In videos shared to Instagram Stories on Wednesday, the 35-year-old Cravings author showed off the tons of mail she and husband John Legend received after she suffered a pregnancy loss last September.
“This is just piles of letters that we just got because the place we usually get mail from, where you guys send mail, has been shut down and it opened back up. And now we got everything,” Teigen said between sniffles as she sorted through the items. “You guys sent the most amazing condolence letters and cards and books and I just want you to know that we got all of them. All of them. I’m gonna read them all, OK? I love you guys.”
Two months after announcing her pregnancy in August 2020, Chrissy shared the heartbreaking news that she suffered a miscarriage of a son, whom they planned to name Jack.
“We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we’ve never felt before,” she shared at the time.
Chrissy and John are also parents to Luna, 5, and Miles, 3.
Mark Wahlberg stars as the title character in the new drama Joe Bell, a reality-based drama in which he plays a blue collar father who, in 2013, set off from Oregon to walk alone across country as a tribute to his gay son, who was bullied to the point of suicide.
Wahlberg, who also produced the film, said, “Just as a parent and father of four, felt, wow…This message needs to continue to get out there…”
He explained, “Jadin was such a brave and really tough young man. He was worried about what people thought, but he was devastated when his father told him not to be himself.”
“And when Joe realized that he was as responsible as the kids were bullying him at school, I think that the only thing he could do was go out there and promote this message….”
He says of his character loved his two boys, “But emotionally, intellectually, being there for somebody who’s dealing with something that’s complicated, he just didn’t have the skills to do it, you know, and unfortunately, he had to learn and carry that burden with him. But he was willing to do that.”
Wahlberg said of his onscreen son, “Reid Miller reminds me so much of both of my sons, so there is the fact that, ‘Oh my God, if this were to happen to me and to my family, how would I be able to handle this and deal with it?'”
He added, “You know, when I’m away, even on location…you’re sacrificing a lot to do what I do. So I know what it’s like to be away from my family….I just I was just so connected to it emotionally and in depicting it in the most real way possible.”
After a nearly two-year break, Camila Cabello is back with a brand new earworm, “Don’t Go Yet,” and the promise of a new album.
Right before the Grammy nominee dropped “Don’t Go Yet” and its accompanying music video, she unveiled her third studio album, Familia, but did not disclose a release date.
“This album was inspired by two things: family & food,” Cabello tweeted Friday. “Your family by blood, but also your chosen family. Who you want to sit at the dinner table, get wine-drunk, & dance in the living room with.”
The singer explained that Familia will show a different side of her, following her previous two albums: her eponymous debut album and her 2019 effort Romance.
“To me, those are the moments that make me glad to be alive, those moments of collective joy & true vulnerability & connection with other people,” she expressed in a follow up message to fans. “I hope you enjoy it & I hope it inspires many wine drunk kitchen dance parties for you & your familia.”
“Don’t Go Yet” is a festive and catchy track that celebrates Cabello’s Cuban heritage. The song includes a rich array of drums, trumpets and passion, the latter being a testament to Camila’s impressive vocals as she pleads with her lover to entertain her for just a little longer.
“Oh, yeah, don’t go yet, don’t go yet (X3) / What you leavin’ for, when my night is yours? / Just a little more, don’t go yet,” she pleads as the drums beats in tandem with her voice.
The music video is reminiscent of a telenovela, complete with over-the-top outfits and drama — embodied by one hilarious scene in particular where Camila slides across the floor and wraps her arms around a guest who is about to leave the party.
(NEW YORK) — With landfills receiving millions of tons of textile waste each year — and growing — the environmental impact of clothing has become the fashion industry’s dirty little secret.
Today, more people are paying attention to this worsening issue and have zeroed in on the impact of rental clothing subscription services. These companies, such as Rent the Runway, Nuuly and Le Tote, give people the option to keep their clothes in an ongoing rotation, so they can swap their sweatpants for a pair of borrowed designer trousers. All they have to do is subscribe, select a few of their favorite looks, wear them and then return them later — some brands even offer an option to buy the pieces.
