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Why vaccine incentives may not have been the best answer to hesitancy: Experts

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After more than two months of trying to woo hesitant Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines with cash, free beer and other prizes, health data and experts suggest those incentives failed to move the needle forward appreciably in many cases, and in some had no impact at all.

“A small proportion responds to the incentives, but they are definitely not a panacea,” Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor of medicine and economics at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and Graduate School of Business, told ABC News of the national vaccine situation.

There was some initial thought that lotteries, in particular, would be effective given their appeal to some people who were also hesitant to get vaccines, experts told ABC News. But since incentives started widely being offered beginning on May 12, the number of first does given in the U.S. briefly increased but then tailed off.

The country did not meet President Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of Americans getting one dose by July 4 and only 48% of the entire population has been fully vaccinated as of July 13, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The situation is more urgent in some states, like Arkansas and Louisiana, where vaccinations levels are below 50% despite well-funded incentive programs.

Schulman and health experts are recommending governors and health officials refocus their efforts on outreach rather than incentivizing if they want to avoid another wave of cases, hospitalization and deaths brought upon by low vaccination numbers.

Ohio’s ‘Vax-a-Million’ — an outlier?

Ohio, the first state to offer a lottery to vaccinated residents, was seen as an early test case. Gov. Mike DeWine used federal stimulus money to offer a $1 million prize and one full college scholarship to teen entrants once a week for five weeks.

One week after the “Vax-a-Million” sweepstakes was announced, an additional 113,000 Ohio residents had received their first dose, according to the state’s health department. That increase represented a week to week 53% jump, the state’s health officials said.

“This exceeded the governor’s expectations,” Dan Tierney, a spokesman for DeWine, told ABC News.

While the state credited the lottery for the jump, there has been no direct study or data to show it was the impetus, aside from some anecdotal evidence, according to the state’s health officials. The data did show that the increase was short-lived.

Since May 12, the number of residents who received their first shot increased by 770,000, according to the Ohio Health Department.

While this represents 13.5% of the 5.7 million Ohio residents who have received their first shot as of July 13, the state only has 48.8% of its population with one dose.

Roughly 55.6% of the total U.S. population has received one dose as of July 13, according to the CDC.

John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said Ohio’s case demonstrated that vaccine health incentives are really just a stop-gap and true solutions lie in increasing access to a vaccine center and education about efficacy.

“The incentives only really worked for people who were on the fence,” Brownstein said of the Ohio lottery program. “You saw that slight bump, but there are still thousands of people who aren’t signing up and the incentives didn’t work on them.”

Tierney said the Ohio lottery campaign organizers acknowledged that the campaign was most effective at convincing residents who were planning on getting vaccinated but held out due to scheduling time around school, work or vacations.

But Tierney also maintained that those hundreds of thousands of newly vaccinated residents still make a difference in the state’s goal.

“I think Vax-a-Million forced a lot of people to think about their calculations about when they wanted to get the vaccine,” he said.

Others lagging behind

Brownstein and health experts warned that Ohio’s increase following its lottery was an outlier.

Eighteen other states, including Maryland and New York, came up with their own vaccine lotteries or cash giveaways following Ohio, according to the National Governor’s Association. Their combined efforts appeared to only make a small and short-lived dent in vaccination numbers.

The seven-day average of new first doses given initially climbed from 1.79 million on May 12 after the states offered their programs to 1.88 million a week later but has steadily declined to 421,000 on July 7, according to the data. The average peaked at 3.4 million doses on April 11, according to the CDC.

Several states with already lagging vaccine numbers saw no jump after their programs were announced, according to health data.

In Louisiana, where only 39% of the entire population has one dose of the vaccine, the seven-day average of new daily doses administered has remained level at around 10,000 for the last month, according to Louisiana Health Department. A lottery for vaccinated residents was announced on June 17.

In Arkansas, the seven-day average of new vaccine shots administered declined by over 3,500 after the state announced its scratch-off game incentive for vaccinated residents on May 25, according to the Arkansas Health Department.

“I don’t know if we’re going to be able to buy our way out of this,” Col. Robert Ator, the program director of the Arkansas vaccine incentive program, told ABC affiliate KATV on June 28.

A representative for the Arkansas Health Department told ABC News the state is looking at other options including a request to businesses to offer incentives to people.

