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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.