But while many of these companies have been marketed as a greener way to dress by contributing to a more circular, recycled economy, a recent study published in Environmental Research Letters questions how sustainable the logistical processes behind rental clothing subscription services actually are.
The study found that renting clothes could potentially cause the highest impact to global warming when compared to keeping a piece of clothing for an extended period of time or reselling it, which the study suggested impact the environment the least. The study said that rental services can impact the environment via increased transportation needs, such as shipping and packaging, as well as through the constant cleaning needed to maintain the clothes between each renter.
How does transportation play a part?
The transportation sector — including cars, trucks, boats, railroad and commercial aircraft — is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which said it contributed to 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
Most of the items used through rental companies are delivered through these transportation modes, but as the study suggests, delivery via a bike or another lower carbon-emitting vehicle could help to reduce emissions into the environment.
Some top rental clothing services, such as Rent the Runway, have implemented alternative methods for passing off the clothes, including a network of physical drop-off locations to consolidate inbound shipments from customers while also trying to mitigate the use of high carbon-emitting vehicles.
The company has also partnered with traditional carriers and implemented other non-traditional return methods such as a network of swap stops to consolidate inbound shipments from customers.
Cleaner, greener cleaning methods and practices
When it comes to keeping the clothing fresh, some apparel companies have relied heavily on dry cleaning, while others have found environmentally friendlier practices.
Women’s monthly clothing rental subscription company Nuuly says it uses a custom-built cleaning facility along with dry and wet cleaning methods. The company told ABC News that more than 60% of its products are cleaned with non-alkaline and phosphate-free cleaning solutions, which are gentler on the environment when compared to traditional household detergents.
Rent the Runway says it uses similar methods, along with biodegradable detergents that are free from added fragrances and zeolites. The company said it does not use any halogenated cleaning solvents such as perchloroethylene. After cleaning, most pieces pass through a steam tunnel with temperatures between 248 and 302 degrees and are immediately sealed in plastic to protect them from subsequent handling.
Rent the Runway said it encourages customers to keep the plastic out of landfills by sending it back along with their garments. From there, the company said the plastic is recycled through a third-party partner, which in turn uses the plastic for wood-alternative building and decking materials.
Both Nuuly and Rent the Runway also say they make use of recyclable garment bags as opposed to big boxes and packing materials.
“Our goal is to power a new future for fashion, one in which women buy less and wear more, disrupting a centuries-old industry and contributing to a more sustainable future for the industry,” Anushka Salinas, president and chief operating officer of Rent the Runway, told GMA. “We are focused on shifting customer behavior, improving our operations and transforming the dynamics of the industry to drive positive change.”
The company also said it’s making progress in these areas by inspiring a customer base that buys less clothing and keeps clothing in rotation for as long as possible, thereby shifting the focus on the industry from high volumes and low price points — which are generally found through fast fashion brands — to quality, durability and utilization.
While these sustainability efforts from rental clothing companies have to be considered in the grander scheme, some experts agree that the bigger issue has to do with overall mass textile production.
The study only looked at cotton-based jeans and not other textiles
While the study examined how extended use, reselling, recycling the textile materials and renting them could potentially be harmful to the environment, it also highlighted limitations in the research and areas of future exploration. Specifically, it noted that the study was only conducted on cotton-based products and that research into clothing made from synthetic fibers might have resulted in different findings.
Some experts also agree that jeans, which were primarily used for this study, are one article of clothing that’s rarely rented.
“They’re the kind of thing you buy and wear a couple of times a week for at least a year, if not five,” Alden Wicker, a journalist and founder of sustainable fashion website EcoCult, told GMA. “Renting is great for items that you would only wear a few times or even just once, like cocktail dresses and evening gowns.”
Mass textile production and manufacturing likely hurts the environment more than rental clothing
In 2018, landfills received 11.3 million tons of municipal solid waste textiles, which equates to 7.7% of all municipal solid waste that was landfilled, according to the EPA.
The study published in Environmental Research Letters says that developing “more efficient recycling options” for textiles will not be able to reduce this amount of waste on their own.
