Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Today’s Three Things Thursday is a mix of news related to vaccines, mental health of teenagers, and a new outbreak of a deadly disease.
Moderna says the COVID vaccine will remain available at no cost
For months now, we have been hearing that when the COVID public health emergency ends (in May 2023) the price of the COVID vaccine will increase. From $0 to ~$130. The public health emergency has provided governmental funds to vaccine makers, which led to free vaccinations for you and me.
People with health insurance expect they will NOT have to pay (directly, though price increases to policies are possible) for COVID vaccines after the public health emergency ends. Folks without insurance would be expected to foot the bill (~$130) for each COVID vaccine out of pocket.
The decision to increase the price of the vaccine has been widespread and yesterday Moderna’s CEO was on Capitol Hill to answer questions about the price increases. In response to criticism and an in an effort to ensure all Americans have access to the COVID vaccine, Moderna has announced that the company will create a “patient assistance program” and ensure the uninsured and underinsured individuals will not have to pay for COVID vaccines after the public health emergency ends.
Details about how this will work are sketchy.
Moderna has promised —
“Moderna’s vaccines have protected the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world from COVID-19 and have dramatically lessened the burden of the pandemic to society.
As the public health emergency ends, the United States government will no longer be providing vaccines at no cost. Moderna remains committed to ensuring that people in the United States will have access to our COVID-19 vaccines regardless of ability to pay.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be available at no cost for insured people whether they receive them at their doctors’ offices or local pharmacies. For uninsured or underinsured people, Moderna’s patient assistance program* will provide COVID-19 vaccines at no cost.
Everyone in the United States will have access to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine regardless of their ability to pay.
Only time will tell… more to come in May 2023.
Growing mental health crisis among teens
Earlier this week, results from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey were released and the results were both heartbreaking and alarming.
Teenaged girls reported record levels of violence, sadness, and suicidality in 2021. Nearly 3 in 5 teenage girls reported that they felt persistently sad or helpless in 2021 — a 60% increase compared to 10 years ago.
Additionally, the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey also found —
Less than 50% of students described their health as excellent or very good.
One-third of students reported that their mental health was most of the time or always NOT good (this includes stress, anxiety, and depression)
Less than 50% of students got at least 60 minutes of exercise each day
Approximately 80% of students reported spending more than 3 hours per day online watching TV, playing video games, or on social media
Approximately 1 in 5 students admitted to smoking or vaping each day
More than 40% of students reported that they do not wear a seatbelt when in a car
More than 50% of students reported living with someone who was depressed, mentally ill, suicidal, or who was having a problem with alcohol or drug use
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was conducted in the fall of 2021 and is the first to capture the health effects of the pandemic.
Work to improve the physical, mental, and emotional health of students is needed. Now.
Marburg virus disease outbreak in Equatorial Guinea
Marburg virus disease is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever. It is an RNA virus of the filovirus family (the same family of diseases as the Ebola virus disease). The reservoir host of Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. Fruit bats infected with Marburg virus do not show signs of illness.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Marburg virus disease.
On Monday, Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease. To date, there have been 9 deaths and 16 suspected cases of the disease.
Disease investigations are ongoing.
And the World Health Organization has deployed epidemiologists, case managers, experts in infection control, laboratorians, and risk communicated to Equatorial Guinea to support the national response efforts and to control the outbreak.
On Tuesday, the WHO convened its Marburg virus vaccine consortium to hear updates on vaccine development and to discuss the possibility of conducting a vaccine trial in Equatorial Guinea right now. There are currently five Marburg virus vaccines in development. Two of those vaccines are in Phase I clinical trials (the remaining three vaccines are in the pre-clinical stages of development).
The Sabin Vaccine Institute’s vaccine is slated to begin a Phase 2/3 trial in the next year. And the Institute has enough of the vaccine’s active ingredient manufactured that it could produce a lot of vaccine and sent it to Equatorial Guinea.
Questions? or want more details about the Youth Risk Behavior Survey?