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Covid News Watch
Children’s Mental Health Referrals Double in Pandemic + More
Children’s NHS Mental Health Referrals Double in Pandemic
Record numbers of children and young people are seeking access to NHS mental health services, figures show, as the devastating toll of the pandemic is revealed in a new analysis.
In just three months, nearly 200,000 young people have been referred to mental health services – almost double pre-pandemic levels, according to the report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Experts say the figures show the true scale of the impact of the last 18 months on children and young people across the country.
Pfizer and BioNTech Receive First U.S. FDA Emergency Use Authorization of a COVID Vaccine Booster
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized for emergency use a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 65 years of age and older, individuals 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19, and individuals 18 through 64 years of age whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe COVID-19.
The booster dose is to be administered at least six months after completion of the primary series, and is the same formulation and dosage strength as the doses in the primary series.
Wuhan Scientists Planned to Release Coronavirus Particles Into Cave Bats, Leaked Papers Reveal
Wuhan and U..S scientists were planning to release enhanced airborne coronavirus particles into Chinese bat populations to inoculate them against diseases that could jump to humans, leaked grant proposals dating from 2018 show.
New documents show that just 18 months before the first COVID-19 cases appeared, researchers had submitted plans to release skin-penetrating nanoparticles and aerosols containing “novel chimeric spike proteins” of bat coronaviruses into cave bats in Yunnan, China.
They also planned to create chimeric viruses, genetically enhanced to infect humans more easily, and requested $14million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to fund the work.
COVID Will Become No Worse Than a Common Cold, AstraZeneca Vaccine Creator Says
The leading scientist behind the AstraZeneca vaccine expects COVID-19 to recede into the same category as other coronaviruses and cause symptoms no worse than a common cold.
Scientist Dame Sarah Gilbert was speaking at a webinar hosted by the Royal Society of Medicine on Wednesday and said there was not an enormous amount of concern about future variants of the virus.
The virologist said the spike protein targeted by vaccines was limited in its ability to mutate to avoid immunity that could potentially make vaccines less effective.
In-Depth: Can the COVID Vaccines Cause Ringing in the Ears or Tinnitus?
Several hundred Californians say they started hearing ringing in their ears after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. They’re wondering if tinnitus should be listed as a rare potential side effect.
In August, both the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency added tinnitus as a potential side effect of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. However, regulators in the U.S. say there is no causal relationship between the condition and the vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which use different technology.
More than 10,250 people in the U.S. have submitted a report about tinnitus to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s adverse events database as of Wednesday. Most of the reports involve people who were vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna. The database collects reports from the public that might be incomplete, inaccurate or unverified.
Moderna Chief Executive Sees Pandemic Over in a Year
Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel thinks the coronavirus pandemic could be over in a year as increased vaccine production ensures global supplies, he told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
“If you look at the industry-wide expansion of production capacities over the past six months, enough doses should be available by the middle of next year so that everyone on this earth can be vaccinated. Boosters should also be possible to the extent required,” he told the newspaper in an interview.
Vaccinations would soon be available even for infants, he said.
NY Debuts COVID Trackers for Variants, Breakthrough Cases: See Where Things Stand
New York state has long tracked COVID-19 variants like Delta and breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people, but for the first time, that information is now easily available to the public, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday.
As of the latest update, which reviews the period Aug. 29 through Sept. 11, the highly contagious Delta variant accounts for 99.4% of all new COVID-19 cases in the Empire State, a marginal increase from the previous two-week period.
The U.S. Is Discarding Millions of COVID Vaccines. One Cause: Multi-Dose Vials.
On July 16, a worker at a vaccination clinic in Alpena County, Michigan, opened a vial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. That started the clock: All 10 doses had to get into arms within hours.
But the person who was supposed to get vaccinated had a change of heart, according to records the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shared with NBC News.
Workers scrambled to find others who wanted the doses in the opened vial, but they couldn’t find a single person—so, in the end, they had to discard the 10 doses, they told state officials when they reported the waste.
Massachusetts Reports 4,568 New Breakthrough Cases for Last Week + More
Mass. Reports 4,568 New Breakthrough Cases for the Last Week
The rate of breakthrough cases has been getting steadily steeper since the state started tracking cases in July — though they affect less than one percent of those vaccinated — but the comparative rate of deaths and hospitalizations is low.
