Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

As Covid numbers rise and the more contagious delta variant spreads throughout the United States, people want to know what they can do stay safe.

With talk of some vaccines being less effective against infection with delta, and news of third booster mRNA shot being tested and in some countries selectively administered, some people are even wondering if they should try and hack more protection by independently seeking out a third shot or by mixing and matching vaccines.

But Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's chief scientist, cautioned people who are "voluntarily thinking about [getting] an additional dose," during a press briefing Monday.

Without more data on the safety and efficacy, taking additional doses beyond the two-dose regimen or mixing and matching vaccines is "a little bit of a dangerous trend," she said.

Here's why.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration all agree that Americans who are fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time. The vaccines authorized in the U.S. as currently prescribed are all effective against severe illness and death from Covid.

"Virtually all Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths in United States are now occurring among unvaccinated individuals," White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a press briefing July 8.

For those who are fully vaccinated, seeking out a third dose or getting more doses than are recommended generally brings up two particularly relevant risks, according to Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC.

First, since there tend to be stronger side effects after the second dose of a two-dose regimen, there's a chance that a third dose could also be associated with higher risk of adverse reactions, Butler said during an Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing Tuesday. There's just not enough data at this stage to determine if that is the case.

Additionally, with other types of vaccines, there can be "a rare problem whereas you get more and more doses, you actually have a muted immune response," Pavia said in the briefing. This may be an issue with some Covid vaccines, but it is not likely to be the case with the mRNA Covid vaccines, he said.

In the United States, 48% of the total population is fully vaccinated against Covid and 67.7% of people have received at least one dose. With those numbers, it's "not appropriate" to assume that everyone needs a booster at this stage, Fauci told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box" Tuesday.

"We still haven't vaccinated enough people in the primary part of this," he said.

Butler agreed that the "top priority" should be to vaccinate people who have received no doses of the Covid vaccine "as soon as possible," before fully vaccinated people get boosters, he said.

And globally, "to [give out boosters] prematurely would use up a lot of vaccine that much of the world needs, as well as divert our efforts in getting people their first dose of vaccine," Dr. Andrew T. Pavia, IDSA fellow and chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said in a briefing Tuesday.

"We are talking about the possibility of a third shot boost and a major component of the world has never even received a single shot," Fauci told CNBC's Becky Quick on "Squawk Box" Tuesday.

(The White House announced in June that the U.S. would be purchasing 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to donate to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and economies and the African Union that lack access to vaccines.)

Beyond the ethical complications, there are logistical considerations too. "It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who should be taking a second, or a third or a fourth dose," Swaminathan said.

Individuals deciding to mix and match their vaccines like someone who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine going in search of a shot of an mRNA vaccine as booster, for example is also not advised.

The CDC says that Covid vaccines are "not interchangeable" because the safety and efficacy of "a mixed-product series" hasn't been examined. (The Covid mRNA vaccines are the first of their kind to be approved, so there's no precedent for what effect it could have when mixed with another type of vaccine, according to the global vaccine organization Gavi.)

"We're in a data-free, evidence-free zone here as far as mix-and-match," Swaminathan said during the WHO briefing.

That said, the National Institutes of Health is conducting studies that involve giving people a third dose, either of the same vaccine or booster doses of a different vaccine. Results and safety information from the study should be available in the summer or early fall.

And AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, which is not yet available in the U.S., utilizes the same technology as J&J's. Researchers from Oxford University recently published findings that combining the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine generates a "robust" immune response against the virus.

Fauci did say that the U.S. is not ruling out the idea of a third booster shot, noting that the situation is fluid and contingent upon data that comes out, during an interview with NPR Tuesday.

The FDA and the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will determine if, when and who should receive boosters, according to data, Butler said.

According to Butler, there are two groups that are most concerning with regards to getting boosters: older people over age 75 to 80, because they are at highest risk of getting severe Covid and received their vaccines earliest; and people who are immunocompromised and therefore "have a more limited immune response to the Covid vaccines that are currently available," he said.

Pfizer said that data from its current booster study will be available in August, and the company plans to apply for emergency use authorization from the FDA for its booster.

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Don't miss: How the Moderna Covid-19 mRNA vaccine was made so quickly

Originally posted here:

Experts: Seeking a third dose of Covid vaccine prematurely is a 'dangerous trend' here's why - CNBC

CNN

Children will likely pay the price for adults in the US not getting vaccinated at high enough rates to slow or stop the spread of Covid-19, which has been surging in most states, a vaccine expert said.

If vaccination rates among adults and kids 12 and older keep lagging amid increased spread of the Delta variant, the youngest members of the population will be most affected, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Transmission will continue to accelerate and the ones who will also pay the price, in addition to the unvaccinated adolescents, are the little kids who depend on the adults and adolescents to get vaccinated in order to slow or halt transmission, he said.

