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Covid News Watch
CDC Recommends Pfizer Vaccine for Kids as Young as 12 + More
CDC Panel Recommends Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids as Young as 12
Adolescents ages 12 to 15 should get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and they can get their other routine vaccinations along with it, a federal advisory committee said Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s panel met to discuss the safety, immune response and effectiveness of the vaccine in this age group, after the Food and Drug Administration signed off Monday on the shots.
McDonald’s to Promote Vaccine Information on Coffee Cups While Uber and Lyft to Give Free Rides to Vaccine Sites
Incentivizing the vaccine-hesitant in America has reached the fast food and ride-share industries.
Burger chain McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups.
Separately, Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a new program with Lyft and Uber which will offer free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site to get vaccinated.
17-Year-Old in Prince George’s County Mistakenly Given the Moderna Vaccine
A 17-year-old in Prince George’s County said she was mistakenly given the Moderna shot and has since struggled to get her second dose.
Ozioma Ahaghotu jumped at the chance to sign up for her COVID shot when Maryland opened vaccinations to teens.
Yankees Coach Phil Nevin Tests Positive For COVID-19 in ‘Breakthrough’ Case
Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced before Tuesday’s game against the Rays, calling it a “breakthrough positive” since Nevin had been fully vaccinated.
Manager Aaron Boone said there are other staff members and coaches “still pending,’’ and some staff members had been sent home. Nevin was under quarantine in Tampa.
Brazil Suspends AstraZeneca Vaccine After Pregnant Woman Dies, New Study Links Vaccine to Blood Clots, More Countries Hit Pause
More countries are restricting AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine as reports of blood clots mount, and a new study published in The BMJ linked the vaccine to a higher-than-expected risk of blood clots.
Brazil’s federal government on Tuesday suspended AstraZeneca’s vaccine for pregnant women after an expectant mother in Rio de Janeiro died from a stroke possibly related to the vaccine, Reuters reported. The 35-year-old woman, who was 23 weeks pregnant, died of a hemorrhagic stroke on Monday after checking into a hospital five days earlier.
As COVID Vaccines Drive Record Profits, CEOs Get Ultra Rich Off Massive Pay Packages, Questionable Stock Sales
As pharmaceutical companies make billions from COVID vaccines and reassure investors that plans are underway for boosters and annual shots, CEOs of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson (J&J) are pocketing millions with massive compensation packages and questionable stock sales.
In his weekly notes to investors last month, Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal offered shocking revenue estimates for Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines — $24 billion in revenue for Pfizer compared with $14 billion for Moderna.
By the fourth quarter, Gal and his team project industrywide COVID vaccine revenues reaching more than $18 billion per quarter. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots will account for roughly $11 billion of that amount with the remaining revenue split equally between J&J, AstraZeneca and Novavax, Fierce Pharma reported.
WHO Stands by Vaccines as It Sounds Alarm on India COVID Variant, Scientist Warns Mass Vaccination May Cause More Infectious Strains
The World Health Organization (WHO) Monday elevated India’s COVID variant B.1.617 from a “variant of interest” to a “variant of global concern.” The variant, which was first isolated in India, is believed to be driving the country’s brutal second wave.
In a follow-up statement today, the WHO said the B.1.6.1.7 variant has since spread throughout India and at least “44 countries in all six WHO regions.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID, said during Monday’s press conference new data under peer review shows B.1.617 is more transmissible than earlier strains of the virus.
Astrazeneca Runs Into ‘Meaningful’ Investor Revolt Over Pay
AstraZeneca said a “meaningful proportion” of its shareholders voted against CEO Pascal Soriot’s improved pay package on Tuesday, exposing a rift as the drugmaker deals with problems surrounding its COVID-19 vaccine.
At its annual investor meeting, 60.19% of votes cast were in favor, AstraZeneca said, adding that it would “engage and listen to ensure investors’ concerns regarding the approach to executive remuneration are understood.”
Large corporations typically win about 90% support for their pay in annual advisory votes, compensation consultants say, making narrow-win results such as AstraZeneca’s effectively a call to review the program and talk to shareholders.
Pharma Industry’s Reputation Hits Plateau Amid Spike in Vaccine Hesitancy
Pharma’s hockey-stick improvement in reputation is flattening out. The good news is the industry is still the biggest gainer amid the pandemic, according to The Harris Poll’s most recent survey.
Sixty percent of Americans rate the pharma industry positively, down slightly from a 62% high in February. But that’s still an increase of 28 percentage points since January 2020, before the pandemic began.
