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Long Island Woman Accused of Giving Teen COVID Vaccine Inside Her Home Without Permission
A Long Island woman is under arrest after allegedly giving a COVID vaccine to a teen without permission.
According to detectives, Laura Parker Russo, 54, gave an injection of what is believed to be a COVID vaccine to a 17-year-old boy inside her home in Sea Cliff. The teen then went home and told his mother what happened. His mother had not given permission or authority to have her son receive the vaccine and immediately called police.
After an investigation, officials discovered that Russo is not a medical professional or authorized to administer vaccines. Russo was then placed under arrest, and is charged with unauthorized practice of a profession.
FDA Expands Pfizer Boosters for More Teens as Omicron Surges
The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the Omicron surge, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12.
Boosters already are recommended for everyone 16 and older, and federal regulators on Monday decided they’re also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds once enough time has passed since their last dose.
But the move, coming as classes restart after the holidays, isn’t the final step. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must decide whether to recommend boosters for the younger teens. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, is expected to rule later this week.
The FDA also said everyone 12 and older eligible for a booster can get one as early as five months after their last dose rather than six months.
CDC to Reconsider Latest Guidance Amid Backlash, Rise in Cases
A decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week to cut isolation time in half, from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic COVID-19, was met with backlash after officials said it was due in part to allow people to return to work faster. It came one week after some companies, including Delta Air Lines, wrote to the CDC requesting such a change.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, said the CDC was looking into amending its isolation guidelines nearly one week after it updated its latest guidance, which did not require a negative test before the five days were up.
“There has been some concern about why we don’t ask people at that five-day period to get tested. That is something that is now under consideration,” Fauci said.
When Three Shots Are Not Enough
Ms. Stacey Ricks, 49, a kidney transplant recipient who takes immune suppressing medication, didn’t develop antibodies after her first two Moderna shots.
In June, without disclosing she already had received the Moderna shots, she got a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine before federal health officials had approved anyone for a third shot.
Getting her fourth and fifth shots was trickier. Armed with a doctor’s note explaining that she hadn’t developed antibodies, Ms. Ricks convinced a pharmacist to give her two doses of the Pfizer vaccine over the summer.
Rhode Island Defends Using COVID-Positive Staff Over Unvaccinated Healthcare Workers
The Rhode Island Department of Health stands by the decision to allow COVID-positive healthcare workers to return to their jobs instead of rehiring unvaccinated workers who were terminated because of their inoculation status.
Updated quarantine and isolation guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Health allows employees to continue working at hospitals and nursing homes without restrictions if the facility is so short-staffed it’s a safety hazard for patients and residents.
The updated guidance sparked some criticism after healthcare workers were placed on unpaid leave for not getting vaccinated, with critics questioning if lifting the mandate would be a better solution to staffing shortages.
COVID Is Rampant Among Deer, Research Shows
Humans have infected wild deer with COVID-19 in a handful of states, and there’s evidence that the coronavirus has been spreading among deer, according to recent studies that outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic.
Scientists swabbed the nostrils of white-tailed deer in Ohio and found evidence that humans had spread the coronavirus to deer at least six times, according to a study published last month in Nature.
The research suggests that the coronavirus could be taking hold in a free-ranging species that numbers about 30 million in the U.S. No cases of COVID spread from deer to human have been reported, but it’s possible, scientists say.
A New Coronavirus Vaccine Heading to India Was Developed by a Small Team in Texas. It Expects Nothing in Return.
For some vaccine developers, the coronavirus pandemic has had a silver lining in billions of dollars in profits. But a new vaccine rolling out soon in India is taking the opposite approach: Its developers are getting zilch.
“We’re not trying to make money,” said Peter Hotez of the Texas Children’s Hospital’s Center for Vaccine Development. “We just want to see people get vaccinated.”
On Tuesday, the Indian government granted emergency approval to a vaccine manufactured by the Hyderabad-based company Biological E. This “second generation” coronavirus vaccine was developed by Hotez and his longtime collaborator Maria Elena Bottazzi. It was then licensed to Biological E. through a commercialization team at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where both developers also work.
Biological E. has ambitious plans to produce more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine in 2022. Hotez and Bottazzi won’t personally get a penny from it, but their employer Baylor College will get a fee.
New York Says It Will Prioritize Non-White People in Distributing Low Supply of COVID Treatments
The state of New York said it will prioritize non-White people in the distribution of COVID-19 treatments in short supply.
New York’s Department of Health released a document detailing its plan to distribute the treatments, such as monoclonal antibody treatment and antiviral pills.
The plan includes a section on eligibility for the scarce antiviral pills that people must meet to receive the treatment, including a line stating a person needs to have “a medical condition or other factors that increase their risk for severe illness.”
One such “risk factor” is being a race or ethnicity that is not White due to “longstanding systemic health and social inequities. Non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor, as longstanding systemic health and social inequities have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19,” the memo reads.
Back to School: Omicron Edition
Months after Delta threatened the fall back-to-school ritual, COVID-19 is again complicating kids’ return to the classroom.
While many of the nation’s school districts are moving ahead with in-person classes, more than 2,100 schools are expected to be closed or open only for remote instruction this week, according to the school tracking website Burbio.
As the U.S. gets back to business and school in the new year, Americans will be adjusting to increased testing, changing isolation protocols, and evolving views on the importance of mask quality.
Novavax Files COVID Vaccine Data With FDA
Novavax on Friday filed final data with the Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for a potential emergency approval.
The move was the last step for the Maryland-based biotechnology company to fulfill prerequisites for its protein-based vaccine, which is different than the other three vaccines approved in the U.S. from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
If all goes well, Novavax could seek emergency approval next month as the U.S. continues to prioritize booster shots amid a spike in confirmed coronavirus cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Avoid Cruise Travel as Omicron Cases Surge, Says U.S. CDC
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said people should avoid traveling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status, as daily COVID-19 cases in the country climb to record highs due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The move delivers another blow to the cruise industry that had just started returning to the seas in June after a months-long suspension of voyages caused by the pandemic.
The health agency has investigated and still probing into COVID-19 cases on more than 90 ships. It starts scrutiny if 0.10% or more passengers on guest voyages test positive for COVID-19.
COVID Outbreak Ends Cruise for Thousands on German Ship in Lisbon
The German operator of a cruise ship that has been stuck in Lisbon’s port due to an outbreak of the coronavirus among its crew pulled the plug on the voyage on Sunday after some passengers tested positive, port authorities said.
The AIDAnova, with 2,844 passengers and 1,353 crew onboard docked in Lisbon on Dec. 29 while en route to the island of Madeira for New Year’s Eve celebrations, but was unable to continue the journey after 52 cases of COVID-19 were detected among the fully-vaccinated crew.
Omicron ‘Plainly Milder’; New Measures Not Needed, UK’s Johnson Says
New measures are not needed now in Britain to fight the Omicron variant, which is “plainly milder” than earlier forms of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.
“The way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we are on,” he told broadcasters. “Of course we will keep all measures under review, but the mixture of things that we are doing at the moment is I think the right one.”
India Vaccinates 3.8 Million Teens in New COVID Inoculation Push
India vaccinated more than 3.8 million teens aged between 15 and 18 years on Monday, as the country expanded an inoculation effort to protect its large adolescent population ahead of a looming wave of coronavirus infections.
The teenagers, many wearing their uniforms, queued at schools and health centers across the country as health workers injected them with Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — the only COVID-19 vaccine so far approved by India for those below 18 years.
