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Covid News Watch
Why Herd Immunity From COVID Is ‘Mythical’ With Delta Variant + More
Here’s Why Herd Immunity From COVID Is ‘Mythical’ With the Delta Variant
Achieving herd immunity with COVID vaccines when the highly infectious Delta variant is spreading is “not a possibility,” a leading epidemiologist said.
Experts agree on several reasons why such a goal — where overall immunity in a population is reached and the spread of the virus is stopped — is not likely.
Sir Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, told British lawmakers Tuesday that as Covid vaccines did not stop the spread of the virus entirely — with vaccinated people still able to be infected and transmit the virus — the idea of achieving herd immunity was “mythical.”
Heart Inflammation More Common After COVID Vaccines Than CDC Claims, New Research Shows
U.S. public health officials claim cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID vaccination are rare — but new research published online in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) shows they may happen more often than reported.
Post-vaccine myocarditis and pericarditis also appear to represent two “distinct syndromes,” Dr. George Diaz, with the Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, told Medscape Cardiology.
Diaz and colleagues reviewed 2,000,287 electronic medical records (EMR) of people who received at least one COVID vaccination.
The records, obtained from 40 hospitals in Washington, Oregon, Montana and California, showed 20 people had vaccine-related myocarditis (1.0 per 100,000) and 37 had pericarditis (1.8 per 100,000).
We’ve Never Seen Vaccine Injuries on This Scale — Why Are Regulatory Agencies Hiding COVID Vaccine Safety Data?
A few months before the first COVID-19 vaccines received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in late 2020, a global vaccine safety expert cautioned the rushed circumstances made it essential to “get [safety monitoring] right” by “intensively” and “robustly” scrutinizing adverse events following the experimental rollout.
As this expert stated, “Deploying any new vaccine based on data from expedited clinical trials into a population without a functioning safety monitoring system in place is reckless and irresponsible given the tools that are available.”
Moreover, she added, any investments needed to beef up safety monitoring would be “inexpensive in comparison” to the massive funding allocated to COVID-19 vaccine development and scale-up.
Rising Kids’ Hospital Admissions Stir Alarm Ahead of School Year
Growing numbers of pediatric hospital admissions are stirring alarm as respiratory illnesses coincide and younger children remain ineligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines amid the start of the school year.
Hospital admissions among kids have seen an approximate four-fold increase over the last month, federal data suggests.
Third COVID Vaccine Booster Shot For Immunocompromised People Expected to Be Approved by FDA
The FDA is expected to authorize a booster shot Thursday for immunocompromised people for whom two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine might not be enough protection, according to CBS News.
“It is imminent that we will be giving it to immune compromised,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, told CBS This Morning.
The third dose would be for people who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
This Week’ With Mary + Polly: ‘Healthy Babies Don’t Just Die’ + More
This week, Mary Holland, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) president, and Polly Tommey, co-producer of “Vaxxed,” cover the latest COVID headlines, including a physician’s push for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to speed up full approval of COVID vaccines, and the FDA’s plan to expedite its timetable to approve Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.
Also on tap this week is the Pentagon’s decision to require all military troops to get vaccinated for COVID by Sept. 15 or sooner, and United Airlines’ move to mandate COVID shots for all its American employees by October.
Wuhan Lab Worker Bat Infection a Probable COVID Origin Theory — WHO Official
COVID potentially started when a Wuhan laboratory researcher got infected by a bat, according to World Health Organization (WHO) official Peter Embarek.
Embarek, who led the WHO’s COVID origins investigation mission to China earlier this year, has now told Danish news broadcaster TV 2 that the bat infection scenario is a probable theory.
Embarek said: “An employee who was infected in the field by taking samples falls under one of the probable hypotheses.”
As U.S. Battles Delta Variant, Tens of Thousands of Vaccine Doses Are Set To Expire
As the Delta variant continues to drive the nation’s latest coronavirus surge, tens of thousands of vaccines are set to expire in the coming weeks — with several states already reporting thousands of “wasted” doses.
While the full extent of COVID-19 vaccine waste in the U.S. remains unknown due to data reporting disparities between the states, research by ABC News reveals that several states have thousands of vaccines expiring as soon as next week, and tens of thousands more expiring by the end of August.
