(The Conversation) As an emergency medicine and critical care doctor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, I’ve lost count of the number of COVID-19 surges since the U.S. pandemic began in Seattle in February 2020. But this one feels different. The patients are younger. They have fewer preexisting medical conditions. And at my hospital, over 95% of these hospitalized patients share one common feature: They’re unvaccinated.
While I’m grateful to see news of the FDA’s recent full approval of one of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, the science has been clear in my mind for quite some time. mRNA vaccines, first developed over nearly 50 years, are nothing short of a miracle of science designed for situations just like a respiratory virus pandemic. The vaccines are the most effective tool we have to prevent severe illness and hospitalization and protect our precious health care resources. Some of my colleagues just published a study showing exactly this.
Of course, every medical treatment has risks and potential side effects, but we’ve witnessed the world’s largest vaccine trial, with more than 200 million people in the U.S. receiving at least one dose. Doctors can confidently say that vaccine side effects are rare and generally mild, and rumors about vaccines altering DNA or causing infertility are completely unfounded, with no scientific basis.
But I also have sympathy for those who fell victim to disinformation. Too many times I’ve been asked by a family member of a dying patient with COVID-19 if it was too late for the vaccine. Too many times, I’ve had to say yes. The next question is often, “Is there anything else that can be done?” Too often, the answer is no.
Alabama schools report 13,000 COVID-19 cases in two-week period
Source: The Hill
Alabama schools reported 13,000 coronavirus cases in a two-week period on Friday, according to data from the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama State Department of Education. The number could be higher, because only 84 of the 143 school districts have reported their data, according to the dashboard.
Alabama does not have a statewide school mask mandate in place, but 90 percent of schools have chosen to implement a mask mandate on their own, according to The Associated Press. Children aged 5-16 have accounted for 21 percent of new coronavirus cases in the state over the past weeks, with the delta variant overloading the state’s health care system.
Superintendent Eric Mackey highlighted the number of cases from schools on Thursday during an event with the Medical Association in Alabama. “We had dozens of students sent home on the first day of school, and then more and more,” Mackey said. “Now we have scores of campuses that are closed to in-person instruction.”
Mackey stated that schools are trying their hardest to stay open after students scored poorly on standardized tests scores in 2020. “They are going to be significantly down across the board,” he said, according to AP. “That’s what we expected. It’s what we predicted, and we hope that we can turn that around this year.”
WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named 'Mu'
Source: AFP
The World Health Organization has said it is monitoring a new coronavirus variant known as "Mu", which was first identified in Colombia in January 2021.
Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, has been classified as a "variant of interest", the global health body said Tuesday in its weekly pandemic bulletin.
The WHO said the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines and stressed that further studies were needed to better understand it.
"The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape," the bulletin said.
U.S. hits 40 million Covid cases as Delta variant spreads
Source: NBC News
The United States logged 40 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, as the fourth wave brought on by the delta variant continues to spread throughout the country.
The country has recorded 40,000,070 cases and 651,690 deaths, according to the latest NBC News tally. On Sunday, the U.S. recorded 35,355 news cases and 279 deaths.
The milestone comes as almost more than 207 million people have received their first dose and more than 175 million people have been fully vaccinated.
There has been a slow uptick in vaccination rates since July, but still no state or territory has passed the 70 percent fully vaccinated threshold among its population, and the country is nowhere close to its peak in April of more than 3 million people getting a shot each day.
Fauci Says Covid Boosters Likely to Start With Pfizer Shot Only
Source: Bloomberg
President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said U.S. booster shots against Covid-19 are likely to start only with the vaccine by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, while the Moderna Inc. shot may be delayed. “The bottom line is very likely at least part of the plan will be implemented, but ultimately the entire plan will be,” Anthony Fauci said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Fauci’s comments may lead to more clarity on the administration’s stance after Biden ran into resistance by medical experts who advise U.S. regulators over what they view as political interference in the review process. While Biden has set a Sept. 20 target for kicking off the booster campaign, safety and efficacy data require signoff by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Top medical officials, including CDC head Rochelle Walensky, warned the White House last week that regulators may only be able to act on the Pfizer shot, and possibly for just some groups of people, in the coming weeks, the New York Times has reported. Fauci said Moderna “is getting their data together” and may have submitted it by now. Any delay for Moderna would be “a couple of weeks -- if any,” he said. The company said Friday it had completed its submission to U.S. regulators.
Israel Has More Vaccinated But Just Doubled Daily COVID Infection Peak
September 3, 2021 by Brian Wang
Israel has 63% of its people vaccinated versus 53% in the USA but Israel doubled daily COVID infections peak. Israel also has about 20% of its population with booster shots.
Israel had over 20,000 daily COVID infections versus their old 10,000 peak.
15 Miami-Dade educators die from COVID-19 in 10 days
Source: NBC-2 TV Ft Myers, Fla
Fifteen staffers of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools District have died from COVID-19 in the past 10 days, officials said.
Sonia Diaz, a spokesperson for several unions in the school district, confirmed the number of deaths to affiliate NBC6.
One of the educators that lost their life to COVID-19 was Abe Coleman, a teacher for more than 30 years. “It’s a tremendous loss. The number of lives that he impacted are countless. So many young men had the benefit of him intervening in their lives and pointing them in the right direction,” said Marcus Bright, with 5000 Role Models of Excellence.
Coleman was also a mentor and Site Director for the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Program, overseeing the Holmes Elementary location. He helped shape the lives of hundreds of young men over the years in the organization that mentors minority men in Miami-Dade County.
Officials haven’t released the identities of the other teachers or staff members, and a Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokesperson said the district doesn’t release the cause of death for employees or students.
(Baptist News) The most-read article on Baptist News Global’s website for the month of August was about religious exemptions to employer and school mandates on COVID-19 vaccines. That article was accessed nearly 50,000 times in two weeks and continues to be read thousands of times daily.
This mirrors national interest as vaccine deniers seek ways to justify their decisions and employers and school administrators seek ways to understand what’s legal.
Although most labor laws are federal in scope, most vaccine requirements — or bans on requirements — come from the state level. This creates an uneven patchwork of regulations based largely on which political party controls the state legislature and the governor’s office.
The website Ballotpedia is tracking this. It reports that 20 states, all with Republican governors, prohibit proof-of-vaccination requirements by any business or school. In 11 of those states, governors banned proof-of-vaccination requirements through executive orders. In nine of those states, legislators passed laws banning proof-of-vaccination requirements.
Only four states — California, New York, Hawaii and Oregon — have created digital vaccination status applications or exempt fully vaccinated individuals from some COVID-19 restrictions if they can provide proof of vaccination, Ballotpedia reports. All four of those states have Democratic governors
