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Hong Kong Medical Expert Says COVID Vaccine May Cause Heart Disease
Medical experts say they saw an increase of almost 50% in the number of requests for cardiovascular imaging tests in Hong Kong in 2021. A survey of cardiologists and radiologists found that a majority suspected that the increase was related to COVID-19 vaccinations.
The 15th Congress of Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (ASCI 2022), co-organized by the Hong Kong College of Radiologists and Hong Kong College of Cardiology, held a press conference on June 23. The organizers conducted an online survey of 80 cardiologists and 46 radiologists in May this year to determine the clinical observations of three cardiac catheterization tests, including computerized tomography coronary angiogram (CTCA) and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in 2021.
The survey found that the majority of doctors agreed that the number of cardiac imaging examinations in 2021 had risen compared to 2020, with an increase of about 11 to 30% for CTCA and CMR.
Cardiologists said this phenomenon is related to COVID-19 vaccination as the main cause of CTCA referrals was chest pain related to vaccination, and the main cause of CMR referrals was heart failure related to vaccination. Forty-three percent of the doctors surveyed said that more than half of the CTCA test results were abnormal, with mild-to-moderate aortic stenosis being more common.
NYC Monkeypox Cases Double in a Week; More Vaccine Doses Coming
The number of likely monkeypox cases in New York City has doubled in a week. As of Tuesday, July 5, 111 people in the city have tested positive for orthopoxvirus and all likely have monkeypox, according to the city’s Health Department. That is up from 55 cases a week earlier.
“Most of these people have had a mild illness, have not been hospitalized and have recovered on their own,” the Health Department said on its website. “Even with mild illness, the rash and sores from monkeypox can be itchy and painful.”
Demand for the vaccine has been high, prompting New York City to request more shots. The federal government has approved the city for a new allotment of 6,000 doses, which is enough to vaccinate 3,000 people.
Vaccination involves getting two doses of the Jynneos vaccine, which the FDA has approved to prevent “smallpox and monkeypox disease in adults 18 years of age and older determined to be at high risk,” the agency states. The doses are administered four weeks apart.
Canada to Throw out 13.6M Doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine
Canada is going to throw out about 13.6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because it couldn’t find any takers for it either at home or abroad.
Canada signed a contract with AstraZeneca in 2020 to get 20 million doses of its vaccine, and 2.3 million Canadians received at least one dose of it, mostly between March and June 2021.
Following concerns in the spring of 2021 about rare but potentially fatal blood clots from AstraZeneca, Canada focused on using its ample supplies of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
In July 2021, Canada promised to donate the rest of its procured supply, about 17.7 million doses. But in a statement Tuesday, Health Canada said that despite efforts to meet that pledge, 13.6 million doses have expired and will have to be thrown out.
Behavioral Issues, Absenteeism at Schools Increase, Federal Data Shows
More than 80% of public schools reported that the pandemic has taken a toll on student behavior and social-emotional development, while nearly as many schools say they need more mental health support, according to federal data released Wednesday.
The data, collected as the 2021-2022 school year was winding down, also showed that more than 70% of schools saw increases in chronic student absenteeism since the onset of the pandemic, and about half of the schools reported increased acts of disrespect toward teachers and staff.
The findings by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), based on responses from leaders at 846 public schools, underline problems that have become increasingly well known during more than two years of pandemic-altered education.
New Omicron Subvariant BA.5 Now a Majority of U.S. COVID Cases
A new Omicron subvariant known as BA.5 now comprises a majority of U.S. COVID-19 cases, according to data released Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The data is a sign of the rise of the highly transmissible subvariant, which has prompted concern about a new increase in cases.
BA.5, along with a related subvariant known as BA.4, has mutations that have shown an increased ability to evade the protection from vaccines and previous infection.
COVID Reinfections May Increase the Likelihood of New Health Problems
Repeatedly catching COVID-19 appears to increase the chances that a person will face new and sometimes lasting health problems after their infection, according to the first study on the health risks of reinfection.
