Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

Expert: Chronic absenteeism 'increasingly getting worse' since COVID-19 pandemic

by JT Fetch & Shawn Robinson

Chronic absenteeism 'increasingly getting worse' since COVID-19 pandemic{ } (Photo: CNYCentral)

(WRGB)

Chronic absence means missing 10 percent or more of school over the course of the year. Since the pandemic, it's been an issue raising alarms for educators.

State Education Department (NYSED) data shows nearly 38 percent of Albany elementary and middle school students are chronically absent. At the high school level, it's nearly 61 percent of students.

In Schenectady, roughly 55 percent for elementary and middle school students and nearly 60 percent for high schoolers.

A NYSED report found this can obviously lead to low academic achievement, but also things like substance abuse.

It also takes teachers away from helping kids who are always there learn when they have to catch up students who skip classes.

Jayne Demsky is an expert on this issue. She's the founder of the School Avoidance Alliance, and says not showing up can snowball into several different issues:

"It leads, usually, to depression. The isolation, the stigmatization of it... The school's gotta try to engage that student, even if they're outside of school, with texts, phone calls, visits... It's gotten even worse since right back to school after COVID. It's just increasingly getting worse, Demsky told CBS 6.

Demsky offers six solutions:

Demsky says when parents notice the issue, they should involve the school immediately, since early intervention is most important. Demsky mentioned schools engaging absent students.

We've done a lot of reporting on Gloversville.

They had a big issue with absenteeism. In just one year, they made progress with a street team of educators and counselors visiting different homes door-to-door.

They've seen attendance nearly two percent in the middle and high schools.

Crisis in the Classroom is a weekly segment in which CBS 6 investigates issues faced by educators, students, and families. Send any tips to our team by emailing or by calling (518) 288-6034.

Load more...

Read the rest here:

Expert: Chronic absenteeism 'increasingly getting worse' since COVID-19 pandemic - WRGB

A mathematical modeling study today from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) suggests that the risk of hospital death from respiratory illness is higher in warmer, summer months, which may have implications for how hospitals will need to adjust to climate change.

The study is published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe and is based on data on ambient temperature and in-hospital mortality from respiratory diseases in Madrid and Barcelona from 2006 through 2019.

In Spain, respiratory illness has a winter peak and a summer low. But, the authors wrote, there is little known about seasonal variation in inpatient mortality, a surrogate for hospital performance in relation to severe respiratory events. The study used data on daily hospital admissions, weather, and common air pollutants to compare ambient temperature associations and in-patient mortality.

The investigators found that summer temperatures accounted for 16.2% and 22.3% of overall fatal hospitalizations from respiratory diseases in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Though hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses were highest in cold weather months, case-fatality rates (CFR) peaked in August.

"We saw that the higher CFR in the warm season was mainly driven by pneumonia, acute bronchitis and bronchiolitis, COPD, and, especially, respiratory failure," the authors wrote.

The authors said this finding could be consequential in the face of warming daily temperatures.

The increase in acute respiratory outcomes during heat is more related to the aggravation of chronic and infectious respiratory diseases than to the spread of new respiratory infection.

"This suggests that the increase in acute respiratory outcomes during heat is more related to the aggravation of chronic and infectious respiratory diseases than to the spread of new respiratory infections, which usually take several days to cause symptoms," said Hicham Achebak, PhD, first author of the study in an ISGLOBAL press release. "Unless effective adaptation measures are taken in hospital facilities, climate warming could exacerbate the burden of inpatient mortality from respiratory diseases during the warm season."

Read more:

CDC to expand testing for respiratory viruses at airports - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Pamela Tomlinson became "a hermit" during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccinations became available.

"I wouldn't leave the house, and was quite cautious about going out in public," she said.

Now she is back working in the office five days a week, but with all COVID restrictions lifted, that does notmean she's stopped taking her own precautions against the disease.

Ms Tomlinson has an autoimmune condition, which makes her more likely to catch COVID-19.

"I still do check those [weekly] COVID numbers," she said.

"I have a lot of faith in the people that are much smarter than I am to make sure that the vaccinations are still going to protect us to some degree, and that's part of just making sure I'm on top of that."

Ms Tomlinson said if the cases in Canberra continued to go up,she wouldincrease her own personal protections in order to avoid the disease.

"[I'll] pop on a mask when I'm out in public, and maybe the office, and just keep monitoring the severity of the cases that are in the public," she said.

The ACT's reported weekly COVID-19 case numbers have more than doubled, compared to ACT Health's figures from a month ago.

