Category: Covid-19

Nearly 55% of the cases were vaccine breakthrough cases.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Oregon Health Authority announced that 40,013 people tested positive for COVID-19 in July.

In their monthly vaccine breakthrough report, OHA reported that 18,622 (46.5%) of the cases were in unvaccinated people and 21,380 (53.4%) were vaccine breakthrough cases.

According to OHA, there have been 292,802 vaccine breakthrough cases in the state. Of those cases, 103,563, or 35.4%, were fully vaccinated and boosted at the time of infection. Only 2.6% of vaccine breakthrough cases have been hospitalized and 0.6% have died. The median age of vaccinated people who died is 80.

The next breakthrough report will be published Thursday, Sept. 8.

Read more here:

OHA: Over 40,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 in July - KOIN.com

Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

Gita A. Pathak&Renato Polimanti

Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Univerisity of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Juha Karjalainen,Mark Daly,Andrea Ganna&Mark J. Daly

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

Christine Stevens,Mark Daly,Andrea Ganna,Masahiro Kanai,Rachel G. Liao,Amy Trankiem,Mary K. Balaconis,Huy Nguyen,Matthew Solomonson,Kumar Veerapen,Samuli Ripatti,Lindo Nkambul,Mark J. Daly,Sam Bryant&Vijay G. Sankaran

Massachusetts General Hospital, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

Benjamin M. Neale

Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Mark Daly,Andrea Ganna,Konrad J. Karczewski,Alicia R. Martin,Elizabeth G. Atkinson,Masahiro Kanai,Kristin Tsuo,Nikolas Baya,Patrick Turley,Rahul Gupta,Raymond K. Walters,Duncan S. Palmer,Gopal Sarma,Matthew Solomonson,Nathan Cheng,Wenhan Lu,Claire Churchhouse,Jacqueline I. Goldstein,Daniel King,Wei Zhou,Cotton Seed,Mark J. Daly,Benjamin M. Neale,Hilary Finucane,F. Kyle Satterstrom&Sam Bryant

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

Shea J. Andrews,Laura G. Sloofman,Stuart C. Sealfon,Clive Hoggart&Slayton J. Underwood

Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Mattia Cordioli,Matti Pirinen,Kati Donner,Katja Kivinen,Aarno Palotie&Mari Kaunisto

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, York City, NY, USA

Nadia Harerimana

Centre for Bioinformatics and Data Analysis, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland

Karolina Chwialkowska

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Brooke Wolford

Ancestry, Lehi, UT, USA

Genevieve Roberts,Danny Park,Catherine A. Ball,Marie Coignet,Shannon McCurdy,Spencer Knight,Raghavendran Partha,Brooke Rhead,Miao Zhang,Nathan Berkowitz,Michael Gaddis,Keith Noto,Luong Ruiz,Milos Pavlovic,Eurie L. Hong,Kristin Rand,Ahna Girshick,Harendra Guturu&Asher Haug Baltzell

Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki, Finland

Mari E. K. Niemi&Sara Pigazzini

University of Liege, GIGA-Institute, Lige, Belgium

Souad Rahmouni,Michel Georges&Yasmine Belhaj

CHC Mont-Lgia, Lige, Belgium

Julien Guntz&Sabine Claassen

5BHUL (Lige Biobank), CHU of Lige, Lige, Belgium

Yves Beguin&Stphanie Gofflot

Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Mattia Cordioli

Analytic & Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

Lindokuhle Nkambule,Lindokuhle Nkambul,Lindokuhle Nkambule&Lindo Nkambul

Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

Lindokuhle Nkambule

Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

Lindokuhle Nkambule,Konrad J. Karczewski,Alicia R. Martin,Elizabeth G. Atkinson,Masahiro Kanai,Kristin Tsuo,Nikolas Baya,Patrick Turley,Rahul Gupta,Raymond K. Walters,Duncan S. Palmer,Gopal Sarma,Matthew Solomonson,Nathan Cheng,Wenhan Lu,Claire Churchhouse,Jacqueline I. Goldstein,Daniel King,Wei Zhou,Cotton Seed,Benjamin M. Neale,Hilary Finucane,F. Kyle Satterstrom,Sam Bryant&Caroline Cusick

CHU of Liege, Lige, Belgium

Michel Moutschen,Benoit Misset,Gilles Darcis,Julien Guiot,Samira Azarzar,Olivier Malaise,Pascale Huynen,Christelle Meuris,Marie Thys,Jessica Jacques,Philippe Lonard,Frederic Frippiat,Jean-Baptiste Giot,Anne-Sophie Sauvage,Christian Von Frenckell&Bernard Lambermont