The findings come as a fresh wave of coronavirus variants, notably Omicron‘s BA.5, have become dominant in the United States and Europe, causing cases and hospitalizations to rise once again. BA.5 caused about 54% of cases nationwide last week, doubling its share of COVID-19 transmission over the past two weeks, according to data posted Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BA.5 carries key mutations that help it escape antibodies generated by both vaccines and prior infection, leaving many people vulnerable to reinfection.
Canada Could Approve First COVID Shot for Youngest Kids This Month: Feds
Federal officials say a COVID-19 vaccine for Canada’s youngest children could be approved as soon as this month.
Health Canada tweeted Tuesday that it expects to reach a decision by mid-July on whether to approve Moderna’s shot for children between six months and five years old. Moderna has applied for its vaccine to be given in two doses, each a quarter of its adult dose, given about four weeks apart.
The agency says it received a submission from Pfizer-BioNTech on June 23 for its vaccine for children between the ages of six months and four years old.
Multipronged Vaccine Protects Against COVID Virus Family Members — Even Some Still in Hiding
A new type of vaccine developed at Caltech aims to ward off novel coronaviruses even before health officials are aware that they exist. When tested in mice and monkeys, it trained the animals’ immune systems to recognize eight viruses at once — and induced immunity to viruses they had never encountered.
The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Science, could lead to a powerful tool against a virus that mutates too quickly to be contained with current vaccines. An international vaccine foundation has pledged $30 million to begin clinical trials of the experimental vaccine in humans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief advisor on the COVID-19 pandemic, praised the research as “a major conceptual step toward a pan-coronavirus vaccine.”
The new vaccine doesn’t block all coronaviruses, an ambitious goal not yet within science’s grasp. Instead, it focuses on the group known as betacoronaviruses, which includes those that cause COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, among other diseases.
World’s COVID Vaccine, Drugs Equity Program Set to Wind Down This Fall
The World Health Organization program for the fast-tracking and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics is likely to close in its current form in the fall, according to two individuals familiar with the matter.
The program, known as the ACT-Accelerator, is a collaboration among the WHO, governments and global health organizations that works to ensure equitable access to COVID tools. It faced significant obstacles to get vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, but it eventually succeeded in shipping over one billion shots.
As COVID cases have declined from the height of the pandemic, ACT-A has struggled to secure funding with only Germany, Norway, Sweden and Canada promising the requested financing this year.
Pfizer Vaccines That Target Omicron Variant Pass First Step to Approval in Australia
Two vaccines that specifically target the Omicron variant have been granted “provisional determination” by Australia’s drugs regulator, the first step in the process of getting the vaccines approved for use.
It comes as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron drive a new wave of cases, prompting premiers to warn of increasing hospitalizations and deaths and renewed calls to the public to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces.
The surge in cases has put pressure on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (Atagi), which was meeting on Wednesday to consider whether fourth doses of existing vaccines should be recommended for the wider population as cases surge.
The Monkeypox Vaccine Underscores the Value of U.S. Investments in Preparedness
After living through the COVID-19 epidemic, many people around the world reacted to the sudden spread of monkeypox with understandable dismay. But while researchers and public health experts are still learning more about this outbreak, there is one critical distinction between monkeypox and COVID-19: a safe and effective vaccine has been ready and on the shelf from the start, thanks to a long-standing U.S. public-private partnership aimed at preparing for the worst biological threats, whether naturally occurring or deliberate.
The U.S. government’s engagement in the development of medical countermeasures began in earnest after the September 11 attacks on the United States. In September and October 2001, at least five envelopes containing spores of Bacillus anthracis, a species of bacteria, were mailed to the offices of U.S. senators in Washington, DC, and to journalists in New York and Boca Raton, Florida. These spores cause anthrax, a deadly disease. The resulting infections killed five people, including two postal workers, a hospital employee, a journalist, and a 94-year-old woman who was exposed to cross-contaminated mail.
The events of 9/11 largely overshadowed the anthrax attacks. But the realization that a deliberate biological attack had struck the country prompted the U.S. government to begin investing in creating and stockpiling vaccines and treatments for dangerous pathogens that posed a national security risk.
