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Teen Denied Kidney Transplant Because She’s Not Vaccinated for COVID, Say Parents
Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday morning to discuss the dire medical dilemma their family is facing, the parents of a teenage girl who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 revealed that their daughter has been unable to move forward with the kidney transplant she needs at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
Chrissy Hicks, the mom of 14-year-old Yulia Hicks, recounted her exchange about the issue with a medical official. “I said, ‘So basically you’re telling us if she does not get the vaccine, then she’s not getting a transplant,'” Chrissy Hicks said. “And [the medical employee] said, ‘Yes, that is the one thing that is holding us up.’”
Chrissy and Lee Hicks of North Carolina adopted their daughter Yulia from Ukraine nearly two years ago. The girl suffers from a rare degenerative kidney condition known as Senior Loken Syndrome, which requires a transplant, according to reports. Though she is not vaccinated against COVID, she has had the coronavirus — so the parents believe she’s protected by natural immunities.
Chrissy Hicks also said on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” “We have retained a lawyer … to help us fight Duke [Hospital].”
Many hospital systems around the country either recommend or require that patients on transplant lists be fully vaccinated prior to transplantation.
Amid Pathetic Uptake, FDA Green Lights Confusing COVID Vaccine Update for Kids <5
The Food and Drug Administration has greenlit updated COVID-19 vaccine doses for children under the age of 5, but the change to the authorized vaccination regimens is far from straightforward. This may further hamstring efforts to vaccinate the youngest Americans, which are already off to an abysmal start.
After months of availability, only about 3% of infants and toddlers 6 months to 2 years old have completed a primary series. Just 6.5% have gotten at least one shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For those aged 2 to 4 years, just under 5% have completed a primary series, with 9% having gotten at least one dose.
This week’s update “won’t have a lot of real-world impact,” Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, told the Washington Post Thursday. “It’s like arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.”
China’s Top Medical Advisor Says Omicron No More Dangerous Than the Flu
About a year ago, the nation was on the verge of another lockdown when a tidal wave of Omicron infections prompted those who use masks alone … in their car … with their windows down, to hyperventilate that COVID is about to kill several million more Americans, and anyone who suggested that this was nothing more than the flu was promptly suspended from Twitter most likely by this guy, er gal: Melissa Ingle.
So it was with great shock that we read today that once again, all those “conspiracy theorists” were dead on: according to Chinese officials, who have continued to downplay the risks of COVID-19 as the country’s idiotic COVID-zero restrictions are further eased after the economy ground to a halt following two years of lockdowns, with a top medical adviser saying the fatality rate from the Omicron variant of the virus is in line with influenza.
The death rate from Omicron is around 0.1%, similar to the common flu, and the infection rarely reaches the lungs, Zhong Nanshan was quoted in an interview with the state news agency Xinhua. Most people recover from the variant within seven to 10 days, he said.
Zhong’s comments follow the government’s latest line on the coronavirus, which — two weeks after sporadic violent protests nearly sunk the Xi regime — has been suddenly talking down the disease’s dangers as China moves toward exiting its COVID-zero policy.
Study Finds Prejudice Against COVID Unvaccinated Around the World
People who have received COVID-19 vaccines express discriminatory attitudes toward unvaccinated people, a new study of over 15,000 citizens of 21 countries across the world suggests.
To measure COVID-19 vaccination status-based prejudice, researchers asked some 15,233 people how they feel if close relatives of theirs are going to marry a vaccinated or unvaccinated person — a question that has long been used in surveys on discrimination along racial, ethnic or partisan lines.
Across six countries — Germany, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa and the United Kingdom — selected to represent both affluent Western and developing non-Western nations, the unvaccinated were found to be disliked among vaccinated people (14 percentage points) as much as people with drug addiction (15 percentage points), and significantly more so than people who had been in prison (10 percentage points), atheists (7 percentage points) or people with mental illness (6 percentage points).
By contrast, researchers found that the unvaccinated respondents on average showed almost no discriminatory attitudes toward the vaccinated.
Book About ‘War on Ivermectin’ Distributed by Major Publishing House — ‘Infuriating to See Misinformation Mongers Being Taken Seriously’
Pierre Kory, MD, one of the most vocal proponents of ivermectin for COVID-19, has the support of Simon & Schuster, with the leading publishing house slated to distribute his upcoming book, which claims the widely discredited drug “saved millions.”
Slated for release in February 2023, The War on Ivermectin: The Medicine That Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the COVID Pandemic, documents the critical care physician’s efforts to push for ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment protocols, and what he calls a corrupt and concerted effort from the medical establishment to deny its efficacy.
Omicron Subvariants That More Easily Dodge Immunity Are Causing More Than 70% of U.S. Infections
The most immune-evasive Omicron subvariants yet are now causing more than 70% of new infections in the U.S., as millions of Americans prepare to travel and gather with family for the holidays.
The BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants taken together are now responsible for 68% of new cases, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The XBB subvariant is causing 4.7% of new COVID infections.
Scientists, in several independent studies, have described the BQ and XBB subvariants as more adept at evading immunity from vaccination and infection than prior versions of the virus.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Another COVID Surge
Here we go again: For the first time in several months, another wave seems to be on the horizon in the United States. In the past two weeks, reported cases have increased by 53%, and hospitalizations have risen by 31%. Virus levels in wastewater, which can provide an advance warning of spread, are following a similar trajectory.
Winter has ushered in some of the pandemic’s worst moments. Last year, Omicron’s unwanted arrival led to a level of mass infection across the country that we had not previously seen. The good news this year is that the current rise will almost certainly not be as bad as last year’s.
But beyond that, experts told me, we don’t know much about what will happen next. We could be in for any type of surge — big or small, long or short, national or regional. The only certain thing is that cases and hospitalizations are rising, and that’s not good.
Biden’s Potential First Veto
House Republicans may soon force President Biden to issue his first veto — over a measure to terminate the national emergency declaration for COVID.
Why it matters: The emergency declaration has served as the basis for the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan and also allows for increased flexibilities for health insurance and Medicaid.
What we’re hearing: Once they officially retake the House majority, Republicans plan to hold a vote on a joint resolution that would rescind the emergency declaration, senior GOP aides said.
The other side: Biden said months ago that the pandemic is over — but the White House said last month Biden would veto the resolution if it came to his desk.
China Finally Approves an mRNA COVID Vaccine — but Only for Some Foreigners
Two years after the first countries approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine for domestic use, China will finally allow the mRNA vaccine to be used domestically — but there’s a catch.
On Friday, China confirmed in a press briefing that it would let German nationals receive the BioNTech COVID vaccine, which uses mRNA technology, in exchange for German health authorities on Wednesday approving China’s Sinovac jab for Chinese nationals living in Germany.
The statement from China’s foreign ministry clarifies an earlier announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his trip to Beijing that BioNTech would be made available to foreign nationals in China.
But Beijing’s decision to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for a sliver of China’s population highlights the country’s uneasy relationship with mRNA vaccines and shots developed overseas as Beijing embarks on an exit from its tough COVID-zero policy, which will likely cause a massive outbreak.