‘Act Now’ on Global Vaccines To Stop More Dangerous Variants, Experts Warn Biden
The Washington Post via The Seattle Times reported:
More than 175 public health experts, scientists and activists on Tuesday demanded that President Joe Biden take urgent steps to confront the global spread of the coronavirus, warning that without immediate action to inoculate the rest of the world, newer variants are likely to emerge — including ones that may evade vaccines’ protection.
“We urge you to act now,” the experts wrote in a joint letter to senior White House officials Tuesday and shared with The Washington Post. “Announcing within the next 30 days an ambitious global vaccine manufacturing program is the only way to control this pandemic, protect the precious gains made to date, and build vaccine infrastructure for the future.”
Teen Boys Are 14 Times More Likely to Experience Rare Heart Inflammation After Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine Than Girls
Teenage boys are much more likely to experience a rare form of heart inflammation after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine compared to girls, a new study finds.
Doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital studied a small group of patients under age 19 who had myocarditis after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Among 15 patients in the study, 14 were boys.
CDC Tells Pregnant Women to Get COVID Shot, Says ‘No’ Miscarriage Risk + More
CDC Tells Pregnant Women to Get COVID Shot After Study Shows No Increased Miscarriage Risk
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all pregnant women Wednesday to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a study showed no increased miscarriage risk from the vaccine.
New safety data on 2,500 women showed no increased risks of miscarriage for those who received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The analysis found the miscarriage rate to be around 13 percent, within the normal range.
Expectant women who are unvaccinated run a higher risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications from the virus, but only about 23 percent have received at least one dose, according to CDC data.
No, the Unvaccinated Aren’t Selfish or Ignorant. Here’s Why I’m Not Vaxxed
I’m not vaccinated against COVID-19. The decision wasn’t a drastic one; I thought of it as a personal decision that every person should make in consultation with a trusted health professional, which is what I did. It didn’t occur to me that this decision merited justification to others.
But that was before the current climate of social and political pressure, before the Delta surge, and before unvaccinated people like me started getting blamed for vaccine-resistant variants. Now I feel that explaining my decision has become necessary.
Exclusive Interview: Mom Whose 14-Year-Old Son Developed Myocarditis After Pfizer Vaccine No Longer Trusts CDC, Public Health Officials
In an exclusive interview with The Defender, Emily Jo, Aiden’s mother, said before her son got the vaccine, she was led to believe his chance of suffering an adverse reaction was “one in a million.”
Aiden, from Georgia, received his first dose of Pfizer on May 12. He had no history of COVID or pre-existing conditions except for asthma. “We were one of the first ones, and I believe that may have been the day the CDC cleared it,” Jo said.
On June 10, several days after his second dose, Aiden woke his mother up at 4:30 a.m. because his chest hurt and he couldn’t breathe.
Fauci Claims Spread of Virus By Unvaxxed Will Lead to More Dangerous Variants, But Experts Say Opposite Is True
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said the continued spread of COVID among the unvaccinated could lead to a more serious disease.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told viewers of NBC’s “Meet the Press”:
“As we’ve said all along this is fundamentally a pandemic among the unvaccinated. That is proven true … One of the problems … is you don’t want people to get sick and to get hospitalized and to die. That is happening now predominantly — overwhelmingly — among the unvaccinated.”
One Million People Have Opted for a Third COVID Booster Shot, CDC Estimates
More than 1 million people chose to get a booster shot after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.
A CDC internal briefing document reviewed by ABC News shows an estimated 1.1 million people who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine came back for a third, unauthorized booster dose.
The report does not include individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine and then got a booster. Florida, Ohio, California, Illinois and Tennessee had the highest number of people choosing to get a booster shot, according to the document.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s Son Chet Calls COVID-19 the ‘Flu’ in Anti-Vaccine Rant
Despite his parents being among the first COVID-19 cases that captured the attention of the American public, Tom Hanks’ son Chet went on an anti-coronavirus vaccine rant on his social media feeds on Tuesday.
He started off by imploring his followers to get vaccinated and to take the pandemic seriously before shouting, “Psych!”
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said in one video. “I never had COVID, you ain’t sticking me with that motherf—ing needle, it’s the motherf—ing flu, get over it.”
Biden Official Says New Study Is ‘Wake Up Call’ After Pfizer’s Efficacy Plummets to 42% as Delta Variant Takes Hold
A new preprint study that raises concerns about the effectiveness of mRNA COVID vaccines — particularly Pfizer’s — against the Delta variant has caught the attention of top Biden administration officials, Axios reported.