More than 480 cases were reported in the week until November 3, with the death of one woman in her 70s also reported during that period.

One month earlier, there were about170 cases reported across the week.

Most cases are detected on rapid antigen tests (RATs) and it has not been mandatory to report a positive COVID-19 testto health authorities for some time.

But Canberrans have been urged to register positive results via the ACT government's COVID-19 website to help authorities monitor the scale of infection in the community.

As Canberra's case numbers appear to be rising, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith urged people to "be considerate of others, kind and thoughtful".

"If you're going into an environment where you think you might be coming into contact with people who are immunocompromised, so a hospital for example, please do a rapid antigen test and check you haven't got COVID unknowingly," she said

Ms Stephen-Smith said people should get up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, stay home if they are sick, and wear a mask if they will be around vulnerable people.

"And when you're out and about, maintain your cough and hand hygiene," she said.

Ms Stephen-Smith said although COVID-19 restrictions hadbeen wound back for some time, health facilities have continued to monitor the impacts of the virus to assess "whether they do need to reintroduce mask requirements or requirements to test before you visit".

The government said it was not considering wider public health restrictions.

Head of policy for disability support organisation Advocacy for Inclusion, Craig Wallace, saidhe would like to see the government roll out an education campaign to remind the broader community that older or immunocompromised people remained disproportionately at risk.

He said placing the burden of COVID precautions on these at-riskindividuals couldhave horrendous impacts on them.

"I'm hearing frompeople with disabilities who are contemplating taking out their own teeth that they haven't seen a dentist in four years," he said.

"I haven't seen a dentist in five years, and that's because I judge the risk to be too great."

Mr Wallace also said some vulnerable Canberrans who were choosing to wear a mask in public hadexperienced hostility from others.

"We're now in this bizarre situation where, not only are vulnerable people feeling like they're excluded from the community, [they] are being actively harassed and vilified for taking pretty sensible precautions against what is a pretty nasty infection."

Mr Wallace has called for compassion, imploring the public to better consider the plight of "the most vulnerable people in these circumstances, which are older people and those with disabilities".

This article contains content that is only available in the web version.

If you're unable to load the form, click here.

Go here to read the rest:

Canberrans more at risk from COVID-19 consider upping personal precautions as number of cases back on the rise in ACT - ABC News

A mathematical modeling study today from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) suggests that the risk of hospital death from respiratory illness is higher in warmer, summer months, which may have implications for how hospitals will need to adjust to climate change.

The study is published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe and is based on data on ambient temperature and in-hospital mortality from respiratory diseases in Madrid and Barcelona from 2006 through 2019.

In Spain, respiratory illness has a winter peak and a summer low. But, the authors wrote, there is little known about seasonal variation in inpatient mortality, a surrogate for hospital performance in relation to severe respiratory events. The study used data on daily hospital admissions, weather, and common air pollutants to compare ambient temperature associations and in-patient mortality.

The investigators found that summer temperatures accounted for 16.2% and 22.3% of overall fatal hospitalizations from respiratory diseases in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Though hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses were highest in cold weather months, case-fatality rates (CFR) peaked in August.

"We saw that the higher CFR in the warm season was mainly driven by pneumonia, acute bronchitis and bronchiolitis, COPD, and, especially, respiratory failure," the authors wrote.

The authors said this finding could be consequential in the face of warming daily temperatures.

The increase in acute respiratory outcomes during heat is more related to the aggravation of chronic and infectious respiratory diseases than to the spread of new respiratory infection.

"This suggests that the increase in acute respiratory outcomes during heat is more related to the aggravation of chronic and infectious respiratory diseases than to the spread of new respiratory infections, which usually take several days to cause symptoms," said Hicham Achebak, PhD, first author of the study in an ISGLOBAL press release. "Unless effective adaptation measures are taken in hospital facilities, climate warming could exacerbate the burden of inpatient mortality from respiratory diseases during the warm season."

See original here:

Study shows link between global warming, deaths from respiratory ... - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Ray Marchiori, acting director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, testifies before the Legislative Audit Commission on Nov. 7, 2023, about the agencys handling of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

SPRINGFIELD Illinois received another credit upgrade Tuesday, the same day a legislative committee once again scrutinized Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration for its handling of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upgrade came from Fitch Ratings, the last remaining holdout of the nations three major credit reporting agencies to advance the states status to A grade. Collectively, Fitch, S&P Global Ratings and Moodys Investors Service have given the state nine credit upgrades since 2021.

