unknown is natural. There are many unknowns about COVID-19 disease and the virus replication. However, the available vaccines have been well studied and been provided safely to many people around the world. As evident with the data from clinical trials, there are side effects. These are short-lived mostly from activation of the immune system by a COVID-19 vaccine. The unknown risks from the vaccines that protect from COVID-19 disease are low relative to the well-known visible risks of serious illness or death from COVID-19,” she continued.

“Getting vaccinated may be a choice or required. If one chooses not to get vaccinated, it is absolutely necessary to be diligent in physical social distancing, masking and avoiding gatherings. Avoiding virus exposure becomes even more difficult because the Delta variant is more contagious. We must come together and put aside individualism and focus on what must occur to get to and manage co-existing with this new human virus,” she concluded. Current COVID-19 Vaccines and the Nature of Viruses

Dr. Ross Kedl is a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine where he pursues the discovery and development of novel and clinically applicable vaccine technology. According to Kedl, no strong evidence shows that the Delta variant is symptomatically any worse than the original strain. But what Delta does seem to do, he said, is replicate very well so that it spreads more effectively.

“It particularly replicates and spreads really well from the unvaccinated,” he said. “If you consider its contagiousness, its chances of infecting somebody else as part of its dangerous profile, then yes it is more dangerous in that sense because you’re likelihood of getting infected if you’re standing in the room with somebody with Delta variant versus with somebody with another strain, than your chances of getting infected are certainly higher.”

He emphasized that it is important to recognize that 95% of the people hospitalized due to COVID-19 are unvaccinated, and there is an even greater percentage with serious complications.

“So the vaccines, including J&J, all of them are contributing to keeping you that kind of safe … The vaccines are working, and they’re all working against Delta. At that level of analysis, they are working extremely well,” he said.

“The more people that it has a chance to replicate in and the better it has a chance of replicating, the more likely it is to spin out a variant,” Kedl said. “The larger the pool of people who are unvaccinated, the more likely that we’ll have another variant that comes out. And that’s true locally as well as globally. So if we stay fixed at 30% or 40% of the total population that is unvaccinated, that’s a bit of a recipe for concern because at some point in time, there will be another variant that comes out of this whole thing, and we’ll see what happens.”

He explained that viruses have one goal: to replicate. In the natural world viruses compete at the level of contagiousness and a decrease in symptomology.

“If you think about it,” he said, “The virus doesn’t actually want to kill you, assuming we can describe it as an anthropomorphic desire. It needs a host, or it can’t go any further. So if it kills you too quickly, it dies itself out. The ideal strategy for a virus is for it to get more contagious and less severe. So Delta got more contagious, and there could be ones in the future that decide to get less severe. Others might get more contagious, and they’ll have to duke it out with Delta. And that’s just going to happen at a certain rate.”

While variants are always a concern, Kedl believes that the bigger concern is the rate at which those variants are generated, which is completely dictated by how many people are not vaccinated. He thinks that another question is whether the vaccines will still be able to protect against whatever variants that do come out. But he adds that he is not haunted by variant production or the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.

“At the moment, given the last year and half or so of experience, it doesn’t seem likely,” Kedl said. “In fact, the vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 actually provide a significant amount of reactivity against the original SARS, which is pretty distantly related to the SARSCoV-2 even though the names are similar … The vaccines are that good, so we’re lucky there.”.

13 Candidates Vie for 4 Open Seats on School Board

By Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado - September 2, 2021

Editor’s note: “Thirteen candidates are vying for four open seats on the Denver school board” was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters”

The Denver school board O’Brien, will be leaving this year. election will be held Nov. 2. Thirteen candidates have filed to run for four open seats on the Denver school board in November. Though a majority of the seven board seats are up for grabs, the election is unlikely to shift the balance of power away from members backed by the teachers union.

The candidates include Denver Public Schools parents, graduates, and educators. Several are former Denver teachers or administrators. One candidate is the executive director of a group of autonomous schools in the district, and another works as a community liaison at a high school.

Board policy does not allow district employees to serve on the board. In the past, district employees elected to the board have resigned from their jobs to serve.

