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Covid News Watch
Mom Says Teen Son Got COVID Vaccine at CVS Without Her Consent + More
Mom Says Teen Son Got COVID Vaccine at CVS Without Her Consent
A California mother is warning parents after her 16-year-old son received the COVID-19 vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy without her consent.
Amanda Arroyo claims the pharmacist later told her she was just trying to vaccinate as many people in the community as possible to keep people safe.
In California, parents or guardians must provide consent for a minor to get vaccinated. It can be given in one of three ways: going with the child in person, signing a written consent form or providing verbal consent to a staff member over the phone or through video.
Babies Among Those in COVID Vaccine Trials in Madison
Four-year-old twins Sam and Theo Rodriguez are part of the new trial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial for kids ages 6 months to 4 years old.
University of Wisconsin Health in Madison (UW) Health is one of 80 centers across the country conducting the Moderna trial. More than 2,500 young children are taking part.
Michigan Township Closes Schools Due to Staff Having ‘Negative Reaction’ to COVID Booster Shot
A Michigan township said schools would be closed on Monday after several staff members had a “negative reaction” to the COVID-19 booster shot.
Saginaw Township Community Schools posted an announcement on the homepage of its website, noting that, due to being understaffed, schools in its district would be closed on Monday, affecting after-school programs and child care.
“A large number of our staff had a negative reaction to the COVID booster shot given at a voluntary clinic over the weekend,” the notice said. “There is a substitute teacher/staff shortage throughout the state, further complicating the availability to cover those absences.”
About 26,000 Tons of Plastic COVID Waste Pollutes World’s Oceans — Study
Plastic waste from the COVID-19 pandemic weighing 25,900 tons, equivalent to more than 2,000 double-decker buses, has leaked into the ocean, research has revealed.
The mismanaged plastic waste, consisting of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, vastly exceeded the capability of countries to process it properly, researchers said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 8.4m tons of plastic waste has been generated from 193 countries, according to the report, published on Monday.
Moderna Seeks EU Authorization for COVID Vaccine in Young Children
Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) on Tuesday applied for European authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 6-11 years, weeks after it delayed a similar filing with U.S. regulators.
The European Union had in July authorised the vaccine for use in teens aged 12 to 17 years, but several countries including Sweden paused its use for people aged 30 and younger due to rare heart-related side-effects. read more
The drugmaker delayed the U.S. application for children aged 6 to 11, while the FDA completes its review for the vaccine’s use in the 12 to 17 age group.
French Health Authority Advises Against Moderna COVID Vaccine for Under 30s
France’s public health authority has recommended people under 30 be given Pfizer‘s (PFE.N) Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine when available instead of Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) Spikevax jab, which carried comparatively higher risks of heart-related problems.
The Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS), which does not have legal power to ban or licence drugs but acts as an advisor to the French health sector, cited “very rare” risks linked to Myocarditis, a heart disease, that had shown up in recent data on the Moderna vaccine and in a French study published on Monday.
Louisiana Has a Hotline to Track Adverse COVID Vaccine Reactions. Critics Say It Isn’t Reliable.
Back in December 2020, when COVID vaccines first became available to the public, the Louisiana Department of Health sent an urgent directive to healthcare providers across the state: immediately tell us about any serious side effects.
At a hearing Monday before the House Health & Welfare Committee, state Rep. Michael Echols, a Monroe Republican, said he asked to hold the hearing because “nobody knows this 800 number,” after a string of nurses testified Monday that they had no knowledge of the hotline.
“It’s crazy that medical professionals across this state do not have this phone number. It’s an embarrassment for patient safety,” Echols said.
Nearly Half of New COVID Cases in 2 Weeks Were Breakthrough Infections
Nearly half of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea over the past two weeks were breakthrough infections, health authorities said Tuesday.
There were 8,336 breakthrough cases out of 17,325 new COVID-19 patients, or 48.1%, between Oct. 17 and Oct. 30, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Breakthrough infections are those who test positive even after receiving the full-dose vaccine regimen.
