International [U.S COVID Vaccine News] CDC to Lift COVID-19 Testing Requirement for international Travelers

[Arkain2K]

'All the beds are taken up by Covid victims': Hospitals in the South are running out of space or staff
By Holly Yan and Aya Elamroussi | August 08, 2021

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Covid-19 hospitalizations are reaching all-time highs in parts of the South, with some patients unable to get the care they would normally receive.

Susan Walker has been calling out-of-state hospitals trying to get help for her husband, who did not get vaccinated against Covid-19 and is now in a medically induced coma.

"He is on a ventilator and in dire need of an ECMO treatment, which is not available at the hospital that he is in," the Florida mother said Sunday.

"All the beds are taken up by Covid victims also getting ECMO."

An ECMO treatment uses external machinery that can function as the heart and lungs. It's been used in some severely ill Covid-19 patients, including young adults.

"We have searched every hospital from the south of Florida to the north part of Florida" trying to find availability, Walker said.

"To transfer him to a hospital in Florida is next to impossible."

Across the country, states are struggling to fend off the Delta variant -- the most contagious strain of coronavirus yet.

But the situation in particularly worrisome in several Southern states.

Louisiana set a new record for Covid-19 hospitalizations last week.

Florida's hospitalizations recently jumped 13% above the state's previous peak on July 23, 2020, according to a survey by the Florida Hospital Association.

The FHA said it expects 60% of the state's hospitals to face a "critical staffing shortage" by this week.

And at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center, "We have no beds. The emergency department is full of patients just waiting to be able to get into the hospital," Chief of Staff Dr. Joseph Varon said Sunday morning.

"Over the last 12 hours, we have lost more patients than ... in the last five to six weeks."

More hospitalizations and deaths expected

The US now is averaging more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases every day -- the highest in almost six months, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Because it can take days or weeks for some Covid-19 cases to lead to hospitalization or death, doctors are bracing for an ugly repeat of scenes from 2020.

"It's bad. For me, this is a deja vu of what we had last year," Varon said.

"And the worst part about this is this was foreseeable. And this was preventable. So not only are (we) exhausted, we're annoyed. And we're annoyed because people are not doing the right thing."

The vast majority of those getting hospitalized with or dying from Covid-19 are not fully vaccinated, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week.

And Americans who have already had Covid-19 shouldn't assume they don't need a shot.

For adults previously infected with Covid-19, vaccines give better protection against reinfection than natural immunity on its own, according to a CDC study published Friday.

The study suggests people who got Covid-19 in 2020 and didn't get vaccinated were more than twice as likely to be reinfected in May or June 2021, compared with people who also had Covid-19 but were later fully vaccinated.

"If you have had Covid-19 before, please still get vaccinated," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday.

There is no minimum time to wait between recovering from Covid-19 and getting vaccinated, the CDC said.

"Getting the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and others around you, especially as the more contagious Delta variant spreads around the country," Walensky said.

Pediatric ICUs are getting overwhelmed

Almost half the country is not fully vaccinated, including children under 12 who are not yet eligible but are still vulnerable to Covid-19.

Scientists say the Delta variant is as contagious as chicken pox, with each infected person potentially infecting eight or nine other people.

Delta may also cause more severe disease than other strains of coronavirus, according to studies cited in an internal CDC presentation.

Now some hospitals are seeing younger Covid-19 patients than before.

"Something very scary now is happening in the Southern United States. We are seeing this massive surge of hospitalizations of young people that we've never seen before in hospitals across the South," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

"It's many, many young people, including, I'm sorry to say, many children's hospital admissions. And for the first time that I can remember, we're starting to see pediatric intensive care units get overwhelmed, which we never really saw before."

As of Tuesday, an average of 192 children with Covid-19 were admitted to US hospitals every day over the past week, CDC data shows.

That's a 45.7% increase from the previous week in daily new hospitalizations among Covid-19 patients ages 0 to 17.

In the Miami area, "our children's hospitals are completely overwhelmed," said Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University.

As of Friday, she said, Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami was at 116% occupancy.

"Our pediatricians, the nursing, the staff are exhausted. And the children are suffering," Marty said.