In 46 states, the rates of new cases this past week are at least 10% higher than the rates of new cases the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

In Los Angeles County, the countrys most populous, there has been a 500% increase in cases over the past month, according to the countys latest health data.

Every single patient that weve admitted for Covid is not yet fully vaccinated, County Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The health department runs four hospitals, including those affiliated with the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, along with 19 health care centers throughout the region.

As cases increase nationally, only 48.2% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And though many may brush off the risk of low vaccination rates to children, citing their low Covid-19 mortality rates, Hotez said they are still at risk for serious complications.

In Mississippi, seven children are in intensive care with Covid-19, and two are on ventilators, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Tuesday evening. Many more adolescents could be hospitalized, Hotez said, adding that up to 30% of children infected will develop long-haul Covid-19.

Nationwide, the overall number of new daily Covid-19 hospitalizations will likely increase over the next four weeks, an ensemble forecast published Wednesday by the CDC projects. There will likely be 2,100 to 11,000 new confirmed Covid-19 hospital admissions on August 9, the forecast says. Hospitalizations had been on a steady decline since late April, US Department of Health and Human Services data shows.

Scientists also are now learning about neurological consequences to long-haul Covid-19, Hotez said. Some studies have shown impacts on the brain of people who have been infected with the virus. One study in April found 34% of Covid-19 survivors received a diagnosis for a neurological or psychological condition within six months of their infection.

What youre doing is your condemning a whole generation of adolescents to neurologic injury totally unnecessarily, Hotez said. Its just absolutely heartbreaking and beyond frustrating for vaccine scientists like myself to see this happen.

With experts stressing the importance in vaccinating a majority of Americans against the virus, some officials are debating whether to mandate vaccinations at the local level. Some schools and employers have already implemented measures requiring students and employees to be vaccinated before returning.

Last month, Morgan Stanley announced unvaccinated employees, guests and clients would be banned from its New York headquarters. In April, Houston Methodist, a network of eight hospitals, said it would require all of its employees to get vaccinated. Of the 26,000 employees, 153 resigned or were fired as a result of refusing the vaccine.

That same month, the American College Health Association issued a policy statement recommending Covid-19 vaccination requirements for all on-campus college and university students for the upcoming fall semester, where state law and resources allow.

But many states are moving to block such requirements.

At least seven states Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah have enacted legislation this year that would restrict public schools from requiring either coronavirus vaccinations or documentation of vaccination status, a CNN analysis found.

Such legislation can hurt the nations 48 million Americans under the age of 12, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday. Currently, Covid-19 vaccines are only available in the US to people 12 and older. Vaccine trials are underway for children 6 months through 11 years old.

If we start with a lens on the children and wanting children to get back to school, which is what we all say is the priority, then we have to get more serious about employers and schools and universities stepping up and saying, Its great if you dont want to be vaccinated. But if you dont, you really cant have access to places that will put you in contact with folks who cant get vaccinated, Sebelius said.

The CDC announced last week it prioritizes in-person learning, even if all Covid-19 safety measures arent in place. As K-12 schools will have a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated people, its necessary to layer strategies such as masking, physical distancing and, most importantly, vaccinations for everyone eligible people age 12 and older, the agency said.

The federal government can support vaccine use by expediting the full approval of available vaccines, Sebelius said. Vaccines are now available in the US under emergency use authorization.

Getting full approval getting out of the emergency use authorization and into full approval is something that will clear up any legal questions that private employers may have, she said.

The Delta variant might spread faster than other strains of the novel coronavirus because it makes more copies of itself inside peoples bodies quicker than other strains of the coronavirus.

In research posted online last week, Chinese scientists detected on initial positive tests Delta viral loads that were about 1,260 times higher than earlier strains. They compared 62 Delta cases with 63 cases from the early epidemic wave in 2020.

Moreover, the amount of time it took quarantined people to test positive for coronavirus on PCR also shortened from about six days with the earlier infections to four days with Delta.

These data highlight that the Delta variant could be more infectious during the early stage of the infection, the researchers wrote.

According to Public Health England, a number of analyses have shown Delta to be more transmissible, including lab studies that suggest increased replication in biological systems that model human airway, and evidence of optimised furin cleavage a process that activates the virus entry into the human cell. The variant has also been observed to spread faster in real-world epidemiological studies.

According to the World Health Organization, Delta is estimated to spread roughly 55% faster than the Alpha variant first identified in the UK, and roughly twice as fast as variants that do not rise to the level of interest or concern.

Heath officials have said that cases caused by the Delta variant in fully vaccinated people are rare and the strain is for the most part only causing severe disease and death in unvaccinated people.