The state released updated data Tuesday on the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths among vaccinated individuals in Massachusetts. There have been a total of 32,345 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 18, an increase of 4,568 from Sept. 11. There were 4,579,627 people vaccinated as of Sept. 18, meaning 0.71% reported a breakthrough case of COVID-19. The rate has been steadily increasing — it was 0.23% on Aug. 7.
Doctors Desperately Want Pregnant Women to Get Vaccinated. It’s an Uphill Battle.
Across the country, obstetricians are fighting an uphill battle in their efforts to convince pregnant women to agree to COVID vaccinations. They say misinformation, a false sense of invincibility among patients and a lack of understanding about vaccines have contributed to expectant mothers’ reluctance to get the shot.
The need to vaccinate pregnant women is urgent: They are at risk for pregnancy complications from the coronavirus, with some evidence indicating the virus might increase the chances of stillbirth. They also face a higher chance of requiring intensive care or mechanical ventilation, and nationwide, at least 159 pregnant women have died of COVID since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yet pregnant women’s vaccination rates are low: only about 25.1 percent have received at least one dose, according to the CDC, compared to 76.6 percent of adults overall in the United States who have.
Dr. Gottlieb Says CDC May Soon Offer Greater Clarity on Who Will Be Eligible for COVID Boosters
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC he anticipates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon offer greater clarity on who will be eligible for COVID booster doses.
Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member, elaborated on the FDA and CDC’s booster approval process during an interview Tuesday on “The News with Shepard Smith.” The FDA could make a formal decision on Pfizer’s boosters before the CDC begins a two-day series of meetings on third doses Wednesday and Thursday, where Gottlieb said health officials may expand upon the FDA’s direction.
Biden to Double U.S. Global Donation of COVID Vaccine Shots
President Joe Biden is set to announce that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses as he embraces the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year.
The stepped-up U.S. commitment is to be the cornerstone of the global vaccination summit Biden is convening virtually Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where he plans to push well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control.
Delta Variant Outbreak Infects Highly Vaccinated Prison Population, but Few Were Hospitalized, CDC Says
The fast-spreading Delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations, but few were hospitalized, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against COVID 19, according to the new report, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Clay Travis: Fauci’s Prediction on College Football Games and COVID Infections ‘Hasn’t Materialized’
With college students returning to campuses this fall, they’re also returning to college football stadiums across the country. OutKick founder Clay Travis, whose bus tour is hitting all the biggest college football games this season, joined “Fox & Friends” and called out Dr. Fauci for his prediction that the big games would turn into super-spreader events and create a wave of coronavirus infections.
All over the south, millions of people have gone to college football games and the number of COVID infections has been plummeting.
Brazil Health Minister Tests Positive for COVID at UN General Assembly
Brazil’s health minister on Tuesday tested positive for the coronavirus while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Marcelo Queiroga announced his positive test hours after going to the United Nations General Assembly, saying he will stay in the U.S. to quarantine.
Americans Are Using Alcohol to Cope With Pandemic Stress: Nearly 1 in 5 Report ‘Heavy Drinking’
More than 18 months into the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 Americans is consuming an unhealthy amount of alcohol, a new survey suggests.
About 17% of respondents reported “heavy drinking” in the past 30 days, according to the survey conducted by analytics firm The Harris Poll and commissioned by Alkermes, an Ireland-based biopharmaceutical company.
The survey was conducted online from March 30 to April 7 among 6,006 U.S. adults ages 21 and older. Of those, 1,003 adults reported “heavy drinking.”
Australia Asks Pfizer to Seek COVID Vaccine Authorization for Children as Young as Five
The Pfizer vaccine company has been asked by the Australian administration to seek authorisation to introduce its COVID vaccine to children as young as 5 years old.
As per Xinhua, Australia‘s Health Minister Greg Hunt urged Pfizer to get its COVID vaccine authorised for administering it to children age between 5 to 11 years old after testing revealed that the vaccination produced strong antibodies at comparable levels to those found in teens and young adults.
120 Pop-Up Vaccination Sites to Target Kids Across New York State + More
120 Pop-Up Vaccination Sites to Target Kids Across New York State
Gov. Kathy Hochul will deploy over 120 vaccination vans across to help boost vaccination rates among young New Yorkers.
