Tag: covid vaccination

Categories : COVIDTags :

South Africa Mulls AstraZeneca Again in Light of Delta Protection

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Four months after selling off one million AstraZeneca vaccine doses, South Africa is considering buying more of them to contain the spread of the Delta variant.

The Delta variant is much more transmissible than previous strains, including the beta variant. However, the government presented data on 26 June showing a 70% efficacy against it with the AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine, which of June 2021 comprises over 90% of all doses supplied through COVAX globally, will have a significant impact as the Delta variants spread.

The government may approach the Serum Institute of India for the shots, deputy health minister Joe Phaahla told lawmakers on Wednesday.
This would add to supplies as the health regulator considers approving Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac inoculations, he said, adding that he hoped to secure these doses from India’s Serum Institute.

In March, also facing expiry on the doses, the government sold off its doses to the African Union after research showed the then dominant Beta variant was resistant.

In February, University of the Witwatersrand Professor of Vaccinology Shabir Madhi said the AstraZeneca vaccine had a roughly 20% efficacy in preventing mild disease from the Beta variant.

“We don’t want to go back to the original argument of whether its limited efficacy on the Beta variant was correct, to dispose of it, to sell it to other countries,” Phaahla said. “With the current information that it is quite efficacious when it comes to the Delta, it is already registered.”

A study by the University of Oxford,demonstrates that AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine, will provide protection against the Delta and Kappa variants; formerly the ‘Indian’ variants. The study investigated the ability of monoclonal antibodies from recovered or vaccinated people to neutralise the Delta and Kappa variants. 

Neutralisation against the Delta and Kappa variants was comparable with that seen against the Alpha and Gamma variants, with no evidence of widespread antibody escape as seen with the Beta variant. These results indicate that the vaccines could be effective in real-world settings. The Phase III COV002 trial in the UK showed vaccine efficacy of 70.4% at preventing symptomatic COVID against the Alpha variant, when measured more than 14 days after a second dose.

Furthermore, a recent analysis by Public Health England showed early evidence of real-world data that two doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine are effective against the Delta variant, with similar levels of protection achieved as those seen against the Alpha variant.

Sources: BusinessTech, AstraZeneca

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Half of GP Staff Face Abuse as a Result of Vaccinations

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Usman Yousaf on Unsplash

A survey published in The BMJ has found that in UK practices, over half (52%) of GP staff face abuse while working on the COVID vaccination programme.

The Medical Protection Society (MPS) survey of 222 GP practice staff , which included GPs, nurses, and practice managers, also found that over half (53%) of staff said that their surgery or vaccination centre had been defaced by anti-vaccination material. GP practices in the UK had been offering COVID vaccinations since December 2020.

One respondent said, “Staff of all disciplines are leaving the profession in droves because of the behaviour of the public creating unbearable working situations. Morale is the lowest I have ever known, anyone near retirement is retiring early.” Another said, “Abuse—especially written and posted in the prescription box on the gate—has resulted in staff being very concerned for their safety at the surgery.”

About two-thirds of respondents (60%) said that abuse and complaints relating to the UK’s COVID vaccination programme had affected their own or their team’s mental wellbeing. A further 71% said that the increased workload resulting from the programme has impacted their wellbeing.

Pallavi Bradshaw, medicolegal lead for risk prevention at MPS, said that GP practices were in the firing line over patient frustrations with the vaccination programme. “GPs are mentally and physically exhausted, with the risk of disillusionment and burnout higher than ever,” Bradshaw said. “Wellbeing support must be provided to all GP surgery staff who are feeling overwhelmed and demoralised, and a zero tolerance policy of abuse must be enforced across the NHS so healthcare workers feel their safety is a priority.”

Source: The BMJ

Categories : COVID VaccinesTags :

Millions of J&J Vaccines for South Africa Unfit for Use

On By ModernMedia

In yet another blow to South Africa’s flagging vaccination programme, millions of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses meant to be used have been declared unfit for use. This is due to contamination concerns at one of the group’s facilities in the US.