The Bewildering Ordeal of Getting Billed for a Coronavirus Vaccine
Heather Christena Schmidt’s 13-year-old daughter, Ava, got her second dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine on Jun. 22. After her first dose, administered in May at a CVS, Ava fainted. The reason remains elusive. So her primary care doctor recommended she get the second dose at an emergency room, where she could be treated immediately if anything went wrong.
Schmidt has received three separate bills for her daughter’s shot that day — one from the hospital system, one from insurance and one from the doctor who administered the shot — totaling $262.50.
We were told from the beginning that they would be free, these vaccines. The official webpage for the government’s vaccine rollout reads, in large bold print, “COVID-19 vaccines are free to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status,” paid for via federal funding and partnerships with insurance companies.
Johnson & Johnson Breakthrough Cases Had a Higher Hospitalization Rate Compared With Other COVID Vaccines, Redmond Startup Finds
A study of nearly 2 million people vaccinated against the coronavirus has found that those receiving the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines had less of a chance of being hospitalized after a breakthrough infection than people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Truveta, a Redmond startup that has pooled data from 20 American health systems from 42 states, released the new findings Tuesday morning. They are based on an analysis of 1.7 million vaccinated people living in the United States.
U.S. Government to Buy $1 Billion More Worth of Merck’s COVID Pill
The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday.
The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy 1.4 million more.
That brings the total secured courses to 3.1 million and worth $2.2 billion. Merck said the government has the right to buy 2 million more courses as part of the contract. read more
A Prominent Virologist Warns COVID Pill Could Unleash Dangerous Mutants + More
A Prominent Virologist Warns COVID Pill Could Unleash Dangerous Mutants. Others See Little Cause for Alarm
The first oral antiviral for treating COVID-19, Merck & Co.’s molnupiravir, received approval from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Nov. 4. But the approval, for people at high risk of severe disease, comes as a prominent virologist has suggested using molnupiravir could do far more harm than good, potentially unleashing new, deadlier variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Molnupiravir works by interfering with viral replication, littering the viral genome with mutations until the virus can no longer reproduce. The drug’s ability to mutate RNA has raised persistent fears that it could induce mutations in a patient’s own genetic material, possibly causing cancer or birth defects; studies so far have not borne out those fears.
Now, William Haseltine, a virologist formerly at Harvard University known for his work on HIV and the human genome project, suggests that by inducing viral mutations, molnupiravir could spur the rise of new viral variants more dangerous than today’s.
The School That Pioneered Polio Shots Will Give Kids the COVID Vaccine, Too
Through the long tunnel of time, Jackie French Lonergan still remembers the day very clearly. It was April 26, 1954, and she was a second-grader at Franklin Sherman Elementary in McLean, Va., a little girl with a brown pageboy haircut and a gap-toothed grin.
Lonergan’s parents had quickly signed the permission slip, worrying little or not at all about the fact that their daughter and 81 other second-graders at Franklin Sherman were about to be guinea pigs — the very first children in the country to receive the polio vaccine as part of a massive national trial to test the immunization before offering it to the general public.
On Monday, Franklin Sherman will reprise its historic role as a vaccination site for Fairfax County schoolchildren. And first lady Jill Biden is scheduled to be on hand at the elementary school as another mass pediatric vaccination campaign — this one aimed at protecting children ages 5 to 11 from COVID-19 — gets underway.
Feds Urge Schools to Provide COVID Shots, Info for Kids
The Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to kids — and information to parents on the benefits of the shots — as the White House looks to speedily provide vaccines to those ages 5 to 11.
First lady Jill Biden and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy are set to visit the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, on Monday to launch a nationwide campaign to promote child vaccinations. The school was the first to administer the polio vaccine in 1954.
The visit comes just days after federal regulators recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for the age group. The White House says Biden will visit pediatric vaccination clinics across the country over the coming weeks to encourage the shots.
