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About 3 in 4 Pregnant Women in US Unvaccinated Against COVID-19
Most pregnant women in the U.S. have yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As of Aug. 21, about 3 in 4 pregnant women aged 18-49 were unvaccinated, or in other words, 23.9% overall received at least one dose, per data from the agency’s Vaccine Safety Datalink. Vaccination coverage was reported lowest among Hispanic/Latina (19.2%) and Black pregnant women (11.7%), with higher coverage reported among Asian (35.2%) and White pregnant women (26.6%).
“Vaccination among pregnant people remains low,” the health agency wrote in part in the COVID Data Tracker weekly update on Aug. 20. “This low uptake persists despite recent increases in COVID-19 cases in pregnant people.”
Not Vaccinated Against COVID? It’s About to Get Very Expensive
“People can get enormous bills for this and it is going to wreak havoc on the health systems trying to collect that money,” said Ray Berry, founder and CEO of Health Business Solutions, a consulting group that works with hospitals and insurance companies.
“Anyone who has gotten COVID up until this point will not have paid, anything but that will sure change in the next month or two. I believe it will change quicker than some people might think.”
Having SARS-CoV-2 Once Confers Much Greater Immunity Than a Vaccine — but no Infection Parties, Please
The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a “Don’t try this at home” label. The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19.
The study demonstrates the power of the human immune system, but infectious disease experts emphasized that this vaccine and others for COVID-19 nonetheless remain highly protective against severe disease and death. And they caution that intentional infection among unvaccinated people would be extremely risky. “What we don’t want people to say is: ‘All right, I should go out and get infected, I should have an infection party.’” says Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University who researches the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and was not involved in the study. “Because somebody could die.”
Virus Symptoms Can Last a Year, Study Finds
One year after becoming ill with the coronavirus, nearly half of patients in a large new study were still experiencing at least one lingering health symptom, adding to evidence that recovery from COVID-19 can be arduous and that the multifaceted condition known as “long COVID” can last for months.
The study, published Thursday in the journal The Lancet, is believed to be the largest to date in which patients were evaluated one year after being hospitalized for COVID. It involved 1,276 patients admitted to Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, who were discharged between Jan. 7 and May 29, 2020.
Going Against FDA Warnings, Arkansas Physician Gives Anti-Parasite Drug to Jail Inmates With COVID-19
A detention center in Washington County, Arkansas, has been using the anti-parasite drug ivermectin to treat inmates who have COVID-19, local officials say, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has specifically warned against it. The FDA says the drug, which is frequently used as a dewormer in animals, is not an approved or recommended treatment for COVID-19, and “can cause serious harm.”
Eva Madison, a county elected official, raised the issue during a finance and budget committee meeting Tuesday night. Jail officials were presenting their 2022 budget, which included the jail’s physician, Dr. Rob Karas, asking for a 10% increase in the medical services contract.
Madison informed committee members and the jail officials that a county employee, who has opted to stay anonymous to the public, told her that he had been sent to the jail’s clinic to get tested for COVID-19. When the person tested negative, they were given a $76 prescription for ivermectin. He was concerned about the prescription and asked his primary care physician about it, and the physician told him to “throw that in the trash,” Madison said.
Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray Reduces COVID-19 Viral Load by 95% Within 24 Hours: Study
A well known antimicrobial, Nitric Oxide, has been found to rapidly reduce SARS-CoV-2 viral load, knocking it down by 95% within 24 hours, and 99% within 72 hours, according to a recent study by researchers funded by England’s NHS foundation trust and SaNOtize Research & Development Corporation – a Canadian biotech company currently conducting Phase II trials of a nitric oxide nasal spray.
A group of 80 adults (18-70 years) with confirmed (Alpha strain) COVID-19 infections were divided into two groups, with half receiving nitric oxide nasal spray (NONS) that were self-administered 5-6 times daily for 9 days.
The goal of the nasal spray is to kill the virus present in the upper airways — preventing it from incubating and making its way to the lungs.
Washington Jail Offers Inmates Ramen Noodles for Vaccines
Staff at a jail in south-central Washington state have come up with an inexpensive, but effective, way to encourage inmates to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Since the first of the month the Benton County Jail has been giving away one of its most popular commissary items to inmates who sign up for their first COVID shot — ramen noodles, the Olympian reported.
By Monday, the jail will have given out 900 packets of noodle soup to 90 inmates, said Scott Souza, chief of corrections for the Benton County Corrections Department.
It’s advertised to inmates around the jail with fliers featuring a larger-than-life photo of the seasoned, wavy noodles and a headline that says SOUPS FOR SHOTS.
White House Says ‘Nothing Has Changed’ About 8-month Timeline For COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday that “nothing has changed” about the federal government’s decision to recommend COVID-19 booster shots to eligible Americans eight months after they are fully vaccinated, after President Biden relayed that his administration was looking into whether to get booster shots in arms of Americans sooner than that.
“Well let me be very clear. The President would rely on any guidance by the CDC and the FDA and his health and medical experts. That guidance continues to be eight months. That has not changed. So I want to be very clear on that. If they were to change their guidance based on data for any particular group, he would, of course, abide by that. But for people watching from home, for you all who are reporting this, nothing has changed about the eight-month timeline as it relates to boosters,” Psaki said during the White House press briefing.