Credit upgrades generally make it cheaper for the state to borrow money, playing a major role in investors assessment of risk in buying state bonds. Fitch moved Illinois to an A-, up from the BBB+ rating it had given the state last year. Illinois ratings had been on a general downward trajectory across administrations of both parties since the mild recession two decades ago.

Fitchs review of state finances drew similar conclusions to those that came before it: reserves are growing while long-term liabilities, including pension debt, remain an elevated but still moderate burden.

Reserves have improved to historically high levels for the state and provide an important fiscal cushion, but levels remain relatively modest versus other states, Fitch said in its analysis. Management has eliminated many outstanding budgetary liabilities and established a sustainable pattern of smoother fiscal decision-making.

The states rainy day fund officially referred to as the Budget Stabilization Fund had a balance of nearly $2 billion as of Tuesday.

Still, the states unfunded pension liabilities sit at roughly $140 billion a number representing what the state would owe if every pensioner sought to collect benefits at once. While an indicator of the pension funds financial health, it does not reflect their current ability to pay out benefits that are owed.

In recent years, lawmakers have allocated hundreds of millions of dollars beyond statutory requirements to Illinois pension funds, lessening future liabilities. Fitch called those payments helpful, but insufficient to address this structural budget gap.

It also warned the rating could once again be lowered if Illinois returns to a point of irresolute and contentious fiscal decision-making which had become commonplace over several recent administrations, especially during the two years the state went without a budget between 2015 and 2017.

We are continuing to right the past fiscal wrongs in our state with disciplined fiscal leadership, and credit rating agencies and businesses alike are taking notice of Illinois remarkable progress, Pritzker said in a statement.

The upgrade was issued, Fitch noted, because Illinois is planning on issuing bonds next week to continue financing a pension buyout program thats anticipated to shave $1.4 billion off the states pension liability over its lifetime.

Also in recent years, Illinois has reduced its backlog of unpaid bills to within a 30-day accounts payable cycle. That effort was boosted by an $898 million allocation to pay off old group health insurance bills last year, which passed as part of a broader plan to pay down debt accrued by the unemployment insurance trust fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unemployment fund was about $4.5 billion in the red at its lowest point, but lawmakers approved multiple cash infusions to pay off the debt to avoid further massive tax hikes on employers.

IDES Scrutinized

The nature of that unemployment trust fund debt was the subject of scrutiny at an unrelated committee hearing Tuesday.

The Legislative Audit Commission, a bipartisan bicameral group that reviews state audits, questioned Ray Marchiori, the acting director of the Department of Employment Security who previously served as the agencys chief of staff before Pritzker appointed him director in January.

The committee was discussing a state auditor general report from July which showed Illinois overpaid unemployment benefits to the tune of $5.2 billion during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of it went to fraudulent claimants, including hundreds of dead or incarcerated individuals.

During the pandemic, IDES phone lines and website couldnt handle the sudden spike of individuals trying to file for benefits. State officials scrambled to contract with outside entities to both increase staff and stand up a new federally funded program for people traditionally ineligible for unemployment insurance. That program, called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, was designed to give benefits to people such as gig workers and freelancers, and was the subject of about $3.2 billion of the overpayments.

The audit found the rush created weaknesses that fraudsters would go on to exploit when the state temporarily halted its process of crossmatching claims against five other databases to verify eligibility.

The audit noted that Illinois failed to follow federal recommendations in May 2020 to prevent some of the fraud. It wasnt until September 2021 that IDES implemented the use of a multi-state crossmatching tool called the Integrity Data Hub, according to the audit.

At many points, the commission hearing served as a venue for lawmakers to air long-stated grievances.

Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, criticized what he viewed as the agencys total disregard for the General Assembly during the pandemic, citing IDES unwillingness to share call center data.

But much of the questioning for IDES on Tuesday centered on whether it was ready to respond to future crisis events, potentially driven by global political strife.

Are you prepared right now for the world to go to hell again, or will you be prepared in a couple more months? Sen. Craig Wilcox, R-McHenry, asked the department. What is your when are you ready to say you can handle the next relatively foreseen crisis in the state?

Marchiori responded that IDES scaled up its server capacity and other information technology capabilities to handle pandemic high-water marks of claims. He said IDES is averaging 1,800-2,000 claims per day in normal times, but the systems can handle at least 48,000 per day.

IDES has also created an internal fraud task force and is working on other controls, he said, which will be helped by $30 million in federal grants.