Minnesota Tops 500K Boosters as COVID Breakthrough Infections Rise
More than a half-million booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Minnesota to counter the latest Delta wave of the pandemic and waning immunity among people who received shots months ago.
The Minnesota Department of Health in the past week identified another 7,821 breakthrough coronavirus infections among more than 3.2 million fully vaccinated people in the state, including another 111 people who died of COVID-19 despite their immunizations.
The state’s breakthrough total as of Monday reached 64,844 infections — more than 2% of the fully vaccinated population — and 483 COVID-19 deaths.
Pfizer Expected to Seek Authorization for Coronavirus Vaccine Booster for People Age 18 and Older
Pfizer is expected to seek US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine booster shot for people 18 and older, a Biden administration official said Monday. The request could come as soon as this week, although the date could shift.
Authorization would bring the country one step closer to President Joe Biden’s mid-August prediction that boosters would be available for all adults in the United States.
In U.S., Kids’ COVID Vaccine Pokes Holes in Relationships of Separated Couples
Michael Thompson, a 47-year-old executive recruiter from Illinois, expects his former wife to take him to court over vaccinating their two children against COVID-19.
He doesn’t trust the vaccine for children, but she wants to follow U.S. health guidelines and have their 8-year-old and 10-year-old inoculated.
“I’m vaccinated, but I don’t feel the need for my kids to get the vaccine until it’s been proven more,” Thompson told AFP. “We don’t know the long-term effects for kids.”
Regeneron’s COVID Antibody Drug Shows Protection for up to 8 Months
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O) said on Monday a single dose of its antibody cocktail reduced the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 81.6% in a late-stage trial, in the two to eight months period following the drug’s administration.
The antibody therapy, REGEN-COV, is currently authorized in the United States to treat people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and for prevention of infection in those exposed to infected individuals, and others at high risk of exposure in settings such as nursing homes or prisons. read more
Merck Ahead of Pfizer in EU Talks on COVID Pills — EU Source
The European Union is negotiating with Merck & Co (MRK.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N) over possible contracts to supply their experimental COVID-19 drugs, an EU official told Reuters, adding that talks with Merck were more advanced.
Talks with Merck were more advanced because it has already begun submitting data to the European Union’s drugs regulator, the official added.
Pfizer has yet to submit any data because preliminary results of its trials were published only last week, a month after Merck’s first results.
How Protein-Based COVID Vaccines Could Change the Pandemic
Unlike the relatively new technologies that the mRNA and viral-vector COVID-19 shots are based on, protein vaccines have been used for decades to protect people from hepatitis, shingles and other viral infections.
To elicit a protective immune response, these shots deliver proteins, along with immunity-stimulating adjuvants, directly to a person’s cells, rather than a fragment of genetic code that the cells must read to synthesize the proteins themselves.
After months of quality-control setbacks and manufacturing delays, executives at biotechnology firm Novavax in Gaithersburg, Maryland, say they are poised to submit the company’s long-awaited application for their protein-based vaccine to U.S. drug regulators before the end of the year.
COVID Linked to Heart Inflammation in Cats and Dogs
Late last year, as the coronavirus surged across the United Kingdom, Dr. Luca Ferasin and his colleagues started noticing an uptick in patients with symptoms of myocarditis, or heart inflammation.
But these patients weren’t humans; they were cats and dogs.
“These were dogs and cats that were depressed, lethargic, they lost appetite,” said Ferasin, a veterinary cardiologist at The Ralph Veterinary Referral Centre in Buckinghamshire, England. “And they had either difficulty breathing because of accumulation of fluid in their lungs due to the heart disease, or they were fainting because of an underlying abnormal heart rhythm.”