The US Food and Drug Administration said that the doses were not suitable for use. Upon reviewing this decision, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said in a statement that it had decided “not to release vaccine produced using the drug substance batches that were not suitable”.

J&J’s Emergent plant was ordered to pause production in April several weeks after it was determined that batches of a substance used to produce the vaccine were cross-contaminated with ingredients from another jab made by Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca. The FDA is yet to allow the factory to reopen.

Acknowledging the setback in South Africa’s vaccination programme, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said Saturday that the batches concerned were stored in a high-security laboratory in Port Elizabeth belonging to drugmaker Aspen. Aspen meanwhile promised that it is ramping up production elsewhere to meet the shortfall, and President Ramaphosa said that he discussed with President Biden the possibility of receiving US vaccine donations.

Along with other countries South Africa, is pushing for a patent waiver on COVID vaccines to allow low cost production of generics.

“If we are to save lives and end the pandemic, we need to expand and diversify manufacturing and get medical products to treat, combat and prevent the pandemic to as many people as quickly as possible,” President Cyril Ramaphosa told the G7 group of wealthy nations meeting in Britain on Sunday. The country needs 31 million doses of the J&J vaccine to help vaccinate its population of 59 million.

South Africa has secured 30 million doses of the highly effective Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but is a two-dose vaccine which has significant cold chain requirements.

Emergency shipment

SAHPRA stated that there is a new delivery of approximately 300 000 J&J doses “that have been cleared by the US FDA that meet the requirements and will subsequently be released and shipped to South Africa.” The expiry date of these doses have been extended, and will be ready for administration to South African teachers within days.

Vaccinations were already paused in April after reports of rare cases of blood clots. And in February, South Africa rejected over 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as it was deemed ineffective. The J&J vaccines were already facing expiry as they had been removed from long term storage.

South Africa has only vaccinated just over 1% of its population but as far as can be ascertained with limited testing in Africa is the hardest hit by COVID on the continent, with over 1.7 million recorded cases.
Source: Eyewitness News

Categories : COVIDTags :

WHO Warns of African Third Wave

On By ModernMedia
COVID cases map. Photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash

A surge in COVID cases in many parts of Africa could mean a continental third wave, the World Health Organization warned, posing a great threat for a continent where immunisation drives have been hamstrung by funding shortfalls and production delays for vaccine doses.

The WHO said that over the last week, test positivity had risen in 14 African countries, with eight reporting a surge of over 30% in new cases. Infections are steadily climbing in South Africa, where four of nine provinces are battling a third wave and the positivity rate was 14.2% as of Sunday. Uganda has also seen sharp increases, with hospitals overwhelmed with COVID patients and a lockdown being considered.

Weak compliance with social restrictions, increasing travel and the arrival of winter is behind the rise in cases, the WHO said. Experts also believe that new variants are also driving the numbers up.

Although Africa has reported less than 3 per cent of global coronavirus cases, the WHO said that the continent accounted for 3.7 percent of total deaths. This is likely an underestimate, given the lack of formal reporting for deaths.

“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, in a statement. “It’s crucial that we swiftly get vaccines into the arms of Africans at high risk of falling seriously ill and dying of Covid-19.”

While many wealthier countries have vigorous vaccination campaigns and some are on track to fully reopen, many of Africa’s poorer countries face a huge challenge in accessing vaccines.

Out of 1.3 billion people on the continent, only 31 million have received at least one dose, Dr Moeti said, and only seven million are fully vaccinated. Just 1386 people in Kenya have received two doses of a vaccine, out of a population of 50 million.

Countries like Ghana and Rwanda have run through their first deliveries of vaccines through Covax, the global facility working to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines.

In some countries, vaccine hesitancy has been so high that it even caused stocks of vaccines to expire. Possible contamination in Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses detected at a US manufacturing plant has resulted in yet another delay to South Africa’s immunisation programme.

Meanwhile, fake vaccines and PPE pose another problem; last November a police raid in South Africa found almost 2400 doses of fake vaccine.