Good Financial News

While Wilcox quizzed IDES on its readiness for another economic downturn, a recent report from the legislatures Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability painted a positive picture for state finances one-third of the way through the current fiscal year.

Thus far in fiscal year 2024, which began in July, state base revenues are $742 million ahead of the same period last year, which ended in the state netting $50.7 billion in revenue. While it marked good financial news, COGFA has frequently noted that the latter months of the fiscal year especially April when tax returns come in can often make or break state finances. Read more: State ends fiscal year with record $50.7 billion in base revenue, sparking small surplus

The economy, meanwhile, appears to be humming along, according to COGFAs Chief Economist Benjamin Varner, especially in areas such as consumer spending.

While Varner noted some economic forecasters are expecting a slowing of the economy potentially related to high interest rates, the threat of a government shut-down, the resumption of the repayment of student loans, and global political strife such predictions are not new in recent years.

However, economic slowdowns have been forecasted consistently over the past two years because of similar impediments, yet the economy continues to expand, he wrote. The question continues to be how long can these potential economic hurdles be avoided before a major slowdown occurs.

Capitol News Illinois Hannah Meisel contributed.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

See the original post here:

Illinois Gets 9th Recent Credit Upgrade as Pritzker Administration ... - WTTW News

A new study from researchers at Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program (ECHO) at the National Institutes of Health shows how a stress scale developed to identify who was most at-risk of needing mental health support during the pandemic has the potential to evaluate traumatic stress reactions to ongoing large-scale threats.

The study, which describes the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale (PTSS), is published in the journal Psychological Assessment. Researchers conducted the study at 47 ECHO cohort study cites across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. The study included 17,839 adults and children.

The nearly 18,000 participants were split into four groups: 1,656 pregnant or postpartum individuals; 11,483 adult caregivers; 1,795 adolescents ages 13 to 21; and 2,896 children ages 3 to 12.

The participants were given surveys on pandemic-related stress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and life satisfaction between April 2020 and August 2021.

The adult caregiver population, which was 98.7% female, had the highest measures of pandemic-related stress, followed by adolescents, pregnant and postpartum participants, and children.

All subgroup distributions were slightly positively skewed, and parent-reported child scores had the highest skewness, the authors said. This was further reflected by 27.6% (n = 800) of 3- to 12-year-olds having the lowest possible score.

For all groups, women were more stressed than men.

There were substantial geographic differences seen in survey responses, with individuals in the South and Midwest reporting lower traumatic stress, and individuals in the Northeast and West reporting higher levels.

Future work examining the predictive power of the tool above and beyond measures of general distress is warranted.

In a conclusion, the authors said, "Future work examining the predictive power of the tool above and beyond measures of general distress is warranted."

In a press release, Courtney Blackwell, PhD, an ECHO Cohort Investigator at Northwestern University. Said, Unlike previous measures that capture traumatic stress reactions to a single event, the PTSS was developed to evaluate potential traumatic stress reactions to ongoing large-scale threats. In the future, the PTSS could be adapted to evaluate reactions to other acute onset stressors with lengthy durations.

More here:

New pandemic-era stress scale aims to help identify at-risk adults, kids - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

As the United States heads into the cold-weather months, respiratory virus season has also arrived, with cases of influenza and COVID-19 likely to increase.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that everyone 6 months and older stay up-to-date and get a flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine, and that it's safe to get both at the same time.

"For flu and COVID, not only does the vaccine reducethe chance of getting sick, it certainly even for those people who get sick reduces their chance of getting severely sick," Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University School of Medicine, told ABC News.

Here's what you need to know about what vaccines are available, and who is eligible to receive them:

For COVID-19, there is an updated vaccine that's formulated to target variants that are currently circulating that are related to XBB, an offshoot of the Omicron variant.

There are formulations made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for those aged 6 months and older, and a formulation made by Novavax for those aged 12 and older.

"There's a different number of doses that you have to get depending on how many vaccines you've already received in the past," Dr. Shivanjali Shankaran, an associate professor in the department of internal medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Rush University in Chicago, told ABC News.

For those who are between 6 months and 4 years old, the CDC recommends getting two doses of Moderna or three doses of Pfizer if they are unvaccinated. If they've been previously vaccinated, the CDC recommends one or two doses of Moderna or Pfizer, depending on the previous number of doses.

For those aged 5 to 11, the CDC recommends one dose of either Moderna or Pfizer, regardless of previous vaccination status.