And health officials arent just concerned about the Covid-19 risks for people who are unvaccinated, but also the risks for a significant number of people who are partially vaccinated especially those who are overdue for their second dose or skipped their second-dose appointments.

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are administered as two doses, 21 and 28 days apart, respectively. Studies have shown that those vaccines are much more effective against the Delta variant after completion of the two-dose series. People who have received one dose should still follow Covid-19 mitigation steps, such as wearing masks, until they are fully vaccinated.

CNNs Jacqueline Howard, Michael Nedelman, Naomi Thomas, Alexandra Meeks, Lauren Mascarenhas, Deidre McPhillips, Holly Yan, Laura Ly, Cheri Mossburg and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

See the original post here:

Young children will pay the price if enough US adults don't get vaccinated against Covid-19, expert says - CNN

The UK has recorded the highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the height of the countrys second wave in January.

A total of 48,553 cases were reported on 15 July, the highest tally since 15 January. A further 63 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test were also recorded - the largest since 26 March.

The growing number of cases come ahead of Englands so-called freedom day on 19 July, when most of the remaining coronavirus will be lifted.

Boris Johnson has urged the public to continue to show caution ahead of the unlocking, warning against throwing caution to the wind and insisting the government still expected shoppers to wear masks.

The prime minster was careful to warn the public that the arrival of Freedom Day next week is only possible because of the success of the vaccine rollout and by begging individuals to get their jab and to exercise caution to prevent the reinstatement of lockdown measures becoming necessary.

Despite the governments strong emphasis on the vaccine rollout as the catalyst for removing almost all the restrictions, other countries had gone down this path before the UK and failed, writes Ahmed Aboudouh.

Here is what happened to other countries after their decision to do the same:

Liam James15 July 2021 17:56

Northern Ireland will move the Balearic Islands from the green list to the amber list for travellers, the department of health has said after the other nations of the UK announced changes yesterday.

Among the changes which come into effect from 4am on 19 July, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Croatia and Taiwan have been added to the green list, while the Balearic Islands and British Virgin Islands will be moved to the amber list.

Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone will be added to the red list.

Check which countries are on the green list here:

Liam James15 July 2021 17:42

More than one-third of young adults in England have not had a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, new figures suggest.

Some 64 per cent of people aged 18 to 29 had received a first dose as of 11 July, according to estimates from NHS England - meaning 36 per cent are still likely to be unjabbed.

A breakdown of this age group by gender shows vaccine take-up continues to be lower among males than females.

Liam James15 July 2021 17:27

There have been 81,438,892 Covid jabs given in the UK so far, according to the latest government data.

46,097,464 were first doses, a rise of 60,374 on the previous day. Some 35,341,428 were second doses, an increase of 185,661.

The NHS has plans to speed up the vaccination process ahead of reopening. Text messages will be sent to 650,000 people this week encouraging them to bring forward their second dose.

Liam James15 July 2021 17:09

Robin Swann, Northern Irelands health minister, said the increase in cases in the region was among younger age groups, and urged all to take up the coronavirus vaccine.

We have seen the numbers climb in recent weeks but todays spike in cases is cause for concern, he said.

This is the first time since January that were reporting a daily change of over 1,000 positive cases, and while we are in a more fortunate position with a large proportion of the population now vaccinated we must remain cautious.

He added: Our advice remains the same, stick to guidelines and regulations, all adults aged 18 and over should get vaccinated, and ensure you and your close contacts self-isolate if you test positive.

Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in cases in the younger age group so I would make a particular appeal to this group to get vaccinated.

Liam James15 July 2021 16:51

The number of new coronavirus infections in Northern Ireland has almost doubled in one day.

Some 1,083 cases were reported by the department of health on Thursday, up from 636 on Wednesday.

This is the first time the daily case number has been higher than 1,000 since the peak of the third wave of the pandemic in mid-January.

The average seven-day incident rate per 100,000 people across the province was 234 on Thursday.

Jon Sharman15 July 2021 16:37

UK sees highest daily Covid case numbers in six months

The UK has seen the highest number of daily positive coronavirus test results since the height of the second wave in January.

In total, 48,553 cases were reported on 15 July, the highest tally since 15 January. A further 63 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test were also recorded - the largest since 26 March.

Tom Barnes15 July 2021 16:28

PM denies accusations of ambiguity over mask wearing

Jon Sharman15 July 2021 16:27

University and college students are less positive than ever about their educational experience following the Covid-19 crisis, figures suggest.

The latest National Student Survey (NSS) found less than half of students in the UK believed their university or college had taken steps to support their mental health during the pandemic.

Three-quarters of 332,500 respondents said they were satisfied with the quality of their course down from 83 per cent the previous year.

That suggests overall student satisfaction has dropped to the lowest ever level recorded by the survey, though there have been changes to the questionnaire since it was introduced.

