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Cuba Will Begin Giving Shots to Children as Young as 2
Cuba will begin vaccinating children as young as 2 against the coronavirus this week, making it the only country so far to immunize children that young.
The United States and many European countries currently allow COVID-19 vaccinations for children 12 and older. U.S. regulators could authorize a vaccine for children 5 to 12 later this year.
Chile has begun vaccinating children 6 and older. China and the United Arab Emirates are now vaccinating children as young as 3.
Over 14K Vaccinated People With Breakthrough COVID Cases Have Been Hospitalized or Died
More than 14,000 vaccinated people in the U.S. have suffered severe illness from a breakthrough coronavirus infection.
As of September 7, at least 11,440 people who had a breakthrough case have been hospitalized and another 2,674 people who had a breakthrough infection have died, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of these figures, 25% of breakthrough hospitalizations and 21% of breakthrough deaths were among asymptomatic individuals, or their hospital admission or death was not related to COVID-19, although they tested positive for the coronavirus.
Moderna COVID-19 Immunity Lasts 6 Months, No Need for Booster
Immunity from the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine lasts at least six months, and there is no indication that fully vaccinated people will need a booster shot, a small study published Tuesday by Science found.
The vaccine also appears to produce long-lasting protection against the coronavirus in people of all ages, including those 70 and older who are at higher risk for serious illness, the data showed.
What Happens if You Get Your Flu Shot and COVID Booster at the Same Time?
Last year, public health experts were deeply concerned about the prospect of a flu and a COVID-19 “twindemic.” But as it turned out, seasonal flu activity was unusually low. This was likely due to the combination of masking, stay-at-home orders, reduced travel and people paying close attention to things like indoor ventilation.
No one yet knows what the upcoming flu season will hold, especially with states’ differing approaches to masking and social distancing.
But one thing is clear: Health guidelines continue to state that anyone ages 6 months and older should get their annual flu vaccine. And that means millions of people will get their flu shot at or around the same time they get a COVID booster dose (or, for some, their very first shot of the coronavirus vaccine).
Is that safe?
57% of Vaccinated COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in First Half of 2021 Had Mild or Asymptomatic Infections, Study Finds
A recent nationwide study may lead health officials to rethink how to analyze COVID-19 hospitalizations as a pandemic metric, The Atlantic reports.
After examining the electronic records for nearly 50,000 patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 at 100 Veterans Affairs hospitals across the United States between March 2020 and June 2021, researchers found that a significant number of the patients actually had mild or asymptomatic infections. Patients who required supplemental oxygen or registered a blood oxygen level below 94 were considered moderate to severe.
Biden’s Clashes With Own Experts Over COVID Booster Shots Undermine Promise to ‘Follow the Science’
Clashes between President Biden’s White House and the administration’s own experts over COVID-19 booster shots are threatening to undermine a key Biden campaign promise: that he would always “follow the science.”
The president promised in July 2020 that he would “[l]isten to the experts and follow the science.”
“Let’s set the partisanship aside. Let’s end the politics. Let’s follow the science,” he wrote in a November 2020 tweet.
But internal administration battles call into question whether the president is following the science or leading it.
Experimental Vaccine Lasts 1 Month at Room Temperature
While nearly 42% of the global population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, only 1.9% of individuals in low income countries have received at least one vaccine dose.
This inequitable distribution is, at least partly, due to the limited supply of vaccines and the stockpiling of vaccines by rich nations.
With the successful vaccination of a substantial proportion of the population in wealthier countries, the supply and distribution of vaccines to middle and low income nations are improving.
UK Plans COVID Boosters for Over-50s to Cope With ‘Bumpy’ Winter
Britain will begin a COVID-19 vaccine booster program for older and more vulnerable people soon as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government relies on vaccines rather than further lockdowns to navigate a “bumpy” winter.
Officials said COVID-19 vaccines had saved more than 112,000 lives and averted 24 million infections as they proposed a third shot for frontline health workers and those aged over 50 or clinically vulnerable, starting with people most at risk.
Johnson hopes the booster program, which is being undertaken without firm evidence about its likely impact, will mean that hospitals can bear the burden of all winter infections without the need for another lockdown.