"It is absolutely devastating ... We've never seen numbers like this before."

Last week, Ava Amira Rivera -- an 11-month-old Covid-19 patient -- had to be airlifted to a Texas hospital 150 miles away because of a shortage of pediatric beds in the Houston area.

None of the major pediatric hospitals in the area had beds available, said Amanda Callaway, a spokeswoman for Harris Health System.

The baby's condition has since stabilized, and she is no longer intubated.

Long-haul Covid victim: 'I didn't think I fit the profile'

Quentin Bowen said he had scheduled an appointment to get vaccinated but had to cancel because of work.

The 41-year-old farmer from Nebraska said he assumed delaying his vaccination wasn't a big deal.

"I didn't think I fit the profile of who Covid (could) attack," Bowen said Saturday. "I was healthy. I was younger. And I was going to get (the vaccine). And I figured I'd been exposed to it before and never got it, so I thought I had time."

But Bowen fell sick with Covid-19 in May. He recalled going to the hospital and asking his friend to tell his kids he loved them.

"I knew I wasn't coming home that day. And I didn't know if I'd come home ever," Bowen said.

He survived a pulmonary embolism but is still struggling with complications three months later.

Bowen urged Americans to get vaccinated as soon as they can, when they still have the power to help preserve their health.

"Once you walk through the hospital door," he said, "it's all out of your hands."

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/08/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html

 

[Arkain2K]

There's a huge influx of regrets in the ICUs right now from the COVID patients who realized belatedly that they've fucked up, but I don't know if their words would make any difference for the people who have concluded that this pandemic is all one big hoax and the millions of COVID patients gasping for air in hospitals all across the world right now are actors paid by the nameless "them".

Here's just one story of many, and unfortunately the number of people like his needlessly and avoidable situation is still rising across our country, despite the doctors sounding the alarm for months now.
-----
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Unvaccinated dad records days of regret in hospital
By Jason Hanna | August 6, 2021​

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Between difficult breaths of supplemental oxygen, Travis Campbell is fighting to relay a message about his battle with Covid-19 in a Virginia hospital.

He really regrets not getting vaccinated. And while he hopes he's turned a corner, for a very scary stretch, he thought he needed to make arrangements in case he died.

The father of several children has been in a hospital in Bristol since late July, and has been recording a video diary of sorts from his room, documenting a startling roller coaster of declines and improvement.

"I messed up big time, guys," he said through an oxygen mask in one video posted to Facebook on Wednesday. "I didn't get the vaccine ... I made a mistake, I admit it."

In his first couple videos in July, he was describing his illness in full, uninterrupted sentences. By July 31, he was talking only a few words at a time between strained breaths.

By Tuesday, he was lying in bed, struggling to talk about whether he and his wife would let hospital staff put him on a ventilator if needed.

That night appeared to be his darkest yet, because by Wednesday, he was recalling a difficult thought that came to him: He might not live to see his 19-year-old daughter's wedding, whenever it comes.

"I had to make a phone call (Tuesday night) to my 14-year-old son ... and I had to ask for his permission that if I didn't come home, that he would give my daughter away" on her wedding day, Campbell said in Wednesday's video.

Why he says he didn't get vaccinated

In two interviews with CNN from his hospital bed this week, Campbell and his wife, Kellie, detailed how coronavirus impacted their family this summer -- and why they had initially chosen not to get vaccinated.

Virginia, like the rest of the US, has seen coronavirus cases spike as the highly contagious Delta variant became dominant in the country.

Kellie Campbell and their children contracted the virus -- and all but one had symptoms, including cough, fever and dizziness.

"We're all on the mend," Kellie told CNN's Don Lemon on Thursday night. "We didn't have as severe symptoms as Travis."

Lemon asked Travis Campbell why the family was not vaccinated.

"In early 2020, our daughter's basketball team, they all got sick. They had the same symptoms as Covid," Campbell answered. "So when Covid came up, everybody kind of automatically assumed that we had already had" the disease.

When cases declined this spring, "we just thought we had beat our odds," he said.
He didn't clarify whether he'd confirmed they'd contracted the disease in 2020. In any case, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people be vaccinated regardless of whether they'd already had the disease.