The previous low was 80 per cent in 2006.

Pollsters found the pandemic had revealed issues with the availability of learning resources, with about three-quarters of students (74 per cent) agreeing they were able to access course-specific resources, down from 87 per cent in 2020.

Additional reporting by PA

Jon Sharman15 July 2021 16:17

The main question on all would-be married couples lips who have faced cancellations and disruptions to their big day at the moment is "should celebrants be given the power to legally marry couples to help with the backlog of weddings", which was discusssed at The Independents virtual event on how the pandemic has changed weddings, held on 14 July.

For our panel, made up of head storyteller from wedding planners, The Stars Inside, Sarah Allard, Editor of Hitched.co.uk and wedding photographer, Lucie Watson, it was a unanimous yes, writes Emma Henderson.

Valentina even said that some registrars are currently doing up to a staggering 25 weddings a day at the moment, in a bid to help get through the huge backlog of postponed nuptials, which has mounted up over the past 15 months during the pandemic.

Jon Sharman15 July 2021 15:58

Link:

Coronavirus UK news live: Highest daily case figure in 6 months after nearly 50,000 new infections - The Independent

So far, the coronavirus vaccines available in the United States provide strong protection against coronavirus, including the Delta variant that now dominates in the US. As of right now, there isn't evidence that immunity is beginning to wear off among people who got Covid-19 vaccines in December or January, or that they're at higher risk for breakthrough infections, Dr. Jay Butler, the deputy director for infectious diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a briefing Tuesday.

And for the fully vaccinated, the CDC guidance around testing, quarantine and isolation after exposure to someone with Covid-19 is different.

"What they are saying is that if you're fully vaccinated, the chance of you becoming infected with (coronavirus) is much lower, and the chance of you being an asymptomatic carrier is also much reduced, because even if you were to be infected, you're carrying much less virus and therefore are less able to pass it on to others," said CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

"The issue, though, is with the Delta variant," Wen added. "The Delta variant seems to be present in larger quantities in infected (unvaccinated) people."

What's not yet fully known is how much the Delta variant could affect the transmission-blocking capacity of the coronavirus vaccines, said Dr. Albert Ko, the chair of and a professor in the department of epidemiology and microbial diseases at the Yale School of Public Health.

If you're fully vaccinated but were exposed to Covid-19 or are experiencing related symptoms, here's what you should consider in regard to monitoring symptoms, testing, quarantining and more.

When vaccinated people should get tested

If an asymptomatic fully vaccinated person has a known or suspected exposure to Covid-19 but doesn't get tested, they should still watch for symptoms in the two weeks after.

But testing is widely available and generally easy to access. In contrast to the CDC's guidance, Wen advises vaccinated people who spend extended periods of time around an infected, symptomatic person to get tested and quarantine for seven days before getting another test if the first test was negative.

"The CDC guidance, at the moment, lacks nuance -- as in, there is a difference between if you have a passing interaction with a colleague at work who then turns out to have Covid versus if you are living at home and caring for somebody who has Covid. That's just very different," Wen said. "Even if people are not symptomatic but they have prolonged, close contact with somebody, it is prudent for them to quarantine and be tested, too."

Wen encourages vaccinated people to carefully consider any interactions they might have after being exposed to someone who has Covid-19.

"I think we need to use some common sense here. I don't want someone coming into work, who then tells me that they just spent the entire night caring for their spouse who's ill from Covid," Wen added. "Should that person really be in a crowded conference room with a whole bunch of other people? Does that sound right? It doesn't meet the common sense test."

For the vaccinated or unvaccinated, symptoms should trigger a test, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said on CNN's New Day on Tuesday.

"We have seen that many people are actually not getting tested around the country, even though they have symptoms," Murthy told CNN's Brianna Keiler. "Many people are thinking, 'Oh Covid's over. Why do I really need to get tested?' and this is particularly happening in areas, unfortunately, where the vaccination rates are low, which is exactly where we want to be testing more."

But before vaccinated people -- including US citizens -- board a flight from anywhere abroad to the US, they must have a negative coronavirus test result or documentation of recovery from Covid-19, the CDC has said. Alternative documentation includes proof of antibodies or the absence of symptoms, Ko said. The CDC has also recommended that international travelers arriving in the US get a coronavirus test three to five days after travel regardless of their vaccination status. After traveling internationally, vaccinated people don't need to quarantine unless they are showing symptoms.

What to do if you're vaccinated and test positive

If you're exposed to Covid-19, asymptomatic and living with people who are unvaccinated or immunocompromised, you should get tested as soon as possible, Wen said. "Even if that test were negative, I would continue to quarantine from those vulnerable family members for seven days and then get another test," she said.

If that test result is negative, you can consider ending your quarantine and just watching for any symptoms for another week, Ko said.