Two Texas Children Mistakenly Given Adult COVID Vaccine Doses + More
Two Texas Children Mistakenly Given Adult COVID Vaccine Doses
Health officials in one Texas city are trying to figure out how two children under the age of 12 received adult doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dorothy White, the City of Garland’s public & media relations director, confirmed to Nexstar that the children were both given an injection of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday, Oct. 31 — two days before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved shots for children ages 5 to 11.
Feds Pay Zero Claims for COVID Vaccine Injuries and Deaths
In fiscal year 2021, the U.S. government paid $246.9 million in claims for vaccine-related injuries and deaths. Not a single payout was related to COVID-19 vaccines.
Each person with a “provable” injury from a COVID vaccine could claim up to $379,000 from a special COVID vaccine fund set up by the federal government. The payout for death could be as high as $370,376.
However, according to an OpenTheBooks.com investigation, the federal government didn’t pay a penny for COVID-vaccine claims. The special fund for these claims is called the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).
Study Shows Dramatic Decline in Effectiveness of All Three COVID Vaccines Over Time
As the Delta variant became the dominant strain of coronavirus across the United States, all three COVID-19 vaccines available to Americans lost some of their protective power, with vaccine efficacy among a large group of veterans dropping between 35% and 85%, according to a new study.
Researchers who scoured the records of nearly 800,000 U.S. veterans found that in early March, just as the Delta variant was gaining a toehold across American communities, the three vaccines were roughly equal in their ability to prevent infections.
But over the next six months, that changed dramatically. And most strikingly, the protective power of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine plunged from 86% to just 13% over those six months.
U.S. Cancels Multimillion-Dollar Deal With Coronavirus Vaccine Maker Whose Plant Ruined Johnson & Johnson Doses
The federal government has canceled a deal worth $628 million with Emergent BioSolutions, the Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer that was a vanguard of the Trump administration’s program to rapidly produce vaccines to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
The company disclosed the development on Thursday in a conference call discussing its latest financial results. The cancellation comes after Emergent’s manufacturing facilities in Baltimore were found to have produced millions of contaminated vaccine doses this spring, prompting a months-long shutdown.
Breakthrough COVID Cases in Mass. Rise After Two-Week Decline
More than 54,000 fully vaccinated Massachusetts residents have now tested positive for COVID-19 and 438 of them have died, according to the latest state data on breakthrough cases published Tuesday.
The state Department of Public Health has tracked a cumulative 54,199 confirmed coronavirus infections among those fully vaccinated in the state to date.
In the last week, 3,192 new breakthrough cases — infections in people who have been vaccinated — have been reported. That’s up from 3,078 the previous week after two weeks of declining cases. Health officials said 106 of the new breakthrough cases resulted in hospitalization, down 15 from the week before. Overall, just 0.04% of vaccinated people have now been hospitalized.
Pfizer Says COVID Pill Cut Hospital, Death Risk by 90%
Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus.
Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorize its pill as soon as possible, after independent experts recommended halting the company’s study based on the strength of its results. Once Pfizer applies, the FDA could make a decision within weeks or months.
Chicago Public Schools Cancel Classes Nov. 12 to Promote COVID Vaccination for Students
Chicago Public School (CPS) officials canceled classes next Friday in hopes that students will use the day off to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a letter sent out to parents and families Thursday.
The letter from CPS said schools will be closed Nov. 12 for “Vaccination Awareness Day” after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old earlier this week.
Italian Institute of Health Drastically Reduces Its Official COVID Death Toll Number
The Italian Higher Institute of Health has drastically reduced the country’s official COVID death toll number by over 97% after changing the definition of a fatality to someone who died from COVID rather than with COVID.
Italian newspaper Il Tempo reports that the Institute has revised downward the number of people who have died from COVID rather than with COVID from 130,000 to under 4,000.
Of the 130,468 deaths registered as official COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic, only 3,783 are directly attributable to the virus alone.
Gene Linked to Doubling Risk of COVID Death Found by UK Scientists
British scientists have identified a version of a gene that may be associated with double the risk of lung failure from COVID-19, a finding that provides new insights into why some people are more susceptible than others to severe illness and which opens possibilities for targeted medicine.