Don’t focus on incentives: Experts

Schulman co-authored a report in the New England Journal of Medicine in January arguing that the best ways to promote the COVID-19 vaccination among the populace is for state leaders to rethink their approaches and focus on marketing rather than rewards

Specifically, Schulman said states should prepare and launch marketing and advertising campaigns aimed at Americans who think it’s OK not to get a shot because hospitalizations and deaths are down from the winter and they’ll be fine.

“They are a really important group to address now. They’re more likely to respond to a good marketing campaign,” he said.

Informing those unvaccinated members about the dangers of the virus, particularly the growing threat of variants, and the effects on their families and businesses will go a longer way than a cash prize, Schulman argued.

“I would go back to those lottery states and ask how much did you spend on the lottery and how much could you have spent on Facebook ads that could appeal to those populations,” he said.

Tierney noted that the Vax-a-Million sweepstakes generated a form of publicity for the vaccine because of news articles, social media posts and word of mouth. His office has estimated that the coverage was the equivalent of $50 million in advertising.

“We could not have bought this word of mouth,” he said.

Schulman said it is promising that state leaders are working to close the vaccination gap, but reiterated that they’ll need more precise targeting to pick up the pace.

“The fact that these governors sounded the alarm early and said, ‘We have a problem,’ is encouraging,” he said. “They must not give up.”

Students will head back to school amid rising COVID cases, again

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — “Sicker, younger, quicker” is how hospital executive Steve Edwards explained a sudden explosion this month in COVID patients in Springfield, Missouri.

It’s against this backdrop — rising COVID cases due to an aggressive new variant and lagging vaccination numbers — that the nation’s estimated 56 million students grades K-12 return to the classroom full-time in the coming weeks, many of them for the first time since the pandemic shuttered schools in March 2020.

Here’s what to know about schools reopening:

Only of a quarter of children ages 12-15 are fully immunized

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lowered the age of people eligible to receive the vaccine from 16 to 12 in May, citing evidence from clinical trials that the two doses were safe and effective in kids in preventing the symptoms caused by COVID-19. Studies also have shown that vaccination prevents the chances a teen could spread the virus.

But U.S. teens have been slow on the uptake.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 86% of people over age 75 are fully vaccinated. That’s compared to nearly 25% of children ages 12-15 and 37% of young people 16-17 who are fully vaccinated.

That leaves large populations of high schools and middle schools — which are often overcrowded, making social distancing difficult — unprotected against the virus, particularly as daily COVID cases have jumped 86% in the last three weeks.

For younger children, ages 5-11, Pfizer said its clinical trials are under way now to see if a smaller dose of the vaccine would be as effective. Company officials said they plan to seek authorization for kids younger than 12 in September or October, paving the way for elementary-age children to be fully immunized by the end of the year.

Several states are prohibiting schools from requiring masks

Last year, schools were found not to be super-spreaders so long as students and staff consistently wore masks and took other steps to prevent transmission.

The CDC now says vaccinated students and staff can forgo masks unless they are riding a school bus or if their school tells them otherwise. But verifying who is vaccinated will be up to schools and local officials — and many states don’t appear to be eager to mandate proof of vaccination.

According to the school tracker Burbio, seven states are prohibiting schools from mandating masks. Schools in Utah, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, Vermont and South Carolina can only recommend masks to unvaccinated staff and students.

In Arizona, Chandler Unified School District, which welcomes back students July 21 — one of the earliest start dates in the nation — already decided masks would be voluntary when Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law that prohibits local counties and school districts from requiring students or staff to wear face coverings.

In most states though, including Missouri, school districts have the option of requiring masks come fall — a decision that could change as COVID case numbers fluctuate.

In Springfield, Missouri, for example, the city had lifted the mask mandate in schools only to reinstate it for its July summer program when COVID case numbers climbed. The superintendent there has yet to say whether masks will be required when the district reopens full-time on Aug. 23, welcoming back more than 23,000 students into its classrooms.

Biden designated $10B for testing in schools, but not every state wants it

President Joe Biden has designated $10 billion in federal money as part of his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan so schools can test students and staff. Under the program, states are required to report back how many tests are used and how many turn up positive.

Several of the nation’s largest school districts — Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago — plan to reopen with routine surveillance testing for students. Colorado’s health department also announced it wants to use federal dollars to implement a routine testing program.

But other parts of the country — including Idaho and Iowa — plan to forgo entirely their share of federal funding to test students for COVID-19.

