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New Data Is out on COVID Vaccine Injury Claims. What’s to Make of It?

Reuters reported:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking a vast trove of data about the safety and side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, made a pledge in August.

The agency in court papers said that on or before Sept. 30, it would post on its website a “public use” set of data from about 10 million people who signed up for its “v-safe” program — a smartphone-based system that periodically sends people text messages and web surveys to monitor potential side effects from the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

But the CDC missed its deadline. A spokesperson cited a delay in “the technical and administrative processes” necessary to post on the agency’s website, but said it hopes to have the information up by late November or early December.

In the meantime, the CDC handed over the v-safe data (minus personal identifying information) to the plaintiff in the FOIA case, the Informed Consent Action Network, or ICAN, a Texas-based nonprofit that says it opposes “medical coercion” in favor of individual healthcare choices.

ICAN crunched the numbers on its own and came up with some statistics that its lawyer says appear to be “alarming.” According to ICAN, 7.7% of the v-safe users — 782,913 people — reported seeking medical attention via a telehealth appointment, urgent care clinic, emergency room intervention or hospitalization following a COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID Treatment Paxlovid Can Interact With Common Heart Medications, Doctors Warn

CNN Health reported:

COVID-19 patients with a history of cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk of developing severe illness and could benefit most from the COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid — but there’s a catch.

Paxlovid can have dangerous interactions with some of the most common medications for cardiovascular disease, including certain statins and heart failure therapies, a new paper warns.

The review paper, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, lists dozens of cardiovascular medications and whether they are safe to give along with Paxlovid or whether they could have interactions.

The review paper says that interactions between Paxlovid and certain blood thinners can cause an increased risk of bleeding. Interactions between Paxlovid and some cholesterol medications such as statins can be toxic to the liver, and interactions between Paxlovid and certain blood pressure medications could cause low blood pressure, flushing and swelling.

‘No F***Ing Evidence’: Russell Brand Blasts Biden, Pfizer After Exec Admits COVID Vaccine Was Never Tested to Stop Transmission

The Daily Wire reported:

Podcaster Russell Brand blasted President Joe Biden and Pfizer after a top executive with the company admitted they “never tested transmission efficacy” of their COVID vaccine in the trials.

During Rumble’s “Stay Free with Russell Brand” podcast Wednesday, the host opened the show by pointing out that Janine Small, Pfizer’s president of international developed markets, testified before the European Union Parliament and admitted the company “never even trialed the vaccine” to test its efficacy to stop the spread of COVID “before it entered the market.”

“Isn’t that the most extraordinary thing,” Brand said. “After for a couple of years, hearing that if you’re an unvaccinated person you are irresponsible. I believe Joe Biden for example said this is a ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated.’”

Brand then questioned if others were seeing the story on places like CNN and the BBC, and said one has to wonder why this isn’t news. Brand later dove deeper into to the story, playing a clip of the Pfizer executive laughing as she admitted it wasn’t tested because they had to “move at the speed of science.”

A New COVID Surge Could Hit the U.S. Soon Following European Wave

TODAY reported:

Europe is already entering a new wave of COVID-19, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday from the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Control.

“We’ve seen with other waves or bumps that they often start in Europe and then come to the U.S.,” said Dr. Jennifer Lighter, pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone, adding that this usually happens within two to three weeks.

​​The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants still make up the majority of these cases, said Lighter, though other variants are cropping up around the world, such as BA2.75, which is more transmissible and less responsive to antivirals and vaccines. “We’re not really seeing the variant BA2.75 take hold yet,” said Lighter.

‘Zero Scent’: Could Negative Reviews of Smelly Candles Hint at a COVID Surge?

The Guardian reported:

Yankee Candle calls itself “America’s favorite brand of premium scented candles”, and offers over 600 fragrances, like “Spiced pumpkin” and “Warm apple pie” designed to fill your living room with homey holiday vibes.

Days before Thanksgiving 2020, a Twitter user pointed out a sharp rise in negative reviews complaining the famously pungent candles had no smell. Could it be a hidden sign of the COVID wave, the user wondered? In total, the candles have well over 100,000 reviews on Amazon — a potentially rich trove of epidemiological data.

That off-the-cuff tweet led to a flood of jokes, but has since been validated by scholarly research: there is indeed a correlation between COVID cases and the number of reviews complaining that Yankee Candles don’t have a smell. In early 2022, the rise of negative reviews mirrored official case counts.