The high-risk genetic variant is in a chromosome region that is also tied to double the risk of death in COVID-19 patients under age 60. Around 60% of people with South Asian ancestry carry the high-risk version of the gene, researchers at Oxford University said on Friday.
The scientists found the increased risk comes from a gene that regulates the activity of other genes, including one called LZTFL1 involved in the response of lung cells to viruses.
Billions Wiped From COVID Pharma Heavyweights — Including Moderna, Regeneron, Merck — as Pfizer’s Antiviral Pill Triggers Sell-Off
Shares of COVID-19 vaccine makers plummeted Friday morning after Pfizer announced it would seek regulatory approval for an antiviral pill to treat the disease, triggering billions in market value losses as the market responds to a promising and potentially game-changing development.
Pfizer announced Friday it would stop enrolling new patients into its clinical trial for Paxlovid after an early analysis of trial data demonstrated the drug’s “overwhelming efficacy.” The company said the data suggests the pill, taken shortly after symptoms develop, cuts the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 in high-risk patients by 89%.
Paxlovid is on track to become the second antiviral COVID-19 pill on the market, following Merck’s molnupiravir, which was approved by British regulators in early November.
Bill Gates-Backed Chinese Vaccine Maker Valued at $2 Billion Thanks to COVID Jab That’s Especially Potent Against Delta
Chinese vaccine maker Clover Biopharmaceuticals raised $240 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong on Thursday, giving the Chengdu-based firm a valuation of nearly $2 billion.
The protein-based technology of Clover’s candidate is similar to what’s in Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine. The jab by Novavax, a U.S. company, produced promising trial results but has earned approval only in Indonesia amid regulatory and manufacturing delays.
CEPI, a research group that’s partially backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has partnered with Clover to develop a viable COVID-19 candidate. CEPI granted Clover $360 million in 2020 to fund research and trials for its vaccine.
Nearly 50,000 Breakthrough COVID Cases Have Been Reported in Arizona + More
ADHS: Nearly 50,000 Breakthrough COVID Cases Have Been Reported in Arizona. How Come?
A large number of those breakthrough cases seem to be happening with people who received the Pfizer vaccine, which was available at all of the state-sponsored vaccination sites throughout the state, such as State Farm Stadium, Arizona State University, and a distribution warehouse in Gilbert.
According to Arizona Department of Health (ADHS) data, there have been 49,962 confirmed breakthrough cases involving people who received the COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona. Of those, 376 people have died, though it does not specify the cause of death.
Of those breakthrough cases, 29,857 received the Pfizer vaccine, 14,553 received the Moderna vaccine, and 5,552 received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
‘In Your Heart, It Does Tug at You.’ Parents Weighing COVID Vaccines for Kids 5 to 11 Must First Battle Their Own Anxiety
The emotions and opinions from parents of young children who are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine are running strong and across the spectrum, from all-in to adamantly opposed. Many are eager to sign their kids up, while others, nervous about the flood of facts and fiction on social media, are swamping pediatricians’ offices with requests for information and reassurance.
Dr. Lloyd Fisher, a Worcester pediatrician and president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said about 30% of the parents calling his office are already seeking the kids’ shots, and another 30% are “extremely resistant.”
The rest, about 40%, aren’t sure.
3,192 Breakthrough COVID Cases Recorded in Massachusetts Over 1 Week; 32 Fully Vaccinated Dead
International Business Times reported:
A growing number of fully vaccinated individuals are testing positive for COVID-19 or dying of the virus in Massachusetts over the past week, according to state data.
Between Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, health officials in Massachusetts recorded 3,192 breakthrough COVID-19 infections. The number represents 1.1% of the state’s fully vaccinated population, data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Tuesday showed.
Over the same period, the state also reported 106 additional breakthrough hospitalizations and 32 breakthrough COVID-19 deaths. Both figures represent 0.04% and 0.009% of all fully vaccinated individuals in the state, respectively.