"The current vaccines certainly are very protective against death and hospitalizations," he added, but "we want to err on the (side of) caution."

What to expect if you're infected

If you develop symptoms from a coronavirus infection, you'll be less sick than if you weren't vaccinated, Wen said. There may be uncomfortable symptoms, but it's not likely to progress to hospitalization, and extremely unlikely to lead to death. US health officials have reiterated that more than 99% of US Covid-19 deaths in June were among unvaccinated people, and with plenty of vaccines available, death from Covid-19 is preventable.

"If you had not gotten vaccinated, you might have ended up in the hospital," Wen added. "But because you got the vaccine, you have muscle aches and a fever that go away within a few days. I mean, that's (a) testament to the power of the vaccine."

This happens because coronavirus vaccines reduce the viral load an infected person has in their nose, mouth and eyes, Ko said.

"That's important because that viral load is a key determinant in transmitting to other people," Ko said. "Overall, there's really good evidence that these vaccines are protective against transmission or have transmission-blocking capacity. The question now here is how effective that is against these new variants like Delta, and how long that will last us for."

CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht and Maggie Fox contributed to this story.

Originally posted here:

What vaccinated people should know about Covid-19 exposure, tests and more - CNN

How about researching the OTHER side! While your at it, explain away this Drs explaination.

This Dr has done YEARS of vaccine research! Can you say the same for yourself? Or do you just go along with everything your pharmaceutical reps say without question? You honestly think they are being truthful on vaccines? Because I know for a fact medical textbooks are funded by big pharma, and you received very little on the subject in medical school, along with all the drugs you push! Big pharma is a trillion $$ industry.

If you haven't realized that ALL mainstream media is nothing but biased propaganda, you aren't as intelligent as you think you are. I will continue my excellent health with my wellness Dr. God created the most amazing immune system! Perfectly capable of fighting off illness/diseases if given the right fuel. Drugs/vaccines have no place in the human body! It's like scientists saying that God screwed up when we know it's the other way around!

The research is out there if you'd actually care to take the time. What Drs like you have been telling patients for many, many years now have been nothing but lies! Indoctrination does not count education!!

Do me and all your patients a favor....research the side that is constantly being silenced/censored. Tgese EXPERTS have NOTHING to gain.

When ever in history has the world been shut down for a virus? NEVER! In case you wont let your mind go there, look up agenda21/NWO. All this is just a start to their power and control of humanity! Open your eyes, and a ove all....your head. People are NIT stupid, so please stop acting g so condescending!

Here is a well known, well respected Dr. Well, not anymore since she has been trying to spread TRUTH. Something you REFUSE to look for.

The ones who dont want the experimental gene therapy have done their research. Just because you say the sky is blue, doesn't mean we ha e to take to take your word at face value. We can actually think for ourselves. Its getting where Drs, and mainstream media want to do that all for us.

There are tons of experts speaking out against this dangerous shot! My 90 yr old dad along with my WHOLE family/ extended family all contracted vivid just after Christmas 2019. BEFORE it hit the news. Guess what? No one of us were hospitalized or died. Including my elderly dad. No one had any lasting effects.

By the way. .where has the flu gone? A virus that kills thousands every year has suddenly disappeared. You don't find that strange? Everything since March of 2020 has been NORHING but covid, and it's really getting old!Covid magi ally eradicated the flu...that's some impressive "virus"🤦‍♀️

THE HOUSE OF CARDS BEGINS TO FALL! Dr. Sherri Tenpenny Testifies, ‘Ordinary Citizens Were Shocked’!

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny Explains How the Depopulation COVID Vaccines Will Start Working in 3-6 Months

People relax at the Georgetown Waterfront Park on Monday in Washington, D.C. While pandemic restrictions have been lifted for much of the country, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is hospitalizing thousands of people in the U.S. who have so far not gotten a vaccine. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

People relax at the Georgetown Waterfront Park on Monday in Washington, D.C. While pandemic restrictions have been lifted for much of the country, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is hospitalizing thousands of people in the U.S. who have so far not gotten a vaccine.

In many ways, American life is returning to normalcy: Masks are no longer required in many locations, schools and universities are slated to re-open, and the days of social distancing begin to fade as concerts and sporting events bring spectators back.

In the U.S., we're now averaging 154 deaths a day from COVID-19 a tiny fraction compared to the pandemic's peak -- and there are still some safety measures and restrictions in place. Late pandemic American life hasn't quite returned to the status quo, but it feels much closer to normal than it did six months ago.

But while we may long for authorities to give an all-clear and say the pandemic is history, the crisis isn't over, in the U.S. or abroad.

The question of when the crisis will actually be over is a layered one with different answers from a local, national and global perspective.

The U.S. declared COVID-19 a national emergency on March 13, 2020.