When it comes to Americans aged 12 and older, it's recommended that those who are unvaccinated receive one dose of Pfizer or Moderna or two doses of Novavax. Those who have been previously vaccinated are recommended to receive one dose of the Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax updated vaccine.

Those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may require more doses.

"There's the gain for any individual by taking the vaccine and there's the most gain for people who are immunosuppressed, have heart or lung conditions, or older adults," Wolfe told ABC News. "You know, if you're a 25-year-old who lives with a patient who's had a lung transplant, this is not a bad thing for you to get. In fact, it would be highly encouraged."

For the majority of those aged 6 months and older, the CDC recommends receiving the standard quadrivalent flu vaccine, which protects against four different strains of the virus. If this is an infant or childs first time getting a flu vaccination they should get two doses this season, each at least four weeks apart.

However, for those who are aged 65 and older, the CDC recommends getting one of three vaccines: the high-dose flu shot, the adjuvanted flu shot, or the recombinant flu vaccine, all of which are quadrivalent.

The high-dose shot contains four times the amount of antigen that is, the protein molecule identified with the virus to trigger a stronger immune response, while the recombinant shot contains three times the amount of antigen. The adjuvanted shot is made with an ingredient an adjuvant that helps create an even stronger immune response.

"There is a broadly available shot, of course, [but] there is a high-dose vaccine that's a stronger dose and provides that additional protection, because those who are older in age have more of a challenge to mount an effective response. So getting that high-dose shot or adjuvant is important, because it can provide that critical protection," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and ABC News contributor.

Traditionally, flu vaccines are made using an egg-based manufacturing process, so if someone has an egg allergy they can instead receive the cell-culture-based flu vaccine, which uses influenza viruses grown in cell cultures rather than in eggs. However, the CDC says the standard vaccine should be safe to receive, even for those allergic to eggs.

"The flu vaccines that are available this year are safe to be taken if you do have an underlying egg allergy," Shankaran said. "As long as someone can monitor you, which I think most places do, anyway."

There is also a nasal spray flu vaccine, made with a live modified virus, which can be given to those between ages 2 and 49. It's specifically not recommended for those who are immunosuppressed or pregnant.

Health officials typically suggest getting the flu shot by Halloween but stress that it's never too late, because the flu season can last into the spring months.

In addition to the vaccines that are now available, there are several clinical trials for both flu and COVID vaccines that are currently undergoing clinical trials.

This includes a flu vaccine from Pfizer using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. There's also an mRNA universal flu vaccine, developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Center.

Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are also all working to develop a combination COVID-19 and flu vaccine that would offer protection from both viruses in a single shot.

"I do think that having a combo shot if the clinical data suggests that it's safe and effective, clearly will be more appealing to people to have things available in a single shot as opposed to multiple shots, especially if it's challenging for people now that they're trying to chase both COVID and flu vaccines, and maybe not always available at the same time," said Brownstein. "It creates convenience, and potentially just more ease of administration overall, and hopefully reduced costs."

Follow this link:

What's the latest to know about COVID, flu vaccines as respiratory virus season begins? - ABC News

CLAIM

Vaccine killed 3.5X more Americans than COVID virus

DETAILS

Conflates factual statement and opinion: The claim is based on an online survey that asked Internet users if they believed someone in their household died of the COVID-19 vaccine. These answers werent independently verified, for example by examining medical records and deaths certificates of those who died. Flawed reasoning: Excess mortality data indicates that there were roughly 1.2 million excess deaths in the U.S. between the beginning of 2020 to the end of August 2023. The claim that the vaccine killed 3.5 times more people than COVID-19 isnt compatible with the data, given that the CDC already reported roughly 1.1 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. to date, which are counted among the excess deaths.

KEY TAKE AWAY

To date, there have been more than 1.1 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at reducing the risk of severe disease and deathWhile the COVID-19 vaccines have been linked to potentially serious side effects, such as a particular blood clotting disorder and myocarditis, the risk of blood clots and heart inflammation is higher after COVID-19 than after the vaccines. Overall, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks.

The article stated that this claim originated from tech entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, whose opposition to vaccination is well-known. Kirsch published a Substack post whose headline was highly similar to that of The Peoples Voice.

The headline from The Peoples Voice is false right off the bat, given that Kirsch didnt publish a study. Instead, his figures came from a survey that he disseminated to his Substack subscribers.

In the survey, Kirsch asked respondents how many people in their household and extended family they believed had died from the COVID-19 vaccine.