And on Friday, the CDC published a study suggesting that people who got Covid-19 in 2020 and didn't get a Covid-19 vaccine were more than twice as likely to be reinfected in May or June 2021, compared with people who also had Covid-19 but were later fully vaccinated.

Also influencing his decision: The Campbells live in a rural part of Virginia, so he didn't feel like they interacted with enough people to put them at enough risk to decide to get vaccinated.

He regrets the decision now -- and urges others to get the shots.

"I can't breathe. I'm drowning. I feel like I'm a fish out of water," Campbell told Lemon on Thursday.

"It was my fault," he said. "I should have took my kids and my wife and went ahead and got vaccinated anyway. But I'm paying the price.

"And I just tell everybody and anybody: If you're on the fence, I want you to take a very sharp evaluation of what your life means to you. And go get vaccinated, please, please."

His daughter says he's proud of him for his message

Travis Campbell was generally saying up to five words between breaths on Thursday night. When he talked to CNN the next morning, he could sometimes stretch that a little longer.

"I feel like I got another chance, and I hope that's the case," he told CNN's "New Day" on Friday.

As for the daughter whose wedding he worried he'd miss, she said hearing him talk about that was heart-wrenching.

"You never want to hear your dad talk about not being there for those big moments in your life," Madison Campbell told CNN in a live video interview from home.

"I just want to let him know how proud I am of him," she said. "I think him going on Facebook, making those videos, it's making a difference; it's saving lives," she said. "I couldn't love (him) more."

Travis Campbell, listening from his hospital bed, reacted tearfully and said he was grateful for his children.

"Vaccinations are so important, and I can do better as a parent, as a human, and I hope to God everybody else can, too," he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/health/coronavirus-virginia-travis-campbell-vaccine-regret/index.html

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Queen B]

'All the beds are taken up by Covid victims': Hospitals in the South are running out of space or staff
By Holly Yan and Aya Elamroussi | August 08, 2021

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https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/08/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html

Arkansas ranks third in the country for new virus cases per capita, according to numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The state’s cases have been skyrocketing in recent weeks, fueled by the delta variant of the virus and the state’s low vaccination rate.

Only about 37% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated against the virus.

The state’s COVID-19 surge has been straining resources at hospitals around the state.

“The staff is working multiple overtime shifts and they’re worn out,” state Human Services Secretary Cindy Gillespie told a legislative panel that approved using $129 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to aid hospitals.

 

[Queen B]

'All the beds are taken up by Covid victims': Hospitals in the South are running out of space or staff
By Holly Yan and Aya Elamroussi | August 08, 2021

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https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/08/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html

Add Texas to the list in South

 

[Arkain2K]

Weekly Recap:

 

[ShadowRun]

I wonder if the FDA approval process will be rushed and guaranteed with the way politics are treating the vaccine?

I got the vax but all of this is so politicized.

 

[Loiosh]

Here's a video by a YouTube doctor I really like (when he talks about the medicine).

He discusses and explains the Myocarditis scare from a couple of months ago, and then talk about things to consider when deciding on vaccinating yourself or your family.

 

[ShadowRun]

Add Texas to the list in South

For the fourth day, Louisiana set new coronavirus hospitalization records. The state Department of Health reported 2,421 people were in hospitals around the state with COVID-19, more than eight times the number hospitalized at the start of July
https://apnews.com/article/health-louisiana-coronavirus-pandemic-5b43f484b25c9ff11e44a2bc0c7ba904

 

[scoopj]

Here's a video by a YouTube doctor I really like (when he talks about the medicine).

He discusses and explains the Myocarditis scare from a couple of months ago, and then talk about things to consider when deciding on vaccinating yourself or your family.

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Arkain2K]

FBI warns about penalties for making, using fake CDC vaccination cards
By Catherine Ross and Nexstar

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – As more businesses, schools and cities begin to require the COVID-19 vaccine, reports are surfacing of fraudsters making, selling and using fake vaccination cards.