“Currently, reduction of the total amount of products in the circuit is the most efficient way to steer the sector toward more sustainable practices,” the study said. “Reduce and Reuse strategies are the most practical for achieving such goals.”
Timo Rissanen, an associate professor in fashion and textiles at the University of Technology Sydney, told GMA that people urgently need to reduce total fashion production and consumption.
“We are in the early stages of a human-induced planetary catastrophe, and our collective cognitive dissonance in the face of that is alarming,” he said. “Rental clothing should not be employed purely to satiate a hunger for novelty and to prop up the current, inherently unsustainable worldview and levels of consumption.”
Whether you’re looking to try rental clothing services or not, there are eco-concious fashion advocates such as Clare Press, a sustainable fashion influencer and host of the “Wardrobe Crisis podcast,” who serve as guides for people looking to dress more sustainably.
“I think rental has an important role to play in making fashion circular by keeping clothes in use for longer while satisfying consumer desire for novelty,” Press told GMA. “Do I prefer renting fashion over buying a $10 dress from Shein? Absolutely.”
“Resist being told what to do by pop culture, big media and fast fashion,” she added. “It’s much more interesting and inspiring to make your own style decisions and wear what makes you happy.”
Press said that even though she loves new clothes, that doesn’t mean she should be buying new pieces every week.
“Maybe what makes you feel best will be re-wearing much-loved clothes you already own,” she said. “Quality over quantity, and styling what you already have in new ways.”
(NEW YORK) — Adding to the many challenges parents faced during the COVD-19 pandemic, vaccines remain unavailable for young children leading to questions about the need for kids to wear masks.
The issue has come to a head as kids start to return to school and even different schools within the same school district may have different mask policies.
On the national level, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said immunized adults and teens can go without a mask, including inside schools.
The public health agency has also said that schools can still embrace universal masking if they can’t verify vaccinations or have large numbers of students too young to qualify. Children under the age of 12 are currently not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
At least eight states, including Arizona, Georgia and Texas, have banned mask mandates in schools.
Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of nearly 70,000 pediatricians, this week called for schools to enforce universal masking mandates.
“AAP recommends universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated,” the AAP wrote in a statement. “Many schools will not have a system to monitor vaccine status of students, teachers and staff, and some communities overall have low vaccination uptake where the virus may be circulating more prominently.”
Good Morning America spoke with two pediatricians from Columbia University to help clarify for parents all the advice coming in on face masks and kids.
Here are their takeaways for parents.
1. All kids above age 2 should wear face masks at schools:
Both pediatricians, Dr. David Buchholz and Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, agreed with the AAP’s recommendation that all people above age 2 should wear masks inside schools, regardless of vaccination status.
“It makes it simple and it makes it flawless and protects everybody,” Buchholz said of a universal policy. “Wearing a mask protects yourself and it also protects others. It’s a great benefit.”
Both Buchholz and Bracho-Sanchez pointed out that the AAP’s and CDC’s seemingly different policies can be explained by the focus of their work.
“The CDC is in general making recommendations for the whole country,” said Bracho-Sanchez. “The APA, they’re pediatricians and their first thought is what makes sense for children? They’re looking granularly at kids and what makes sense for them.”
2. Masks matter because kids are at risk for COVID-19:
“Our understanding of COVID-19 in children has changed dramatically [since the start of the pandemic] and it absolutely can be a very serious illness in children,” said Bracho-Sanchez. “Since the start of the pandemic, there have been over 4 million children who have contracted COVID-19 and hundreds who have unfortunately passed away from it and another large amount of children who are suffering long-term COVID-19 symptoms after having had the initial illness.”
COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled in the United States over two weeks, according to The Associated Press. The virus is also on the rise among children, with more than 23,000 new pediatric cases diagnosed in the U.S. last week, twice as many as the end of June, according to the AAP.
The CDC reports that among recent cases of COVID-19, 99.5% of hospitalizations are people who weren’t immunized.
In addition to protecting children from COVID-19, face masks also help prevent the spread of other viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, noted Buchholz.