University of Liege, Lige, Belgium

Michel Moutschen,Benoit Misset,Gilles Darcis,Julien Guiot&Samira Azarzar

Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Tomoko Nakanishi

Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Tomoko Nakanishi,David R. Morrison,J. Brent Richards,Guillaume Butler-Laporte,Vincenzo Forgetta,Biswarup Ghosh,Laetitia Laurent,Danielle Henry,Tala Abdullah,Olumide Adeleye,Noor Mamlouk,Nofar Kimchi,Zaman Afrasiabi,Nardin Rezk,Branka Vulesevic,Meriem Bouab,Charlotte Guzman,Louis Petitjean,Chris Tselios,Xiaoqing Xue,Jonathan Afilalo&Darin Adra

Kyoto-McGill International Collaborative School in Genomic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Tomoko Nakanishi

Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

Tomoko Nakanishi

McGill Genome Centre and Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Vincent Mooser,Rui Li,Alexandre Belisle,Pierre Lepage,Jiannis Ragoussis,Daniel Auld&G. Mark Lathrop

Department of Human Genetics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

J. Brent Richards

Department of Twin Research, Kings College London, London, UK

J. Brent Richards

Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montral, Qubec, Canada

Guillaume Butler-Laporte

Department of Emergency Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Marc Afilalo

Emergency Department, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Marc Afilalo

McGill AIDS Centre, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Maureen Oliveira

McGill Centre for Viral Diseases, Lady Davis Institute, Department of Infectious Disease, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Bluma Brenner

Research Centre of the Centre Hospitalier de lUniversit de Montral, Montreal, Canada

Nathalie Brassard

Department of Medicine, Research Centre of the Centre Hospitalier de lUniversit de Montral, Montreal, Canada

Madeleine Durand

Department of Medicine, Universit de Montral, Montreal, Canada

Madeleine Durand,Michal Chass&Daniel E. Kaufmann

Department of Medicine and Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Erwin Schurr

Department of Intensive Care, Research Centre of the Centre Hospitalier de lUniversit de Montral, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Michal Chass

Division of Infectious Diseases, Research Centre of the Centre Hospitalier de lUniversit de Montral, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Daniel E. Kaufmann

MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

Caroline Hayward,Anne Richmond&J. Kenneth Baillie

Center for Applied Genomics, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Joseph T. Glessner,Hakon Hakonarson&Xiao Chang

Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Joseph T. Glessner&Hakon Hakonarson

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Douglas M. Shaw,Jennifer Below,Hannah Polikowski,Petty E. Lauren,Hung-Hsin Chen,Zhu Wanying,Lea Davis&V. Eric Kerchberger

Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

Archie Campbell,David J. Porteous&Chloe Fawns-Ritchie

Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Nine, Edinburgh Bioquarter, Edinburgh, UK

Archie Campbell

University of Texas Health, Houston, TX, USA

Marcela Morris&Joseph B. McCormick

Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Chloe Fawns-Ritchie&Chloe Fawns-Ritchie

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Kari North

Center for Applied Genomics, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Xiao Chang,Joseph R. Glessner&Hakon Hakonarson

Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Joseph R. Glessner

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A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19 - Nature.com

The BidenHarris Administration is committed to helping people across America affected by Long COVID. In April, President Joe Biden issued a Memorandum on Addressing the Long-Term Effects of COVID-19, which called for the creation of two reports. Within 120 days, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), leading a whole-of-government response, developed two reports that together, pave an actionable path forward to address Long COVID and associated conditions.

The National Research Action Plan on Long COVID details advances in current research and charts a course for future study to better understand prevention and treatment of Long COVID. The Services and Supports for Longer-Term Impacts of COVID-19 report highlights resources for health care workers, and those effected by broader effects of COVID-19, including not only Long COVID but also effects on mental health and substance use, and loss of caregivers and loved ones.

Long COVID can hinder an individuals ability to work, attend school, participate in community life, and engage in everyday activities, said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. As our nation continues to make strides in the fight against COVID-19, these reports are critical to shine a light on Long COVIDs impact and how to match people to resources.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to combating and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with the full capacity of the federal government, said HHS Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Rachel Levine. "These initial reports are an important step as HHS continues to accelerate research and programmatic support to address the consequences of the pandemic and work across sectors to ensure no one is left behind as we continue to build a healthier future.