Pfizer: Early Trial Data Suggests Updated COVID Booster Protects Against Omicron

U.S. News & World Report reported:

The updated COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer showed a “substantial increase” in Omicron-neutralizing antibodies, according to early trial data from the company.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech reported on Thursday that the shots elicit more antibodies that fight the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 than the original coronavirus shot one week after the shots were administered. The shot was well tolerated with positive safety data similar to that of the original vaccine, according to Pfizer.

The updated shots from Pfizer and Moderna were granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in August before human trial data was available. The agency on Wednesday expanded the authorization to children as young as 5 years old.

The Biden administration has been pushing the updated shots ahead of an expected fall and winter COVID-19 surge. But fewer than 5% of the eligible population had gotten the booster by the end of last week, signaling that uptake of the vaccine could be an uphill battle.

Novavax Says COVID Booster Dose Shows Benefit Against Omicron Variants

Reuters reported:

Novavax Inc. (NVAX.O) said on Wednesday data from studies in adults and adolescents showed that the booster dose of its COVID vaccine produced robust antibodies against several Omicron variants, including BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5.

The data was from two studies — a late-stage study evaluating the booster in adults and adolescents who had received Novavax primary vaccination and another study testing it in those aged 18 to 49 who had received primary series of Novavax vaccine or other authorized or approved vaccines.

The company said ongoing trials are studying the efficacy of the vaccine against variants including BA.4 and BA.5.

Nearly Half of Long COVID Sufferers Still Haven’t Recovered Months Later

U.S. News & World Report reported:

Nearly one of every 20 people who had COVID still hasn’t recovered completely from their initial infection six to 18 months later, a new study shows, while another 42% say they have only recovered partially from their bout with the virus.

The study was launched in May 2021 to understand the long-term impact of COVID-19 infection by comparing it with the health and well-being of people who had not been infected.

Exactly what symptoms people with long COVID were experiencing were varied, but the condition had an impact on all aspects of daily life and reduced people’s overall quality of life. The most commonly reported symptoms were breathlessness, chest pain, palpitations and brain fog.

In Drawn-out Recovery, NYC Inches out From COVID’s Shadow

Associated Press reported:

As kids returned to school last month, people watching New York City pull itself out of COVID-19′s shadow wondered whether workers who fled Manhattan’s office towers during the pandemic would finally return in a rush, too.

More workers did return to their offices, at least part time, as the summer ended, limited data suggests. But the onset of autumn has also made it clearer than ever that the recovery will be drawn out, and that some aspects of the city’s economic ecosystem could be changed for good.

“The pandemic (is) almost done, nobody uses a mask now, and you can go to the subway and the bus without masks, and people still don’t come,” said Emad Ahmed, 58, who for more than two decades has worked in lower Manhattan, running his food cart on a plaza near Wall Street and the World Trade Center. It’s “absolutely not like before.”

A survey of Manhattan companies put out by the Partnership for New York City last month found that on an average day, just under half of Manhattan office workers were in their offices as of the beginning of September. But when it comes to being back in the office full time, only 9% of workers were, with the largest group, 37%, in for three days a week. Sixteen percent of workers were still completely remote.

Indonesia Launches Its First Home-Grown COVID Vaccines

Associated Press reported:

Indonesia’s leader launched the country’s first home-grown COVID-19 shot Thursday to help reduce the world’s fourth most populous nation’s dependency on imported vaccines.

President Joko Widodo announced the vaccine brand, IndoVac, as a new milestone of Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry that will manufacture primary series vaccines, booster vaccines and vaccines for children, which have been in development since November 2021.

“From now on, we can produce our own COVID-19 vaccine,” Widodo said in an unveiling ceremony in West Java’s Bandung city. “And so we have independence in vaccine matters.”

WHO Calls for More International Aid to Prevent Ebola From Spreading Beyond Uganda

CNBC reported:

The World Health Organization is working with Uganda to prevent a deadly Ebola outbreak in the East African nation from spreading to neighboring nations, the global health agency’s chief said on Wednesday.

Health authorities in Uganda have identified 74 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola across five districts, according to the WHO. At least 39 people have died from the disease and 14 others have recovered from the disease. More than 660 people who were possibly exposed to the virus are under active follow-up.

The CDC issued an alert last week telling local health departments and physicians to be on the lookout for patients who have symptoms. Healthcare professionals should obtain detailed travel histories from patients suspected of having the disease, particularly those who have been in the affected areas of Uganda. The U.K. Health Security Agency has issued a similar alert in Britain.