3. Masks allow children to learn in person:
After more than one year of learning entirely online for many students, wearing face masks is an easy measure that will allow kids to learn in person, according to Bracho-Sanchez.
“Children have absolutely suffered from being isolated from their peers, from their friends, from other people,” she said. “But that is because they have been away from other people, not because they have been wearing masks.”
“You can be around other people and socializing and wear masks, or not wear masks and potentially get very sick and have to go back to learning online,” added Bracho-Sanchez. “It’s in my mind a no-brainer. I would mask my own child. I would ask the adults around my child to wear masks.”
4. Masks should be used along with other safety practices:
In addition to supporting their kids in wearing face masks, parents should pay attention also to the other safety recommendations that have been in place throughout the pandemic, including hand washing and social distancing, according to both doctors.
They also urge parents to continue to screen themselves and their children for symptoms each morning and to stay home from school and-or work if they are sick.
5. Kids may have bigger feelings around returning to school:
Bracho-Sanchez said that parents will want to listen to their kids in case their possible resistance to or anger over having to wear a mask is about something deeper, like anxiety over returning to school.
“We are very focused on COVID and masking but this back-to-school season is going to be about so much more than COVID-19,” she said. “Some kids are really nervous. Some kids have truly fallen behind. Some kids have not been around people, so at the same time we’re having these conversations, we also have to remember that we have to protect children in so many ways.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Some lessons on the civil rights movement, white supremacy, the women’s suffrage movement and Martin Luther King Jr. may soon be cut from Texas’ public education requirements, according to legislation being considered in the state — one of several bills targeting critical race theory around the country.
The Texas Senate has passed Senate Bill 3 in a continued effort to proscribe education on racial inequality in K-12 education. It removes several Texas Education Code lesson requirements that were proposed by Democrats in prior education legislation to be implemented in the upcoming school year. It also stipulates that lessons cannot teach that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex” or make students “feel discomfort, guilt, [or] anguish” about privilege or systemic racism.
The concept critical race theory, an academic discipline that analyzes how racism is perpetuated in U.S. laws and policies, has become a lightning rod for conservatives around the country amid the racial reckoning spurred by George Floyd’s death.
At least 26 other states have introduced or implemented similar legislation on race education by Republican lawmakers, echoing concerns about racial division.
Opponents say that children should not be made to feel responsible for past injustices based solely on the color of their skin or be forced to accept the idea that the United States and its institutions are not only structured racially but perpetuate that racism.
Some teachers interviewed by ABC News have said critical race theory isn’t being taught in grades K-12 and instead is reserved for academic institutions. Some Texas educators told ABC they believe the fight against “critical race theory” is a veiled attempt to turn back the clock on racial equality.
What’s in the bill
The new legislation, SB3, would remove several staples of U.S. history education from state requirements, according to Ovidia Molina, the president of the Texas State Teachers Association.
The state currently requires teaching “the history of white supremacy,” “the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong; the Chicano movement; women’s suffrage and equal rights; the civil rights movement” and more.
However, SB3 would cut those requirements — a move that some teachers say signals a growing effort to remove specific lessons from classrooms.
“Specifically editing out that you can’t teach that white supremacy is morally wrong — that is deeply concerning,” said Jennifer Lee, a teacher in Killeen, Texas. “I think the angle here is just … preserving the ideals behind white supremacy.”
Though the new legislation doesn’t necessarily ban these lessons from being taught, removing them from the list of requirements means they may come under scrutiny due to the vague, anti-critical race theory language of this bill.
Gov. Greg Abbott already signed anti-critical race theory into law in June with HB3979 — stating that teachers are banned from linking systemic racism to the “authentic founding principles of the United States.” But teachers and advocates say it is so vague that it could infringe on their ability to have truthful dialogue about history and racism with their students.
SB3 was added to the state legislature’s special session after Abbott signed HB3979 into law, saying “more must be done” on critical race theory in schools.
And SB3 has been called troubling by education groups including the National Education Association for its potential to censor teachers and students in the classroom.