This spring, the FBI warned about false vaccination cards for sale that were circulating online. In July, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a "naturopathic doctor" in Northern California. The agency said the "doctor" gave patients false vaccine cards and homeopathic remedies claiming they would help the body fight off COVID-19.

The DOJ said that misrepresenting the official seal of a U.S. agency, like the CDC logo on vaccine cards, could be a violation of federal law. Violators could face up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine.

Local health officials are encouraging people to take care of their paper vaccine cards, which is currently the best proof of vaccination against the virus.

With more than 600 colleges and universities now requiring proof of COVID-19 inoculations, an online industry has sprung up offering fake vaccine cards. The easy access to fake documents has set off alarms at some schools where officials worry that unvaccinated students with forged credentials might cause an outbreak.

Dozens of students interviewed by The Associated Press said they were aware of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, though none admitted to actually using one. On the dark web, sellers on websites such as Counterfeit Center, Jimmy Black Market and Buy Express Documents list COVID-19 vaccine cards, certificates and passports for sale, some costing €400 Euros or about $473 in U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, some states, businesses and schools are creating their own verification services, like apps, digital passports or certificates, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

https://www.woodtv.com/covid-19-vac...ng-using-fake-covid-19-vaccination-cards/amp/

 

[shockaholic12]

Work for network TV and deal with many powerful unions who have successfully fought off vaccine mandates on set. As soon as this FDA approval comes down the mandate come as well and the union reps are accepting they can’t do anything about it.

think many businesses and industries will follow suit. If people are under the assumption their employers will shell out money for expensive testing of unvaxxed for much longer, I think they have a rude awakening coming.

 

[Queen B]

Work for network TV and deal with many powerful unions who have successfully fought off vaccine mandates on set. As soon as this FDA approval comes down the mandate come as well and the union reps are accepting they can’t do anything about it.

think many businesses and industries will follow suit. If people are under the assumption their employers will shell out money for expensive testing of unvaxxed for much longer, I think they have a rude awakening coming.

My company too.

A lot of companies are. Dr Gottlieb predicted this

 

[jeremyemilio]

Florida didnt get hit hard until summer, and that couldve been avoided

Well, yes, that's the narrative. I'm saying the numbers don't back it up a lot.

Florida got hit pretty hard in summer of 2020, while other states (like Michigan) didn't, and then those other states did all of the things that Florida could've done to "avoid" getting hit hard, and still got hit harder, later, and have had more deaths than Florida per capita despite Florida's higher population density and higher average age.

That's not easily explained and also makes the piling on of criticism onto Florida make very little sense. They're number 25 out of 50 in mortality rate, despite having a lot of things going against them (as I said, population density and age, not to mention widespread vaccine hesitancy). So how do they become the poster child of what not to do, rather than a whole lot of other states that have had worse results?

It really is strange unless you're just determined to judge based on inputs rather than outputs. That's the epitome of cognitive dissonance anti-data sort of thought, though.

 

[Arkain2K]

Great post and should be mandatory reading for everyone in here who has a lot of questions. Sally, I don't think they will read it.

Bottom line is that the vaccines showed in both studies to be ~90% effective in preventing serious illness from the delta variant. That's good news. The facts that it also prevents any symptoms, and by that perhaps infection, in ~40% as a low end and ~80% as a high end isn't bad news either. Still, more research is needed.

It does appears that those who are still asking elementary questions don't actually want to read the answers, or able to comprehend them.

Here's the result for the new real-world study from the Mayo clinic comparing Pfizer to Moderna between Jan and July, for those who CAN read and likes scientific research data.

Both are excellent at preventing against severe infections and hospitalization, but one is clearly better at preventing mild infections than the other in July, after Delta became the dominant strain. There will be a follow-up to see if that has to do with each vaccine's durability over time, or efficacy against Delta, or both.

Side note: Mayo's numbers for Pfizer matches up almost exactly with the numbers coming out of Israel rather than the U.K, which makes sense since Israel follow the same dosing regimen as we do, while the U.K does not.
_____

Pfizer's vaccine could be less effective against mild infections than Moderna's, though both vaccines help prevent serious illness or death
By Ashley Collman | Aug 12, 2021​

Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine might not be as good at preventing mild infections of the Delta variant as Moderna's, according to a new preprint from the Mayo Clinic and the analytics company Nference.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, tracked the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines between January and July. All vaccines can protect against severe COVID-19 infections and death, even in the face of the Delta variant, but the data on the vaccines' efficacy has been mixed.

