Tag: pandemic

Study Finds Greater Antibody Response In Recovered COVID-19 Patients Than Vaccinated Ones

A new study has found that individuals that have previously contracted COVID-19 show a more potent antibody response than those who were solely vaccinated for the respiratory virus.

Conducted by a research team at Rockefeller University in New York, the analysis found “that between a first (prime) and second (booster) shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, the memory B cells of infection-naïve individuals produced antibodies that evolved increased neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2,” but also that “no additional increase in the potency or breadth of this activity was observed thereafter.”

Meanwhile, researchers determined that not only do recovered COVID-19 patients possess neutralizing antibodies up to a year after infection, but that such infection simultaneously assists in offering protection against developing variants.

“Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection produces B-cell responses that continue to evolve for at least one year,” the study read. “During that time, memory B cells express increasingly broad and potent antibodies that are resistant to mutations found in variants of concern.”

The analysis later goes on to conclude, “Memory antibodies selected over time by natural infection have greater potency and breadth than antibodies elicited by vaccination.”

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Heart disorders after Covid-19 vaccines more common than CDC reported

The potentially serious heart disorders of pericarditis, inflammation of the heart’s surrounding membrane; and myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, are happening after Covid-19 vaccination substantially more often than previously reported.

That’s according to new research led by Dr. George Diaz, Section of Infectious Diseases, Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Everett, Washington; published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Diaz and his co-authors reviewed electronic medical hospital records of more than 2 million people who received at least one Covid-19 vaccination. They found 37 cases of vaccine-related pericarditis and 20 cases of vaccine-related myocarditis. That’s still “rare,” but far more than what was expected had Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) numbers from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) been accurate.

According to CDC, myocarditis was reported to the VAERSS at a rate of about 4.8 cases per million, or less than 1/2 per 100,000 (.48 per 100,000). The disorder was reportedly lumped in together with pericarditis in the VAERS reporting analyzed by CDC.

But the new analysis unearthed a rate of 1.8 per 100,000 people for pericarditis and 1 in 100,000 for myocarditis. That’s a combined rate that’s more five times higher than thought: 2.8 people per 100,000 rather than 1/2 per 100,000.

The information seems to confirm what scientists have long said has long been well-established: there is a significant underreporting of adverse event reports to the federal VAERS system. Therefore, each report of an illness is presumed to be more prevalent than what’s documented through VAERS.

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LA City Council members propose requiring at least one vaccine dose in order to enter indoor establishments

Two members of the Los Angeles City Council are pushing for a requirement that people get at least one vaccine dose in order to enter indoor establishments.

LA City Council President Nury Martinez and Council Member Mitch O’Farrell introduced the motion on Wednesday.

A portion of the motion that Martinez shared on social media declares: “I THEREFORE MOVE, that the City Council instruct the City Attorney to prepare and present an ordinance that would require eligible individuals to have received at least one dose of vaccination to enter indoor spaces, including but not limited to, restaurants, bars, retail establishments, fitness centers, spas, and entertainment centers such as stadiums, concert venues, and movie theaters.”

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Some people who refuse to get vaccinated may not be eligible to receive unemployment benefits

KHOU’s Mia Salenetri says that generally speaking, people fired for refusing required vaccines — including the new COVID-19 vaccine — can be denied unemployment benefits in some cases.

“Some who refuse [shots] may be looking forward to the support of unemployment benefits while they look for a new job that doesn’t require vaccines. But for many of them, that might not be an option,” Salenetri writes.

“Major corporations like Disney and Walmart say they will require COVID-19 vaccines for some employees,” Salenetri writes. “In general, those fired for refusing can’t get unemployment.”

According to representatives at The Seltzer Law Firm and The Employment Law Group, in most areas of the country, if you are fired for breaking company policy — in the cases of Disney, Walmart, Google, and more refusing to provide proof of required vaccines — you are not eligible for unemployment payments.

Employment Attorney John T. Harrington told Salenetri that “[e]ven something as simple as a dress code” violation is considered company insubordination.

“It’s misconduct, and it would likely disqualify you from receiving unemployment benefits,” Harrington warned, and pointed out that in some cases, the only way to get around it is to provide a valid medical or religious exemption, which are determined with employers only on a case-by-case basis.

“We have received numerous inquiries from clients and potential clients about how courts are likely to view these situations,” he added. “We’ve been advising them that if you have one of these two valid reasons to believe that you should be exempt from a vaccination requirement, you should assert them. But otherwise, companies are entitled to require that employees be vaccinated.”

The report notes that if a company’s vaccination policy is made clear to employees — as well as the repercussions of flouting the policy — and the employee still refuses, “the disqualification [for UC benefits] is the same as if they had broken any other company rule.”

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Former Obama Official Demands ‘a No-Fly List for Unvaccinated Adults’

Former Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security under President Obama Juliette Kayyem called Tuesday for the Biden administration to restrict the unvaccinated from flying by placing them on a no-fly list.

Kayyem claimed in the Atlantic that “a no-fly list for unvaccinated adults is an obvious step that the federal government should take” due to TSA PreCheck, which “divide[s] passengers into categories according to how much of a threat the government thinks they pose.”

At the time of publication, the headline for the piece echoed this line, stating bluntly: “Unvaccinated People Belong on the No-Fly List.” The headline has since been changed to a more ambiguous sentence: “Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden.”

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One Rule For Us… Google Co-Founder Allowed To Enter Country With Closed Border While Others, Including Citizens, Were Blocked

Billionaire Google Co-founder Larry Page, who has been isolating from the rest of the world by buying remote Fijian islands, was granted access to enter New Zealand, while practically everyone else was barred from entering the country, it has emerged.

Page reportedly sought medical treatment for his twelve year old son earlier this year in the country’s capital Aukland.

While even New Zealand citizens and permanent residents of the country were barred from entering without facing a raft of restrictions, including  spending two weeks at a government quarantine facility, Page was allowed to just walk right in.

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