Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

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No link between first trimester COVID-19 vaccination and birth defects – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

July 5, 2024

Milan Markovic / iStock

Maternal COVID-19 vaccination in the first trimester of pregnancy is not linked to major structural birth defects, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study was based on outcomes seen among women who received one or two mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses in the first trimester of pregnancy and gave birth from March 5, 2021, to January 25, 2022, at eight US study sites.

Among 42,156 eligible pregnant women, 7,632 (18.1%) received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in the first trimester. Of the 34524 pregnant women without a first-trimester COVID-19 vaccination, 2,045 (5.9%) were vaccinated before pregnancy, 13,494 (39.1%) during the second or third trimester, and 18,985 (55.0%) were unvaccinated.

Major structural birth defects occurred in 113 infants (1.48%) after first-trimester mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the authors said, and in 488 infants (1.41%) without first-trimester vaccine exposure. The adjusted prevalence ratio was 1.02 (95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 1.33).

Compared with unvaccinated pregnant women, those vaccinated in the first trimester were older (mean age, 32.3 years compared with 30.6 years).

No significant differences between infants vaccinated or unvaccinated in the first trimester were identified.

"In secondary analyses, with major structural birth defect outcomes grouped by organ system, no significant differences between infants vaccinated or unvaccinated in the first trimester were identified," the authors said.

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No link between first trimester COVID-19 vaccination and birth defects - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

If You Test Positive for Covid, Can You Still Travel? – The New York Times

July 5, 2024

As new coronavirus variants gain traction across the United States, summer travelers are facing a familiar and tiresome question: How will the ever-mutating virus affect travel plans?

In light of updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the answers may be slightly different from those in previous years.

Heres what to know about traveling this summer if youre worried about or think you might have Covid-19.

Recent C.D.C. data show that Covid infections are rising or most likely rising in more than 40 states. Hospitalization rates and deaths, while low compared with the peaks seen in previous years, are also on the rise.

The uptick is tied to a handful of variants named KP.2, KP.3 and LB.1 that now account for a majority of new cases.

At the same time, record numbers of people are expected to travel over July 4 and the holiday weekend.

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If You Test Positive for Covid, Can You Still Travel? - The New York Times

GSK To Spend Up to $1.56B for Rights to Potential COVID-19, Flu Vaccines – Investopedia

July 5, 2024

Key Takeaways

Drug maker GSK (GSK) agreed to pay up to $1.56 billion for the rights to develop, manufacture, and market COVID-19 and influenza vaccines being worked on incollaboration with German biotechnology company CureVac (CVAC).

GSK said CureVac would receive EUR400 million ($432 million) up front, and up to an additional EUR1.05 billion ($1.13 billion) in development, regulatory, and sales milestones.

The companies teamed up during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 to create mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases. GSK said its efforts have produced candidates for seasonal influenza and COVID-19 in phase II and avian influenza in phase I clinical development based on CureVacs mRNA technology. The updated deal means GSK will assume full control of developing and manufacturing these candidate vaccines," the company said.

CureVac shares initially rose on the announcement Wednesday, but dropped by 5% near closing in Independence Day holiday-shortened trading. The deal "puts us in a strong financial position and enables us to focus on efforts in building a strong R&D pipeline," said Chief Executive Officer Alexander Zehnder.

The news came a day after Moderna (MRNA) received a $176 million U.S. government grant to come up with a vaccine to prevent avian flu in humans.

GSK's American depositary receipts (ADRs) are up about 3.6% year-to-date. They were slightly higher at $38.40 near early closing on Wednesday.

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GSK To Spend Up to $1.56B for Rights to Potential COVID-19, Flu Vaccines - Investopedia

Booster shots may help immunocompromised people fight COVID – Baltimore Sun

July 5, 2024

For people who are the most susceptible to the damaging effects of the coronavirus, regular booster doses of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine can help them fight the virus, according to a new Johns Hopkins Medicine study.

In the study, published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Hopkins researchers worked with 76 people who had received solid organ transplants and take immunosuppressant medications to prevent their bodies from rejecting the transplants.

This group is among those most at risk of the worst effects of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death, and are especially endangered by the XBB.1.5 subvariant of the omicron strain, which is more transmissible than earlier COVID strains.