Of the four open seats, one is sought by an incumbent running for re-election: Carrie Olson, a former Denver teacher and current president of the board. Two other seats are vacant because board members Jennifer Bacon and Angela Cobián declined to run for a second term. The fourth seat is open because Barbara O’Brien is ineligible to run again due to term limits.

School board elections are held every two years, with the number of open seats each election varying from three to four. Since a historic “flip” in 2019, when three unionbacked candidates won, members aligned with the union have held a 5-2 majority.

The two board members not backed by the union, Cobián and The three union-backed members elected in 2019 — Tay Anderson, Scott Baldermann, and Brad Laurvick — will remain on the board for another two years. If even just one of four open seats this year is won by a unionendorsed candidate, union-backed members will retain their majority. In past elections, union-backed candidates have faced off against candidates favored by education reform organizations, which are more supportive of independent charter schools and school choice than the union. The union has thus far endorsed candidates in three of the four open races. Board members are elected to four-year terms, and the next four years in Denver Public Schools will be important. The new board members will oversee a relatively new superintendent, Alex Marrero, who took the top job in July. The board will also write a new strategic plan for the district after the previous one, the Denver Plan 2020, expired last year. The board will make decisions on critical issues facing the district, including whether to close or consolidate small schools as enrollment continues to decline. And it will oversee ongoing efforts to improve education for Black students in Denver and to redefine school safety and discipline after the removal of police officers from some middle and high schools. In addition, the board will be responsible for signing off on how to spend millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money, approving new autonomous charter or innovation schools, and reviewing existing ones. Decisions about charter and innovation schools have long been controversial. That’s likely to continue, though charter expansion has slowed in recent years.

Denver Public Schools is Colorado’s largest school district, serving about 90,000 students. About 52% of students are Hispanic, 25% are white, 14% are Black, and 3% are Asian. More than 60% qualify for subsidized meals, and 36% are learning English as a second language.

The district’s annual budget is about $1.2 billion dollars, and it employs about 15,000 people.

Past Denver school board elections have been contentious and expensive, even though serving on the board is a volunteer position. Spending by candidates and outside groups in the last Denver school board election, in 2019, topped $2 million.

The election is scheduled for Nov. 2. In alphabetical order, the candidates who filed with the Denver Office of the Clerk and Recorder to run are:

At-large, representing the entire city

Marla Benavides describes herself in a campaign video as a homeschool mom concerned about literacy rates in the district. She sells books as an independent contractor.

Scott Esserman is a Denver Public Schools parent who previously worked as a teacher in public and private schools. He currently volunteers as the chair of the district’s accountability committee.

Vernon Jones Jr. is a Denver Public Schools parent and executive director of the Northeast Denver Innovation Zone, a group of autonomous schools in the district. He previously ran for a school board seat in 2009 but did not win.

Jane Shirley is a former teacher and principal in neighboring Aurora Public Schools and the former head of a school leadership program. She now works at a management consulting firm.

Nicky Yollick is a community activist who has worked on Democratic political campaigns and helped found several Denver-based education advocacy groups. District 4, representing northeast Denver

Gene Fashaw is a Denver Public Schools graduate who worked until recently as a math teacher at a Denver charter school. He now teaches at a charter school outside Denver.

Chalkbeat could not find a campaign website or social media page for Andrea Mosby Jones. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.

Michelle Quattlebaum is a Denver Public Schools graduate whose three children graduated from George Washington High School. She works as the family and community liaison there.

Jose Silva is a Denver Public Schools graduate and executive director of the Colorado Association of Infant Mental Health. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Denver school board, in 2003 and 2007.

District 3, representing east-central Denver

Mike DeGuire is a former teacher and principal at schools in Denver and other local districts. He now coaches school principals in Denver and elsewhere and works as a realtor.

Carrie Olson worked for decades as a Denver teacher and was first elected to the school board in 2017. She has been president of the board for the past two years. District 2, representing southwest Denver

Xóchitl Gaytán is a Denver Public Schools graduate and current parent. She works as a realtor and previously ran for the school board in 2017 but did not win.