The less-good news, though, is that pharma’s stall comes as other industries continue to polish their reputations. Retail grocery, technology and consumer products were the highest-rated industries in the early May poll and are on the upswing.
Pfizer, Regeneron CEOs See Extended Need for COVID-19 Vaccines, Treatments as Pandemic Enters Next Phase
Pharma companies with COVID-19 vaccines and drugs have reeled in big sales in recent months, but even as vaccines promise to eventually tackle the pandemic, eye-popping revenue figures will continue for quite some time, execs project.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has flagged the likely need for vaccine boosters as the pandemic continues to evolve. On a recent conference call with analysts, he said that “basically all governments of the world are now discussing with us about procurement agreements” for 2022, 2023 and 2024. In fact, Europe just signed a massive agreement for up to 1.8 billion doses from Pfizer and BioNTech through 2023.
Patients are “likely” to need a third dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s shot once the period of initial protection wanes, CEO Albert Bourla said in a recent interview with CVS Health Live. The comments came shortly after Pfizer posted data showing Comirnaty was 91.3% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 for up to six months in patients who’d received their second dose.
FDA Authorizes Pfizer Vaccine for Ages 12-15 + More
FDA Authorizes Pfizer Vaccine for 12-15-Year-Olds
The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for children ages 12 and up, widening the U.S. population that will be protected against the virus and bolstering chances for a safe return to full-time school in the fall, the Food and Drug Administration announced Monday.
“We know this is a big step for our country. Vaccinating a younger population brings us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said at a press briefing on Monday night.
Woodcock said parents and guardians can “rest assured that in making our decision, the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available scientific data, as we have with all the COVID-19 vaccine authorizations.”
Pfizer Vaccine Could Be Available For Ages 2 and Up as Early as This Fall, Exec Says
Data from Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials in children aged two years and older could be available as early as this fall, Pfizer’s Senior Vice President of Vaccine Clinical Research and Development Dr. William Gruber said, possibly paving the way for use before the end of 2022.
The drugmaker is also conducting clinical trials on their vaccine for babies aged six months and older. Gruber anticipates data from those trials will likely be available “late at the end of the year or beginning of 2022.”
64 Days and Counting — Why Won’t the CDC Answer Our Questions?
On March 8, The Defender contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a written list of questions about reported deaths and injuries related to COVID vaccines. We requested information about how the CDC conducts investigations into reported deaths, the status of ongoing investigations into deaths and injuries reported by the media, if autopsies were being conducted, the standard for determining whether an injury is causally connected to a vaccine, and education initiatives to encourage and facilitate proper and accurate reporting …
It has been 64 days since we sent our first email inquiring into VAERS data and reports, but still no response.
Patients Died From Neglect, Not COVID-19, in Ontario LTC Homes, Military Report Finds
Dozens of residents in two Ontario nursing homes hit hard by the coronavirus died not from COVID-19 but from dehydration and neglect, the Canadian military says in reports obtained by The Globe and Mail.
The documents contain new details about the deplorable conditions in two Toronto homes before the Forces stepped in last year, revealing for the first time that causes other than COVID-19 hastened the deaths of residents as outbreaks spiralled out of control and staffing collapsed.
At Downsview Long Term Care Centre, where one in four residents succumbed to the virus, another 26 died from dehydration before a military team arrived last June to provide humanitarian and medical support.
Why FDA Should Not Authorize COVID Vaccines for Kids, Teens
For adults, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination are enormous, while for children, they are relatively minor. Rare side effects from adult COVID-19 vaccination are unlikely to lead to future vaccine hesitancy whose public health impact could be comparable to the benefits of the adult COVID-19 vaccination program itself.
But accelerated mass child vaccination under Emergency Use Authorization — perhaps even spurred by school mandates and “vaccine passports” — presents a different balance of risks and benefits. Rare adverse events really could prove to be the most durable public health legacy of an EUA for child COVID-19 vaccines.
Slovakia Suspends Use of Astrazeneca COVID-19 Vaccine as a Recipient Dies
Reuters via Yahoo! News reported:
Slovakia’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday it was suspending the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for people getting their first doses, after experts reviewed the death of a recipient.
The state drug regulator, SUKL, said last week that the death of a 47-year-old woman was likely to be connected to the vaccine because of a predisposition that she had.