The research team found that an organ recipients ability to neutralize the XBB.1.5 subvariant wanes about three months following their first shot of a messenger RNA bivalent vaccine, which is designed to enhance immunity to a variety of COVID strains. However, the recipients immunity improved with a second booster to about the level it was after their first booster, researchers found.

This indicates that repeated boosting within six months may play a role in reducing infections, particularly among populations at highest risk, such as [solid organ transplant recipients], study senior author Dr. Andrew Karaba said in a news release Tuesday from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Karaba is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an infectious diseases expert with the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center.

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Booster shots may help immunocompromised people fight COVID - Baltimore Sun

Temperatures are rising and so are COVID-19 cases in Texas – NBC DFW

July 5, 2024

The summer wave of COVID-19 is here as many states, including Texas, see an uptick in cases.

The CDC estimates that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 44 U.S. states and territories, declining or likely declining in 1 state or territory, and stable or uncertain in 5 states and territoriesevidence that an anticipated summer wave is underway.

The latest data from the CDC indicates that COVID-19 activity continues to rise across the country. The data tracker shows Texas' current status as "growing."

Although the CDC no longer tracks COVID cases, it estimates transmission based on emergency department visits. Both COVID deaths and ED visits have risen in the last week. Hospitalizations also climbed 25% from May 26 to June 1, according to the latest data.

Dr. Ricky Williams is an ER Physician at Medical City, where the chief medical officer said more patients are being seen for the virus, especially at urgent care clinics.

Were experiencing a little bit of an uptick in our numbers, so somewhere between an uptick and a surge, said Williams.

Everyone is in close contact. Everyone is traveling. Plus, this is everyones vacation time as well, and the kids are home from school. So, all in all, its probably contributing to some of the uptick.

Get connected to a healthier life.

Earlier this year, the State Department of Health removed COVID-19 as a reportable condition, which means practitioners are no longer required to report positive cases. However, COVID trackers still exist, and the data is available.

Steven Love is President and CEO of DFW Hospital Council. He said, anecdotally, his conversations with physicians support the data. He said medical professionals are not ringing the alarm, though, since hospitalizations and mortality rates are still down.

Love said he understands that some people have grown weary of the COVID-19 discussion.

And I get that. I understand that. I appreciate that, he said. All were saying is, be vigilant during the holiday so we can keep the number of cases down.

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Temperatures are rising and so are COVID-19 cases in Texas - NBC DFW

New Covid-19 Vaccine: Updated CDC Guidelines for Fall 2024 – Prevention Magazine

July 5, 2024

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has new recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine. The government agency announced late last week that it is endorsing the new 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus.

The news comes as the U.S. appears to be in a summer COVID wave sparked by the FLiRT variants, KP.2, KP.3, and KP.1.1. Right now, CDC data show that ER visits due to COVID-19 are up a whopping 23% over the previous week, and deaths are up more than 14% from the week before. Unfortunately, cases are expected to surge again in the fall and winter, too.

In 2023, more than 916,300 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and more than 75,500 people died from the virus, according to the CDC. People need to realize that the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from this potentially lethal disease, says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York.

Meet the experts: William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York

CDC officials are also pushing for people to consider getting a flu vaccine at the same time. Our top recommendation for protecting yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated, CDC director Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., said in a statement. Make a plan now for you and your family to get both updated flu and COVID vaccines this fall, ahead of the respiratory virus season.

So, what are the new recommendations and whats in the COVID-19 vaccine this year? Heres the deal.

This years COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are pretty straightforward.

The CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, whether or not theyve received the vaccine in the past.

Updated COVID-19 vaccines will be rolled out from Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer, and the CDC says that the recommendations will go into effect as soon as the vaccines are available.

The formulation for the COVID-19 vaccines is the same as in the past. However, most of the vaccines will be tweaked to target the KP.2 lineage of the virus, which is heavily circulating now.

Thats a change from early June, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally recommended that vaccine makers target the JN.1 COVID-19 variant. JN.1 and its offshoots now cause just a small percentage of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., but KP.2 makes up nearly 21% of cases. (Its sister FLiRT variant KP.3 causes more than 33% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. right now.) However, the vaccine made by Novavax will target JN.1, given that it takes more time to make than the other.