The study found Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was only 42% effective against infection in July, when the Delta variant was dominant. “If that’s not a wake up call, I don’t know what is,” a senior Biden official told Axios.
The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, compared the effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer COVID vaccines in the Mayo Clinic Health System from January to July 2021, during which time either the Alpha or Delta variant were highly prevalent.
German Nurse Accused of Swapping COVID Vaccines for Saline Solution
A nurse is being investigated by police in Germany for allegedly replacing COVID-19 vaccines with saline solution.
The nurse replaced the vaccines between March and April this year at Roffhausen immunization center in Friesland, northwest Germany, the Friesland district administrator, Sven Ambrosy, said on Facebook Tuesday.
“Today I had the sad duty to inform around 8,600 people who may have been affected that it cannot be ruled out they may have received a saline solution instead of their vaccination at their vaccination appointment. For peace of mind we would recommend people get an additional vaccination,” Ambrosy said.
100 Breakthrough Cases in Massachusetts Have Ended in Death + More
100 Breakthrough Cases in Massachusetts Have Ended in Death
One hundred people who had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus died from the disease in Massachusetts by the end of July, according to the state Department of Public Health.
In about three-quarter of the breakthrough cases, the patients reported having underlying conditions, the department said. The median age of those who died was 82.5 years.
The deaths represent a tiny fraction — about 0.002% — of all fully vaccinated individuals in the state, according to state health officials.
Iowa Is Tossing Thousands of Expiring COVID Shots: ‘We Literally Cannot Give It Away’
Iowa has started tossing out tens of thousands of expiring COVID vaccine doses as demand for the shots continues to sag.
The state has discarded 81,186 doses of the vaccine so far, said Sarah Ekstrand, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health. That includes doses that expired, plus some that were wasted for other reasons, such as when a multiple-dose vial was opened and couldn’t be used up quickly enough.
Ekstrand said Monday that federal officials said states could not return unused vaccines to the manufacturers or donate them to other states or countries. “We have exhausted all options prior to vaccine expiring,” she said in an email to the Des Moines Register.
Amid Growing Calls for Vaccine Mandates, Employers and Employees Weigh Options
National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Sunday he believes the U.S. should adopt more COVID vaccine mandates. Collins praised businesses for requiring the shots.
“I am glad to see the president insisting that we go forward requiring vaccinations or, if people are unwilling to do that, then regular testing at least once or twice a week, which will be very inconvenient,” Collins told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
When asked if it was time for more compulsory COVID vaccine policies, Collins said, “Yeah, I think we ought to use every public health tool we can when people are dying. Death rates are starting up again.”
“That was about as close to a yes as you could get,” Stephanopoulos said. “You clearly believe vaccine mandates could make a difference.”
Chinese Scientist Acquired SARS-CoV-2 in Lab Accident, Emails Obtained Via FOIA Reveal
In what may be the first known case of a lab-acquired infection with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, a senior scientist was infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a prestigious laboratory in Beijing in early 2020, according to virologists’ emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know.
The National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (NIVDC), where the infection is said to have occurred, is a part of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, a SARS virus outbreak was traced to a lab–acquired infection from the NIVDC.
The revelation that an experienced scientist was infected with SARS-CoV-2 while working in a premier virology lab in Beijing underscores concerns about the health risks posed by biolabs researching pandemic pathogens, and in particular, facilities operated by the Chinese government.
U.S. Turns to Social Media Influencers to Boost Vaccine Rates
The Associated Press reported:
As a police sergeant in a rural town, Carlos Cornejo isn’t the prototypical social media influencer. But his Spanish-language Facebook page with 650,000 followers was exactly what Colorado leaders were looking for as they recruited residents to try to persuade the most vaccine-hesitant.
Cornejo, 32, is one of dozens of influencers, ranging from busy moms and fashion bloggers to African refugee advocates and religious leaders, getting paid by the state to post vaccine information on a local level in hopes of stunting a troubling summer surge of COVID-19.
Colorado’s #PowertheComeback target audience is especially tailored to Latino, Black, Native American, Asian and other communities of color that historically have been underserved when it comes to health care and are the focus of agencies trying to raise vaccination rates.