Karolina Villagrana has worked as a teacher and administrator in district-run and charter schools in Colorado and other states. She now works for Camelback Ventures, an organization that supports women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color. .

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Public Health Policies and COVIDrelated Travel Restrictions Vary Widely across the Globe

By Malcolm Quattlebaum

The traveling landscape has changed drastically since COVID-19 turned the world upside down a year and a half ago. The pandemic caused 2020 to be the worse statistical year for tourism ever. That was until the numbers for this year’s tourism statistics came out. Today, many people around the world are reluctant to travel due to the surge of new coronavirus variants and related traveling restrictions, making 2021 tourism numbers just as bad, and may end even worse than last year.

In an official report published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the data shows, “that over the first five months of the year, world destinations recorded 147 million fewer international arrivals (overnight visitors) compared to the same period of 2020, or 460 million less than the pre-pandemic year of 2019. However, the data does point to a relatively small upturn in May, with arrivals declining by 82% (versus May 2019), after falling by 86% in April. This slight upward trend emerged as some destinations started to ease restrictions and consumer confidence rose slightly.”

Although the stats show that most people have suppressed their travel bug, this is not the case for everyone. A large group of people have still been taking advantage of current low airfare rates and exploring the world. Of course, public health restrictions and policies are in place, though they vary from country to country.

Denver Urban Spectrum caught up with two Denver residents who have traveled internationally this past year, to get an insight on international travel during a pandemic.

Dr. Ryan Ross, 40, recently traveled to and from Uganda as well as Rwanda. He visited those countries as a liaison for the Urban Leadership Foundation. His trip was part of the foundation’s new international leadership program that provides African American leaders from the United States an opportunity to connect with leaders from the continent of Africa.

Though Ross is fully vaccinated, he had to go through the same procedures as the unvaccinated most of the time.

“Honestly, I don’t think there was a difference. I still had to take multiple COVID tests and pass within 72 hours. I still had to show proof of those COVID tests to reenter any of the countries that we went to. I think having the vaccine, from my perspective, is about safety and being safe when you embark on travel,” he said.

When visiting Rwanda, Ross was required to take COVID tests and show a negative result. However, in the Congo, just 930 kilometers away, no COVID test was needed upon entry whether you were vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Geoffrey Moussavou, 24, is a Denver resident who is from the Congolese in Africa. Moussavou traveled to three distinctively different countries this past year: Mexico, France, and the Congo. He is not vaccinated and had different experiences in each country he visited. He encountered no issues when traveling to the Congo, as they did not require him to show any proof of vaccination or to take a COVID test. He explained that many African countries don’t necessarily push the vaccine. They also take a much more relaxed approach to traveling policies, rooted in the lack of trust in Western medicine.

Western medicine has a bad reputation with Africans, “so I can never believe them when it comes to healthcare,” Moussavou explained.

Congo’s laissez-faire demeanor about the vaccine allowed him to enjoy his trip with little to no vaccination requirements. As he said, he had a great time. This, however, was not the case when he traveled to France. Pandemic or not, France will always be a tourist hotspot. The Paris Charles de Gaulle airport has one of the more rigorous travel guidelines and policies in the world.

Similar to Ross’s experience on his way to Uganda and Rwanda, Moussavou encountered strict polices in Paris where all travelers were required to take a COVID test and show a negative result regardless of their vaccination status. However, given that he was not vaccinated, he did notice a difference in airport employees’ attitudes.

“When I went to France I saw a bit of unfairness. The workers were rougher and tougher with the unvaccinated, and treated and talked to the vaccinated with more kindness, and airport COVID tests are expensive,” he said.

All in all, Ross told us he had an amazing time in Africa. The biggest obstacle that he had to overcome was the constant rules and regulations that were changing in real time. He would sometimes leave one country, and when he returned, different health clearances were in place. None the less, he was able to overcome all COVID restrictions and policies and had a successful trip.

Moussavou has been traveling internationally his whole life and has been to several countries. He mostly has the time of his life while traveling. Conversely, this time around was less enjoyable.