The WHO warned that the surge of causes could swamp the limited capacities of healthcare systems. To stave off a full-blown crisis, Dr Moeti urged “countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”

Only about two per cent of the population has received at least one vaccine dose, compared with the 24 per cent global figure.

“While many countries outside Africa have now vaccinated their high-priority groups and are able to even consider vaccinating their children, African countries are unable to even follow up with second doses for high-risk groups,” said Dr. Moeti. “I’m urging countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”

Source: UN News

Categories : COVID Medical Research & TechnologyTags :

A COVID Vaccine Without the Jab

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Webstacks on Unsplash

University of Queensland scientists used a ‘patch’ to deliver a US-developed COVID vaccine without the jab, and successfully protected mice from the virus.

The vaccine candidate from University of Texas Hexapro was delivered via the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) and provided protection against COVID disease with a single, painless ‘click’ from a handheld applicator.

Dr David Muller, from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, said the vaccine patch produced strong immune responses that were shown to be effective when the mice were exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

“When the Hexapro vaccine is delivered via HD-MAP applicator – rather than a needle – it produces better and faster immune responses,” Dr Muller said.

“It also neutralises multiple variants, including the UK and South Africa variants.

“And it’s much more user-friendly than a needle – you simply ‘click’ an applicator on the skin, and 5000 microscopic projections almost-imperceptibly deliver vaccine into the skin.

“The UQ team, together with Vaxxas, hope to take the technology to the world and are looking for funding opportunities to accelerate to clinical trials as soon as possible.”
Dr Muller said that Hexapro, delivered by the high-density microarray patch, could dramatically assist global vaccine rollout effort, particularly for billions of vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries.

“We’ve shown this vaccine, when dry-coated on a patch, is stable for at least 30 days at 25 degrees Celsius and one week at 40 degrees, so it doesn’t have the cold chain requirements of some of the current options.”

High-density microarray patch (HD-MAP)

Vaxxas was founded in 2011 with the help of University of Queensland. The company’s president and CEO, David L Hoey, said he was extremely excited about the findings.

“These results are extremely clear – vaccination by HD-MAP produces much stronger and more protective immune responses against COVID-19 in model systems than via needle or syringe,” he said.

“We thank and recognise our incredible research collaborators at UQ for these important findings.

“The prospect of having a single-dose vaccine, that could be easily distributed and self-administered, would greatly improve global pandemic vaccination capabilities,” said Hoey

The research is currently undergoing peer review and has been published in BioRxiv (DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.30.446357).

Source: The University of Queensland

Categories : COVID General InterestTags :

French President Macron in SA for Talks on COVID

On By ModernMedia

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in South Africa today for talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa on a range of issues including possible technological assistance to aid South Africa’s response to the COVID pandemic.

On the agenda of the visit is the economic, health, research and manufacturing responses to the COVID pandemic.

Arriving from Rwanda, where he acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 genocide, Macron held talks in Pretoria with President Ramaphosa, whom he met last week in Paris at a summit on African economies.

The pair were also due to attend an event to support vaccine production on the continent, sponsored by the European Union, the United States and the World Bank. 

So far South Africa is the country worst hit by COVID on the continent as far available monitoring can determine, and has vaccinated just 1 percent of its population of 59 million people.

South Africa’s immunisation efforts have been hampered by delayed procurement, and then selling off its AstraZeneca vaccines obtained via Covax to other African countries after trial results showed drastically reduced effectiveness against the local B.1.351 variant. Rollout of the replacement Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused for two weeks in April due to blood clot fears.

Now, along with India, South Africa is campaigning for a waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID vaccines, so that each country may produce its own doses. This effort has met with stiff resistance so far.

Macron has voiced support for a technology transfer to enable vaccine production sites to be set up in poorer countries.

Visit long delayed

Macron’s visit to South Africa has been long delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
The initial purpose for the trip had been to discuss multilateral cooperation with South Africa, an important G20 partner which is also a regular guest at G7 summits.