Pfizer Booster Causes Similar Side Effects To Second Dose: Study
Most people who got a booster shot of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine had similar or fewer side effects than they did after the second dose, according to a preliminary study conducted by Israel’s largest health maintenance organization.
Of the 4,500 respondents to the survey, 88% reported “a similar or better feeling” than their reaction to the previous dose, with 31% saying they had localized effects like pain or swelling in the area of injection, according to a statement from Clalit Health Services late Sunday.
About 15% of people had other symptoms like tiredness, muscle aches or fever. Less than 1% reported difficulty breathing or chest pains.
A Snort or a Jab? Scientists Debate Potential Benefits of Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccines
As the world amasses experience with COVID-19 vaccines, something we should have known from the start is coming into sharp focus.
Vaccines that are injected into arm muscles aren’t likely to be able to protect our nasal passages from marauding SARS-CoV-2 viruses for very long, even if they are doing a terrific job protecting lungs from the virus. If we want vaccines that protect our upper respiratory tracts, we may need products that are administered in the nose — intranasal vaccines.
Can they be made? Probably. Will they do what we want them to do, if they are made? Possibly. Is there still room for this type of next-generation product, given the record number of COVID vaccines that have already been put into use? Potentially. Will it be difficult to get them through development? Likely.
Moderna, BioNTech Extend Record Rally Ahead of Booster Plans
Top COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna Inc. and BioNTech SE are backing off recent record-setting highs amid a rout in biotech stocks Tuesday.
Moderna’s shares whipsawed earlier, rising as much as 2.7% to briefly breach $200 billion in market value before plummeting 6% amid a broader selloff in tech and healthcare stocks. The Nasdaq Biotech Index, which Moderna has a nearly 15% weighting on, slid as much as 2.1%.
Prior to today’s slump, the two companies had each surged more than 480% in the past year to record highs. Pfizer Inc., BioNTech’s partner on the shot, which has a fulsome list of other marketed drugs driving its valuation, closed at a 21-year high on Monday as investors piled into vaccine-tied stocks.
California to Offer Vaccine Incentive to Medicaid Population
The Associated Press reported:
California announced another round of coronavirus vaccine incentives on Friday, offering up to $50 apiece to more than 11 million people in the state who get their health insurance through Medicaid.
The money is part of a new $350 million plan to get more of the state’s Medicaid population vaccinated as the state is seeing a surge of new cases attributed to the delta variant, a more contagious and dangerous version of the coronavirus. Medicaid is the joint state and federal health insurance program for people who are disabled or have low incomes.
No Need Yet to Adapt Pfizer Vaccine for COVID Variants: BioNTech Chief
The first generation vaccine developed by BioNTech-Pfizer works against coronavirus variants such as the Delta strain and does not need to be modified for the moment, the chief executive of German company BioNTech said Monday.
“It is quite possible that in the next six to 12 months, further variants will emerge and that would require adaptation of the vaccine but it is at the moment not yet the case,” Ugur Sahin told journalists.
A decision to make a switch should be made only if it is clear that the vaccine failed to work or is only offering sub-par protection against the virus.
‘Where the Hell Are the Data?’: Biden Officials Grow Frustrated With Lack of CDC Visibility + More
‘Where the Hell Are the Data?’: Biden Officials Grow Frustrated With Lack of CDC Visibility
Axios via Yahoo!News reported:
America is increasingly reliant on data coming from other countries or from drug companies about the coronavirus vaccines‘ effectiveness over time, particularly when it comes to the Delta variant.
Between the lines: Top Biden officials are growing frustrated with the lack of internal visibility into data being collected by the CDC, particularly as they try to deal with Delta’s spread.
25-Year-Old Develops Myocarditis After Moderna Vaccine, Mother Says Doctors ‘Downplayed’ Connection
Christopher Brenner, a healthy 25-year-old from Ohio, was hospitalized with severe heart inflammation after receiving his first dose of Moderna’s COVID vaccine.
In an exclusive interview with The Defender, Christopher’s mother, Deborah Brenner, said she was frustrated when cardiologists initially pretended everything with her son was fine, and later refused to acknowledge his heart inflammation was caused by the vaccine.
The U.S. Hasn’t OK’d Boosters for Those Who Got the J&J Vaccine. But Some Are Getting One Anyway.