Last April, Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that she would reject the $95 million in federal funds offered to the state for in-school coronavirus testing.

“I think he (Biden) thinks that COVID just started,” Reynolds said in a Fox News interview. “I just returned $95 million because they sent an additional $95 million to the state of Iowa to get our kids back in the classroom by doing surveillance testing. And I said we’ve been in the classroom since August. Here’s your $95 million back.”

The CDC and Biden’s top health officials are still suggesting schools embrace the idea of routine testing, particularly if they want schools to stay open.

“Our nation’s top public health scientists are recommending that school districts consider adding screening programs into their overall strategy for protecting their kids and their staff from outbreaks of COVID and the administration is supporting that recommendation with this testing program,” said Tom Inglesby, a senior COVID-19 response adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit White House before she leaves office

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to visit the White House Thursday for talks with President Joe Biden.

After deciding not to seek another term in office, her trip will likely mark a farewell to Biden. It’s a chance for the longtime acquaintances and partners to reaffirm the strong U.S.-Germany bond in the face of global challenges, such as the coronavirus pandemic and rising autocratic influences.

“Chancellor Merkel has been a true friend to the United States, a strong advocate for the transatlantic partnership for multilateral cooperation, as well as for our shared priorities,” a senior administration official said ahead of the meeting. “In their meeting, I expect that President Biden will convey gratitude for her leadership role, in Europe and around the world, as she prepares to depart the German political stage, following their elections this September.”

The visit with also be an opportunity for the pair to hash out some areas of concern ahead of the end of Merkel’s tenure.

Merkel kicks off her visit having breakfast with Vice President Kamala Harris. In the afternoon, Merkel attends both a one-on-one and a larger group meeting at the White House with Biden. Merkel and Biden hold a press conference in the late afternoon and then in the evening, Biden will host a dinner for her and “a range of individuals who have long been strong supporters of Germany and the bilateral relationship, which will further demonstrate the close and continuing ties between our countries,” a senior administration official said.

Despite the warm welcome, challenges remain.

One sticking point between the two countries is Nord Stream 2, a pipeline to move gas directly from Russia, under the Baltic Sea and into Germany. Biden is opposed to the pipeline, as are many Republicans in Congress, because it could give Russia increased influence in Europe and more control over energy reserves. The pipeline will likely deprive other countries, such as Ukraine, of badly-needed oil revenues and some experts fear Russia could shut off the gas supply to certain countries in retaliatory moves.

Biden lifted U.S. sanctions on companies helping to build the pipeline in May as a goodwill gesture to European allies, as he worked to get them on board with his tough-on-Russia policies and in a tacit admission that U.S. sanctions ultimately failed to halt construction. That was a move some Republicans, including Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, criticized.

“Instead of treating Putin like a gangster who fears his own people, we’re giving him his treasured Nord Stream 2 pipeline and legitimizing his actions with a summit,” Sasse said.

It’s a topic Biden is expected to bring up with Merkel on Thursday.

“I do expect that President Biden will raise his long-standing concerns with Chancellor Merkel during their meeting about Russia’s geopolitical project and about the importance of developing concrete mechanisms to ensure that energy is not used as a coercive tool against Ukraine, our eastern flank allies or any other country. We believe that the sanctions waivers that we announced in May have given us diplomatic space to be able to work with Germany to have these conversations to try and find ways to address the negative impacts of the pipeline,” the official said.

However, the official did not anticipate any formal announcement on Nord Stream out of the meeting.

The official did preview that Biden and Merkel will release a so-called Washington Declaration, “which will outline their common vision for cooperation to confront policy challenges,” and provide guiding principles for years ahead, even as Merkel’s successor takes the helm. The official also anticipated a climate and energy partnership to be announced, though they provided no further details on what that will look like.

Another area of difference between the two leaders is China’s rising global influence. While Biden has seen China as a competitor that must be curtailed, Merkel is friendlier towards a rising China, believing their success and a balanced trade relationship between the two countries will benefit Germany.

Other agenda items include the pandemic and security challenges in Afghanistan.

2021 Child Tax Credit calculator: How much could you receive?

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The vast majority of American families with children will automatically receive up to $300 per month, per child, beginning Thursday, the IRS and Treasury Department have announced.

The IRS said families who qualify for the Child Tax Credit, which was expanded as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, will receive monthly payments without taking any further action. Initial eligibility will be based on 2019 or 2020 tax returns.