“The Health Ministry is considering various options at the moment, how to proceed with this issue,” spokeswoman Zuzana Eliasova said. “At the moment, people waiting for their second dose are being inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
A Misleading CDC Number
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines last month for mask wearing, it announced that “less than 10 percent” of COVID-19 transmission was occurring outdoors. Media organizations repeated the statistic, and it quickly became a standard description of the frequency of outdoor transmission.
But the number is almost certainly misleading.
It appears to be based partly on a misclassification of some COVID transmission that actually took place in enclosed spaces (as I explain below). An even bigger issue is the extreme caution of CDC officials, who picked a benchmark — 10 percent — so high that nobody could reasonably dispute it.
Brazil Agency Calls for Suspending AstraZeneca Vaccine for Pregnant Women
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Brazil’s health authority Anvisa has called for the immediate suspension of the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine among pregnant women in the Latin American country.
Anvisa said late Monday that its recommendation was the result of “constant monitoring of adverse events related to Covid vaccines in use in the country,” without giving further details.
States Turn Down Hundreds of Thousands of Vaccine Doses + More
States Turn Down Hundreds of Thousands of Vaccine Doses
Several states are turning away COVID vaccine doses from their federal government allocations, as the daily average of coronavirus vaccine doses administered across the United States has fallen below two million for the first time since early March. Experts say the states’ smaller requests reflect a steep drop in vaccine demand in the United States.
Wisconsin officials have asked for just 8 percent of the 162,680 doses the federal government had set aside for the state next week, according to The Associated Press. In Iowa, officials asked for just 29 percent of the state’s allocated doses. And in Illinois, the state is planning to request just 9 percent of its allotted doses for everywhere, except for Chicago, for next week, The A.P. reported.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington State and Connecticut are also scaling back on their vaccine requests.
Teen Hospitalized With Blood Clots in Brain After First Dose of Pfizer Vaccine
A Utah teen remains hospitalized with three blood clots in and near his brain that developed after he received the first dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.
Everest Romney, 17, received the vaccine April 21 and began experiencing neck pain, fever and severe headaches one day later. His mother, Cherie Romney, said her son’s pediatrician initially dismissed the symptoms as a pulled neck muscle. However, she was convinced it was something else, ABC4 News reported.
After more than a week of symptoms and being unable to freely move his neck, the family got this diagnosis: two blood clots inside his brain, and one on the outside.
After Vaccine Safety Review, EU Regulators Call on Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca for More Data on Heart Inflammation, Guillain–Barré Syndrome
EU regulators Friday called on Pfizer and Moderna to provide additional data related to the companies’ COVID vaccines and a potential link to heart inflammation, after the agency completed a safety review of all four COVID vaccines authorized for emergency use in the EU.
The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee, (PRAC), also asked AstraZeneca for data related to reports of Guillain–Barré syndrome in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and they recommended Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) update their labels with side effect warnings.
In a report issued May 7, PRAC disclosed its members were aware of cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following Pfizer vaccination. Regulators said they didn’t see an indication the vaccine caused these cases, but as a prevention, PRAC requested Pfizer provide further data, including an analysis of events according to age and gender in its next pandemic summary safety report and will consider if any other regulatory action is needed.
FDA Approval of Pfizer Vaccine Could Lead to Vaccine Mandates
On Friday, Pfizer became the first COVID-19 vaccine producer to request full FDA approval. Virginia’s Vaccination Coordinator Dr. Danny Avula anticipated that approval would have several implications, including the possibility of more vaccination mandates across the country.
The Pfizer vaccine, along with Moderna and Johnson and Johnson, were currently operating under Emergency Use Authorization due to the pandemic.
“This is just the final formal step that Pfizer should take,” said Dr. Melissa Viray, Deputy Director for the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts. “We want this vaccine to be around, even when there isn’t a public health emergency.”
White House, State Officials Scramble to Get Docs’ Help With Lagging Vaccination Effort
The Biden administration and state health officials are rushing to overcome logistical hurdles to get more COVID-19 shots into doctors’ offices, believing that physicians who have largely been excluded from the inoculation effort so far could be key to boosting vaccination rates.
For months, doctors have lobbied the White House and states to ship them doses, but officials instead focused their efforts on mass vaccination sites and other places that could quickly immunize hundreds or even thousands of people daily. With demand for shots now slipping faster than health experts expected, officials are now trying to steer doses to smaller, local sites like doctor offices that can make targeted efforts to reach people who are hesitant to get vaccinated or have faced other obstacles like lack of transportation.
