Tag: covid-19

CDC Investigation

Today we begin with an investigation regarding the Covid-19 vaccine shortages. There are serious questions about an incorrect claim made by top scientists at CDC: the nation’s premiere public health institute. Critics call it misinformation. CDC chalks it up to an “honest mistake.” Whatever it is, it resulted in vaccines going to some who are said to need it the least depriving others who are said to need it the most.

Like a lot of Americans, Congressman Thomas Massie already had coronavirus and wanted to know if he should still get a Covid vaccine.

Most everyone who’s had Covid-19 is considered immune. But how long immunity lasts is unknown—whether it’s after infection or vaccination.

An award-winning scientist himself, Massie quickly found that vaccine studies showed no benefit to people who’ve had coronavirus. Vaccination didn’t change their odds of getting reinfected.

The controversy began when Massie noticed the CDC was claiming the exact opposite.

Keep reading

Twelve dead and 51 infected in care home Covid outbreak

Twelve people have died following a coronavirus outbreak at a care home that had administered the first round of vaccine.

Thirty residents and a further 21 staff members have also tested positive for Covid-19 at West Park Care Home in Leslie, Fife.

NHS Fife’s health protection team and the Fife health and social care partnership have joined forces with the council’s environmental health service to support the home’s management to reduce further transmission of the deadly virus.

The health board said visiting has been suspended and the care home has been closed to new admissions.

Keep reading

CDC says travelers must wear masks on all forms of public transportation

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an order late Friday that will require people to wear a face mask while using any form of public transportation, including buses, trains, taxis, airplanes, boats, subways or ride-share vehicles while traveling into, within and out of the US.The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Monday.Masks must be worn while waiting, boarding, traveling and disembarking, it said. The coverings need to be at least two or more layers of breathable fabric secured to the head with ties, ear loops or elastic bands — and scarves and bandanas do not count, the order says.People can remove their masks briefly to eat, drink or take medication; verify their identity to law enforcement or transportation officials; communicate with hearing impaired people; don an oxygen mask on an aircraft; or during a medical emergency, the CDC’s website says.The CDC said it reserves the right to enforce the order through criminal penalties, but it “strongly encourages and anticipates widespread voluntary compliance” and expects support from other federal agencies to implement the order.

Keep reading

Playing favorites? Hospital boards, donors get COVID shots

While millions of Americans wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors around the country have gotten early access to the scarce drug or offers for vaccinations, raising complaints about favoritism tainting decisions about who gets inoculated and when.

In Rhode Island, Attorney General Peter Neronha opened an inquiry after reports that two hospital systems offered their board members vaccinations. A Seattle-area hospital system was rebuked by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee after it offered COVID-19 vaccination appointments to major donors. And in Kansas, members of a hospital board received vaccinations during the first phase of the state’s rollout, which was intended for people at greater risk for infection.

Hospitals in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia also have faced questions about distributing vaccines, including to donors, trustees and relatives of executives.

The disclosures could threaten public confidence in a national rollout already marked by vaccine shortages, appointment logjams and inconsistent standards state to state for determining who’s eligible.

Keep reading

Rep. Stephen Lynch Tests Positive for COVID-19

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Friday.

Lynch, who had already received both doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, was tested for the virus after a staff member in his Boston office tested positive earlier in the week. The congressman received his positive test Friday afternoon.

Lynch’s office says that he did continue to follow COVID-19 safety protocols, such as social distancing and wearing a mask, even after receiving the vaccine.

A statement from Pfizer said that it can take seven days for protection from the second dose to kick in. However, the statement from Lynch’s office said the congressman received the second dose vaccine before attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, nine days before his positive test.

Lynch, who represents the state’s 8th Congressional District, also tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the inauguration.

Keep reading

COVID-19: Life won’t return to normal for at least two years, expert warns, saying pandemic ‘isn’t over until it’s over globally’

Life globally will not return to normal for two or three years based on the rate of the current vaccination rollout, it has been warned – but there are early signs jabs are reducing cases in the UK.

Speaking to Sky News, Dr Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at London School of Economics, said the COVID-19 pandemic will not be over until the world’s population is protected.

“At the moment, the data is showing it’s going to be 2023/24 before the global vaccines are distributed to everybody,” she said.

“That’s a long time. And distributing some now might be able to get us back to normal life sooner.”

Keep reading

Germany recommends AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot only for under 65s

“There are currently insufficient data available to assess the vaccine efficacy from 65 years of age,” the committee, also known as Stiko, said in a draft resolution made available by the German health ministry on Thursday.

“The AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike the mRNA vaccines, should only be offered to people aged 18-64 years at each stage,” it added.

Stiko’s assessment was based on the same trial data published by medical journal The Lancet on Dec 8.

The European Union approved a vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in late December, and gave the green light to a shot made by Moderna in early January.

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Keep reading

Norway May Refine Vaccine Strategy After Elderly Deaths, PM Says

The Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, says her country may fine-tune the vaccination of its oldest, sickest citizens as it tries to make sense of a recent spate of deaths.

Having weathered the pandemic better than most, Norway suddenly made international headlines this month after revealing that more than 30 people — all over 70 and all already sick — died not long after being vaccinated against Covid-19. Solberg says the intense global interest in the news was “exaggerated” as she tries to ensure the development doesn’t put people off inoculation.

“We don’t believe there’s any problem with the safety of the vaccines,” Solberg said in an interview with Bloomberg Live that aired on Tuesday. “But we will maybe not give them to the most vulnerable of the elderly, because that might speed up a process where they were what we would say at the end of life phase anyway,” so, “that probably is not what we will continue to do.”

Keep reading