After many months in which the U.S. led the world in coronavirus cases, the virus is now under much better control, due to wide availability of COVID-19 vaccines.

That federal emergency status is still in effect it has been renewed several times, most recently in April. It can be extended by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for as long as the emergency is deemed to exist.

Healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers are honored for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic at the "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade in Manhattan on Wednesday. Newsday LLC/Newsday via Getty Images hide caption

Healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers are honored for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic at the "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade in Manhattan on Wednesday.

It's not clear whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue any sort of all-clear. The CDC did not respond to NPR on the matter.

Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, hopes that the CDC will eventually give Americans that go-ahead sign. He previously served in numerous roles over nearly 20 years at the CDC.

When the time comes, Mokdad tells NPR, "It's very important for our own CDC ... to say 'We're out of danger right now. We should move on with our lives.' "

He says there aren't set-in-stone metrics to determine when a pandemic is over, because the situation is dynamic and changing so fast. And the virus itself is evolving, too.

"When you look at the genetic makeup and sequencing of the virus ... and how it has been changing, there's still a lot of room for it to mutate. It's not at the end of the mutation cycle that it can do. So that virus could still carry a lot of surprises," he says.

The Foo Fighters reopened Madison Square Garden last month in New York City. The concert, with all attendees vaccinated, was the first in a New York arena to be held at full capacity since March 2020. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for FF hide caption

The Foo Fighters reopened Madison Square Garden last month in New York City. The concert, with all attendees vaccinated, was the first in a New York arena to be held at full capacity since March 2020.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11 last year the same day that life began to change dramatically in much of the U.S.

So when the virus eventually is under control, will WHO declare the pandemic over?

Basically, yes.

When the worldwide spread of COVID-19 stops, it will no longer be considered a pandemic. "In general, if the worldwide spread of a disease is brought under control to a localized area, we can say that it is no longer a pandemic but instead, an epidemic," WHO tells NPR.

But it emphasized that the characterization of the outbreak as a pandemic has no formal meaning under international law.

What does have a formal meaning is a "public health emergency of international concern" a status assigned to COVID-19 at the end of January 2020. That's the highest level of health alarm under international law.

WHO convenes an international committee every three months to determine if an outbreak should still be considered such a global health emergency. When it's over, WHO says it's over. That's what it did last summer regarding an Ebola outbreak in Africa.

But it will most likely be a while before that happens.

As WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus frequently states: none of us will be safe until everyone is safe.

The Delta variant has spread just as fast through the U.S. as epidemiologists feared it would. It now accounts for more than half the cases in the U.S., and far more than that in certain states.

Lynn Goldman, an epidemiologist and dean of the school of public health at George Washington University, says the U.S. has certain things working for it, and some against it.

The good news is we've shown the ability to lower rates of transmission and deaths from the virus. And of course, Americans have widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The bad news is there's resistance to the two main ways to prevent transmission getting vaccinated and wearing a mask.

"And unfortunately, those two attributes tend to coincide within the same people and within the same population subgroups," Goldman says. In other words, many of the same people who don't want to get a vaccine also don't want to wear a mask.

Graduates participated in a USC commencement ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in May. Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag hide caption

Graduates participated in a USC commencement ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in May.

As a result, Goldman says, we're likely to see continued transmission of the virus in the U.S., concentrated in the areas with lowest rates of vaccination.

The current vaccines are highly effective against COVID-19, including the Delta variant. That means vastly different outcomes for those who are vaccinated and those who aren't. Last month, for example, 92 people died of COVID-19 in the state of Maryland. All of them were unvaccinated.

The most precise indicators of progress or problems are very local.

National and even state-level metrics for infection or vaccination rates can be misleading, Mokdad says. A state's overall vaccination rate can disguise much lower numbers in certain pockets that remain highly vulnerable to outbreaks.

Low vaccination rates make it easier for fast-spreading variants to take hold.

While there are many ways to track progress (or not) in controlling the virus, Mokdad says one especially useful metric is hospitalizations.

"There is no way to make a mistake or underreport hospitalization for COVID-19, because everybody who goes to a hospital right now is being tested for COVID-19," says Mokdad.

That's in contrast to cases, which can go uncounted due to a lack of testing, and the number of deaths, which can spike weeks behind other indicators when an outbreak hits.

Accompanied by his family, a student gets vaccinated at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Tuesday in Winnetka, Calif. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

Accompanied by his family, a student gets vaccinated at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Tuesday in Winnetka, Calif.

Even though U.S. cases are much improved from the peak, unvaccinated people will continue to die from COVID-19 until we successfully control transmission.

Experts say the next big challenge will come this winter. Another wave is expected as people move inside during colder months. There will likely be some outbreaks as students go back to school children under 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccines.