The study used PCR testing data from the Mayo Clinic Health System's sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, and Iowa, to look for breakthrough coronavirus cases among 35,902 people fully vaccinated with Moderna and 37,573 people fully vaccinated with Pfizer. Some 40% of the people in the study were also over 65 years old.

Over the course of the study in Minnesota, Moderna's vaccine was found to be 86% effective against a COVID-19 infection while Pfizer's was 76% effective. Both were also highly effective against hospitalization (Moderna 91.6%, Pfizer 85%), ICU admission (Moderna 93.3%, Pfizer 87%), and death from COVID-19 (no cases found).

But what has caused concern is the data from July, when the Delta variant became the dominant strain in the US and accounted for more than 70% of cases in Minnesota.

During that month in Minnesota, Pfizer's effectiveness against mild COVID-19 infection dropped to 42%, while Moderna's dropped less dramatically to 76%.

It was not clear whether or how many of those breakthrough infections were of the Delta variant because the researchers did not sequence the breakthrough cases to see if they were caused by Delta.

The study also did not say whether the drop in effectiveness is due to vaccines losing their potency over time or because they aren't as effective against Delta, or a combination of both. It's possible the study's results might not hold up in other locations or situations, and the authors said additional research is needed.

Venky Soundararajan, a lead author of the study, told Axios he believes it's a combination of both but said his team is planning a follow-up study to answer these questions.

"The Moderna vaccine is likely — very likely — more effective than the Pfizer vaccine in areas where Delta is the dominant strain, and the Pfizer vaccine appears to have a lower durability of effectiveness," Soundararajan told Axios.

Still, both vaccines appeared to remain highly effective (over 90%) at preventing severe illness.

The researchers concluded that “our observational study highlights that while both mRNA COVID-19 vaccines strongly protect against infection and severe disease, further evaluation of mechanisms underlying differences in their effectiveness such as dosing regimens and vaccine composition are warranted.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/pfi...d-when-delta-became-dominant-study-2021-8?amp

 

[Queen B]

Here's the result for the new real-world study from the Mayo clinic comparing Pfizer to Moderna between Jan and July, for those who likes scientific research data.

Both are excellent at preventing against severe infections and hospitalization (over 90%), but one is clearly better at preventing mild infections than the other after Delta became the dominant strain.

Side note: Their numbers for Pfizer matches up almost exactly with the numbers coming out of Israel, which makes perfect sense since Israel follow the same dosing regimen as we do.
_____

Pfizer's vaccine could be less effective against mild infections than Moderna's, though both vaccines help prevent serious illness or death
By Ashley Collman | Aug 12, 2021​

Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine might not be as good at preventing mild infections of the Delta variant as Moderna's, according to a new preprint from the Mayo Clinic and the analytics company Nference.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, tracked the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines between January and July. All vaccines can protect against severe COVID-19 infections and death, even in the face of the Delta variant, but the data on the vaccines' efficacy has been mixed.

The study used PCR testing data from the Mayo Clinic Health System's sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, and Iowa, to look for breakthrough coronavirus cases among 35,902 people fully vaccinated with Moderna and 37,573 people fully vaccinated with Pfizer. Some 40% of the people in the study were also over 65 years old.

Over the course of the study in Minnesota, Moderna's vaccine was found to be 86% effective against a COVID-19 infection while Pfizer's was 76% effective. Both were also highly effective against hospitalization (Moderna 91.6%, Pfizer 85%), ICU admission (Moderna 93.3%, Pfizer 87%), and death from COVID-19 (no cases found).

But what has caused concern is the data from July, when the Delta variant became the dominant strain in the US and accounted for more than 70% of cases in Minnesota.

During that month in Minnesota, Pfizer's effectiveness against mild COVID-19 infection dropped to 42%, while Moderna's dropped less dramatically to 76%.