The changes increased the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,000 for children over 6, and to $3,600 for children under 6.

According to the IRS: “For tax year 2021, the Child Tax Credit is increased from $2,000 per qualifying child to: $3,600 for children ages 5 and under at the end of 2021; and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17 at the end of 2021.”

In a nutshell: Families making less than $150,000 a year and single parents making less than $112,500 are now eligible for a credit of up to $3,600 per child. Payments will be going out to 39 million households, according to the IRS.

The IRS also added on its website: “The $500 nonrefundable Credit for Other Dependents amount has not changed.”

Biden will mark the rollout of checks and direct deposits from the child tax credit with a White House event featuring Americans who will benefit.

“We have seen projections that the child tax credit, the implementation or the extension of child tax credit could reduce — could cut child poverty in half,” press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. “And this is just extra money that’s going into people’s bank accounts who need help the most. So, the president felt it was important to elevate this issue, to make sure people understand this is a benefit that will help them as we still work to recover from the pandemic and the economic downturn.”

In a June 21 statement, the president called the program the “largest-ever child tax credit.”

“For parents working to make ends meet and raise their children with greater security, dignity, and opportunity, help is here,” Biden said.

The Biden administration also launched a website with details about the tax credit.

The benefits will be paid monthly, according to the IRS. People can register for the program even if they did not fully file taxes.

Set to expire after a year, Biden has proposed extending the program through 2025.

In the meantime, this calculator from ABC News’ data journalism team tells you how much you may receive from the Child Tax Credit program using the guidelines spelled out in the bill based on your most recent tax form. The information you enter will not be stored or saved in any way.

Scoreboard roundup — 7/14/21

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Milwaukee 109, Phoenix 103

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
WNBA All-Stars Team 93, USA Woman’s National Team 84

Nile Rodgers discusses his pop-disco legacy with CHIC

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Nile Rodgers enjoyed reuniting with his legendary band CHIC for their first performance in over a year during last month’s Juneteenth Unityfest. The guitarist, songwriter and producer says he appreciates being a founder of the legendary pop-disco group, whose music transcends various musical genres.

“We play funky dance music. We started in the late ’70s. Even though CHIC had a very short run in just those two years, every single record we put out was a minimum of gold,” he tells ABC Audio. “And then after we had our first gold record, every record after that was platinum and multiple platinum, every single one.”

Among the hits Rodgers and CHIC co-founder Bernard Edwards crafted were “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Good Times,” the latter of which was a major inspiration for The Sugarhill Gang‘s classic “Rapper’s Delight.”

“‘Good Times’ went to number-one, but after that, we never had another number-one record. But my career kept going, because we were already signed with Diana Ross,” Rodgers explains. “We wound up making the biggest Diana Ross record ever.

After CHIC disbanded in the 1980s, Rodgers says he went on to produce a string of major hits for a variety of other artists. “I wound up making the biggest David Bowie record ever. Then the biggest Duran Duran record. Then the biggest Madonna record. Then the biggest INXS record,” he declares.

Looking back over his last 30 years in the music industry, Rodgers says it’s been “a great career,” but he expects to have more hits on the way.

“I look at it as being very fortunate and being lucky,” he adds.

Carlos Santana shares new details about band’s upcoming album, ‘Blessings and Miracles,’ due out this fall

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A few months ago, Carlos Santana told ABC Audio that his band will be releasing a new album later this year titled Blessings and Miracles, and in a new interview with the network, the guitar legend shares some updated details about the project.

Carlos reveals that the album was “just completed” and is due out in the fall. An eclectic list of artists contributed to the record, which Santana says will feature various musical genres, including “country, gospel and reggae.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also reports that country star Chris Stapleton “wrote an incredible song for us, ‘Joy,'” and that hit-making pop songwriter Diane Warren “wrote some great songs” for the project as well.

In the previous interview, Carlos told ABC Audio that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett will be featured on the album, and that Steve Winwood and Living Colour frontman Corey Glover also might appear on the record. Santana now confirms that Winwood and Glover will be on the album, and says Hammett will be featured on a track alongside Mark Osegueda, lead singer of the Bay Area thrash-metal band Death Angel.

In addition, Ally Brooke of the girl group Fifth Harmony also sings on Blessings and Miracles.

“This new album is going to blow a lot of people [away],” Carlos gushes.

Meanwhile, Santana says he’s feeling great about still creating vibrant music at this time in his life.