How dangerous the virus continues to be will depend on vaccination levels of the population and the lethality of the variant circulating when winter comes. How quickly a state or local government is willing to go back into restrictive measures like wearing masks indoors will play a role, too.

"For the short term, it will be seasonal, like what we see with the flu, simply because we don't have enough vaccine to vaccinate everybody in the world," Mokdad says.

If we do the right things like increasing production of the vaccine, he says, it's possible we eventually won't have to worry about COVID-19 anymore.

Goldman sees two possible scenarios for the U.S. in the near future.

One is that the virus evolves to more readily evade the vaccines that have been administered.

If that happens, she says, "then we'll have to go into a whole other round of re-vaccinating everybody." Drugmakers are already working on booster shots in case they become necessary.

On the other hand, that might not happen, and the current vaccines will continue to be highly effective.

In that case, Goldman believes that within the next several months "we'll see near elimination of the pandemic, certainly in the United States and Europe, other wealthy countries, Japan, Taiwan," while efforts will continue to immunize people in the rest of the world.

It's very likely, Goldman says, that even when we can say the pandemic is over, transmission will continue in parts of the country that have low rates of vaccination.

But one thing is clear. No matter what happens, the effects of the pandemic including long COVID, mental health issues, and economic fallout won't end when the official emergency does.

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How We'll Know When The COVID-19 Crisis Is Over - NPR

Another 31,772 COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths have been reported across the UK in the latest 24-hour period.

The figures, released on Sunday, compared with 32,367 cases and 34 deaths the day before - just below Friday's recorded cases when the highest number of infections since 22 January were recorded.

COVID cases in the past week have risen by just over 27% compared with the previous week while deaths have risen by two thirds.

Another 93,763 people had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the UK on Saturday, taking the total to 45,881,721 - 87.1% of the adult population.

A total of 211,446 people had their second jab, meaning 34,764,511 (66% of adults) are now fully vaccinated.

The number of hospital admissions has more than doubled (56.6%) in the last week data is available for, with 563 people admitted to hospital on 6 July and 3,081 in the week to that date.

The latest statistics come eight days before most restrictions are due to be lifted in England as part of step four of the lifting of lockdown, although the final decision will be made on Monday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week said the UK will have to learn to live with the virus as he hailed the success of the vaccine rollout and said the majority of those being admitted to hospital are unvaccinated.

But scientists have urged ministers to reconsider the plans as they described abandoning restrictions as a "dangerous and unethical experiment".

In a letter published in The Lancet, 122 British scientists said the exponential growth of the virus "will likely continue until millions more are infected, leaving hundreds of thousands with long-term illness and disability".

They also said they are concerned the strategy "provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants".

Mr Johnson said he wanted to move from "government diktat" towards personal responsibility, removing legal requirements for measures such as mask wearing.

Read more:

COVID-19: Another 31,772 coronavirus cases and 26 deaths recorded across UK - Sky News

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs have been linked to cases of mild heart inflammation - but the benefits still outweigh the risks, according to European and UK health agencies.

Myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle - and pericarditis - inflammation of the lining around the heart - have been observed in a small number of people who had the vaccines.

Both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) say that younger men were most likely to see the complication, especially after their second jab.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

The EMA and MHRA are recommending that healthcare professionals and the public be on the lookout for symptoms of heart inflammation in people who have had the two vaccines.

This includes chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations and an irregular heartbeat.

Anyone with these symptoms who has been vaccinated should seek "immediate medical attention", the MHRA said.

But most cases were "mild" and people who reported the symptoms tended to recover with normal treatment and rest.

The Pfizer and Moderna jabs are mRNA vaccines, which work by training your body to recognise and destroy a particular part of the coronavirus called the spike protein, should you get infected with the real thing.

The MHRA says it has received 102 reports of inflammation following doses of the Pfizer jab, and seven cases following administration of the Moderna jab.

Roughly 18 million first and 11 million second doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been given out in the UK, while around 880,000 Moderna first doses have been given.

The EMA says, after 177 million total Pfizer doses were given out, 283 inflammation cases were reported.

And after 20 million Moderna doses, 38 inflammation cases were reported.

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While five of the European cases saw someone die, the EMA says these were all in older people or those with other conditions.

The cases were most commonly found in men under 40 and within 10 days of a second dose.

The majority of those recovered quickly with the normal treatments for myocarditis and pericarditis as well as rest.

The EMA is also making updates to list myocarditis and pericarditis as side effects of the jabs.

The MHRA said: "The COVID-19 vaccines remain highly effective in protecting people from COVID-19 and have already saved thousands of lives.

"These events are extremely rare and tend to be mild when they do occur.

"Our advice remains that the benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risks in the majority of people.