CDC Admits the Coronavirus Is Airborne, Can Be Transmitted More Than 6 Feet Away
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finally acknowledging something that health experts have been saying for a while now: COVID-19 spreads through the air and can be inhaled by someone who is more than six feet away. The CDC said in a document published Friday that it has “repeatedly documented” instances of the virus spreading through the air to people who were more than six feet away “under certain preventable circumstances.” This marks a change for the agency that previously said most infections took place through “close contact, not airborne transmission.”
“COVID-19 spreads when an infected person breathes out droplets and very small particles that contain the virus. These droplets and particles can be breathed in by other people or land on their eyes, noses, or mouth. In some circumstances, they may contaminate surfaces they touch. People who are closer than 6 feet from the infected person are most likely to get infected,” the CDC now says on its website.
Woman Accidentally Vaccinated With Six Pfizer Doses
A 23-year-old woman in Italy‘s central Tuscany region was accidentally administered six doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, but ended up discharged after 24 hours when she did not appear to suffer any severe effects.
The woman, a clinical psychology trainee in the town of Massa, was scheduled to receive her first dose of the vaccine as a health worker, according to the news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI). But instead of being given a single Pfizer dose, she was accidentally injected with an entire vial — which amounts to six doses.
Poll Finds Many Parents Hesitant to Get Younger Children Vaccinated
Only 29% of parents of children younger than 18 years said they would get their child vaccinated “right away,” according to data published Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 32 percent said they would wait to see how the vaccine is working before getting their child a shot, while the remaining parents said their child would be vaccinated only if their school requires it (15%) or they definitely would not be vaccinated (19%).
In Thursday’s Kaiser survey, parents’ intentions for their children typically mirrored their intentions for themselves. Among parents who have already received at least one dose or want it as soon as possible, three-fourths said they would get their children vaccinated right away (48%) or wait and see (29%).
N.J. Gov. Murphy Open to Paying People to Get COVID-19 Vaccine
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says the state is considering paying people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We might, I think all things are on the table frankly,” Murphy told FOX 5 New York in an interview. “We have to get to our objective, which is 70% of the adult population by the end of June.”
Last week, Murphy launched the “Operation Jersey Summer” campaign, which is aimed at helping the state reach its vaccination goal.
Novavax Reports Promising Early Study of Combined COVID-19, Flu Vaccine
Vaccine maker Novavax said Monday that an early study in animals of a combination COVID-19 and flu vaccine produced a positive immune response.
The combination vaccine produced “robust” antibody responses to both coronavirus and the flu in a study in ferrets, the company said. The shot is still early in the process, and the company said clinical trials in humans “are expected to begin by the end of the year.”
Expert Panel Calls On Norway To Ditch AstraZeneca And Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccines Over Blood Clot Risks
An expert panel in Norway recommended the country drop vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson from its COVID-19 immunization campaign due to a small risk of rare blood clots, the group announced Monday, a decision that could potentially set back the country’s efforts to offer a shot to all adults by a month.
A raft of countries halted AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollouts over the past few weeks, following reports of very rare blood clotting. Regulators in Europe, the U.S. and the World Health Organization determined that there is a rare risk of clotting, though overwhelmingly said the vaccines’ benefits outweigh any possible risks of blood clotting. A number of countries — including France, Germany, the U.K. and Canada — have restricted the shot to older populations, who are believed to be less at-risk of clotting. Denmark has stopped using them entirely despite rising COVID-19 infections.
Pfizer Applies for Full FDA Approval of COVID Vaccine
Pfizer Applies for Full FDA Approval of Coronavirus Vaccine
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday became the first companies to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for full approval of their coronavirus vaccine.
The companies announced they had initiated a rolling submission of a biologics license application with the FDA for the approval of their vaccine in people aged 16 and older. The companies will submit supporting data on a rolling basis for consideration in the coming weeks, with a request for priority review.
Reported Vaccine Injuries Continue to Climb, Pfizer Seeks Full Approval for COVID Vaccine
The number of reports of injuries and deaths following COVID vaccines continues to rise, according to data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data comes directly from reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
VAERS is the primary government-funded system for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S. Reports submitted to VAERS require further investigation before a causal relationship can be confirmed.
Every Friday, VAERS makes public all vaccine injury reports received as of a specified date, usually about a week prior to the release date. Today’s data show that between Dec. 14, 2020 and April 30, a total of 157,277 total adverse events were reported to VAERS, including 3,837 deaths — an increase of 293 over the previous week — and 16,014 serious injuries, up 2,467 since last week.