“I’m appealing to people personally but I’m also hitting the road,” said Hochul, who announced the latest escalation in her #Vaxtoschool campaign in Brooklyn Tuesday morning. “We are making it easy on you.”
Kids between the ages of 12 and 17 will be able to get a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot at one of the state-run mobile sites beginning Wednesday, Sept. 23. The mobile units will continue to offer vaccinations to vaccine-eligible kids for the next twelve weeks.
Moderna President: ‘We Don’t Really Know’ if Future COVID Shots Will Be Necessary
Amid the growing controversy over whether the U.S. is in need of booster or additional vaccine doses to protect against COVID-19, Moderna President Stephen Hoge admits much remains unknown.
“We don’t really know” if a third shot will be the final or if more are needed, Hoge told Yahoo Finance.
In addition, who would benefit most from an additional shot is still a question. “This is the key scientific question we’re all wrestling with now,” Hoge said.
J&J: Booster Dose of Its COVID Shot Prompts Strong Response
Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose.
J&J said in a statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a second dose produced an increased antibody response in adults from age 18 to 55. The study’s results haven’t yet been peer-reviewed.
“A booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of research and development at J&J.
Fed Meets Amid Market Jitters, Congressional Gridlock and the Delta Variant
U.S. News & World Report reported:
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee meets for two days beginning Tuesday confronted with an economy still vulnerable to shocks from the coronavirus and a market nervous about the prospect of higher interest rates on the horizon.
The central bank will issue updated projections for the economy and inflation amid some signs the economy is cooling off from the torrid pace it set in the first half of the year.
Where Does New York Stand With COVID Breakthrough Cases?
There hasn’t been as much talk about breakthrough cases of COVID in the past couple of weeks as there had been previously but the New York State Department of Health (DOH) has been keeping tabs.
They said they have been made aware of 66,217 laboratory-confirmed breakthrough COVID cases in fully vaccinated New Yorkers ages 12 or older. This equates to .6% of those fully vaccinated over the age of 12.
Ramping Up Rapid COVID Tests for Home, School
President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surging infections are overloading hospitals and threatening to shutter some classrooms. However, the tests are quickly disappearing from pharmacy shelves in many parts of the U.S., and manufacturers say it will take them weeks to ramp up production. Production was decreased after demand for the tests plummeted in early summer.
No COVID Vaccination, No Care? Why That’s the Wrong Path
American Medical Association reported:
While vaccine hesitancy is an age-old phenomenon, it has found a new—and profoundly frustrating—expression during the COVID-19 pandemic that has led some physicians to reportedly refuse care to patients who have forgone SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
But as infuriating as it can be to treat patients who refuse the safe and highly effective COVID-19 vaccines that are widely and freely available in the U.S., doctors should keep in mind their professional ethical obligations. It turns out there is extensive guidance for just such a situation.
“Ethics in our profession is about making hard choices in the face of conflicting values,” said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD. “An important value for me—and this is inherent within our AMA Code of Medical Ethics — is a physician’s duty to provide care for the patient, even when that choice is difficult.”
Ron DeSantis Says Monoclonal Antibody Brought Florida COVID ER Visits Down 70%
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said that monoclonal antibody treatment is having a significant effect on COVID cases in his state, as he continues to lock horns with the Biden administration over the distribution of the therapy.
Along with other GOP governors, DeSantis has championed the treatment that lessens the severity of COVID symptoms, which he sees as a key pandemic-fighting policy, along with promoting vaccines.
China Keeps Virus at Bay at High Cost Ahead of Olympics
China’s “zero tolerance” strategy of trying to isolate every case and stop transmission has helped keep the country where the virus first was detected in late 2019 largely free of disease. But the public and businesses are paying a steep price.
Foreign athletes are due to compete in the Winter Olympics that start Feb. 4 in Beijing and the nearby city of Zhangjiakou, but the government has yet to say whether restrictions that prevent most foreigners from entering China will be relaxed to allow spectators in.