It was not clear whether or how many of those breakthrough infections were of the Delta variant because the researchers did not sequence the breakthrough cases to see if they were caused by Delta.

The study also did not say whether the drop in effectiveness is due to vaccines losing their potency over time or because they aren't as effective against Delta, or a combination of both. It's possible the study's results might not hold up in other locations or situations, and the authors said additional research is needed.

Venky Soundararajan, a lead author of the study, told Axios he believes it's a combination of both but said his team is planning a follow-up study to answer these questions.

"The Moderna vaccine is likely — very likely — more effective than the Pfizer vaccine in areas where Delta is the dominant strain, and the Pfizer vaccine appears to have a lower durability of effectiveness," Soundararajan told Axios.

Still, both vaccines appeared to remain highly effective (over 90%) at preventing severe illness.

The researchers concluded that “our observational study highlights that while both mRNA COVID-19 vaccines strongly protect against infection and severe disease, further evaluation of mechanisms underlying differences in their effectiveness such as dosing regimens and vaccine composition are warranted.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/pfi...d-when-delta-became-dominant-study-2021-8?amp

Most experts think its because Pfizer was given out way before Moderna at least 3 months or so for the general population. They need to check to see when the new hospitalized patients were vaccinated

 

[Arkain2K]

Most experts think its because Pfizer was given out way before Moderna at least 3 months or so for the general population. They need to check to see when the new hospitalized patients were vaccinated

Perhaps. We'll have a clearer answer after Mayo Clinic do their follow-up.

Personally, I think Moderna's higher 100 micrograms dosage and longer 4 weeks interval versus Pfizer's 30 micrograms in 3 weeks may have something to do with it, and Durability (waning effectiveness) doesn't seem to be an issue since Pfizer's is still extremely effective against severe infections and hospitalization 6 months later.

Keep in mind that in multiple European countries, Pfizer seems to be even more effective when the dosing interval is lengthened beyond the standard 3 weeks. That's definitely something that Pfizer should have looked into as well, rather than trying to grab more money by pushing for third shots to everyone (rather than only the immunocompromised).

Spacing Pfizer COVID shots doubles antibody levels in long-term study
Reuters | July 23, 2021​

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - A longer gap between doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine leads to higher overall antibody levels than a shorter gap, a British study found on Friday, but antibody levels are not sustained for long after the first dose.

The study might help inform vaccination strategies against the Delta variant, which reduces the effectiveness of a first dose of the vaccine even though two doses are still protective, and one author said that Britain's eight-week gap was a "sweet spot" against Delta. read more

The authors emphasised that either dosing schedule produced a strong antibody and T-cell response in the study of 503 healthcare workers.

"For the longer dosing interval ... neutralising antibody levels against the Delta variant were poorly induced after a single dose, and not maintained during the interval before the second dose," the authors of the study, which is being led by the University of Oxford, said.

"Following two vaccine doses, neutralising antibody levels were twice as high after the longer dosing interval compared with the shorter dosing interval."

Neutralising antibodies are thought to play an important role in immunity against the coronavirus, but are not the whole picture, with T-cells also playing a part.

The study found overall T-cell levels were 1.6 times lower with a long gap compared with the short dosing interval of 3-4 weeks, but that a higher proportion were "helper" T-cells, which support long-term immune memory, with the long gap.

"While we tend to emphasise neutralising antibodies as a measure of the immune response ... cellular immunity, which is harder to measure, is also likely to be very important," said Peter English, former chair of the BMA Public Health Medicine Committee.

The findings, issued as a pre-print, support the view that, while a second dose is needed to provide full protection against Delta, delaying that dose might provide more durable immunity, even if it is at the cost of protection in the short-term.

Last December, Britain extended the interval between vaccine doses to 12 weeks, although Pfizer warned there was no evidence to support a move away from a three-week gap.

Britain now recommends an eight-week gap between vaccine doses to give more people high protection against Delta more quickly, while still maximising immune responses in the longer term.

"I think the eight-week (interval) is about the sweet spot," Susanna Dunachie, joint chief investigator on the study, told reporters.