Theres no official date right now for when the updated COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out, but it will likely be released in the fall.

While many Americans didnt get the last updated vaccine, doctors stress the importance of getting vaccinated this time around.

The CDCs advisory committee looked over the data very carefully and noted that there were still many very serious illnesses that sent peopleincluding childrento the hospital, says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. They made a careful assessment and found that getting the vaccine is much better than not getting the vaccine.

The recommendations are similar to what theyve been in the past, points out Dr. Russo. The recommendation will help those individuals at greatest risk, he says. But even if youre younger and healthier, your risk of getting seriously ill or even dying from COVID-19 is never zero.

Kids have historically been an under-vaccinated group, but Dr. Russo stresses that children are not bullet-proof and urges parents to vaccinate young children against COVID-19, too. Doing this will also indirectly protect vulnerable individuals they interact with, like grandparents, he says.

While having had COVID-19 recently may help offer some protection, Dr. Russo notes that almost everyone that has died from COVID in this past respiratory season was under-vaccinated.

People need to realize that immunity fades over time, Dr. Russo says. The virus has also evolved and the variants that are circulating now are more immune-evasive, making it important to be up to date on vaccinations.

Dr. Russo is hopeful that more people will get the COVID-19 vaccine this year compared to the last updated vaccine. Fingers crossed we do better, he says.

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Mens Health, Womens Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a masters degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.

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New Covid-19 Vaccine: Updated CDC Guidelines for Fall 2024 - Prevention Magazine

Cop Who Lied About COVID Vaccine Gets to Keep Her Job, NYPD Commissioner Caban Rules – THE CITY

July 5, 2024

In a departure from penalty guidelines, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban has ruled that a police officer in Brooklyn who lied to the departments Internal Affairs Bureau while under investigation for submitting two fake COVID vaccination cards can keep her job, NYPD documents show.

The determination was Cabans first deviation from the NYPDs so-called disciplinary matrix since he was named commissioner last July. That matrix determines that making false official statements should result in termination absent extraordinary circumstances.

His decision also ran counter to an NYPD administrative trial judges recommendation that the officer, Kimberly Lucas, should lose her job.

The disciplinary matrix provides presumed penalties for a range of misconduct, and police commissioners have been required to provide written explanations for any deviations from the penalty range since the NYPD adopted the matrix in January 2021.

There were 14 such deviations from the matrix before Caban, all of them toward lesser penalties than those prescribed, but six of which were in agreement with the watchdog Civilian Complaint Review Boards recommendation.

The strict repercussions for false statements in the matrix was largely the product of decades of pressure from a police oversight board, the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, which has been pushing the department to terminate police officers when they intentionally make false, material statements.

That push started as far back as 1996, when the commission wrote that routine lying by police officers was as equally devastating as major corruption scandals.

But the commission has repeatedly noted over the years that while the NYPD has talked tough about penalizing false statements, it hasnt followed through.

The Departments past practice of not seeking termination has not only minimized the seriousness of intentional lies but has, as a practical matter, incentivized officers to lie in hopes that even if their dishonesty is provable, they will still keep their jobs, the commission wrote in 2022, in a review of cases that preceded the adoption of the disciplinary matrix. This, in turn, results in an unacceptable number of cases in which officers lie when questioned.

In Cabans May 10 letter explaining his decision in the Lucas case, he cited her exemplary 9-year work history including favorable performance evaluations, no formal disciplinary history and accomplishments to enact a penalty of one-year probation and the loss of 85 vacation days. His ruling is final.

But Lucass employment record had already been factored into the recommendation of administrative trial judge Anne Stone, who said she should be allowed to retire rather than be terminated a distinction that generally results in a financial benefit.

Caban had been less accommodating in a decision he made earlier this year in an unrelated case where an officer with a stellar work history including serving in the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan faced termination for failing to appear for an IAB interview where he was the subject of investigation.

The administrative trial judge in that case also argued for leniency, based on the officers rave reviews from colleagues and the fact that the officers attorney had advised him not to attend the interview. But in that case, Caban insisted on termination, noting how seriously he takes the IAB investigative process.