Based on the responses he received, he concluded that the COVID-19 vaccines had killed 3.5 times more Americans than COVID-19 did: Analysis of the first 9,620 responses found 804 deaths from COVID and 2,830 deaths from the COVID vaccine. Those results were generated from a minimum of 108,000 people covered by the survey [] No fancy math is needed to calculate the ratio: 2830/804=3.5X.

One of the main problems with the survey is its sample population. Kirschs well-known opposition to vaccination means that many of those who follow and subscribe to him on Substack are likely to be anti-vaccine themselves. This tendency could motivate them to give answers that support the narrative that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.

This didnt seem to deter Kirsch however, as he stated he had collected the contact information of the respondents and claimed this would enable him to independently verify their answers.

But its unclear how this method would enable him to independently ensure that the responses were accurate, as this would involve validating the answers with the respondent, who is likely to be anti-vaccine in the first place. A better way of validating the answers would have been to examine the medical records and death certificates of those who died.

The surveys lack of rigor and reliability is evident in the responses that gave answers that are inconsistent with each other. For example, 33 records indicate no one in the respondents household had gotten vaccinated against COVID-19, but the same respondents also answered that at least one person in their household died from the COVID-19 vaccine (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Screenshot of the survey responses collected by Kirsch on Airtable, filtered by % vaxxed (the proportion of people in the household who received a COVID-19 vaccine) and Died vax (the number of people the respondent believes died from the vaccine). % vaxxed was set to None, and Died vax was set to is any of: 1, 2, 3, 4 or more. Data retrieved on 31 October 2023.

Similarly, 31 records indicated no household members received the vaccine, but the same respondents also reported that one or more members of their household had been injured by the COVID-19 vaccine (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2. Screenshot of the survey responses collected by Kirsch on Airtable, filtered by % vaxxed (the proportion of people in the household who received a COVID-19 vaccine) and Injured vax (the number of people the respondent believes was injured by the vaccine). % vaxxed was set to None, and Injured vax was set to is any of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more. Data retrieved on 31 October 2023.

Deaths from serious known side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS), have been recorded. A CDC presentation in December 2021 reported nine deaths linked to TTS after receiving the J & J COVID-19 vaccine. A March 2023 article by pediatric cardiologists Frank Han and Jennifer Huang reported that up to four potentially mRNA vaccine-related deaths from myocarditis in adults have been reported worldwide. For context, more than 270 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine in the U.S.; worldwide, this number has exceeded five billion.

But Kirschs claim that 3.5 times more Americans died from the COVID-19 vaccine than from COVID-19 is simply incompatible with mortality data.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that roughly 1.1 million people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. to date (see Figure 3 below). If we multiplied this figure by 3.5, based on Kirschs claim, then roughly 3.8 million people died from COVID-19 vaccines.

Figure 3. The CDCs COVID-19 Data Tracker. Total deaths are reported at the bottom-right corner. Data retrieved on 31 October 2023. Source: CDC.

For reference, Our World in Data has compiled data on excess mortality from all causes in the U.S., which can be found here, although definitive estimates for 2023 arent available as the data is still incomplete.

Figure 4. Excess mortality in the U.S. from the beginning of 2020 until the end of August 2023. Retrieved on 31 October 2023. According to this data, there have been approximately 1.2 million excess deaths in the U.S. Source: Our World in Data.

If Kirschs claim were true, it would mean that excess deaths from 2020 up until now are roughly 4.9 million (the sum of all COVID-19 deaths so far and alleged vaccine deaths). This figure outstrips actual excess mortality data so far (Figure 4) by about four times. Kirschs assertion that the COVID-19 vaccines killed 3.5X more Americans than COVID virus, when carried to its logical conclusion, has no basis in reality.

The claim that COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of death isnt substantiated by the data and scientific studies. For example, economist Philip Schellekens put together graphs correlating the level of vaccine coverage and excess mortality in various countries (see one example in Figure 5 below). These show that excess mortality wasnt higher in countries with greater vaccine coverage compared to countries with lower vaccine coverage.

Figure 5. A correlation of excess mortality per 100,000 people with the level of vaccine coverage, including primary vaccine doses and booster doses (as a proportion of the population). Source: Philip Schellekens.

And published studies so far havent found a higher risk of all-cause mortality in vaccinated people compared to unvaccinated people. A study that looked at excess mortality in the U.S. and other peer countries between June 2021 and March 2022 found that excess all-cause mortality was greater in the ten least-vaccinated states than in the ten most-vaccinated states[1]. A CDC study examining the period between December 2020 and July 2021[2] found that COVID-19 vaccine recipients had lower rates of non-COVID-19 mortality.