In early April, Mark Dinan got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a middle school campus near his home in East Palo Alto, California. He felt fortunate to get a “one-and-done” shot, and the side effects were mild.
But this summer, as the delta variant of the coronavirus started to spread across the United States, he grew increasingly concerned.
He read about a study that suggested the one-dose J&J vaccine might be less effective in fending off coronavirus variants than two-dose mRNA shots. He was especially troubled by one of the findings: the one-dose AstraZeneca vaccine, which is similar to the J&J shot, showed only about 33% efficacy against symptomatic disease caused by delta. What if he was vulnerable?
FDA Approval of the COVID-19 Vaccine Could Mean More People Will Get Vaccinated for an Unexpected Reason
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is currently only authorized for emergency use in the United States, but its full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could happen within weeks.
The ramifications could alter the course of the pandemic in several ways.
First, full approval of a COVID-19 vaccine could persuade more people to get vaccinated.
More than 30% of the eligible population in the United States still hasn’t gotten a vaccine.
Over 900 People Have Gotten Third COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Before FDA Recommendation
An Associated Press review of a database run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that U.S. health care providers have reported the additional inoculations but the full extent of people who received them is unknown, as reporting to the database is voluntary. It’s also unknown if every person who received a third shot was trying to get it as a booster.
“I don’t think that anyone really has the tracking” in place to know how widespread people receiving third doses is, said Claire Hannan, executive director for the Association of Immunization Managers.
COVID-19 in Iceland: Vaccination Has Not Led to Herd Immunity, Says Chief Epidemiologist
While data shows vaccination is reducing the rate of serious illness due to COVID-19 in Iceland, the country’s Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason says it has not led to the herd immunity that experts hoped for. In the past two to three weeks, the Delta variant has outstripped all others in Iceland and it has become clear that vaccinated people can easily contract it as well as spread it to others, Þórólfur stated in a briefing this morning.
The current social restrictions will remain in place until Aug. 13. The Chief Epidemiologist says the government must make the final call on next steps in response to the current wave of infection. Health authorities have sent a formal memorandum to the government expressing concern about the heavy strain on the healthcare system cause by the current record rate of infection.
‘The Vaccination Queen’: Nurse Practitioner Takes Covid Shots House to House in Puerto Rico
Abigail Matos-Pagán entered a bright-blue house in Mayagüez earlier this summer and was met by Beatriz Gastón, who quietly led the way to her mother’s small room. Matos-Pagán had come to provide a COVID-19 vaccine for Wildelma Gastón, 88, whose arthritis and other health concerns confine her to bed.
Wildelma Gastón asked for her rosary to be placed on her chest and motioned to her “good arm,” where Matos-Pagán injected a first dose of the Moderna vaccine. The Gastón household, made up of five family members, breathed a collective sigh of relief. Though the vaccine had been available for months, Wildelma had been unable to reach a vaccination site.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker, Puerto Rico’s vaccination rate in March was one of the lowest among U.S. states and territories despite receiving more than 1.3 million vaccine doses. The rollout highlighted disparities in access to medical services, and the challenges of tracking and reaching remote citizens, such as Wildelma.
Anderson AFB Sends 77 Freezers to Vietnam to Store COVID-19 Vaccine
Anderson Air Force Base’s 36th Contracting Squadron said Monday it has finalized a $691,000 contract to provide Vietnam with COVID-19 relief.
Under the contract, the squadron has partnered with the government of Vietnam to purchase and send 77 ultra-low temperature freezers, worth $691,000, the base announced in a press release.
The contract fulfills the government of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health’s official request for the storage units based on their acquisition of 31 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines due to arrive by Aug. 30.
Austin, Texas, Activates Emergency Alert System in Response to COVID Surge
Austin, Texas, activated its emergency alert system to warn the public of a “severely worsening COVID-19 situation” as area hospitalizations continue to surge. In an alert sent via text, city authorities wrote “the COVID-19 situation in Austin is dire. Healthcare facilities are open but resources are limited due to a surge in cases.”
Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said in a press release on Saturday that the situation in the Texas capital is “critical.” Walkes said hospital bed availability and critical care is “extremely limited in our hospital systems, not just for COVID-19 patients, but for anyone who may need treatment.”
“Our hospitals are severely stressed and there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases,” Walkes said. “The public has to act now and help or we will face a catastrophe in our community that could have been avoided.”