CHICAGO — A kind of bird that not that long ago was so rare in Illinois that people traveled hours just to catch a glimpse of one have lately been winging their way through the Chicago area.
It is a trip that means hundreds of them stop to rest near the Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon, 50 miles, southwest of Chicago. Thousands more stop for a bit about 150 miles beyond Channahon at the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge in Lewistown.
There are a number of reasons this might be happening. For starters, decades of wetland restoration across the country have helped increase the number of birds from about 40,000 in the 1960s to 180,000 today.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker discusses childcare investments "that support families across Illinois."
As to why Illinois has seen so many more, American Birding Association webmaster Greg Neise tells the Chicago Tribune that perhaps the birds that traditionally breed in Canada and the Great Plains and migrate to the Gulf Coast every winter started breeding in northern Wisconsin.
He said another possibility might be that all those Asian Carp that have invaded Illinois waterways in recent years are, the pelicans have discovered, good eating.
5 things to know if you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Know you're protected
1. You should feel reassured about the protection that you have. Dr. Michelle Prickett, who has worked in Northwestern’s COVID-19 intensive care unit throughout the pandemic, said the vaccines all work well. She said that for vaccinated people who are hospitalized, it is primarily vulnerable populations with less severe cases. Unvaccinated people are still coming in with very progressive respiratory failure and the COVID-19 pneumonia that was so dangerous last year and continues to be. She has not noticed one vaccine or another sticking out more among hospitalized patients. “The main point I would stress is people that are vaccinated do much better than people that are unvaccinated,” she said.
Dial Hewlett, head of the division of disease control at the Westchester County Department of Health and a fellow at the Infectious Diseases Society of America, noted that all vaccines are preventing severe disease and death; he noted that we are not seeing large numbers of hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinated populations.
In short, all the vaccines are helpful. Before the delta variant began to spread, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 66% effective at preventing COVID-19, while Pfizer and Moderna were 95% and 94%, respectively, although all three were highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death.
“I think we can say without a doubt that all three of the vaccines have been effective against the delta variant, which has been the predominant string that’s been here in the U.S. for the last probably six weeks,” Hewlett said. New studies from the CDC showed unvaccinated people were 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die.
PHOTO BY LEO CORREA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Don't mix and match
2. Mixing and matching vaccines might be OK, but experts counsel patience. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourages J&J recipients from getting a booster of another vaccine. Earlier guidance from the CDC said in situations where the first dose was received but the patient could not complete the series with the same vaccine, consideration can be given to vaccination with a J&J vaccine, under the supervision of a health care provider.
“I think most of us in the medical community feel that that really shouldn’t be done unless you absolutely have to,” Hewlett said. “You will get the maximum benefit,” he added, “if you use a product that is identical to the first product that your body was exposed to.”
MICHAEL VARAKLAS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Talk to your doctor
3. If you are immunocompromised, talk to your doctor. For right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are only suggesting booster shots for immunocompromised people who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.
But Hewlett notes this vulnerable population, such as people undergoing chemotherapy or who have had organ transplants, are often seen by specialist physicians who can counsel them as to whether they would advise seeking out a Moderna or Pfizer booster shot.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Maintain caution
4. There’s a lot we don’t know — about transmission, for example. Hewlett said we don’t have the data yet to understand whether, for example, J&J recipients contract or spread the virus more easily than those who got the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
We also don’t know how long protection lasts, exactly, although the vaccines that were initially given out early in the year still seem to be effective. Still, these questions and more are why Prickett advises maintaining cautions in your life such as masking and social distancing.
PHOTO BY WILFREDO LEE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
More data is coming
5. We should know more soon. In an Aug. 18 statement from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and other officials, they said they expected more data on J&J in coming weeks and pledged to “keep the public informed with a timely plan for J&J booster shots as well.” J&J data collection is different from the Moderna and Pfizer for multiple reasons ; the rollout began later, and the shot uses different technology. Hewlett said he understands that people are frustrated by the lack of immediate data and subsequent guidance, but he notes that this is for good reason. The nation’s agencies have strict research protocol, and we should be reassured, he said, by a stringent — if slow — process to find out more. “I think that all of us should be very reassured with the process that we have,” he said.
PHOTO BY STACEY WESCOTT, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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