Axios -
May 12, 2021
The Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday released a study showing that 99.75% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between Jan. 1 and April 13 were not fully vaccinated, according to data provided to Axios. … The study also looked at 47,000 Cleveland Clinic employees who had received one shot, both shots or no shots at all. The Cleveland Clinic found that 99.7% of its employees who were infected with the coronavirus were not vaccinated, and 0.3% of infections occurred in those who were fully vaccinated.
CBS News -
May 12, 2021
Data from Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine trials in children aged 2 years and older could be available as early as this fall, Pfizer's Senior Vice President of Vaccine Clinical Research and Development Dr. William Gruber said, possibly paving the way for use before the end of 2022. The drugmaker is also conducting clinical trials on their vaccine for babies aged 6 months and older.
HealthDay -
May 12, 2021
Neurological problems are occurring in a very high percentage of hospitalized COVID-19 patients — and what's worse, those symptoms foretell a bad end for many sufferers, a new study finds. About four out of five people sick enough to be hospitalized for COVID-19 suffer some sort of neurological problem, ranging from headache and a loss of sense of smell to confusion, delirium, stroke and coma, researchers report. Even worse, COVID-19 patients who have diagnosed neurological symptoms associated with their infection are six times more likely to never leave the hospital.
Fox News -
May 12, 2021
The CDC is "closely monitoring" a coronavirus variant first identified in India, a spokesperson told Fox News. The WHO on Monday elevated the B.1.617 strain from a 'variant to interest,' to a 'variant to concern,' citing early studies suggesting increased transmissibility. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, said during a press conference that the B.1.617 variant appeared to spread more readily in preliminary studies released ahead of peer review.
ABC News -
May 12, 2021
U.S. employers posted a record number of available jobs in March, illustrating starkly the desperation of businesses trying to find new workers as the country emerges from the pandemic and the economy expands. Yet total job gains increased only modestly, according to a Labor Department report issued Tuesday. The figures follow an April jobs report last week that was far weaker than expected, largely because companies appear unable to find the workers they need, even with the unemployment rate elevated at 6.1%.
AP -
May 11, 2021
U.S. regulators on Monday expanded the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12, offering a way to protect the nation’s adolescents before they head back to school in the fall and paving the way for them to return to more normal activities. Shots could begin as soon as a federal vaccine advisory committee issues recommendations for using the two-dose vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds. An announcement is expected Wednesday. … Pfizer’s vaccine is being used in multiple countries for teens as young as 16, and Canada recently became the first to expand use to 12 and up.
CNN -
May 11, 2021
The biotechnology company Novavax now plans to apply for emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine in the US in the third quarter of this year, CEO Stanley Erck told CNN in a phone interview on Monday. The American biotech firm previously announced plans to apply in the second quarter, but a delay in getting manufacturing data involving quality, consistency, and stability tests for manufacturing and storage of vaccine has pushed back the timeline, Erck said.
CNN -
May 11, 2021
According to an analysis done May 4 for CNN by VaccineFinder, 78.8% of people in the United States live within 5 miles of locations that offer all three vaccines. … VaccineFinder powers Vaccines.gov, the federal government website where you can search for Covid-19 vaccines by ZIP code. Searches there show particularly easy access to all three vaccines for people who live in big cities, but even those who live in small towns have a choice of all three, although sometimes it might mean a bit of a drive.
The New York Times -
May 11, 2021
Federal health officials on Friday updated public guidance about how the coronavirus spreads, emphasizing that transmission occurs by inhaling very fine respiratory droplets and aerosolized particles, as well as through contact with sprayed droplets or touching contaminated hands to one’s mouth, nose or eyes. The CDC now states explicitly — in large, bold lettering — that airborne virus can be inhaled even when one is more than six feet away from an infected individual. The new language, posted online, is a change from the agency’s previous position that most infections were acquired through “close contact, not airborne transmission.”
HealthDay -
May 11, 2021
The rate of in-hospital mortality is lower for pregnant versus nonpregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19 and viral pneumonia, according to a research letter published online May 11 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. … The researchers found that in-hospital death occurred in 0.8 and 3.5 percent of pregnant and nonpregnant patients, respectively, hospitalized with COVID-19 and viral pneumonia.
HealthDay -
May 11, 2021
Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen doesn't make COVID-19 worse or more deadly, a new study finds. … In the study, 30% of the more than 4,200 patients who had taken NSAIDs before being hospitalized died, while 31% of 68,000 patients who had not taken NSAIDs did. …The report was published May 7 in the journal The Lancet Rheumatology.
Los Angeles Times -
May 11, 2021
Los Angeles County could reach herd immunity from the coronavirus among adults and the oldest teenagers by mid- to late July, public health officials said Monday. ... With about 400,000 shots administered weekly, the county has about 2 million first doses to go before 80% of all residents 16 and older will have received at least one shot…
Kaiser Health News -
May 11, 2021
Educators across the country say their top priority right now isn’t doubling down on math or reading — it’s helping students manage pandemic-driven stress. … To reestablish relationships in the classroom — and help kids cope with the stress and trauma of the past year — mental health experts say educators can start by building in time every day, for every student, in every classroom to share their feelings and learn the basics of naming and managing their emotions.
Wall Street Journal -
May 10, 2021
Biden administration officials said Sunday that the U.S. is entering a new phase of the pandemic in which many vaccinated Americans can begin returning to normal activities and signaled that the federal government will further relax mask-wearing recommendations as more people get shots. “I would say we are turning the corner,” Jeff Zients, President Biden’s Covid-19 coordinator, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” The administration said last week it is focused on helping hesitant and hard-to-reach Americans get shots, with a goal of having 70% of the adult population receive at least one dose by July 4.
AP -
May 10, 2021
States asked the federal government this week to withhold staggering amounts of COVID-19 vaccine amid plummeting demand for the shots, contributing to a growing U.S. stockpile of doses. From South Carolina to Washington, states are requesting the Biden administration send them only a fraction of what’s been allocated to them. The turned-down vaccines amount to hundreds of thousands of doses this week alone, providing a stark illustration of the problem of vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.
NPR -
May 10, 2021
In the early months of the vaccination campaign, Internet access was essential to the search for a vaccination appointment. But given that more than 14 million people in the U.S. lack reliable access to high speed Internet, technology has been a barrier for some Americans. To help overcome this digital divide, the Biden administration has launched a new vaccination assistance hotline for people who would prefer to get information via telephone.