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CDC Confirmed Post-Vaccination Death From Blood Clotting Two Weeks Before Alerting Public: Emails
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed in late 2021 that a person died from blood clotting after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine that had been linked with an increased risk of blood clotting, but did not alert the public for two weeks, newly obtained emails show.
Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a CDC official, told colleagues at the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 2, 2021, “We have confirmed a 9th thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) death following Janssen vaccination,” according to emails obtained by The Epoch Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Officials had recommended a nationwide pause on the administration of the vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiary Janssen, in April 2021 after six women experienced TTS after J&J vaccination and three died. But they lifted the pause after determining the vaccine remained safe and effective.
Young Men’s Myocarditis Risk 5 Times Higher With Moderna vs Pfizer Vax — but Canadian Study Finds That 8-Week Interval Before Second Dose Attenuates Some of the Risk
The risk of heart inflammation following the second dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was substantially higher in younger men with Moderna‘s product (Spikevax) versus Pfizer/BioNTech’s (Comirnaty), though some of this risk was reduced with longer spacing between doses, a population-based study from Canada found.
Cases of myocarditis or pericarditis were highest in men ages 18-24, reaching 299.5 cases per million-second doses of Moderna’s vaccine (95% CI 171.2-486.4), as compared to 59.2 cases per million-second doses of Pfizer’s vaccine (95% CI 19.2-138.1), reported Sarah Buchan, Ph.D., of Public Health Ontario in Toronto, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open.
In this group of men, an 8-week interval or longer lowered the second-dose risk, but it was still markedly higher with Moderna’s product:
Data on boys ages 12-17 years were only available with Pfizer’s product (Moderna’s vaccine was not authorized in Canada for this age group during the study period), and this group saw an even higher rate of myocarditis following the second dose (97.3 cases per million, 95% CI 60.3-148.8) than older males who received Pfizer’s vaccine.
NYC Lawmaker Slams ‘Outrageous’ Lack of Monkeypox Vaccine
The state is being urged to boost supplies of monkeypox vaccine after all the city’s vaccination appointments were quickly booked last week.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman is calling on Gov. Hochul and Health Commissioner Mary Bassett to get extra doses from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as soon as possible.
“We desperately need additional monkeypox vaccines,” the Manhattan Democrat told the Daily News on Sunday. “It’s an outrage that New York City received 1,000 vaccines for an LGBTQ population that is greater than 700,000 people.”
More than 3,300 cases have been found in the U.S., according to the CDC, with 39 of them in the Big Apple, the city Health Department found. Monkeypox has a low fatality rate in Africa and no deaths have been reported in the new outbreak.
COVID Vaccines for Infants Arrive in Florida. Here’s Why Doctors Are Throwing Them Away
Dozens of South Florida pharmacies, community health centers, children’s hospitals and pediatricians received delivery this week of the first COVID-19 vaccines available for children as young as 6 months old — much earlier than anticipated after state officials missed a deadline for pre-ordering the shots.
But pediatricians and public health advocates working to vaccinate newly eligible children under 5 said they are throwing away the majority of the doses they have ordered because Gov. Ron DeSantis will not authorize state programs to administer the vaccines for infants and toddlers, effectively cutting off supply to many family doctors. The health department also will not promote the vaccines to parents, some of whom are hesitant to have their young children vaccinated.
Parents have mixed feelings about the vaccines. Some are actively seeking it for their children under 5, the last group to be authorized for the COVID vaccines. Others are holding back, concerned about whether there has been enough research on the vaccines and their impact on young children.
As a result, initial demand has been low, and doctors are throwing away vaccines. That’s because each vaccine vial contains 10 doses, and once a vial is opened, it has to be used within 12 hours.
U.S. Grapples With Whether to Modify COVID Vaccine for Fall
U.S. health authorities are facing a critical decision: whether to offer new COVID-19 booster shots this fall that are modified to better match recent changes in the shape-shifting coronavirus.
Moderna and Pfizer have tested updated shots against the super-contagious Omicron variant, and advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will debate Tuesday if it’s time to make a switch — setting the stage for similar moves by other countries.
In an analysis prepared for Tuesday’s meeting, FDA officials acknowledged targeting last winter’s version of Omicron is “somewhat outdated” since it already has been replaced by its even more contagious relatives.
Pfizer Says Its Omicron-Containing Boosters Outperform Current Vaccine
Pfizer said Saturday that using new versions of its COVID-19 vaccine as boosters led to a superior antibody response against the Omicron variant compared to its current shot.