"It is still vitally important that people come forward for their first and second vaccination when invited to do so, unless advised otherwise."

No causal link has been found between the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson shots and heart inflammation.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19: Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines linked to mild heart inflammation but benefits still outweigh risks - Sky News

The coronavirus pandemic is not over. The trending Twitter hashtag #CovidisNotOver and fresh waves of outbreaks around the world have sent a strong message.

With increasingly transmissible COVID-19 variants including the delta and delta plus variants and the newer lambda variant becoming more prevalent and faltering vaccination campaigns, many places around the world are experiencing renewed outbreaks, reported the Deseret News.

Even previous pandemic success stories have begun to falter.

Currently, these are the top five worst outbreaks in the world.

Last week, the Southern African country of Namibia recorded the highest average rate of infections in the world, reported The Telegraph. Almost half of Namibias total COVID-19 cases have come in the last two months.

Mohammed Patel, a local paramedic, spoke to CNN about the straining health care system.

Delta has caused a whole lot of chaos, a whole lot of patients are suffering, their oxygen levels are dropping drastically daily there are patients that are suffering and there is no space in hospital, there is no ventilators available, Patel said. Its complete chaos.

According to Dr. Yakub Essack, the medical coordinator of a charity called Gift of Givers, the situation in Namibia is unlike any emergency situation hes ever dealt with.

In Thailand, coronavirus cases and deaths have more than doubled this week compared to last week, said Newsweek. Friday, the country reported more than 9,000 new cases and 72 new deaths, per Yahoo News. The health care system has begun to buckle under the increased demand.

The archipelago nation has now imposed a partial lockdown, but the restrictions are too little too late, said Newsweek. Cases are expected to continue rising.

Over the last two weeks, COVID-19 cases in Tunisia have increased by 138% to hit all-time highs, according to Our World in Data. Friday, Tunisia reported 9,823 new cases and 134 new deaths Thursday, per WHO data.

We are in a catastrophic situation, Nisaf Ben Alaya, a Tunisia health ministry spokesperson, said, per Al Jazeera. The health system collapsed.

The country has reimposed a total lockdown across most of the country and a partial lockdown on the capital, according to Al Jazeera. So far, only 4% of the population has received a coronavirus vaccination.

By absolute numbers, Indonesias outbreak is large and deadly. Previously called a coronavirus time bomb, the worlds fourth most populous country is being devastated by the current surge in cases, reported the Deseret News.

Hospitals have begun running low on or completely out of necessary oxygen. Some hospitals have temporarily closed or turned patients away due to staff and supply shortages, said The Guardian. One hospital even began using the front yard to treat emergency patients while using the building to isolate COVID-19 patients.

Thursday, Brazil reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases and new deaths in the world, per WHO data. The country currently has the second-highest death toll in the world after the U.S., but experts predict that fatalities in Brazil will soon surpass the U.S., said BBC.

Professor Pedro Hallal, an epidemiologist leading the largest COVID-19 research study in Brazil, spoke to BBC about the outbreaks.

Link:

COVID outbreaks: Where are the worst COVID-19 surges in the world? - Deseret News

File Photo: Healthcare professionals are holding a vial of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site operated by SOMOS Community Care during an epidemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan, NY, USA. January 29, 2021. REUTERS / Mike Segar

July 10, 2021

Hanoi (Reuters) -Vietnam received the first shipment of the Modena corona virus vaccine donated by the US government as Southeast Asian countries fight the worst outbreak, the US Embassy in Hanoi said on Saturday.

The embassy said in an e-mail statement that the cargo, delivered via a COVAX shared facility, will be the 80 million shipments that President Joe Biden has committed to support global needs from the US vaccine supply. He said it was part of the vaccination.

After successfully containing the coronavirus in most of the pandemics, Vietnam has faced a more stubborn outbreak since late April and is calling on the government to accelerate vaccination.

The Ministry of Health reported 1,625 new infections on Friday. This is the fifth consecutive day of over 1,000 cases. Vietnam has recorded 26,600 infections and 110 deaths overall, which is still relatively low compared to European countries, India and the United States.

Most of Vietnams new incidents have occurred in the epicenter of Ho Chi Minh City, and on Friday, along with several other cities, a 15-day widespread travel restriction began.

State media reports that half of Modernas dose will be poured into 9 million people in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

Vietnam has been vaccinated about 8 million times so far, most of which are under international COVAX sharing facilities. Although more than 4 million doses have been given, only about 258,000 are fully vaccinated out of a total population of 98 million.

(Report by James Pearson; Edited by Tom Hogue)

Vietnam is vaccinated with 2 million coronavirus vaccines to combat the worst outbreaks

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Vietnam is vaccinated with 2 million coronavirus vaccines to combat the worst outbreaks - Texasnewstoday.com