Category: COVID-19

CDC Raises Delaware’s COVID-19 Community Levels to High in All Counties

Posted on by

CDC RAISES DELAWARE’S COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVELS TO HIGH IN ALL COUNTIES; DPH ENCOURAGES MASKING IN INDOOR PUBLIC SETTINGS AND VACCINATION DOVER, DE (July 29, 2022) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised Delaware’s COVID-19 community levels to the High category (red) in all three counties on July 28, 2022.    As a result, the Division of Public Health (DPH) is asking Delawareans to follow the CDC’s key strategies at this level of community spread:    ·       Wear a well-fitting mask in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status. ·       Stay home if you are sick and get tested if you have symptoms or Read More …

DPH Encourages Eligible Delawareans to Get Boosted Now

Posted on by

DOVER, DE (July 15, 2022) – The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) reports that COVID-19 cases experienced an uptick in the daily 7-day average for the percentage of positive tests since the previous monthly COVID-19 update released on June 17, 2022. Since that time, Delaware has also exceeded 3,000 COVID-related deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 Community Levels data tracker, which was last updated on June 14, case levels in Kent County are considered high, while case levels in New Castle and Sussex Counties are listed as medium. Many people are expressing concerns about getting vaccinated Read More …

Five Pandemics Lead to One Million Deaths

Posted on by

There have really been five pandemics, J. Emory Parker shows us in grim data visualizations, and SARS-CoV-2 still leaves us with mysteries to be solved and promises to better prepare for the next pandemic. What was once a nagging suspicion has turned into solid certainty that it didn’t have to be this bad. 

FDA Limits J&J COVID-19 Vaccine

Posted on by

The FDA yesterday set limits on Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine because of the risk of a clotting disorder discovered weeks after the vaccine was first put into use in spring 2021. The agency said its review of the available data on the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia — or TTS — suggested limiting access to the vaccine is warranted. The condition, though rare, can be fatal. The single-dose vaccine will now be available only to adults 18 and older who would not otherwise agree to be vaccinated or who cannot take one of the other available vaccines for medical Read More …

Community Health Worker Program

Posted on by

The ICD is engaged in the Delaware Academy of Medicine/Delaware Public Health Association’s COVID-19 Community Health Worker (CHW) Initiative. This initiative aims to address persistent health disparities and vaccine hesitancy in Pennsylvania and Delaware by offering support and resources to vulnerable and under-resourced populations, and to newly identified populations eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Read more

DJPH: Vaccine Preventable Disease

Posted on by

The latest issue of the Delaware Journal of Public Health focuses on Vaccine Preventable Disease. Guest Editors Omar Khan, MD, MHS and Stephen Eppes, MD have curated content about current vaccine recommendations, travel vaccines, vaccines specific to certain viruses, vaccine hesitancy, and vaccination exemptions.  The journal is open-source, and free to all.  Check it out here

MOTIVATE Project

Posted on by

The Motivating Older Adults to Trust Information About Vaccines and Their Effects (MOTIVATE) project is a partnership between Center in the Park and Rutgers University that focuses on vaccine hesitancy among older adults. Led by peer leaders and pharmacists, it addresses vaccine education for COVID-19, Pneumonia, and Flu. This two session project will be conducted via zoom and participants will receive a $10 Visa gift card for participation. For more information, contact Keyerra Charles, Director of Health Promotion at 215-848-7722 Ext 305 or email kcharles@centerinthepark.org

My Vaccine Counts

Posted on by

To address issues of vaccine education and outreach in Delaware and Pennsylvania, the Delaware Academy of Medicine/Delaware Public Health Association and the Public Health Management Corporation are implementing a comprehensive and integrated approach designed to target, engage, and connect individuals to COVID-19 vaccines and information. The central component to this model is community health workers (CHWs). These public health and social service professionals support the members of their community by helping them to adopt healthy behaviors including staying up to date on all vaccinations. The model identifies, engages, trains, and supports CHWs from communities across the two states to help Read More …

DPH to Implement Updated CDC Guidance Reducing Isolation, Quarantine Periods

Posted on by

DOVER, DE (Dec. 28, 2021) – The Division of Public Health announced that it will implement updated guidance issued Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shorten the recommended time that people should isolate or quarantine from 10 days to 5 days based on certain conditions and vaccination status.  The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of COVID-19 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after. Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if they have no Read More …

DPH Advises Vaccine Providers to Offer Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for Children 5-11 Years of Age

Posted on by

DOVER (NOV. 3, 2021) – The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) today announced that Delaware’s vaccine providers can begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 pediatric vaccine to children ages 5 to 11. Today’s announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week gave its approval to expand Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to allow for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered to children in this age group. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met Tuesday and agreed with the FDA findings. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky endorsed the advisory Read More …