The results in some ways mirror those released by Moderna earlier this month. Data from both companies will be evaluated on Tuesday by a panel of experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration in the hopes of deciding what strains of the SARS-Cov-2 virus should be included in booster shots for the fall. Companies will need lead time to manufacture doses of new vaccines if it is decided they are needed.
The Pfizer data introduce a new question for the FDA panel to consider. Moderna released data from only a bivalent vaccine, meaning that the vaccine contains antigens for both the Omicron variant and the original strain that was prevalent earlier in the pandemic. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech provided data for both the bivalent vaccine and a monovalent one, which contained only antigen for the Omicron variant.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu Vetoes Bill to Dispense Ivermectin by Standing Order
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday vetoed a bill that would have permitted pharmacists to dispense a parasite drug to treat COVID-19 by means of a standing order without a prescription.
Sununu said in a news release that New Hampshire currently only has four instances in which pharmacists can dispense medication without a prescription: smoking cessation, contraception, substance use disorder and treatment for sexual assault.
He said all of them “have gone through rigorous reviews and vetting to ensure they meet all the necessary protocols prior to a medication being dispensed via standing order.”
He also said ivermectin remains available for individuals if prescribed by their doctor.
Experts Expect Subvariants to Cause ‘Substantial’ Summer Cases of COVID
The Boston Globe via MSN reported:
Until last week, Dr. Ali Mokdad expected the United States to have “a very good summer” in terms of COVID-19. Projections by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, where he works, forecasted falling cases, hospitalizations and deaths through at least September.
Then, circumstances changed: Researchers discovered that BA.4 and BA.5 — subvariants of Omicron spreading in the United States — are “immune escapes,” adept at avoiding the antibodies the body produces after vaccination or infection to neutralize the virus.
“That has changed our view of what will happen this summer,” Mokdad said. Though he still expects cases to decrease, the decline will be slower and smaller than projected.
WHO: Monkeypox Outbreak Not yet a Global Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization on Saturday declined to declare the unprecedented monkeypox outbreak that has spread around the world a public health emergency as of now.
A public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, grants the WHO director-general certain powers, such as the ability to recommend how countries should respond. While it’s a legal lever the agency can use, it’s also a tool that can grab public attention and steer it to try to address burgeoning health threats. Such a declaration could further rally donors and member countries to increase funding.
The WHO can revisit its decision. In January 2020, for example, the WHO didn’t declare the emerging coronavirus crisis a PHEIC, only to do so a week later.
America Is in the ‘Figure It out Yourself’ Era of the Pandemic
In 2018, while reporting on pandemic preparedness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I heard many people joking about the fictional 15th article of the country’s constitution: Débrouillez-vous, or “Figure it out yourself.” It was a droll and weary acknowledgment that the government won’t save you, and you must make do with the resources you’ve got. The United States is now firmly in the débrouillez-vous era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across the country, almost all government efforts to curtail the coronavirus have evaporated. Mask mandates have been lifted on public transit. Conservative lawmakers have hamstrung what public-health departments can do in emergencies. COVID funding remains stalled in Congress, jeopardizing supplies of tests, treatments and vaccines.
Detection Dogs Sniff out Long COVID, Leading to Hopes for Better Therapy
COVID-19 detection dogs can also detect long COVID-19 in people, according to new research by veterinarians in Germany.
Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover found that canines specialized in sniffing out the SARS-CoV-2 virus were also able to determine samples of patients suffering from long COVID effects.
These symptoms can include headaches, breathlessness and a variety of cognitive dysfunction.
Previous scientific examination revealed that specialized dogs could identify samples of people suffering from acute COVID-19. Their abilities regarding long COVID had not been determined prior to the Hannover veterinarians’ pilot study.
Can Our Mitochondria Help to Beat Long COVID?
At Cambridge University’s MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Michal Minczuk is one of a growing number of scientists around the world aiming to find new ways of improving mitochondrial health. This line of research could help provide much-needed treatments for people with long COVID, as well as revolutionizing our understanding of everything from neurodegenerative illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease to the aging process.
Mitochondria, tiny tube-shaped structures that are found in their hundreds, sometimes thousands, in nearly all of our cells, are best known as the body’s power plants, continuously converting the food we eat into ATP, a complex chemical that acts as a form of energy currency for cells. Without ATP, every one of our cells, from the brain to the muscles, would lack the fuel they need to keep churning away, and our organs would swiftly grind to a halt.
While hacking the mitochondrial genome could change healthcare in years to come, finding more immediate ways of improving mitochondrial health could help the millions of people with long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME/CFS.
