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Family Mistakenly Given COVID Vaccines Instead of Flu Shots, Indiana Attorney Says
The Kansas City Star reported:
A family of four says it was mistakenly given COVID-19 vaccines instead of flu shots at a Walgreens pharmacy in Indiana, according to the family’s attorney.
Attorney Daniel Tuley, also of Evansville, says the four family members went to Walgreens wanting the annual flu shot. They left thinking that’s the shot they each received. But about 90 minutes later, a pharmacy employee called to explain the vaccine mistake.
The family’s children are both experiencing a fever, body aches, coughs, headaches and nausea, according to the news release. The 4-year-old has had a fever for over a week, Tuley said Monday, and they are being treated by a pediatric cardiologist for tachycardia and high blood pressure.
Palm Beach Family Mourning After Vaccinated Husband, Father Died of COVID
A Palm Beach family is heartbroken and shocked after a fully vaccinated husband and father died of COVID-19.
“He was a beautiful, handsome, strong, healthy, kindhearted guy who was loved by so many people,” said Jamie Konidare of her late husband Vincent.
Now Vincent Konidare’s family is left not only with his memories but also questions, like how a man they said had no preexisting conditions and who was fully vaccinated could die from COVID-19.
Next on FDA’s Agenda: Booster Shots of Moderna, J&J Vaccines
With many Americans who got Pfizer vaccinations already rolling up their sleeves for a booster shot, millions of others who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine wait anxiously to learn when it’s their turn.
Federal regulators begin tackling that question this week.
On Thursday and Friday, the Food and Drug Administration convenes its independent advisers for the first stage in the process of deciding whether extra doses of the two vaccines should be dispensed and, if so, who should get them and when. The final go-ahead is not expected for at least another week.
University of Kentucky Part of National Trial to Test Moderna Vaccine in Children
The University of Kentucky is part of a national trial to test the safety and effectiveness of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in younger children.
The pediatric research study will define an age-appropriate dose of the Moderna vaccine, test the vaccine’s effectiveness, and monitor any potential side effects in children, collecting information to ensure safe use.
For the current phase of the study, researchers are enrolling children aged 6 months to under two years of age into the study beginning at the end of October.
The Mysterious Case of the COVID Lab-Leak Theory
Since the coronavirus first appeared, at the end of 2019, four and a half million people have died, countless more have suffered, whole economies have been upended, schools have been shuttered. Why?
Did the virus jump from an animal to its first human host, its patient zero? Or, as some suspect, was the catastrophe the result of a laboratory accident in Wuhan, a city of eleven million people in central China?
Kristian Andersen, an infectious-disease expert at Scripps Research, in San Diego, began tracking the virus in January, 2020. He found the degree of contagion not just scary but unusual.
Merck Asks U.S. FDA to Authorize Promising Anti-COVID Pill
Drugmaker Merck asked U.S. regulators Monday to authorize its pill for treating COVID-19 in what would add an entirely new and easy-to-use weapon to the world’s arsenal against the pandemic.
If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration — a decision that could come in a matter of weeks — it would be the first pill shown to treat the illness. All other FDA-backed treatments against COVID-19 require an IV or injection.
A Primer on What We Know About Mixing and Matching COVID Vaccines
Later this week an expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hear about the results of a clinical trial that could influence how COVID vaccines are used in this country at some point in the future. The trial, conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is a so-called mix-and-match trial, testing the COVID vaccines authorized in the U.S. in combinations with each other.
The goal of the trial was to see whether using a different vaccine as a booster shot improves protection. So does getting a dose of Pfizer vaccine after getting a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine trigger production of more antibodies than a second dose of the J&J would? Are the messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna virtually interchangeable, or does switching even there produce a broader set of immune responses?
U.S. FDA Staff Says Moderna Did Not Meet All Criteria for COVID Boosters
Scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) had not met all of the agency’s criteria to support use of booster doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, possibly because the efficacy of the shot’s first two doses has remained strong.
FDA staff said in documents that data for Moderna’s vaccine showed that a booster does increase protective antibodies, but the difference in antibody levels before and after the shot was not wide enough, particularly in those whose levels had remained high.
The documents were released ahead of a meeting later this week of the FDA’s outside expert advisers to discuss booster doses of the vaccine.
India Recommends Homegrown COVID Vaccine for Kids Aged 2 and Above
U.S. News & World Report reported:
India on Tuesday recommended emergency use of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 shot in the 2 to 18 age-group, as the world’s second-most populous nation expands its vaccination drive to include children.
The country has so far fully vaccinated around 29% of about 944 million eligible adults, as per government data, which includes administration of more than 110 million doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
The company, however, is still in the process of securing an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization, a decision that is expected later this month.
COVID Variant Medical Detectives Deploying to San Francisco International
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday announced the launch of a pilot testing program to identify new COVID variants at the San Francisco International Airport.
For now, the program is limited to passengers on certain international flights coming into San Francisco, as well as JFK and Newark International. The program is part of an effort to get a head start on any new COVID variant entering the United States.
As a mRNA virus, COVID-19 is constantly evolving and changing across the world. A recent example is the Delta variant which is still creating medical havoc in some parts of the country.
AstraZeneca Antibody Cocktail Study Shows Success Treating COVID
AstraZeneca‘s (AZN.L) antibody cocktail against COVID-19, which has proven to work as a preventative shot in the non-infected, was also shown to save lives and prevent severe disease when given as treatment within a week of first symptoms.
The drug, a combination of two antibodies called AZD7442, reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 or death by 50% in non-hospitalised patients who have had symptoms for seven days or less, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said on Monday.