People with Long COVID have disease symptoms that persist for weeks or months after acute COVID-19 infection. It remains difficult to measure precisely, but an estimated 7.7 to 23 million Americans have developed Long COVID, and roughly one million people may be out of the workforce at any given time due to the conditionequivalent to about $50 billion in lost earnings annually.

The National Research Action Plan on Long COVID (the Research Plan), created in coordination with 14 government departments and agencies, introduces the first U.S. governmentwide national research agenda focused on advancing prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and provision of services and supports for individuals and families experiencing Long COVID.

The Research Plan stresses four guiding principles to govern federal government data analysis work: health equity, accelerating and expanding current research, orienting the research effort to improve patient care, and partner engagement. The plan demonstrates innovation in early achievements and highlights the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors to advance prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and provision of health care, public health, and human services for individuals experiencing Long COVID.

The Services and Supports for Longer-Term Impacts of COVID-19 Report (Services Report) outlines federal services available to the American public to address longer-term effects of COVID-19, including Long COVID and related conditions, as well as other impacts on individuals and families. It provides valuable information in three key areas:

Federal departments will continue to engage with partners, including state and local governments, on the scope and accessibility of these services to meet the needs of individuals. Engagement of nongovernmental experts, organizations, and stakeholders, including individuals affected directly by the longer-term effects of COVID-19, has played an essential role in shaping the governments response to COVID-19 and Long COVID, including the development of these reports.

As we learn more about Long COVID, the best protection remains to prevent COVID-19 in the first place by following basic public health interventions, including getting vaccinated, boosted, and wearing a mask indoors in public where the COVID-19 community level is high.

Original post:

BidenHarris Administration Releases Two New Reports on Long COVID to Support Patients and Further Research - HHS.gov

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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Study: COVID-19 skin patch may work better than traditional shots - CBS Boston

WEDNESDAY 8/3/2022, 1:53 p.m.

(WFRV) The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has reported 1,573,177 total positive coronavirus test results in the state and 13,235 total COVID-19 deaths.

Unable to view the tables below?Click here.

The DHS announced an attempt to verify and ensure statistics are accurate, some numbers may be subject to change. The DHS is combing through current and past data to ensure accuracy.

Wisconsins hospitals are reporting, that the 7-day moving average of COVID-19 patients hospitalized was 534 patients. Of those,71 are in an ICU. ICU patients made up 13.5%of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that 10,022,229 vaccine doses and 2,597,985 booster doses have been administered in Wisconsin as of August 3.

Unable to view the tables below?Click here.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is using a new module to measure COVID-19 activity levels. They are now using the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) COVID-19 Community Levels. The map is measured by the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and health care systems in the communities.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 26 counties in Wisconsin are experiencing high COVID-19 community levels. Of those 26, two are in northeast Wisconsin: Forest and Oneida County.

30 counties in Wisconsin are experiencing medium COVID-19 community levels. Of those 30, eleven are located in northeast Wisconsin: Brown, Door, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Langlade, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano, Waushara, and Winnebago County.

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Every other county in Wisconsin is experiencing low COVID-19 community levels.

For more information on how the data is collected, visit theCDCs COVID-19 Community Levels data page.

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Over 2K new cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, zero new deaths - WeAreGreenBay.com

For a look behind the scenes of our data journalism, sign up to Off the Charts, our weekly newsletter

For a long time Cubans were proud of their health-care system, and justifiably so. Between 2000 and 2020 the small communist-run island outspent most other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Life expectancy is higher than in the United States. Cuba has qualified doctors and nurses to spare. When covid-19 first struck, Cuba sent some of its medics to countries struggling with their initial wave of patients. An impressive 89% of Cubas population is now fully vaccinated with its homegrown covid jabswhich boast efficacy rates of up to 92.4% after three doses. But according to The Economists excess mortality tracker, Cuba has one of the highest estimated death tolls from the pandemic, relative to its size. Where did it go wrong?

Officially, by August 2022 covid had killed 8,529 of Cubas 11m people. But our model estimates that the true toll could be far higher. Excess mortalitythe gap between how many people have died in a given period, regardless of cause, and how many deaths would normally have been expectedsuggests that up to 62,000 Cubans may have died as a result of the pandemic. That 600% increase over the official toll is probably the result of inadequate testing and other problems. It is possible that officials underreported the deaths, too.

Cubas estimated tally of excess deaths per 100,000 people is 550. This revised death toll would place it among the 20 worst countries in the world. It would also make Cuba an outlier in the region: the average across the Americas is 368.