COVID Vaccine Prompts Strong Immune Response in Younger Children, Pfizer Says + More
COVID Vaccine Prompts Strong Immune Response in Younger Children, Pfizer Says
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective in young children aged 5 to 11 years, the companies announced early Monday morning. The news should help ease months of anxiety among parents and teachers about when children, and their close contacts, might be shielded from the coronavirus.
The need is urgent: Children now account for more than one in five new cases, and the highly contagious Delta variant has sent more children into hospitals and intensive care units in the past few weeks than at any other time in the pandemic.
Pfizer and BioNTech plan to apply to the Food and Drug Administration by the end of the month for authorization to use the vaccine in these children. If the regulatory review goes as smoothly as it did for older children and adults, millions of elementary school students could be inoculated before Halloween.
Vaccinate Teens Without Parental Consent, City Child Welfare Agency Says
The city’s child welfare agency has given the green light to administer COVID-19 vaccines to more than 600 minors living in certain juvenile detention and foster homes, including when their parents say no.
The Administration for Children’s Services told partner nonprofit groups earlier this month that they are free to get 16- and 17-year-olds inoculated with the vaccine — “even if a parent cannot be located or affirmatively objects.”
ACS is lumping the Pfizer shot under “routine medical care” that many parents have already given blanket consent to, and clearing care providers to proceed with the shots even in the absence of overall consent.
Key Data on U.S. J&J, Moderna COVID Boosters Weeks Away, Fauci Says
Data needed to determine the advisability of booster shots of the Moderna Inc (MRNA.O)and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccines is just weeks away, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.
Health officials signaled they expected boosters would ultimately be recommended for a broad swath of the population, but urged Americans not to seek booster doses until they have FDA approval.
COVID Origins Probe: The Lancet Does U-Turn Over Lab-Leak Theory
After facing backlash for its coverage of origins of the COVID pandemic, the much acclaimed scientific journal — The Lancet has now published an ‘alternative view’ from 16 scientists.
The international team of health experts, in the open letter, make an appeal for “objective, open, and transparent scientific debate about the origin of SARS-CoV-2”.
COVID: Vaccine Volunteers Sought for Children’s Second Dose Study
A trial to test how well second doses of different coronavirus vaccines work in children is looking for volunteers.
Scientists want to see if giving two doses of different vaccines gives as good an immune response as two doses of the same vaccine.
The study, running at University Hospital Southampton, is looking for 360 volunteers aged 12-16 to take part.
Former FDA Commissioner Said the 6-Feet Social Distancing Rule Is ‘Arbitrary’ and ‘Nobody Knows Where It Came From’
During a September 19 “Face the Nation” appearance, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb made some claims regarding the CDC guidelines that we all stand six feet apart to prevent the spread of COVID-19 via social distancing.
“The six feet rule was arbitrary in and of itself,” he told interviewer Margaret Brennan. “Nobody knows where it came from. Most people assume that the six feet of distance, the recommendation for keeping six feet apart, comes out of some old studies related to flu, where droplets don’t travel more than six feet,” he added.
COVID: First 12- to 15-Year-Olds to Get Jabbed and Booster Invites Sent Out
The coronavirus vaccine programme is stepping up with jabs being offered to children aged between 12 and 15 and booster invites sent to around 1.5 million people in England.
Three million youngsters are eligible across the U.K. with vaccines being delivered primarily within schools.
AstraZeneca Vaccine Highly Likely Triggered Fatal Thrombosis Case
The death of a woman in mid-April who suffered from thrombosis after receiving the first dose of an AstraZeneca vaccine was most likely triggered by the vaccine, the public prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
On the night of 9 to 10 April, the 74-year-old woman passed away, two weeks after being vaccinated with AstraZeneca. A causal link is now considered highly probable.
At the time there was only word of a possible relationship between the woman’s death and the vaccine. But the official autopsy carried out by the National Health Laboratory and the Universitätsmedizin Greifswald in Germany concluded that it was highly likely the vaccine triggered the case of thrombosis.
New York City Public Schools to Increase COVID Testing, Relax Quarantine Rules
New York City is ramping up COVID testing at schools and relaxing quarantining rules. This comes after the first school had to close for a week due to a cluster of cases among staff.
Students from Public School 79 in East Harlem were asked to stay home this week after nearly 20 cases were confirmed. The Department of Education said all of the cases occurred within staff members.