‘Provide guardrails’ against ‘animosity’
Defenders of the bill, including Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes who sponsored the bill, say that some lessons on racial inequality blame white students for systemic racism and creates tension between students of different backgrounds.
“This bill is meant only to provide guardrails against imposing division and animosity on our students,” Hughes said before the July 16 Senate vote. “Since [critical race theory] is so prevalent in higher education and since we see it popping up in public schools, that’s why it needs to be addressed.”
Other proponents of anti-critical race theory bills, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have said that some lessons on race could lead to the “indoctrination” of public school students toward progressive political leanings.
Ovidia Molina, the president of the Texas State Teachers Association, said that students have so much to gain from education about America’s racial history, including those that would be erased by this new legislation.
“We want to keep honesty in education,” Molina said. “We want to make sure that we teach our students the truth, the whole truth, the good, the bad, the failures, the successes.”
Molina said teachers have spoken up at hearings and called their local legislators to denounce the new legislation — but said lawmakers are not listening.
“They don’t know what’s happening in our public schools,” Molina said. “We still want to celebrate women’s suffrage, we still want to celebrate the Chicano movement, we still want to celebrate people of color, so that our students see themselves in the history and so they see themselves in the future.”
The Texas Education Agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Molina said that Texas districts have yet to announce what punishment for teaching these subjects might look like for teachers.
Concerning shift toward ‘patriotic’ education
Some teachers told ABC they are worried about retaliation, termination, or other forms of punishment. But others are more concerned about what this shift toward more “patriotic” education means for their students.
“One of the first things Hitler did was start to reform education and impact the way that history is taught. One of the first things Mussolini did was go through and incorporate patriotic education,” Lee said. “Education has always been that first line of defense in preserving a certain way of thinking.”
Former President Donald Trump, among several other conservatives, have become proponents of “patriotic” education in response to critical race theory and The New York Times’ 1619 project — which dissects the founding of the United States of America and its legacy of slavery. Trump’s proposed “1776 commission” aims to envision U.S. history in a positive light, instead of through a condemnatory, racial lens.
San Antonio teacher Christopher Green said he believes that lessons on race, inequality and oppression are vital to helping children navigate the world and understand our society.
“Rather than adding a more diverse perspective to the teaching of history, it’s eliminating things that really need to be in there to understand the full picture of the American story,” Green said.
The bill will now be headed to the state House, but it will likely be stalled due to protests from Texas Democratic representatives. They have fled the state in protest of new voting restrictions, meaning there won’t be enough members to conduct business according to House rules.
(TOKYO) — After a yearlong delay and a string of scandals, the 2020 Summer Olympics is officially opening in Tokyo.
All eyes are on the opening ceremony to see whether the host city can not only put on a good show but also lift spirits and unite a world battered by a raging pandemic. The event, which is taking place in Tokyo’s newly rebuilt Olympic Stadium, began Friday at 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) and is being broadcast live on NBC.
The Games were initially scheduled to kick off in the Japanese capital last summer but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are key moments from the opening ceremony. All times Eastern:
Jul 23, 7:45 am
Ceremony commences with light-filled dance, national anthem performance
The opening ceremony kicked off with a dance inspired by how sports can bring people together after a difficult year marked by a global pandemic. Bright, moving lights filled the empty venue and the rhythm was meant to imitate a heartbeat as dozens of Japanese performers pranced across the stadium.
Arisua Tsubata, a boxer and nurse who treated COVID-19 patients, helmed the opening dance performance from a treadmill in the center of the stadium grounds.
Following the colorful dance event, the Japanese national anthem was sung by artist MISIA as the as the iconic flag was raised by members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito was in attendance, taking on the same role his grandfather held when he opened the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
The ceremony then featured percussive performances meant to honor traditional Japanese carpentry arts. Beloved Japanese tap dancer Kazunori Kumagai also made a cameo performance.
Fireworks erupted over the stadium, lighting up the sky and officially commencing the Summer Olympics.
Jul 23, 7:04 am
Opening ceremony kicks off
The opening ceremony for the 2020 Summer Olympics has begun in Tokyo.