Its ageing populationalmost 20% of Cubans are over 60, more than anywhere else in the regionmade Cuba especially vulnerable to covid. But other factors were avoidable. Budget cuts and a shortage of essential supplies were taking a toll even before the pandemic. After the outbreak hospitals quickly became overwhelmed; oxygen, personal protective equipment and medicines ran short. And although plenty of Cubans are now vaccinated, the country was slow off the mark. Deaths peaked as late as August 2021, during the Delta wave. In that month only around 35% of Cubans had received a full course of covid vaccinations, compared with 64% of Britons and 54% of Americans. The pandemic has brought to light something Cubans have known for some time, but that officials wanted to keep under wraps: the countrys health-care system is not what it used to be.

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Covid-19 has damaged the reputation of Cuban health care - The Economist

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today introduced theCatch Up Our Kids Act of 2022,legislation that would combat K-12 learning loss that American children incurred due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every K-12 school switched to remote learning in the Spring of 2020, not returning to in-person learning until Fall 2020 at the earliest, and for many it was longer. Because of this, students fell behind in math and reading, and low-income students were the hardest hit.

The Catch Up Our Kids Act would allow parents to take back control of their childs education so children can recover from any learning loss resulting from misguided and politically driven pandemic school closures.This proposal includes a mix of tax incentives and re-allocation of some Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funding. As of June 2022, states have not spent the majority of their ESSER allotment.

About the bills Senator Cruz said:

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country began to close and go virtual in order to protect the health and well-being of our kids. But while the science quickly showed that COVID-19s impact on schoolchildren was minimal, teachers unions, and liberal bureaucrats across the country were slow to return to normal. Because of this, millions of children across the country fell behind educationally an outcome far more harmful than the pandemic. This is unacceptable, but the Biden administration has done little if anything to help these kids catch up. As a father, I am personally concerned about educating the next generation. This issue is foundationally important, and the Catch Up Our Kids Act will begin to address the learning loss weve seen because of the pandemic, and get our kids back on track.

The Catch Up Our Kids Act includes the following:

Learning Loss Tax Credit:Creates a temporary 3-year Learning Loss Tax Credit of $1,200 per-child to allow the parent or legal guardian of a K-12 student to recoup actual expenses incurred for education-related activities.

Employer Reimbursement:Temporarily extends the tax provision that allows employers to reimburse an employee for certain tuition and education-related expenses on a tax-free basis to include educational expenses for employees children.

Expand 529 ESAs:Expands Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to include homeschool expenses for a period of 3 years.

Double Coverdell Contribution Limit:Doubles the annual contribution limit for Coverdell ESAs from $2,000 to $4,000 per year for a period of 3 years.

Favorable ESA Gift Exclusion Tax Treatment:Exempts contributions to a 529 ESA and Coverdell ESA from the annual exclusion, ensuring these gifts do not trigger gift tax consequences.

Reprogram ESSER Money:Allows states to use unspent Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to fund Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), using ESSER money as seed money. SGOs would then be able to award parents/legal guardians scholarships.

Read the legislationhere.

American Federation for Children:Senator Cruzs bill confirms what we already knew: he is a staunch supporter of educational freedom. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant problems in the way our current education system operates, and the only real answer is securing parental rights in education by expanding school choice.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist:Democrats immorally shut down schools across the country using COVID as an excuse to do the bidding of teachers union bosses. Meanwhile, Republicans are dedicated to expanding school choice and protecting parental control in their childrens education. Sen. Cruzs bill cuts taxes for parents who did the right thing and made sure their kids were educated when their schools failed them. The bill also expands education savings accounts and empowers families to make the best education decisions for themselves. Americans for Tax Reform applauds the introduction of Senator CruzsCatch Up Our Kids Act.

American Principles Project:Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, public health officials, working hand-in-hand with teachers unions, have done terrible harm to our nations families, shutting down schools and setting students significantly behind in their education. And thanks to the monopoly our government has over education, many parents were all but powerless to help their kids. Its time for that to change.Sen. Cruzs legislation would be a welcome step towards putting parents back in charge of ensuring their children receive the best education possible. APP fully supports the Catch Up Our Kids Act, and we encourage all pro-family lawmakers to sign on as well.

Center for Urban Renewal and Education President &Founder Star Parker:The Catch Up Our Kids Act will empower parents not government to make educational decisions on behalf of their children. Millions of students suffered from ill-advised COVID lockdowns, especially children from low-income families, and this legislation will allow parents to guide the educational recovery process for their children. I am pleased to express my strong support for this timely initiative.