“I just feel like it’s wonderful to be 73 years old, young, and be relevant, and stay relevant,” he declares. “You know, it’s quite a gift from God, man.”

Carlos adds, “I’m still dreaming of doing music with new musicians and discovering new avenues to the unknown and unpredictability.”

Director Joshua Zeman unravels a whale of a tale in ‘The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52’

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The new documentary The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 is in theaters now and hits on demand streaming Friday.

Leonardo DiCaprio produced the doc that centers on a quest to find the creature scientists believe has spent its life in solitude because it sings at 52 Hertz, a frequency that, in theory, other whales can’t understand.

“It was first heard on a bunch of hydrophones in the ocean used by the Navy to suss out submarines,” director Joshua Zeman tells ABC Audio. “They heard this mysterious sound. At first, they didn’t know what it was. And then the scientist, Dr. William Watkins, believed it was a whale, a whale that called at a frequency that was unknown by any other.”

Why are people so captivated by a lonely whale? That’s what Zeman, who notes people would “people would freak out [and] start to cry” when he told them the story, explores in the documentary.

“You know, they would get goosebumps,” he explains. “And I was like, what is it about this story? Like, I’m a storyteller. I pitch a lot of stories. And I had never gotten such a visceral reaction from people. And I was like, OK, just from a storytelling standpoint, I want to know what it is.”

“It’s the man’s existential human crisis staring back at them in the mirror. You know, we all don’t want to die alone, but it was also the fact that this fear and crisis and human condition was in the form of a whale,” adds Zeman. “You know, whales are so big, they humble us. And then maybe it’s because the ocean is just so vast. So, it’s like our human crisis, like supersized to the point of like blowing our minds.”

Britney Spears says she wants dad Jamie charged with conservator abuse

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Britney Spears addressed California Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Penny on Wednesday, stating her desire to have her father removed from her conservatorship. “I am here to get rid of my dad,” she said.

She also said during Wednesday’s hearing that she wanted to charge her father, Jamie Spears, with conservator abuse.

Britney also has a new attorney. Penny approved high-powered attorney Mathew S. Rosengart to be the pop star’s new legal counsel. The judge also approved Samuel D. Ingham III‘s request to resign as the singer’s court-appointed attorney.

While Rosengart appeared in person in court, Britney and Jamie Spears called in via telephone. Also appearing remotely were Britney’s mother, Lynne Spears, as well as co-conservator Jodi Montgomery, who has served as the conservator of the singer’s personal affairs since 2019 when Jamie vacated the role.

Penny also approved the request from Bessemer Trust to step down as co-conservator in the handling of Britney’s estate, leaving Jamie in sole control of her finances. Jamie’s involvement in the conservatorship has been a point of contention for some time; during Wednesday’s hearing, Britney spoke about her “serious abandonment issues” and said that as a child, she was “extremely scared” of her father.

“My dad needs to be removed [from the conservatorship] today,” she said, adding that she approved of Montgomery’s job as conservator of her person.

These developments came three weeks to the day after her bombshell testimony about her conservatorship on June 23. This testimony did more than just make headlines — it served as the catalyst for several changes regarding her 13-year conservatorship.

Britney, 39, has been in a conservatorship since 2008, when she was hospitalized for mental health reasons.

The Grammy winner’s next day in court is scheduled for September 29.

High school cancer survivor hits 3-point buzzer beater in basketball championship

July 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(SAN DIEGO) — San Diego high school student Nick Herrmann was told by some doctors he might never play basketball again.

On June 14, the 16-year-old cancer survivor stepped onto the court for the Torrey Pines High School basketball team and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the sectional championship game.

Herrmann was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left leg in 2018 and spent nine months in the hospital, where he underwent four surgeries in just under two months.

“I was told I may never play basketball again and, even worse, I could have possibly lost my leg. I spent many nights, long nights, in the hospital doing chemotherapy and many hours doing physical therapy in order to rehab and get back to playing basketball,” Herrmann told “World News Tonight.”

Nick Herrmann and his teammates celebrate after winning the basketball division championship.
Herrmann was back on the court this year to help his team to an undefeated season and the win in the San Diego open division championship game.

Looking ahead, he said he’s planning to play basketball in college this fall and shared a message of motivation to inspire others who may be going through tough times.

“To all those people going through similar things, I want you to know that you can do anything,” he said. “Never stop pushing and never stop working towards your dreams.”

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