CDC Changes Rules for Counting Breakthrough Cases, as More Fully Vaccinated People Test Positive
As more reports surface of breakthrough COVID cases, in and outside the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today said it will change how breakthrough cases are reported, effective May 14.
According to a statement on the CDC’s website, the agency said to help “maximize the quality of the data collected on cases of greatest clinical and public health importance” it will stop reporting weekly COVID breakthrough infections unless they result in hospitalization or death.
The news followed another change, announced late last month, in how PCR tests should be administered to the fully vaccinated.
Both changes will result in lower overall numbers of reports of breakthrough cases in the U.S.
Less Than a Third of Parents Say They’d Let Their Child Get COVID-19 Vaccine Right Away, Survey Finds
As COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers try to get their shots authorized for younger children in the US, less than a third of parents say they would get their child vaccinated as soon as it is authorized for their age group, a survey reveals.
About 29% of parents of children under age 18 said they would get their child vaccinated “right away” as soon as the child was eligible, according to Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor data published Thursday.
An additional 32% said they would wait to see how the vaccine is working before getting their child inoculated. The remaining parents said either that their child would be vaccinated only if their school requires it (15%) or definitely wouldn’t be vaccinated (19%), according to KFF.
Health Officials Hope to Vaccinate Kids at School, Increase Outreach in Hesitant Communities
As vaccine supply outpaces demand, health officials are getting creative to combat vaccine hesitancy.
They’re leaning on local pastors to instill faith in the vaccine and hope to get more shots in arms of children soon.
“We used our church bus to circulate throughout the community to announce that we were offering the vaccines, and we were providing rides for people we needed to come to the church to get their vaccine,” said Bishop Dwight Riddick of Gethsemane Baptist Church.
In Norfolk, Faith Deliverance Christian Center says it garnered a tremendous response from walk-ins at their vaccination clinics with the help of volunteers holding signs up outside letting people know shots were available to the public.
NYC Wants to Offer Free COVID Vaccinations to All Tourists
In an effort to boost tourism in New York City to pre-pandemic levels, Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to offer free vaccinations to all tourists at popular attractions.
Pending state approval, vaccination vans will set up at Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park, the High Line, and other locations, announced the mayor during a briefing on the pandemic Thursday.
Baltimore Vaccine Plant’s Troubles Ripple Across 3 Continents
Quality-control problems at a Baltimore plant manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines have led health officials on three continents to pause the distribution of millions of Johnson & Johnson doses, as the troubles of a politically connected U.S. contractor ripple across the world.
Doses made at the plant owned by Emergent BioSolutions have not been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States, and the Biden administration has repeatedly assured Americans that none of the Johnson & Johnson shots administered domestically were made there.
U.S. Rolls Out Carrots and Expands Access in Push to Get Holdouts Vaccinated Against COVID-19
In the last six months, nearly 150 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in what is the fastest and largest mass vaccination effort in world history. Still, the U.S .vaccination rate has declined from its peak last month, pushing officials to offer new incentives, known as carrots, to further encourage the wary, hesitant and inaccessible to get vaccinated.
Some of those carrots are access to cultural events. The National Football League has offered 50 Super Bowl tickets to fans who share their stories of why they wanted to get vaccinated. Baseball’s New York teams, the Mets and the Yankees, will offer fans a free ticket if they get an on-site Johnson & Johnson shot. And in Chicago, the city announced a monthly concert series held exclusively for fully vaccinated residents.
Trudeau Is Experimenting on His People — and the World Is Watching
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may not be able to attend the G7 meeting in Britain in June, because he may not be eligible to receive his second shot until Aug. 28, due to Canada’s four-month dosage-delay policy. And it’s entirely the prime minister’s fault. This week, Ottawa doubled-down on its policy of treating the population like human guinea pigs by opening the door to mixing vaccines. This is playing jazz with Canadian lives.
On May 5, a bombshell study of the Pfizer vaccine, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed the folly of what Ottawa is doing. It was conducted in Qatar and the data demonstrates the importance of receiving two doses administered 21 days apart, when it comes to fighting two variants, both of which are circulating in Canada.
Chinese COVID Vaccine Gets WHO Emergency Approval
The World Health Organization (WHO) had previously only approved the vaccines made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
But individual health regulators in various countries — especially poorer ones in Africa, Latin America and Asia — have approved Chinese jabs for emergency use.
With little data released internationally early on, the effectiveness of the various Chinese vaccines has long been uncertain.
But the WHO on Friday said it had validated the “safety, efficacy and quality” of the Sinopharm jab.