Concerned Women for Americas Legislative Action Committee, CWA CEO and President Penny Nance:This is the Year of the Parent, and Senator Ted Cruzs Catch Up Our Kids Act gives parents the tools they need to help their kids take ownership over learning lost during the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has revealed with greater clarity why choice in education really matters. We are grateful to Senator Cruz for this important bill that enables parents to have greater access and control over the money necessary to pay for educational activities that are best for their children.

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon:Heavy-handed lockdown policies destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans. Not the least affected are students suffering from severe learning loss due to mass school closure. Senator Ted Cruzs Catch Up Our Kids Act works to help the students whose education was upended by government lockdowns and embraces the idea that parents should be able to choose their childs best path for success.

Independent Womens Voice:School districts and unions hold all the power when it comes to education. The Catch Up Our Kids Act recognizes that the best way to effectively address the learning loss crisis we are in and get students back on track is to put power back into the hands of parents. The bill empowers parents by directing education funding towards students. We thank Senator Cruz for prioritizing parental rights and educational freedom, not bureaucratic systems and union control.

Texas Public Policy Foundation CEO Greg Sindelar:We are grateful to Senator Cruz for recognizing millions of children are behind due to school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, and his commitment to helping every child catch up. The Catch Up Our Kids Act will help address our nations student learning loss problems by providing resources directly to parents who are looking to help their children. We fully support the Catch Up Our Kids Act and hope to see it passed quickly.

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Cruz Introduces Legislative Package to Combat COVID-19 Learning Loss - Senator Ted Cruz

Increasing population immunity decreased transmission of COVID-19 and allowed for reductions in quarantine and testing, encouraging 2-dose vaccine and booster uptake.

Maintaining high population immunity, preferably by booster uptake, is essential in determining appropriate quarantine duration for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2, according to a study recently published in PNAS Nexus.

The CDCs reduction of the recommended 7-day quarantine for close contacts of a COVID-19 case to 5 days for the unvaccinated and no quarantine for the vaccinated may not effectively mitigate transmission, according to the authors. Quarantine and testing strategies were found to depend on the incubation period and the transmissibility and level of population immunity against infection.

Researchers compared the probability of post-quarantine transmission and the effective reproduction number with serial testing and isolation for the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and 3 variants of concern, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron, at different levels of vaccination. The comparison of the number of post-quarantine secondary infections between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals demonstrated that the effect of vaccination status of an individual had only a limited effect on quarantine duration.

Vaccinated cases were less likely to exhibit symptoms than unvaccinated cases, which resulted in less frequent self-isolation. The decreases in case detection and self-isolation increased the probability of releasing an infectious case from quarantine.

Variants of concern produced increased transmission and earlier transmission in the disease time course than the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, challenging the effectiveness of current quarantine and testing strategies. The findings also suggested that determining optimal disease control strategies also depends on the level of population immunity.

Increasing population immunity through vaccine and booster uptake was found to mitigate transmission. Improving 2-dose vaccine uptake led to a substantial decrease in the probability of post-quarantine transmission during serial testing. Increasing uptake of 2-dose vaccines also notably reduced quarantine durations.

However, increasing booster uptake only provided substantive benefit to serial testing compared to quarantine. The decrease in probability of post-quarantine transmission concomitant with an increase in booster uptake was found to diminish as quarantine duration lengthened.

The effectiveness of serial testing in reducing transmission was greatly improved through an increase in booster uptake, according to the study.

Researchers found that scaling up vaccine-acquired immunity from no vaccination to 100% booster intake yielded a reduction in quarantine by 6 days for the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, but only yield a 2-day reduction in quarantine for the Omicron variant. In a population with 100% 2-dose vaccination, scaling up booster intake could justify a reduction of quarantine by as much as 3 days.

However, boosting only has a moderate impact of quarantine duration for Omicron, decreasing it by almost a day. Increasing booster uptake can result in significant differences in the required frequency of serial testing.

Increased 2-dose vaccine uptake also justified reduced surveillance through serial testing, according to the study. Additionally, the findings suggested that rapid antigen testing requires a frequency of every 6 days to curtail transmission within a population that is 100% boosted, encouraging booster uptake.

Overall, an individuals vaccination status was found to have limited influence on post-quarantine transmission compared to vaccination coverage of the population. Increasing population immunity through vaccination not only decreases transmission, but can also allow for substantial relaxation of requirements for quarantine and testing.