Moderna Stock Tanks On COVID Vaccine Delivery Slowdown
Shares of Moderna have plunged more than 15% in Thursday’s trading session after the pharmaceutical giant cut its full fiscal year 2021 forecast for COVID-19 vaccine deliveries.
The stock is on pace for the largest decrease since May of 2020.
Moderna expects to deliver between 700 million and 800 million COVID-19 vaccine doses at the 100 µg dose level in 2021, down from the previous guidance of 800 million to 1 billion doses.
Exclusive: Fauci Staffers Flagged Potential Gain-of-Function Research at Wuhan Lab in 2016, Records Reveal
Two subordinates of Dr. Anthony Fauci raised concerns in May 2016 that a taxpayer-funded grant may include gain-of-function experiments on bat coronaviruses at a Wuhan lab, but dropped the issue after nonprofit group EcoHealth Alliance downplayed the concerns, documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.
EcoHealth President Peter Daszak submitted his “determination” to the NIAID in a June 8, 2016 letter that downplayed potential risks associated with his group’s proposed research in Wuhan, which involved the creation of lab-made chimeric coronavirus, and denied it involved gain-of-function.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak informed lawmakers in late October that Daszak did not stay true to his promise, saying EcoHealth failed to report right away that it created a lab-made SARS coronavirus in Wuhan using the WIV1 backbone that was more deadly and pathogenetic towards mice with humanized cells. Despite Tabak’s letter, Fauci and the NIH maintain that the research they funded at the Wuhan Institute of Virology did not involve gain-of-function research.
Fauci, Walensky Testify Amid Child Vaccine Rollout, Wuhan Lab Funding Controversy
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci are appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Thursday morning for a hearing titled, “Next Steps: The Road Ahead for the COVID-19 Response.
While the stated intent behind the hearing is to look forward at how to handle the pandemic, it is more than likely that senators will also be looking to past actions and decisions by Fauci and his agency, both related to coronavirus and otherwise.
Committee member Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was among lawmakers who sent letters in recent days regarding funding for “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and experimentation on puppies.
Fauci Blasts Paul for Saying He Is Responsible for COVID Pandemic
America’s top infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci on Thursday blasted Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for suggesting he is somehow responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul accused Fauci of misleading the public about the role the National Institutes of Health played in funding potentially dangerous “gain-of-function research” in Wuhan, China, and suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the result of such research, and then was released into the world because of a lab leak.
During a Senate Health Committee hearing about the federal COVID-19 response, Paul and Fauci clashed over the definition of “gain-of-function,” which Paul said Fauci changed in order to “save your ass.” He accused Fauci of lying about the role NIH has played, and said there could be even more dangerous viruses that could escape from Wuhan.
Britain Approves Merck’s COVID Pill in World First
Britain on Thursday became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck (MRK.N) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic.
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, molnupiravir, for use in people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes, and heart disease.
Prior Poor Mental Health Linked With Higher Rates of COVID — Study
Several studies have shown that the pandemic took a devastating toll on people’s mental health and impacted other psychiatric conditions, but a novel study looked at things from a different perspective.
The investigation, conducted by Yale School of Public Health and published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, looked at U.S. nationwide levels of mental health to establish that those with poor mental health prior to the pandemic have a greater likelihood of developing a COVID-19 infection.
China Doubles Down on Zero-COVID as It Battles Most Widespread Outbreak Since Wuhan
China is scrambling to contain its most widespread COVID-19 outbreak since the first wave of infections that began in Wuhan in 2019.
Though subsequent flare-ups have seen higher total case numbers, this outbreak has spread the furthest, with 19 of China’s 31 provinces — more than half the country — reporting cases since the outbreak began in mid-October, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).
The ongoing outbreak began on Oct. 16, when infections were detected among a tour group of fully vaccinated senior citizens from Shanghai traveling in northern China.