View post:

Claim that COVID-19 vaccines killed 3.5 times more Americans than COVID-19 is based on a highly flawed online ... - Health Feedback

Out of 418 patients, 21 (5.0%) patients were excluded for either short (<3 months) follow-up duration (N=9, 2.2%) or lack of information about MERS-CoV proof (N=5, 1.2%) or COVID-19 proof (N=7, 1.7%). A total of 397 were included in the current analysis, and they were followed for an average 15 months during COVID-19 pandemic, which was on average 4.9 years from the MERS-CoV infection. Out of the included patients, 93 (23.4%) had positive MERS-CoV PCR tests, 61 (15.4%) had symptomatic MERS-CoV infection, and 48 (12.1%) had positive COVID-19 PCR tests (Fig.1).

Diagram of developing COVID-19 infection by MERS-CoV status

As shown in Table1, the mean age was 46.419.3 years. Approximately 54.8% were females, 62.8% were Saudi, and 40.6% were healthcare workers. The main presentations were respiratory symptoms (37.3%) and fever (23.9%), while almost half (51.6%) of patients were asymptomatic. Approximately 8.8% required ICU admission, and 2.8% required Mechanical Ventilation. MERS-CoV was significantly associated with non-Saudi patients, healthcare workers, having respiratory symptoms or fever, having severe disease, and requiring ICU admission or Mechanical Ventilation.

As shown in Table2, the mean age was 51.219.7 years. Approximately 54.2% were females, 70.8% were Saudi, and 31.3% were healthcare workers. The main presentations were respiratory symptoms (66.7%), and fever (33.3%), with the majority (77.1%) of patients having mild/moderate disease (no hypoxia). The main complications were an acute respiratory failure (8.3%) and septic shock (6.3%). The main comorbidity included hypertension (35.4%), diabetes (29.2%), heart diseases (14.6%), lung diseases (14.6%), and renal disease, including hemodialysis (14.6%). Approximately 27.1% required hospital admission, 8.3% needed ICU admission, and 4.2% required Mechanical Ventilation. Diagnosing COVID-19 was significantly associated with developing respiratory symptoms, fever, constitutional symptoms, severe disease, acute respiratory failure, or septic shock, and requiring hospital or ICU admission.

By the end of follow-up, the incidences per 1000 person-years of COVID-19 infection (20.1 versus 28.7), hospital admission (14.1 versus 18.9), and ICU admission (2.0 versus 6.0) were lower in patients with positive MERS-CoV compared with those with negative MERS-CoV, but without reaching statistical significance (Fig.2). The risk of COVID-19 disease was reduced but still insignificant when comparing patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV versus those with negative or asymptomatic MERS-CoV. Table3 shows detailed outcomes, including COVID-19 infection, disease severity, complications, mortality, hospital/ICU admission, use and duration of Mechanical Ventilation, and hospital/ICU length of stay. All outcomes were better in patients with positive or symptomatic MERS-CoV infection but without reaching statistical significance. For example, COVID-19 infection (6.6% versus 13.1%, p=0.150), severe disease (1.6% versus 3.0%, p=0.584), and mortality (1.6% versus 3.3%, p=0.701) were lower in patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV versus those with negative or asymptomatic MERS-CoV. On the other hand, the follow-up time in patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV was significantly longer (5.5 versus 4.9 years, p=0.002). There was no association between COVID-19 infection by followed up time, irrespective of MERS-CoV status.

Incidence of the study outcomes per 1000 patient years at the end of follow up period by baseline MERS-CoV status

As shown in Table4, Cox regression analysis adjusted for the follow-up time in addition to age, gender, and major comorbidity at COVID assessment showed a marginally significant lower risk of COVID-19 infection (hazard ratio=0.533, p=0.085) and hospital admission (hazard ratio=0.411, p=0.061) in patients with positive MERS-CoV. Interestingly, the risk of COVID-19 disease was further reduced and became significant in patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV, COVID-19 infection (hazard ratio=0.324, p=0.034), and hospital admission (hazard ratio=0.317, p=0.042). Similarly, COVID-19-free survival at the end of the follow-up period was better in patients with positive MERS-CoV (p=0.085) and those with symptomatic MERS-CoV (p=0.034) (Fig.3).

