Pfizer says their COVID vaccine is 100-percent effective in adolescents ages 12 to 15. Brooke Thorington speaks with a lead investigator in the clinical trial
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Next week Louisiana is set to receive over 300,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, by far the largest allocation yet. Matt Doyle has the story.
Cut 2 (27) …I’m Matt Doyle.”
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The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry says the lifting of many of the coronavirus restrictions on many businesses is great news. LABI President Stephen Waguespack says businesses have done what they can to keep cases down and he hopes customers will visit the restaurants, salons, and retailers now that capacity limits are lifted
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Waguespack is hoping Louisiana residents take advantage of this new freedom
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The new order ends an eleven PM alcohol curfew. Restaurants can have full occupancy if six feet social distancing remains in place. Waguespack says the state’s hospitality industry has taken it on the chin the most over the past year, so hopefully, the updated guidelines can help re-start the tourism industry
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Pfizer says its COVID vaccine protects children as young as 12-years-old from the coronavirus. LSU Health Shreveport pediatric infectious disease specialist Doctor John Vanchiere says the drug manufacturer came to this conclusion based on a promising study of 22-hundred U-S volunteers between the ages of 12-and-15…
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Vanchiere says in addition to building antibodies the vaccine also proved to be protective against disease.
Vanchiere says while children are not as susceptible to COVID as adults, this is a huge step towards ending the pandemic…
Cut 7 (06) “…as well.”
Vanchiere says Pfizer reportedly plans to request an amendment to its current FDA emergency use authorization to include ages 12 to 15 in time for use next fall. He says clinical trials for ages 5 to 11 will begin in May.
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Vanchiere says dozens of adolescents participated in the Pfizer vaccine study at LSU Health Shreveport.
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Louisiana is expecting 300-thousand COVID vaccine doses next week, which almost doubles the number of doses the state is currently receiving. Governor John Bel Edwards says the vaccine ramp-up has arrived and encourages everyone 16 and older to get the vaccine…
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To help connect Louisianans to this deluge of vaccines next week the state will establish a vaccine hotline. Edwards calls it a one-stop shop for anyone seeking a vaccine appointment.
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The phone number and hours of operation will be made public soon.
Edwards says one of the best parts about the vaccine hotline is that it won’t cost the state any extra money.
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1.2 million Louisianans have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine and 1.8 million total doses have been administered.
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54 percent of those polled by LSU say their own financial situation is the same as it was a year ago, while only 29 percent say it has gotten worse. LSU Public Policy Lab Director Mike Henderson says that’s despite 72 percent of the respondents acknowledging the state’s economy is worse off than it was a year ago.
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Henderson says it’s not a dramatic gap but there is some partisan separation in how people view the state’s economy.
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That’s translated in a new set of top priorities that residents want to see the state government address. Henderson says the two new top concerns compared to last year are the economy and the pandemic.
Cut 14 (08) “…concerns.”