NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2021
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
CDC votes to recommend booster
shots, mix-and-match vaccinations
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
Daniel Wattenburger/Contributed Photo
A kiosk in Hermiston’s Victory Square Park displays a greeting
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
Hermiston adds
more kiosks to share
info with community
Kiosks already are at
parks, Festival Street and
Community Center
Hermiston Herald
The City of Hermiston
is expanding its wayfi nd-
ing program and communi-
cations outreach eff orts with
the installation of fi ve digital
kiosks around the city.
The solar-powered signs
created by Soofa use an
e-ink display and will share
local updates, communi-
ty-generated content and
local business information.
Signs are being installed
at the Hermiston Commu-
nity Center, Funland Play-
ground, Festival Street, Vic-
tory Square Park and the
Food Pod.
“These signs are a help-
ful addition to some of
our most-visited locations
in Hermiston,” said Clint
Spencer, city planner. “They
will provide timely news
and information as well as
directions to help people
fi nd their way around. As
more people move to and
visit Hermiston, the signs
will help orient and inform
them.”
Each sign includes both
a digital display and a vinyl
map of the nearby area. The
digital display will share
updated news from the city,
a calendar of upcoming
events, live Twitter feeds of
community organizations
including the Hermiston
School District and Cham-
ber of Commerce, and paid
advertising through Soofa.
The signs at the parks,
Festival Street and Com-
munity Center have already
been installed. The sign
at the Food Pod will be
installed once other renova-
tion work is completed.
Soofa is a female-
founded startup out of
the MIT Media Lab. The
Soofa Sign was featured by
Engadget as a fi nalist for
Best Vision for the Future
at CES and was described
by Curbed as the Facebook
wall for the real world.
The Centers for Dis-
ease Control met virtually
on Thursday, Oct. 21, and
debated what guidelines
will be in place regarding
who gets priority in receiv-
ing the booster shots, and
whether or not Americans
even need the vaccine.
With unanimous con-
sent, the organization voted
to recommend booster
shots to Americans in the
fi ght against COVID-19,
even as data on booster
doses — and especially
mix-and-match boosters —
was limited.
That
recommenda-
tion now goes up the CDC
chain of command for fi nal
approval before it becomes
the agency’s offi cial recom-
mendation to the public.
The CDC, under the
Food and Drug Administra-
tion Emergency Use Autho-
rization,
recommended
the use of booster shots
for those who received the
Moderna vaccine more
than six months ago and
belong to risk categories
such as those 65 years of
age and older, or those 18
through 64 years of age at
high risk of severe COVID-
19 or with frequent insti-
tutional or occupational
exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
Similarly, the CDC rec-
ommended that those who
received the Johnson &
Johnson vaccine could
receive a booster after at
least two months after ini-
tial dose to individuals
18 years of age and older.
The recommendation was
broad, and applicable to
anyone who had initially
received a Johnson & John-
son vaccine.
As well, the FDA
approved
giving
out
vaccines
from
diff er-
ent manufacturers — a
method known as mix
and matching.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Sami Spriet, an Eastern Oregon University student, receives
her fi rst dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on May 4, 2021. The
Centers for Disease Control voted to recommend booster
shots on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
“Certainly, from my
point of view, I really
appreciated that we were
fi nally able to look at, con-
sider, and recommend a
mix-and-match approach
as part of our way to boost
people’s immunity, espe-
cially for the people who
need it,” said Dr. Wilbur
Chen, professor of medi-
cine at University of Mary-
land during the meetings
closing statements.
The panel heard testi-
mony and fi ndings from
several experts in the
fi eld about the effi cacy of
booster shots. Studies had
shown that the effi cacy
of both the Moderna and
Pfi zer vaccines had waned
over time, prompting ques-
tions about instituting a
third dose to help wake up
the immune system and
keep it alert to COVID-19
infections.
Data presented by
experts showed that the
vaccine boosters — espe-
cially the Johnson & John-
son vaccine — provided
additional immunity to
COVID-19 on top of the
immunity provided in the
one and two-shot series.
The Johnson & Johnson
vaccine, in particular, ben-
efi ted dramatically from
the booster shot, showing
a nearly 94% effi cacy rate
as compared to far lower
initial rate of 71% against
COVID-19
hospitaliza-
tions, bringing it in line
with the Pfi zer and Mod-
erna off erings.
“Vaccines don’t save
lives, but vaccinations do,”
Dr. Grace Lee, chair of the
Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices,
said during the meeting.
“Our recommendations are
one step of the way, but it’s
going to be so important,
as everyone mentioned,
that in our implementation,
patients are truly educated
about the benefi t risk bal-
ance based on their own
personal situation.”
The CDC panel also
weighed data regarding the
risk of vaccines — with
contributing experts cit-
ing a growing number of
reports about rare systemic
side eff ects of vaccination
such as Guillain-Barre syn-
drome, blood clots, and
myocarditis — an infl am-
mation of the muscle.
The panel, which voted
on Oct. 21, spent consider-
able time going over rates
of myocarditis and pericar-
ditis symptoms following
a second dose of Moderna
and Pfi zer vaccines, par-
ticularly amongst young
males who received the
mRNA vaccines.
Dr. John R. Su, a mem-
ber of ACIP, noted that the
incidents of symptoms of
myocarditis were higher
than background inci-
dences of the self-same
symptom, but that the inci-
dence rate was approxi-
mately 1 in 1 million for
developing symptoms, but
could aff ect up to 100 per
1,000,000 in young males.
The experts further noted
that 77% of patients recov-
ered from their symptoms.
An NIH study cited in
the presentation stated that
mix-and-match
booster
shots showed no increase in
risk compared to instances
when vaccines of the same
type were given. Those
risks of myocarditis and
Guillain-Barre syndrome
were statistically insignif-
icant when compared to
using the same vaccine for
both doses.
Experts who spoke to
the panel noted that the
public should be aware of
the risks and benefi ts asso-
ciated with the vaccine.
Second doses of the
Johnson & Johnson vac-
cine, which had previ-
ously been stopped due to
a rare blood clotting disor-
der, showed a signifi cantly
smaller prevalence rate
of clots following a sec-
ond dose. Incident rates of
blood clots stood at 15.1
cases per million follow-
ing the fi rst dose and 1.9
cases per million after the
second.
The panel heard data that
showed that vaccine boost-
ers from Moderna and Pfi z-
er-BioNTech produced the
highest levels of immunity,
while the Johnson & John-
son booster provided the
least amount of protection.
Vaccines are avail-
able at no cost at several
locations. Specifi c loca-
tions for vaccines can be
found at www.vaccines.
gov/search/ website, or via
your local pharmacy.