The event at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, which is virtually empty, will feature a lighting of the Olympic cauldron, some of the athletes and plenty of music.
Basketball player Sue Bird and baseball player Eddy Alvares have been selected to carry the flag for Team USA during the lap of the stadium.
Traditionally, each nation chooses just one flag-bearer. But this year, countries have been encouraged to select both a male and female representative to carry their flag.
The stands will be virtually empty with less than 1,000 people in the venue, which can hold up to 68,000.
No spectators are allowed to attend the opening ceremony — or any event in an Olympic venue in Tokyo during the Games — as part of efforts to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection. There are also a limited number of athletes and dignitaries in attendance. U.S. first lady Jill Biden is among them.
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee and the Japanese government have faced criticism for pushing ahead with the Games this year, despite public health concerns amid rising COVID-19 cases. The opening ceremony is already mired in controversy of its own, with the latest incident happening on the eve of the event. The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee fired the ceremony’s director, Kentaro Kobayashi, over a joke he made about the Holocaust as a comedian in 1998.
“We have been preparing for the last year to send a positive message,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, said during a press conference Thursday. “Toward the very end now there are so many incidents that give a negative image toward Tokyo 2020.”
After waiting for over a year, fans hoping to finally hear Kanye West‘s Donda album — which was slated to drop Friday at midnight — were left disappointed and sometimes angry when the collection was nowhere to be found.
Kanye teased the album’s release in a Beats by Dre commercial, which aired during Tuesday’s NBA Finals, but, as of 1:16 ET, the album is MIA.
Twitter was abuzz with reactions to the latest delay.
“Absolutely got baited. don’t want to talk about,” wrote one user.
“All you’ve got to do is drop the album, drop it today,” another livid fan shouts repeatedly in a video clip.
Donda, named after Ye’s late mother, Donda West, will be his 10th studio effort. The Grammy winner first teased the album in March 2020 and was originally slated to come out that July.
However, Kanye cancelled the release and announced he was further tweaking the album when the album didn’t materialize on the promised release date.
Kanye has yet to address why the album failed to drop at midnight. Earlier on Thursday, however, he shared an image depicting his silhouette sitting in what appears to be a stadium and captioned it, “TODAY’S THE DAY.”
(NOTE: Embedded Instagram video contains uncensored profanity)
(STANFORD, Calif.) — Stanford University reported at least seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated students this week.
All seven students were symptomatic, according to the school.
“As you have seen in the national news, cases of COVID-19 have been ticking upward,” Stanford University officials said in a letter to students on Thursday. “We are seeing some of this in our own community, where we are experiencing an increase in the number of student COVID cases, including among fully vaccinated individuals.”
Although the chances of contracting the novel coronavirus after being fully vaccinated are very rare, so-called breakthrough cases are still possible. Although COVID-19 vaccines have shown to be highly effective, they do not block the virus 100% of the time, meaning that some breakthrough infections occur after vaccination. This is normal and expected, and it’s not proof that the vaccines aren’t working, experts said.
However, health officials and experts alike have warned that new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus may be more effective at evading vaccines.
Stanford University officials said “vaccination continues to be our best defense against severe COVID-19 infection.” Face masks, physical distancing and regular hand washing “remain powerful ways to prevent the transmission of COVID-19,” officials added.
All students, faculty, staff, contractors and visitors are required to wear face coverings in spaces that are open to the public on the Ivy League school’s 8,180-acre campus in Stanford, California, about 20 miles northwest of San Jose. Face coverings in crowded indoor spaces on campus are recommended.
Stanford University recently loosened its COVID-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated students who are living on campus or are coming to campus frequently this summer. Those individuals are no longer required to test weekly for COVID-19 or complete daily submissions on the school’s “Health Check” tool if they are verified as being fully vaccinated against the disease.
Overall, Stanford University has reported at least 257 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Some 8,300 students are fully vaccinated against the disease, while 330 are partially vaccinated, according to data posted on the school’s website.