The department is a paramilitary organization, and failure to obey and comply with questioning under official investigation undermines its ability to carry out its mission, Caban wrote on January 29.

The NYPDs press office didnt respond to questions about Cabans rulings in the two cases.

Lucas and her attorney, Stuart London, of the firm Worth, London & Martinez LLP, didnt respond to phone messages seeking comment.

As recounted in Stones administrative trial decision, Lucas said she was told by a captain in the 70th Precinct in the fall of 2021 that she would need to be vaccinated by a certain date or she would be put on unpaid leave.

Lucas would eventually tell investigators she went to the Asisa Community urgent care center in Brooklyn, where she had been previously tested for COVID-19, to get vaccinated. She said the receptionist asked her twice if she wanted the vaccine, but smirked the second time in a way that Lucas took to mean she could get a card without actually getting the vaccine, the decision papers say.

So Lucas smirked back, and was handed a piece of paper with a phone number on it. She was instructed to send her personal details by text and later got a message informing her she could pick up the card on Staten Island. Lucas uploaded the fake vaccination card into her NYPD personnel file.

Sometime later, she got a notice from internal affairs that she was the subject of a probe and was asked to bring her vaccination card to an interview on Dec. 7, 2021, according to Stones decision report.

Lucas had lost the fake card, so she obtained another one from the urgent care center to bring to the interview, which for some reason listed a different location for where she was vaccinated.

But Lucas had initially told IAB investigators a different story about her vaccination status, according to the administrative trial decision.

[She] told the investigators that she went to the urgent care, met with a doctor, was given the COVID-19 vaccine shot, and then waited in the lobby for fifteen minutes to ensure that there were no side effects, the decision says.

Lucas was interviewed again by IAB, but not until October 2022, when she admitted that she had lied to investigators previously. She also came clean at her administrative trial, where she pleaded guilty to intentionally providing a false statement and impeding an investigation, as well as two counts of conduct prejudicial for each of the fake vaccination cards.

At the trial, the NYPD prosecutor sought termination, based on the disciplinary matrix.

Lucass attorney asked Stone for a mitigated penalty of one-year probation and 60 days of lost vacation based on a number of factors, including her clean employment record and the fact that she was a single mom. Lucas also explained that she was scared to get the vaccine because her mom had a stroke within days of getting vaccinated, and that she had lied about it in order to keep her job.

Stone said she was sympathetic to those factors, and argued for a mitigated penalty of forced retirement, with vestment, based on Lucass strong employment record.

But she wrote that she was troubled by the 10-month lag between Lucass false statements to IAB and her later admission of the truth.

[She] confessed only when confronted with her falsehoods by IAB investigators, wrote Stone. Lucass failure to be truthful under circumstances when she was mandated to be argues against her continued employment with the Department.

Lucass case also touches on the COVID vaccine mandate for city government workers that was introduced late in 2021 by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio and executed early on under Mayor Eric Adams.

In February 2022, the Adams administration terminated nearly 1,800 cops, firefighters, teachers and other city workers who failed to abide by the mandate.

Roughly a year later, with the crisis receded and with updated health recommendations for addressing it, Adams ended the mandate.

The administration said it would create paths for terminated workers to be reinstated, but last week a spokesperson for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services told THE CITY that just 72 workers terminated over the mandate have been reinstated.

A number of those seeking reinstatement have also objected to a waiver they say the city requires for reemployment, which gives up their right to sue over issues like back pay and civil servant rights. Asked about the waiver, the spokesperson, Dan Kastanis said only that it gives agencies the discretion to reinstate employees.

Last week, a joint City Council committee held a hearing on health topics that included a resolution submitted by minority leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) in support of state legislation that would reinstate city workers who were dismissed for not meeting the vaccination mandate.

Three panels of government employees who were terminated or forced to resign laid out the hardships some of them have endured since.

Javier Vasquez, a former FDNY firefighter, said he was terminated in 2022 after not securing a religious accommodation from the mandate. He won reinstatement in Brooklyn Supreme Court in January, but the Adams administration appealed without putting him back to work.

My family has struggled to eat, to keep the utilities on, he testified. Weve had to sell our house.

Alfonso Ventura, a former school lunch helper for the Department of Education in Manhattan, said his termination in October 2021 took him from being hailed as an essential worker hero to being homeless and living in a shelter for three years.