According to Foreign Policy, the French leader will also seek to establish greater influence in a region that is experiencing greater instability, marked by recent insurgencies in Mozambique.   

Jihadist attacks forced French energy giant Total to suspend work on a multi-billion euro gas project in Cabo Delgado province after a nearby town was targeted.

Before he returns to France, he will pay a visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, whose main missions are the fight against AIDS and education in rural areas.

Source: RFI

Categories : COVID VaccinesTags :

Vaccine Flops and Shortages Leave SA with no Covax Shots

On By ModernMedia
Image by Quicknews

Nearly six months after South Africa’s first procurement deal was made with the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) programme, but vaccine flops and shortages in supply have left South Africa empty-handed, while Covax struggles to even meet its June delivery goal.

South Africa’s vaccine rollout has been anything but smooth. The first batch of vaccines, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), arrived in the country on 1 February but were abandoned a week later after a study found it was ineffective against the 501Y.V2 variant. That first batch of one million doses were sold onto the African Union (AU) and the remainder of the order refunded.

The health department switched to the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single-dose shot and vaccinated nearly half a million healthcare workers until its use was also halted over blood clot concerns. Phase 2 of the rollout is using the Pfizer vaccine. Fortunately, it has been found that it can be stored at much higher temperatures than its previous ultracold requirements, making it easier to distribute.

However, the failure to join Covax by December 2020 was an early warning sign over the government’s handling of vaccine acquisition. The Covax iniative, led by the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and World Health Organization (WHO) to supply vaccines to poorer nations, were expected to kickstart South Africa’s rollout.

Missing that first deadline, the health department and Solidarity Fund confirmed, on 22 December 2020, that a down payment of R283 million had been made to secure doses through Covax.

Vaccine flip-flopping
At first, South Africa was to receive almost 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, but the country’s decision to abandon the use of AstraZeneca caused severe delays. The country’s allocated AstraZeneca doses were taken back into the Covax programme.

“South Africa was allocated 2 426 400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine… it has requested to be allocated another vaccine in place of AZ, and will receive allocations of alternative vaccines instead,” Gavi spokesperson Evan O’Connell told Business Insider South Africa.

“It has already been allocated, at this stage, 1,392,300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, allocated for Q2 2021.”

According to Covax’s first-round schedule,  South Africa was due to receive 117 000 Pfizer doses before April. But Covax’s deliveries are falling behind, putting initiative’s ability to meet its second quarter target.

On 17 May UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore announced that the Covax facility would shortly have delivered 65 million doses, which should have been 170 million doses by that time.

“By the time G7 leaders gather in the UK next month, and as a deadly second wave of COVID will likely continue to sweep across India and many of its South Asian neighbours, the shortfall will near 190 million doses.”

Covax hamstrung by Indian COVID crisis

India’s COVID crisis has hamstrung Covax’s aim of delivering 237 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half of 2021. With India having the world’s highest infection numbers and deaths since April, the SII, which produces AstraZeneca doses for Covax, announced that it would halt foreign supply until December at the earliest.

“We continue to scale up manufacturing and prioritise India,” said SII CEO Adar Poonawalla on 18 May. “We also hope to start delivering to Covax and other countries by the end of the year.”

At only 35% of its targeted vaccine deliveries, Covax is calling for renewed funding and donations from developed nations — who are also accused of hoarding vaccines. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, criticised wealthy nations for continuing a “scandalous inequity” on Monday.

“We need countries to donate tens of millions of doses of vaccines immediately through Covax, which is the agreed global mechanism for distributing vaccines,” stated Ghebreyesus.

“We need companies to help make donations happen fast, and to give Covax the first right of refusal on all uncommitted doses now, in 2021.”

It’s unclear whether the SII’s decision to halt its supply will result in reallocations of the Pfizer doses, on which SA is depending, and which therefore could result in further delays for its Covax-allocated doses.