Stanford University’s Vaden Health Services is connecting with each student who tests positive for COVID-19 to identify and notify their close contacts, who will be encouraged to get tested as soon as possible. Students who test positive will be provided with medical care and isolation space, according to the school.
“Again, vaccinations are effective at preventing severe illness. However, we need everyone to be vigilant,” Stanford University officials warned in the letter Thursday. “The variants remain of concern.”
(NEW YORK) — In Wyoming’s Teton County, nearly 60% of residents are fully vaccinated — almost double the statewide vaccination rate.
It’s an effort that has been noticed in the state, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country and where several counties have fewer than 30% of their population inoculated, state data shows.
“We have spoken to some of our other counties in Wyoming because they wanted to know what we were doing,” Rachael Wheeler, the public health response coordinator at the Teton County Health Department, told ABC News.
As the highly transmissible delta variant has quickly spreads throughout the United States — now making up over 80% of new cases — regions with high vaccination rates are expected to fare better, medical experts say.
ABC News spoke to Wheeler and officials in two other counties leading their states in COVID-19 vaccinations about their campaigns, what they’ve done and where they go from here.
McKinley County, New Mexico
McKinley County, which includes part of the Navajo Nation reservation, was one of the hardest-hit regions in New Mexico early in the pandemic.
For Adam Berry, emergency manager for the county, that may have helped drive vaccinations to where, as of Monday, over 94% of residents ages 18 and up have received at least one dose, according to the latest state health department data. Statewide, that number is 72.2%.
“The spring of 2020 was our first wave; we had a pretty good surge,” Berry said. “We had the highest case number in the state, especially per capita, for several weeks and months, before things tapered off late summer.”
There was a longer, second surge in the winter that filled Gallup hospitals and mortuaries to capacity, he said.
“There’s very few people in the county that don’t know at least one person that was sick, if they weren’t sick themselves,” he said. “Many people know one or more people that unfortunately died due to COVID-19. So I think it’s very personal for a lot of people.”
Berry said there was a little hesitancy in the beginning, but that “it didn’t take very long at all for a lot of people to start lining up to get the vaccine.” Being able to protect themselves and their family, as well as safely see people they had not seen in a while, were big motivators, he said.
The vaccination effort has involved coordination among the county’s emergency management and public health offices, state health department, health care providers, community partners and federal agencies, including the Indian Health Service.
“It was definitely a big community effort. Everybody does their part to try to get as many people vaccinated as possible,” said Berry, a volunteer paramedic who also helped administer vaccines when clinics were short-staffed.
One thing that worked to the county’s advantage in administering the vaccine is having a significant percentage of the county served by the Indian Health Service, he said. Nearly 80% of the county’s residents are Native American, according to the U.S. Census.
“A lot of other counties in New Mexico are dependent on local health care systems and private physicians to vaccinate the bulk of their populations,” he said. “We were fortunate in that aspect that we have a large presence of Indian Health Service facilities to help take care of that population, which allowed for vaccines to come in directly from the federal government to that site.”
The Indian Health Service held drive-thru events at the Fire Rock Casino in Church Rock and did outreach to the Navajo Nation “to make it more convenient” to get the vaccine, Berry said.
The county has lately been focused on bringing people back for their second dose if needed, as well as vaccination efforts in those ages 12 to 16.
Since May 24, the county has reported only three COVID-19 deaths, and the seven-day average of new cases is three, down from a peak of 109 in mid-November, state data shows.
There’s still a lot of mask-wearing, though life has started to “look a little more normal,” Berry said. “We’ve come a long way in the last year.”
Lamoille County, Vermont
There’s stiff competition to be the top county for vaccinations in Vermont, which has the highest vaccination rate in the country.
At the moment, Lamoille County holds that distinction, with over 85% of residents ages 12 and up having received at least one dose, according to state data.
“When we saw those numbers we were very happy about it,” Aaron French, director of the Morrisville Office of Local Health in Lamoille County, told ABC News. “Every county’s working really hard.”
Part of that effort has included reaching Lamoille County’s more rural residents, who may be less inclined to drive to a vaccination clinic out of town.