Adjusted Cox regression analysis of COVID-19 free survival at the end of follow up period by baseline MERS-CoV status*Adjusted for age at COVID, gender, and major comorbidity (hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, lung diseases, and renal disease/hemodialysis)

Read the original here:

Symptomatic MERS-CoV infection reduces the risk of future COVID ... - BMC Infectious Diseases

The COVID-19 public health emergency may have ended, but vaccine manufacturers are still hard at work updating immunizations against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an interview with Drug Topics, Seth Toback, MD, senior vice president, medical affairs, at Novavax, discussed the development of the companys protein-based COVID-19 vaccine and shared some counseling pearls that pharmacists can use when discussing vaccination with their patients.

Can you briefly explain the mechanism of action of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine?

The Novavax COVID19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted, is a protein subunit vaccine produced using established technology that has also been used in some seasonal influenza, human papillomavirus (HPV), and hepatitis B vaccines. The vaccine presents a harmless piece of the spike protein part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the immune system, which triggers an immune response.

The vaccine also includes an adjuvant, called Matrix-M, which enhances the immune response to the spike protein. Matrix-M is proprietary to Novavax, and comes from saponins, naturally occurring compounds in the bark of the Quillaja Saponaria (Soapbark) tree, which is commonly found in Chile.

After learning how to respond to the spike protein, the immune system is able to respond quickly if/when exposed to the actual virus spike protein, and therefore can help protect against COVID-19.

Overall, protein-based vaccines deliver the protein ready-made, directly to your immune system.

What is the history of protein-based vaccines? Are there any benefits to these types of vaccines?

Protein-based vaccines, such as the hepatitis B vaccine introduced in the 1980s, have a long history of use. As mentioned previously, they contain harmless pieces of the pathogensuch as proteins or protein fragmentsrather than the whole organism. They do not contain any live virus.

Protein-based vaccines have a long track record of safety and efficacy, and have been used for years with well-documented safety profiles. Additionally, protein-based vaccines can be stored and transported at standard refrigerator temperatures, which can simplify logistics and distribution. This could represent a convenience to pharmacists from a workflow perspective.

The FDA, the CDC, and ACIP all signed off on changes to the recommended COVID-19 vaccination schedule. Is the Novavax vaccine an appropriate option for patients who have received previous mRNA immunizations?

On October 3, 2023, Novavax received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the 2023-2024 formulation of its COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged 12 years and older in the United States.1 This authorization from the FDA, along with the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation from the September 12, meeting,2 makes Novavaxs vaccine the only protein-based, non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine option available in the United States.

Eligible patients can receive the vaccine, regardless of what COVID-19 vaccine type they received in the past. For individuals previously vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine, a single dose of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine can be administered at least 2 months after receipt of their last COVID-19 vaccine.

We know there is still some hesitancy around COVID-19 vaccines in general. Given that hesitancy, what are some takeaways and counseling pearls around the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine that you can share with pharmacists?

Pharmacists play a critical role in addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and providing accurate, timely information to patients. The pandemic certainly underscored the value of the knowledge and accessibility that pharmacists offer to their communities and public health overall. They have been and will continue to be a trusted resource for their patients.

With so many immunizations occurring at pharmacies, pharmacists are in an optimal position to engage in a dialogue with patients about vaccines, understand any hesitancies they may have, and correct any misinformation. By offering a safe, nonjudgmental environment, pharmacists can ask open-ended questions to seek to understand underlying concerns. As a result, patients can feel heard and respected, and pharmacists can provide tailored counseling in a compassionate manner.

When speaking with appropriate patients about the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula), there is some information patients may want to know:

Lastly, it may be helpful to remind patients that per CDC guidance, the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine can be co-administered with the flu and RSV vaccines to eligible patients.

Pharmacists can refer to the Vaccine Provider Fact Sheet at https://novavax.widen.net/s/9tkdmzh9z6/us-eua-fact-sheet-hcp and visit https://us-hcp.novavaxcovidvaccine.com for more information. They can also refer patients to the Vaccine Recipient Fact Sheet at https://novavax.widen.net/s/9mtxjf6rjv/us-eua-fact-sheet-recipients and https://us.novavaxcovidvaccine.com for more information.

Are there any other key points youd like to touch on that we havent covered?

Overall, Novavax is excited to offer patients a choice in their COVID-19 vaccination type, a COVID-19 vaccine that is based on a well-established vaccine technology. The Novavax team also recognizes with gratitude the enormous role pharmacists play in providing immunization services and helping educate their communities.

Go here to read the rest:

Expert Interview: Protein-Based Vaccines for COVID-19 - Drug Topics