The authors note that surveillance of the immunological status of the population is much more important than the status of the quarantined individual when determining effective quarantine durations. They recommend continued efforts to administer vaccines and booster doses to lessen the burden on health care systems and prevent large outbreaks with emerging variants of concern or their subvariants.

Reference

Wells C R, Pandey A, Gokcebel S, et al. Quarantine and serial testing for variants of SARS-CoV-2 with benefits of vaccination and boosting on consequent control of COVID-19. PNAS Nexus. 2022;1(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac100

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Study: Population Immunity More Important for Controlling Transmission of COVID-19 Than Individual Vaccination Status - Pharmacy Times

Kathleen Connelly is a partner in Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper (based in Westfield, NJ) who serves as the Co-Chair of the Firms Labor & Employment Practice Group. She provided the following insight into the updated guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on mandatory COVID-19 testing in the workplace.

Early in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance clearing the way for all employers to mandate COVID-19 viral testing for all employees without the need for any individualized justification or assessment. The health risks posed by the virus at that time prompted the agency to conclude that the health emergency trumped the Americans with Disabilities Acts prohibition against medical testing that was not job related and consistent with business necessity.The Heightened job Related and Consistent with Business Necessity Requirement.

In a hopeful sign that the COVID-19 pandemic may be waning, on July 12, 2022, the EEOC revised its mandatory testing guidance to now require employers to assess whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify COVID 19 testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission. The EEOC cautioned that the reinstitution of the job related and consistent with business necessity standard is not meant to suggest that such testing is or is not warranted; rather, the revised [guidance] acknowledges that evolving pandemic circumstances will require an individualized assessment by employers to determine whether such testing is warranted.

The updated guidance lists the following possible factors that an employer may want to consider during the assessment to satisfy the heightened standard: The currently levels of COVID-19 community transmission The vaccination status of employees The degree of breakthrough infections of fully vaccinated employees The transmissibility of current variants The potential severity of illness from current variants The level of contacts employees may have with others during the course of their work The potential impact upon the employers operations if an infected employee enters the workplace

The EEOC further cautioned that when making these assessments, employers should check the latest CDC guidance (and any other relevant sources) to determine whether COVID-19 testing is appropriate for these employees.

Other Screening Measures Not Affected.These revisions do not impact the employers ability to implement other non-invasive screening measures, such as temperature checks, questionnaires about an employees symptoms or vaccination status, or to mandate vaccinations for those entering the workplace, subject to the reasonable accommodation requirements for medical conditions or religious practices.

Employer Actions.Employers who currently have mandated COVID-19 viral testing programs should immediately conduct an assessment, applying the factors listed by the EEOC, to ensure the testing meets the job-related and consistent with business necessity standard. A failure to meet this standard could prompt claims that the employers testing program was in violation of employee rights under the ADA. Employers should document the assessment to create a record of how the suggested EEOC factors were evaluated to defend against any challenges to the testing program. These records should be retained for at least two years.

About Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. (www.lindabury.com)Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C., (Lindabury) is a mid-sized general practice law firm, located in Central New Jersey. From its offices across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, the firm services clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Lindabury provides litigation and transactional counsel to a broad spectrum of clients, including corporations, privately held businesses, insurance firms, healthcare institutions, trade associations, employee benefit funds, banks and financial institutions, nonprofit organizations and individuals.

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NJ Attorney Provides Insight into New Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Testing Issued by the EEOC - InsiderNJ

Abstract

The introduction of COVID-19 vaccination has been unprecedented in scope and challenges. While the risk of severe disease is lower in children and adolescents, vaccination significantly reduces the risk of severe complications in young people. Not only does vaccination protect children and adolescents from severe illness and death on an individual level, but increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage among young people is critical to curbing overall community transmission of the disease at the population level.

Drawing on the UNICEF Innocenti Children and COVID-19 Research Library, this issue of the digest summarizes evidence of factors influencing caregiver decision-making attitudes and behaviours regarding vaccinating children and adolescents against COVID-19. Eleven research papers are spotlighted along with some practical tools to support caregiver decision-making and enhance vaccine uptake. The evidence, insights and lessons from these studies can help policymakers and health practitioners better support caregivers to make important decisions related to the health of their children and communities.

Read more.

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Children and COVID-19 Research Library Quarterly Digest (July 2022) - World - ReliefWeb