Covid-19 Virtual Community Town Hall, Bilingual (Mandarin/English)
Good News on the Vaccine!
With CoVID-19 infections roaring since mid-October, we finally got some good news. Pfizer announced this morning that early data showed that their vaccine (jointly developed with a German drugmaker, BioNTech) is more than 90% effective to stop the Sars-CoV-2 infections in a late-stage trial! The 90% effectiveness has stunned scientists, as many were only expecting around a 55% efficacy. Jesse Goodman, Professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Georgetown University, said “We need to see the actual data, and we’re going to need longer-term results.” So despite the early uplifting results announced to the media today, there is still a possibility that this efficacy may change as more data become available later. We will also need to know more information about side effects across the different age groups in order to gain public trust on the safety of vaccination, as well as how long the vaccine could last.
Three UCSF Physicians Named to a New Presidential CoVID-19 Task Force
An Advisory Board to put the CoVID-19 under control was announced today by President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. It will be co-chaired by three physicians: Vivek Murthy, MD (surgeon general under former President Barack Obama), Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD (associate professor of internal medicine, public health, and management at Yale School of Medicine), and David Kessler, MD, JD (professor and dean of UCSF’s School of Medicine and vice chancellor, and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Two other UCSF professors have also been named to the 13-person Advisory Board: Eric Goosby, MD and Robert M. Rodriguez, MD.
November 19, 2020, 5 – 6:15 pm
UCSF Asian Health Institute CoVID-19 Bilingual (English/Mandarin) Townhall for the Community
Since the CoVID-19 pandemic has started this year, Asian Americans have been particularly hard hit with biases, prejudice, bigotry and racism from the accusation of the origin of the SARS-CoV-2, with many Americans calling it the Chinese Virus, Wuhan Virus, or Kung Fu Virus, etc. Many Chinese Americans, especially Chinese immigrants, have been fearful and uptight, especially amidst the increasing tensions in the U.S.-China relationship on top of the virus. While we have good news for the vaccines to control the SARS-CoV-2, there are no vaccines to help us cope with the change of lifestyle, situational stresses and fears. But there is help: Please join us with Dr. Huaiyu Zhang in the upcoming, first interactive CoVID-19 Town Hall where she will teach us some practical skills to adjust to the “New Normals” – until we can return to the “Old Normals” one day, hopefully.
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Masks, masks, masks! – To Slow the Twindemic!
While we are awaiting an effective vaccine, we must do something to minimize infections of both CoVID-19 and the winter flus. Please get the flu vaccination as soon as possible if you have not done so, and please, please wear your masks.
The Asian community has been good to uphold wearing masks as a habit by now, and that majorly accounts for the low infection rates among Asian Americans. Take a look at the following two cities as examples:
Local Update on CoVID-19 Data
San Francisco County: From the 11/6/2020 data from the Department of Public Health in San Francisco, of the 13,081 San Franciscans tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 1,622 (12.4%) were Asians, and of the 151 victims who died from CoVID-19, 56 (37%) were Asian Americans (the City has a population consisting of 36% Asians). 83% of those who died had one or more comorbid conditions, and >73% were over 71 years. Hospitalizations have increased from 21 beds in mid October to 40 beds on 11/7.
(Data source: https://data.sfgov.org/stories/s/Population-Characteristics-of-COVID-19-Cases-and-D/w6za-6st8/)
Santa Clara County: From the 11/9/2020 data from the Department of Public Health in Santa Clara, of all 26,747 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 2,782 (10.4%) were Asians, and of the 433 victims who died from CoVID-19, 103 (23.8%) were Asian Americans (the City has a population consisting of 36% Asians). Almost 80% of those who died had one or more comorbid conditions, and nearly 70% were over 70 years.
(Data source: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard-demographics-of-cases-and-deaths.aspx)
