COVID-19 weekly news: April 20 – 26, 2021

Leading US hospitals team up to promote COVID-19 vaccination

CLEVELAND, Ohio, and ROCHESTER, Minn. — A coalition of 60 top hospitals and health care institutions have joined forces in a nationwide campaign to encourage adults to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Led by Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, the campaign "Get the Vaccine to Save Lives" is designed to reassure the public that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary to achieve herd immunity and return to normal activities.

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J&J COVID-19 vaccine pause ends

On Friday, April 23, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent immunization advisory group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, voted to resume distribution of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine after a 10-day pause to investigate reported cases of rare blood clotting events in recipients.

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Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Mayo Clinic Laboratories delivers during COVID-19

"In December 2019, there was a disease, and three months later, everyone in the country — and around the globe — wanted a test to see if they had the disease," says Dr. William Morice II, chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories. "With COVID-19, we've learned the importance of laboratory testing and diagnostic medicine in health care, both in the U.S. and globally."

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Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Breakthrough COVID-19 infections and booster vaccine

Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group says COVID-19 mutations and the virus spread are happening because of people who don't wear masks, who don't get vaccinated and who don't adhere to safety recommendations.

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Mayo Clinic Q and A: Combating allergies, asthma during COVID-19

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am allergic to many types of pollen, and spring is always a challenging time of year for me. This year, my allergies seem to be worse. I am wondering if I need to be concerned that my symptoms may be related to COVID-19, as I have not yet been vaccinated for COVID-19. How do I know the difference, and should I be concerned?

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High vaccination rate is key to future course of COVID-19 pandemic, Mayo Clinic computer modeling shows

Vaccination is making a striking difference in Minnesota and keeping the current level of positive cases from becoming an emergency that overwhelms ICUs and leads to more illness and death, according to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The study, entitled "Quantifying the Importance of COVID-19 Vaccination to Our Future Outlook," outlines how Mayo's COVID-19 predictive modeling can assess future trends based on the pace of vaccination, and how vaccination trends are crucial to the future course of the pandemic.

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Sharing Mayo Clinic: Cared for in his own workplace for 121 days

Pintor, a scheduling supervisor at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, understood the impact the pandemic was having on the community but never imagined how sick he would become. He had no underlying health conditions, but within days of being tested at an urgent care center, he was so short of breath he told his wife to call 911.

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Testing for COVID-19: A year of innovation, ingenuity and invention

The intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 50th anniversary of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, and this year's Medical Laboratory Professionals Week offers an opportunity to recognize the commitment, innovation and dedication of clinical laboratory professionals, especially for their work over the past year.

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Mayo Clinic researchers question effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for solid organ transplant patients

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A small study from Mayo Clinic researchers raises the concern that some transplant patients may have a limited immune response after being vaccinated for COVID-19 with an mRNA vaccine. Their findings are published as a letter to the editor in the American Journal of Transplantation.

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Samantha Rossi

Samantha Rossi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She supports marketing strategies for product management and specialty testing. Samantha has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2019.