“I love discovering new cultures, but I didn’t have as much fun as I usually do because things were closed, and people had attitudes. I give it a six out of ten, whereas usually, my trips are nine out of ten or even ten out of ten,” he said.

Both men plan to travel some more before the year is up. Ross will be staying stateside and traveling to Kansas. Moussavou is planning to go to Gabon in a few weeks. If past experience is any indication, traveling policies are likely to have changed since his last trip.

Due to the changing situation, researching the COVID regulations of your destination is useful if you plan on traveling. If traveling internationally and even in some American states, you should also expect to take COVID tests and be prepared to be turned back if your results are positive. .

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$450M Infrastructure Package to Create Jobs and Boost Economic Recovery Referred to November Ballot

Mayor Michael B. Hancock thanked Denver City Council for approving the referral of five 2021 General Obligation bond (GO bond) infrastructure investments to voters on the November ballot. The $450 million GO bond infrastructure package is a key component of the city’s financial plan for economic recovery, the investments of which are expected to create an estimated 7,500 goodpaying jobs, $483 million in worker wages and benefits, and $1 billion in economic benefits.

“This bond package invests in our economic recovery by investing in our people, and I thank those Council members who voted in favor of referring this opportunity to voters,” Mayor Hancock said. “These projects will help sustain our economic recovery by supporting more than 7,500 good-paying jobs from construction and hundreds more jobs well into the future, creating new community assets to support year-round events and local businesses, improve mobility, and strengthen our cultural institutions, libraries and parks & rec facilities.”

The $450 million infrastructure bond package includes more than 80 distinct projects across Denver with a focus on equity and economic opportunity. Denver voters will see the proposed GO bond package broken into five purpose areas on the November 2, 2021 ballot: •$190 million for the National Western Center campus for a new mid-sized arena to support year-round events and year-round jobs, and to renovate the historic 1909 Building for use as a public market to provide food access in a neighborhood lacking access to fresh foods and creating space for neighborhood businesses •$104 million to create new and preserve beloved community assets including making critical ADA accessibility improvements to ensure community assets are accessible to all residents, building two new libraries and expanding an existing library in un-served and under-served neighborhoods of Westwood, Globeville and Hampden, and creating a new youth empowerment center •$63 million for 46 projects to address transportation safety in neighborhoods, address six miles of sidewalk gaps, design and construct the first part of the 5280 trail, and create 16 miles of new bike lanes

•$54 million to improve and build new playgrounds, athletic fields, a public pool and public restrooms •$39 million for housing and sheltering facilities serving people experiencing homelessness

The bond package was created based on projects and priorities identified by several thousand Denver residents over five years of outreach and engagement (2021 RISE GO Bond, Elevate Denver Bond process, Denveright Comprehensive Planning process, 6-Year Capital Improvement Plan), including more than 6,000 residents who engaged in telephone town halls and online surveys and forums in May and June of 2021. In addition, the package considers feedback from city agencies regarding priorities and project readiness, and City Council priorities.

The city’s GO bonds are secured by dedicated property tax mills. The 2021 GO Bond proposal is expected to remain within the existing property tax rate for GO Bonds. Each bond issuance must be approved by City Council and is expected to be competitively sold based on the lowest cost to the City.

Denver’s GO Bonds are currently rated “AAA” by all three major credit rating agencies who last reaffirmed the rating in November 2020 citing the city’s strong financial management prior to and during the pandemic.

With final approval from City Council, the five bond measures will now be referred for inclusion on the November 2021 ballot. A full list of the infrastructure projects to be funded by the $450 million GO bond may be found on risetogetherdenver.org and denvergov.org/finance.. Making transmissions well since 1983.

Our kids deserve access to after-school tutoring and enrichment activities regardless of their family's income or where they live. Prop 119 helps level the playing field by providing $1500 for tutoring via a small sales tax increase on recreational marijuana. The pandemic widened achievement gaps that have existed in our schools for decades. Our school kids need help catching up in math, reading, and social studies — I urge you to join me in voting yes on Prop 119 for our kids’ educational success.