Source: Business Insider

Categories : COVID VaccinesTags :

South Africa to Sign On to Digital ‘Vaccine Passport’

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Blake Guidry on Unsplash

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said that South Africa will seek to join a digital ‘vaccine passport’ scheme being tested by a number of airlines.

Presenting his departmental budget speech on Friday, Mbalula said that South Africa must ensure that it joins the growing number of countries that accepts the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) mobile travel pass for COVID vaccination.

This particular initiative was tested successfully by Singapore Airlines, and more than 20 carriers, the minister said.

“In recent months, Singapore has announced that it will accept visitors who use a mobile travel passes containing digital certificates for Covid-19 tests and vaccines,” Mbalula said.

“This makes Singapore one of the first countries to adopt this initiative. Singapore will accept the IATA mobile travel pass for pre-departure checks, where travellers can get clearance to fly to and enter Singapore by showing a smartphone application containing their data from accredited laboratories.”

The IATA’s app allows travellers to store digital information from certified labs. It will be available for download later this month. IATA aims to bring in additional changes such as QR code scanning by immigration officers.

Vaccine passports have been the subjects of debates over equitability, access and potential for abuse. However, vaccine passports are not only permissible under international health regulations, they already exist. The World Health Organization endorses certificates confirming vaccination against yellow fever for entry into certain countries. They also incentivise vaccination, a public good.

Currently, South Africa has 62 ‘major restrictions’ from other countries in place, with suspended travel, stringent requirements for entry or outright bans. Meanwhile there are 92 moderate restrictions in place on South Africa, where travel is possible subject to measures such as COVID tests on arrival.

Source: BusinessTech

Categories : COVIDTags :

At Long Last, Phase 2 of Vaccinations Gets Under Way

On By ModernMedia
Nurse administering a vaccine. Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Coming just days after a third wave was officially declared in Gauteng, and months of delays, frustration and confusion, South Africa’s COVID vaccination programme is at last rolling out on Monday.

The vaccination programme will start off mostly on old age homes, at 87 sites across 9 provinces. 

Fanned out across nine provinces and 87 sites, healthcare workers and those licensed to administer vaccines will start the mammoth task, which will kick off mostly at old age homes.

Those who are registered and eligible will receive a vaccination date and site to visit where they will either receive the once-off Johnson and Johnson vaccination – or the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine with another to be taken a fortnight later.

A vaccine site such as a pharmacy may charge up to R354.75 per dose of Pfizer, and R330 for a dose of Johnson and Johnson, according to a memo released by the department of health.

Additionally, a R70 fee for administering the vaccine will be billed to the recipient’s health insurance company or the government if uninsured.

The programme will also cover the hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers who have not yet received their vaccinations.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, health MECs and other representatives described their plans for the nation on Sunday night.

Dr Mkhize is under no illusion about what lies ahead and what it will take to get it all done.

“Five million senior citizens are targeted to be completed by the end of June, provided that the supply of vaccines flow as anticipated.”

To put this into context, that’s just 44 days for this target to be met and given some of the setbacks experienced during the Sisonke implementation study, the government will face many sceptics.

“We know that everyone has been very anxious to know what will happen and how we will start to vaccinate our most vulnerable citizens and then move onto vaccinating the general population,” Dr Mkhize said.

According to the minister, over 1.2 million senior citizens have registered to be inoculated thus far. Officials are also hoping to vaccinate an additional 700 000 health workers during this time.

Text messages are being sent out to citizens aged 60 years and over, to get help them prepare.

As the campaign begins, there should be over 975 000 doses of Pfizer vaccines in stock, which have stringent, ultra-cold storage requirements.

Dr Mkhize emphasised that Monday or this week is not open to all senior citizens 60 year and above, rather that old age homes will be the priority.

“We recommend that as many people as possible register beforehand. We will not accommodate people walking into the vaccination sites, the program has been designed to avoid long queues, that’s why we want to keep people on going in based on the message inviting them for vaccination.”

However, some provinces with smaller populations,such as Mpumalanga and the North West, have stated they would try to accommodate senior citizens who would have travelled long distances to vaccination sites.