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...y-levels-after-initial-drop-study-2021-07-22/

 

[cottagecheesefan]

Lots of COVID threads, figured this is good one to post in since TS is a champ.

Very telling that pretty much every comment is fuck you Arnold, even on a liberal platform like IG. Just look at the comments.

 

[Arkain2K]

FDA Authorizes 3rd COVID-19 Dose For Certain Immunocompromised Patients
August 13, 2021


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The Food and Drug Administration is authorizing an additional dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for certain people with weakened immune systems caused either by disease, medical treatments or organ transplants.

The move comes after studies have shown these people may not have sufficient immunity to head off the more serious complications of COVID-19 after the standard vaccine regimen.

Late Thursday night, the FDA amended the emergency use authorizations for both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to allow for an additional dose for certain immunocompromised people, specifically, solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise. The CDC estimates the population to be less than 3% of adults.

"The country has entered yet another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," said acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, noting that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk for severe disease. "After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small, vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Vaccines," Woodcock said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is convening a meeting of its immunization advisory committee Friday to consider the scientific evidence supporting the FDA's action and whether to recommend the additional dose for these people. The committee will also evaluate more broadly the need for a booster for people who are not immunocompromised.

Some countries have already started administering an additional dose to seniors, based on studies showing a decline in immunity over time. The committee is not scheduled to take any action on the broader question of boosters for the general population.

At a White House briefing Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said there is a need for boosters for these people whose immune systems do not produce a strong response to the regular vaccine regimen. And while he believes that boosters will ultimately be needed for the general population, that time has not arrived.

"We believe sooner or later you will need a booster for durability of protection," he said. "But right at this moment, apart from the immunocompromised ... we do not believe that others, elderly or nonelderly, who are not immunocompromised need [another dose of] vaccine right at this moment."

He emphasized that the government was preparing for that need and would be "ready to do that and do it expeditiously." At the same time, with millions of people around the globe still waiting for their first dose, the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots to help make vaccine distribution more equitable.

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027296490/fda-authorizes-third-covid-dose-immunocompromised

 

[Arkain2K]

Not really breaking-news: schools can continue to have their immunization requirements, like they've always had since the Smallpox epidemic.

Supreme Court declines to block Indiana University's COVID-19 vaccine mandate
By KRISTINE PHILLIPS AND JOHN FRITZE | USA TODAY


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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate at Indiana University, clearing the way for school officials to require students and faculty members to be vaccinated.

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a request from Indiana University students for emergency relief. The case is the first challenge to a vaccine mandate during the coronavirus pandemic.

The appeal arrived at the nation's highest court as a growing number of employers, restaurants and schools, responding to a rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant, are requiring vaccinations. Slightly less than 40% of the country's adult population is not fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The students filed the emergency appeal last week, asking the justices to block enforcement of the university’s requirement, which they said violates their constitutional right to bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment.

The Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld the requirement in a decision earlier this month, citing a 1905 Supreme Court precedent that allowed Massachusetts to impose a penalty on those who declined smallpox vaccinations.

"People who do not want to be vaccinated may go elsewhere," 7th Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook said in the decision siding with a lower court ruling that also refused to block the mandate.

Easterbrook added that the university would have trouble operating if students were afraid that those around them were spreading disease.

"With a third ruling, now from the nation’s highest court, affirming Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, we look forward to beginning fall semester with our health and safety policies in place. We are grateful to those who have stepped up to protect themselves and others," Indiana University said in a statement.

The school said 85% of its students, faculty and staff are approaching full vaccination.

James Bopp, who represents the students, said they're "disappointed" that Barrett "refused to intervene and protect" the students' rights.

"IU students are adults entitled to make medical treatment decisions for themselves, unless IU can prove in court that their COVID vaccine mandate is justified, which they have not done and that the courts have not required them to do," Bopp said.

Bopp also suggested the students would continue their legal challenge to the university's vaccine policy, saying their "fight is not over."

Indiana’s public university said in May that students and faculty would be required to take the vaccine to attend classes in person this fall, with exceptions for religious objections, medical conditions – such as allergies – and those enrolled in an online-only program.

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/8115997002