“I grew up in one of those small towns, and I said, ‘Why don’t we talk to the town … and set something up, and if we only get five people, we’ll get five people,'” French said.
On a recent weekend, the office brought nurses to two towns and was able to vaccinate around 10 people.
“We were happy with that,” French said. “And we’ll continue to do that.”
Health officials have also connected with local churches, schools, manufacturers and ski resorts as part of the vaccination efforts to reach the community and workforce.
As COVID-19 cases rise throughout the United States, Vermont officials said this week they have seen a small increase in the state, likely due to the delta variant, but community spread remains low due to the high vaccination rates.
Lamoille County has had two COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks, state data shows.
French said people in the county have trusted the local department of health and state department of health throughout the pandemic, which has also been a major factor in their vaccination success.
“They needed to hear from people that they could trust, and I think those local people were their local doctors and their commissioner of public health, who’s a physician, and their governor,” he said. “We have a number of federally qualified health care centers around here, and those physicians and nurse practitioners are very well-trusted, so their messaging out to the community and their patients were really important and helpful.”
Lamoille County’s lowest vaccination rates are among those ages 18 to 29, with over 58% of that population vaccinated, state data shows. That is one area the county is focusing on, French said.
The local health office has held clinics at skate parks, fairs and race tracks in the state, and health officials look to continue to do efforts like that to continue to bring numbers up.
“There’s plenty of opportunity and we’re just going to keep plugging away at it,” French said. “I do think we can get higher than that.”
Teton County, Wyoming
There has been a partisan divide in COVID-19 vaccinations, with Democrats more likely to report getting the vaccine than Republicans. Teton County is an outlier in Wyoming as a “blue dot in a red state,” though Wheeler doesn’t think that “can account for everything.”
One major factor that helped Teton County achieve its vaccination rate — which is the highest in the state, and higher than the national average — started with the logistics of the rollout itself.
“We were very easily able to ramp up and hire a lot of additional vaccine staff when our demand was high,” Wheeler said.
That meant hiring anyone from nurses to administer the vaccines to staff to help manage the different schedules. The county also had a lot of volunteer help at vaccine clinics, from checking people in to observing for emergency response, she said.
Teton County was also one of a handful of counties in Wyoming that had an ultra-cold freezer needed at first to store the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be issued an emergency use authorization.
“That was really helpful early on to be able to accept all different types of vaccines that were approved under the EUA at that time,” Wheeler said.
When the county expanded its eligibility to schools and child care providers, the health department held special clinics on the weekends to accommodate them. “That seemed very successful, and they were very appreciative of that,” Wheeler said.
Once students were eligible, the health department held an in-school vaccine clinic before the school year let out that reached over 500 students, Wheeler said.
To reach the broader community, the health department repurposed a public transit system bus into a mobile vaccine clinic, which has been used to bring doses to worksites, like the county’s trash transfer station, and, lately, parks.
“Our goal is to reduce any barriers that there might be for people to get the vaccine,” Wheeler said.
Beyond vaccine access, the county hired an agency to help with its messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine. “They helped us have a more focused campaign that was consistent and looked really professional,” Wheeler said.
Currently, the health department is holding a “Shots for Swag” campaign, in which residents who have received at least one dose of the vaccine can win prizes.
Through the ad agency, the health department also filmed a video featuring local doctors answering common questions about the vaccine, such as around variants, fertility and pregnancy, that “put a more local perspective to it,” Wheeler said.
The health department also partnered with several community nonprofits, including Voices JH, which helped reach immigrants in the Latino and Eastern European communities in the county with resources on vaccination.
Local health officials are anticipating renewed demand for the vaccine as new age ranges become eligible, and possibly when a vaccine has full FDA approval.
For now, they’re planning to bring the mobile vaccine clinic to events throughout the summer and remind employers about the service. From July 1 to July 15, the county reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, 26 of which were in unvaccinated people and included workplace “clusters,” the health department said this week.
“We’re still messaging to everyone that the best defense is getting vaccinated,” Wheeler said. “It’s how you’re going to protect not only yourself, but your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, community members.”
