• This year, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has forged ahead, with “a half-million motorcycle enthusiasts” having descended upon Black Hills, South Dakota. Last year, this event led to a large outbreak; this year, even more attendees are expected just as the Delta variant is
• In the S. South, states are entering their fifth week of the fourth COVID-19 surge fueled by the Delta variant.
• 50% of the U.S. population has finally become fully vaccinated against COVID-19; this is an 11% increase from last week. As of today, 70% of the U.S. population has received at least one shot (this is one month later than the original goal). At this same time, various businesses and state governments are mandating vaccinations for employees and workers to be protective of their businesses and also their employees.
  • A recent CDC MMWR released on Monday has found that vaccination offers high protection than previous COVID-19 infection.
• The FDA expects to have its strategy for COVID-19 booster shots for high-risk groups ready by early September. This new consideration arises as a result of the more contagious Delta variant that is seeing breakthrough cases in those with weakened immune systems.
• As of yesterday, Monday, Canada is now allowing vaccinated US citizens to visit!
• An increasing number of children, even those who had only a mild reaction, who have been infected with COVID-19 are now struggling with long COVID, including lingering physical, mental, and neurological symptoms.

Food Safety/Public Health:

• A recent UN report finds that global warming is nearing its limits.

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Vaccines: To Mandate or Not to Mandate?

It is a question that many corporations are currently asking. Unfortunately, there is no single correct answer. As Dr. David Acheson discussed with QA Magazine:

• On the one hand: Companies talk about the need to do right for their employees – and that is absolutely the right thing to do. But they also discuss the need to keep employees healthy to stay fully staffed. If a business is closed, product is not made or sold, and then the company – and its employees – are in trouble.
• On the other hand: There is an illogicity because the mandates are for vaccines that were designed against viruses that aren't around anymore; vaccines that are not optimized for the viral strains that are in circulation now. Additionally, there needs to be consideration for natural immunity. There's growing science to say that natural immunity is protective, is pretty robust, and lasts a decent amount of time.

So there is a need for balance. Because it is so complicated, TAG created 4 tiers of strategy to help companies think it through:

1. It’s a corporate responsibility to educate your workforce about the vaccines.
2. For example, when an employee says, “I need three hours off to go get vaccinated. Is that OK?” The reply needs to be, “Yes. And we won’t dock your time. We'll pay you to do that.”
3. For example, give employees $100, for example, if they get vaccinated.
4. While there is a strong argument that this should be a personal decision, corporations need to look at it from a bigger picture. But a company deciding to mandate vaccinations should look at every aspect, then do it for the right reasons – not just so as to follow a trend.

Regardless of what you decide, it is critical to maintain the vigilance, wellness checks, contract tracing and all else you have been doing to control the spread of COVID and its variants. You also may want to consider implementing testing protocols, which are likely to vary by business and geography. We will be providing further insights and recommendations in an upcoming newsletter, but please call TAG with any questions you may have.

• Nearly 72K children test positive in the past week; heart problems associated with vaccines are uncommon, study shows. The lambda variant, first detected in Peru in August 2020, made its way to the U.S. for the first time on July 22 and now accounts for 1,053 cases in the country. The lambda variant isn't showing signs to spark concern about it becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States like delta. For every one million Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, only 60 developed heart problems, according to anew study published in the JAMA Network.
• Delta variant is ravaging the world but it's pushing Southeast Asia to breaking point. Outbreaks in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar are increasing substantially. The countries are suffering a health crisis, with hospitals stretched to their limits, full cemeteries expanded to hold the Covid dead, and exhausted health care workers.
• Moderna’s Covid vaccine 93 percent effective 6 months after second dose, company says. That compares favorably to data from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE last week in which they said their vaccine's efficacy waned around six percent every two months, declining to around 84 percent six months after the second shot. Moderna said its studies of three different booster candidates induced robust antibody responses against variants, including the Gamma, Beta and Delta variants.
• Fauci fears a COVID variant worse than Delta could be coming . As the virus continues to spread due to insufficient vaccination rates, it is being given “ample” time to mutate into a more dangerous new variant in the fall and winter, Fauci said. On Tuesday South Korea announced that it had detected two cases of the Delta Plus variant, one in a man who had recently returned from the U.S., Reuters Some experts believe the Delta Plus variant could be more contagious than the Delta variant. Recent studies indicated that Lambda could be more resistant to the current COVID-19 vaccines, according to Reuters.
• COVID-19 not a food safety hazard – FAO Current data indicates that neither food nor food packaging is a pathway for the spread of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. An infected worker can infect co-workers, contaminate the food production and processing environments, and food or food materials that may lead to trade restrictions, even though there is no food safety hazard. The virus is susceptible to most used disinfectants and sanitizers used in the food processing environment. WHO recommends sanitizers with greater than 70 percent alcohol with sufficient contact time for decontamination.
• US plans to require COVID-19 shots for foreign travelers.  The requirement would come as part of the administration's phased approach to easing travel restrictions for foreign citizens to the country. No timeline has yet been determined, as interagency working groups study how and when to safely move toward resuming normal travel. Currently, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the prior 14 days are prohibited from entering the U.S. All travelers to the U.S., regardless of vaccination status, are required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of air travel to the country.
• Here’s How You Can Show Proof of Vaccination in New York City: a new app released by the city, called NYC Covid Safe; the state’s Excelsior Pass; or by simply showing your paper vaccination card or a copy of your official vaccination record. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement on Tuesday that people participating in indoor activities at restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and performances in New York City must soon show coronavirus. This will begin on August 16. This will not be fully enforced until September 13. Children under 12 are still not yet eligible to receive any of the vaccines. On Wednesday morning, Mr. de Blasio said that they would be allowed to enter restaurants with vaccinated adults if they are masked.
• When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated, the CDC recently emphasized that wearing a mask to maximize protection against the new Delta variant can prevent possible spreading to others. Wearing a mask in areas that are required by law, regulations, or local guidance should be continued.
• Here’s how schools should handle a Covid-19 outbreak, experts say: the largest step that will be taken by school officials is to reach out to their local health department when a case arises in order to track any close contacts. The steps needed to control a Covid-19 outbreak within a school would be like steps taken for any outbreak of a communicable disease in a school, such as measles. The Delta variant can be as transmissible as chickenpox and one infected person could spread the variant to about five to nine other people on average – whereas, with the original strain of the coronavirus, one infected person could spread it to two to three people on average.