Without job, without money and without unemployment insurance, I was a hero and homeless, he testified.

Marlon Bethel, a former detective with 15 years at the NYPD, including in its intelligence bureau, said he was among the hundreds of terminations in February 2022. A year later, he was given just three weeks to sign the waiver giving up certain vital rights, even as the city failed to answer a host of questions he had about it.

In a phone call, Bethel, 43, noted that hes not anti-vaccines. He said he prefers to wait for a COVID vaccine thats approved by the Food and Drug Administration through a regular timeline rather than an emergency one that undergoes less rigorous testing.

He was among a number of speakers last Monday who said that city workers who lied about their vaccination status had better outcomes than those who didnt.

Had I simply chosen fraud and dishonesty and used a fake vax card, I would have been reprimanded and still allowed to keep my job, he testified. So why is it that having chosen honesty and actual science, Im no longer allowed to be there?

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Cop Who Lied About COVID Vaccine Gets to Keep Her Job, NYPD Commissioner Caban Rules - THE CITY

CDC sets new recommendations for COVID-19 and flu vaccines – Channel3000.com – WISC-TV3

June 29, 2024

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CDC sets new recommendations for COVID-19 and flu vaccines - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3

As Covid-19 ticks up, US advisers recommend a fall vaccination campaign – Business Standard

June 29, 2024

As of last month, less than one-quarter of US adults and 14 per cent of children were up to date in their Covid-19 shots

With fresh Covid-19 cases bubbling up in some parts of the country, health officials are setting course for a fall vaccination campaign.

An influential government advisory panel on Thursday recommended new shots for all Americans this fall. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must endorse the recommendation.

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Officials acknowledged the need for vaccinations is not as dire as it was only a few years ago. Most Americans have some degree of immunity from being infected, from past vaccinations or both. Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations last month were at about their lowest point since the pandemic first hit the United States in 2020.

But immunity wanes, new coronavirus variants keep emerging and there are still hundreds of Covid-19-associated deaths and thousands of hospitalizations reported each week.

What's more, health officials have reported upticks this month in Covid-19-associated emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and a pronounced increase in positive test results in the southwestern US

It's not clear whether that's a sign of a coming summer wave which has happened before or just a blip, said Lauren Ancel Meyers of the University of Texas, who leads a research team that tracks Covid-19.

We'll have to see what happens in the coming weeks," she said.

At a Thursday meeting at the CDC in Atlanta, infectious disease experts voted to recommend updated Covid-19 vaccines for Americans age 6 months and older.

Health officials have told Americans to expect a yearly update to Covid-19 vaccines, just like they are recommended to get a new shot each fall to protect against the latest flu strains.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration following the guidance of its own panel of expert advisers told vaccine manufacturers to target the JN.1 version of the virus. But a week later, the FDA told manufacturers that if they could still switch, a better target might be an offshoot subtype called KP.2.

On Thursday, the CDC advisory panel voted 11-0 for a new round of shots, which officials say should become available in August and September.

Many Americans aren't heeding the CDC's advice.

As of last month, less than one-quarter of US adults and 14 per cent of children were up to date in their Covid-19 shots. Surveys show shrinking percentages of Americans think Covid-19 is a major health threat to the US population, and indicate that fewer doctors are urging patients to get updated vaccines.

CDC officials on Thursday presented recent survey information in which about 23 per cent of respondents said they would definitely get an updated Covid-19 shot this fall, but 33 per cent said they definitely would not.

Meanwhile, the CDC's Bridge Access Program which has been paying for shots for uninsured US adults is expected to shut down in August because of discontinued funding. The program paid for nearly 1.5 million doses from September to last month.

"It is a challenge with this program going away, said the CDC's Shannon Stokley.

About 1.2 million US Covid-19-associated deaths have been reported since early 2020, according to the CDC. The toll was most intense in the winter of 2020-2021, when weekly deaths surpassed 20,000. About 1 out of every 100 Americans ages 75 and older were hospitalized with Covid-19 in the last four years, CDC officials said Thursday.

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As Covid-19 ticks up, US advisers recommend a fall vaccination campaign - Business Standard

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