Dr Mkhize underscored the difficulty of conducting such a programme.

“This is just to know how many vaccines you will get out of a vial and how you draw out the requisite amount, to allow us a few days to iron out teething problems and we expect there will be many teething problems so we are expected to start slow.”

Source: Eyewitness News

Categories : COVID General InterestTags :

Trump Encouraged to Urge Followers to Take Vaccine

On By ModernMedia

As US polls show that half of Republicans voters are reluctant to get a COVID vaccine, two former senior Trump administration officials have said that former US President Donald Trump is being encouraged to urge his followers to get the jab. 

The officials stressed that herd immunity could be threatened by Republican vaccine hesitancy, and that Trump’s followers will listen to him and him alone.

“Vaccines are widely regarded as one of Trump’s greatest accomplishments, and Trump understands that this legacy is at risk because half of his supporters are not taking the vaccine,” one of the officials told CNN. “It’s just not clear yet if he understands that he’s the only one who can fix this.”

The other official concurred. “In Trump country, if you want to call it that, there are still significant numbers of people who aren’t sure [COVID] is a real thing, despite folks getting sick, and there are lots of suspicions about the vaccine,” the source said. “They have literally said to me, ‘I want to hear from the president about this.’ I don’t think they’re going to listen to anyone else.”

Trump told Fox News last week that he would make a “commercial” about the vaccine, but did not make a firm commitment.
However, a person close to Trump disagreed he should take this approach. “He shouldn’t be pushing these vaccines. His posse isn’t exactly vaccine-approving and it could backfire,” the person said.

All the living former presidents save for Trump, and their wives, appeared in an ad campaign started last month encouraging vaccination – though Trump’s team denied he was approached to participate. This was because the team that organised the PSA did not think it was likely he would participate, according to a source close to that project.

In the Fox interview, Trump said, “I encourage them to take it. I do,” referring to his supporters, but has only spoken out a few times about vaccination.

Fifty-four percent of Republicans are either hesitant about or opposed to getting a COVID vaccine, according to a March survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 29% said they would not get a vaccine under any circumstances.

The number of people 18 and over with at least one vaccine dose, the top 10 states are all states President Joe Biden won last November. Trump won 9 out of the bottom 10 states for vaccination.

A third former Trump official confided that as early as last summer, there were already concerns over Republican vaccine refusal.

“On Facebook I saw a ton of hesitancy for that group — just insane amounts of hesitancy already and we knew it was just going to get worse,” the official said.

That official said Trump ally Michael Caputo briefly mentioned to Trump last fall that it would be good for the president to do a vaccine PSA after the election.

One of the other former officials noted that recently, Caputo “in particular has been active in discussing” the possibility of doing a PSA with the Trump team.

“Michael takes this very seriously and sees this as a big public health problem,” said the source. “His stepping out, because he’s so connected to the president, is really going to be forceful and incredibly helpful.”

Mr Caputo served as assistant secretary for public affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, leaving after being diagnosed with throat cancer and a rant at heath scientists saying they were undermining Trump.

Mr Caputo confirmed to CNN that he met with Trump and the two men “spoke about vaccine hesitancy and what can be done about it.”

Trump’s final year in office will define his legacy, according to historians, which was marred by the failure to contain COVID and his incitement of a mob that stormed the US Capitol.

The former  officials said they don’t want to see the vaccine development that Trump pushed undone by vaccine hesitancy, including among his own supporters.

“I see Operation Warp Speed tipping towards failure, and it really concerns me,” one of the senior officials warned. “If we don’t move half those people into the vaccinated column, we’re most likely not going to reach community immunity, and if we don’t reach it, then the president’s vaccine legacy is dead.”

The other senior official said Trump supporters would respond positively to the former president “taking ownership of Operation Warp Speed” and mentioning that he and his wife were both vaccinated.

“He could talk about how [vaccine uptake] is the way to get the country back to where it needs to be economically and socially, using his language that he uses with his supporters. I think that would be really powerful,” said the source.

Source: CNN