Category: Covid-19

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Filtration, air exchange and air disinfection are the new COVID-19 focus – Poynter

March 29, 2022

Covering COVID-19 is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas about the coronavirus and other timely topics for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

Today, the White House begins a push to fight a resurgence of COVID-19 by encouraging building owners and managers to focus on what it calls the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will hold a 12:30 p.m. webinar Tuesday on the topic.

In short, the strategy encourages people to open windows and let air inside closed buildings, use air filtration systems like HEPA or MERV-13, and consider adding ultraviolet germicidal irradiation systems to HVAC units. The White House explains:

Research shows changing the air in a room multiple times an hour with filtered or clean outdoor air using a window fan, by using higher MERV filters in an Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, using portable air cleaning devices, and even just opening a window can reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission with studies showing five air changes an hour reduce transmission risk by 50 percent. And, improving indoor air has benefits beyond COVID-19: it will reduce the risk of getting the flu, a common cold, or other diseases spread by air, and lead to better overall health outcomes.

Some of these suggestions are easy and common-sense measures while others can be expensive and might be more suitable for new construction rather than retrofitting existing systems. Given all of the new home, apartment and condo construction going on, I wonder if builders are considering these ideas in their new units. I also wonder how much of an attraction these filtration measures would be for office space shoppers.

The American Rescue Plan includes billions of dollars to improve filtration. The White House says:

Federal funds and resources are available to support improvements in ventilation, filtration, and clean indoor air the American Rescue Plan has $122 billion for schools and $350 billion for state, local, and Tribal governments, which can support upgrades to their local businesses, nonprofits, community centers, and other commercial and public establishments. Additionally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides billions of dollars to our communities to support peoples health and safety in new or upgraded airports, transportation hubs, low-income housing, schools, and other buildings.

Kaiser Health News found that thousands of schools across 44 states used federal recovery funds to install air filtration systems that use unproven technology. In fact, some of the units installed in public classrooms made air quality worse, pumping high levels of ozone into the buildings.

Because this one budget line item, HVAC filtration, involves so much money, and there is so much hype about unproven technology, it is worth journalists effort to track the spending. In Ohio, for example, the state is spending a half-billion dollars on filtration upgrades. The Dayton Daily News spent time with the workers who install the systems. Future Eds survey of 3,500 school systems, including charter schools, found HVAC upgrades were the single biggest category of intended spending of federal COVID-19 aid.

(FutureEd)

Future Ed reports:

More than half the districts and charters in the sample, 1,668, expect to spend money on school climate systems, and HVAC is a top-three priority in every region.

The spending averages out to about $401 per student across agencies choosing this option.

Such improvements are explicitly allowed in American Rescue Plan since they can not only prevent the spread of Covid, but can also guard against other airborne illnesses and provide a more comfortable climate for learning.

Under the current federal guidelines, all HVAC improvements must be completed by September 2024. So this work will take years to complete and journalists should start thinking about how they will track this massive spending for years to come.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki didnt make the trip to Europe because she tested positive just before Air Force One packed up to leave. Deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the trip instead. And now, she has tested positive.

A man wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks near a banner reminding the precautions against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

It appears that the incredible COVID-19 run through South Korea may be on the decline. The New York Times reports, South Korea reported 187,213 new virus cases on Monday, about 100,000 fewer than the day before, and 287 virus-related deaths were reported, down sharply from last Thursdays record of 470. The death rate would certainly have been worse in a less inoculated country, but Korea vaccinated 87% of its population.

New cars are rolling off the assembly line ready to connect like a smartphone to a wireless provider. USA Today notes:

Last week, BMW launched the first 5G-equipped car the 2022 BMW iX xDrive50, powered by T-Mobiles new Magenta Drive service. The $20/month service provides high-speed connectivity to the car, both for calls and data services. In addition, it powers an internal Wi-Fi hotspot that can support up to 10 devices in and around the car.

In the future, your car may get software updates just like your phone and laptop do now right over the internet. USA Today reports:

During the pandemic, people became very accustomed to having high-speed Internet access for all their devices, and as we start to travel more, that need for high-speed access wherever people go will grow. In that light, T-Mobiles claim to offer 5G coverage on 92% of interstate highway miles across the U.S. makes the notion of a connected car more appealing than it may first appear.

But carmakers are not planning to build 5G connections into autonomous driving technology since signal dropouts are inevitable.

Los Angeles police say Chris Rock does not want to press charges against Will Smith. But It got me wondering if there is ever a defense for smacking another person who insults you or your loved one?

The Mattern Law Firm in Los Angeles explains that assault does not even have to include physical contact.

Put simply, battery involves intentional contact thats harmful, and assault requires no contact at all. Take this example. A person tries to punch someone but doesnt they could be charged with assault even if they missed. For it to also be battery, actual contact would have had to be made.

How Stuff Works took the question to Micah Schwartzbach, a California criminal defense lawyer, who said:

In general, you have to not be the aggressor and you have to reasonably believe that force is necessary to protect yourself from some imminent violence, says Schwartzbach. And on top of that, you have to use a proportionate amount of force.

There are some really important points for distinguishing between a legal and illegal punch.

No.1, you cant strike first. That would make you the aggressor. Its hard to argue self-defense when youre literally on the attack.

Second, you can only punch someone if theyve already taken a swing at you or if you believe youre about to be hit. Schwartzbach says that its also possible to claim self-defense if you punch your attacker while hes winding up to smack you, but youd need some fast hands.

And third, you cant escalate the fight. If the drunk guy at the bar doesnt like the way youre looking at his girlfriend (yes, another clich) and shoves you on the shoulder, youre not justified to break a bottle over his head. Youre probably not even justified to punch him. Or slap him.

But this incident at the Oscars involves movie stars, so lets explore the thems fightin words argument. Schwartzbach says that is a widely misunderstood defense for smacking somebody:

Even though fighting words arent protected as free speech, theyre still not a legal justification for violence. Schwartzbach says that even if someone threatens you and says theyre going to beat you up or kill you, the law doesnt give you the right to slug them.

Its one thing for it to be understandable that someone threatens to kill you and you punch them in the face, says Schwartzbach. But if theres no indication that the person was about to harm you in some way and you had time to go talk to the police, youre likely not going to have a legal defense.

Metro asked a therapist about the Oscar smackdown:

Relationship coach Liam Barnett agrees that you should stick up for your partner, but only after you have given them the opportunity to stick up for themselves first.

Reacting immediately could make them feel inferior and weak towards the person that is insulting them, says Liam.

If you notice that they need help, then you can interfere by drawing some boundaries. Make them notice the person whos insulting them that what theyre saying or doing is wrong.

How do strike the balance and give your partner the support they need without making the issue about you and your anger?

I think its reasonable to expect that a partner would support you during times of distress, says Naomi Segal, couples psychotherapist and founder of The Couple Consultancy.

What that support or sticking up for looks like, however, depends on what your partner needs in that moment. For some, this may be soothing after an incident, for others it may be for a partner to represent them at times when they feel unable to do it themselves.

Remember, even if there is no criminal charge, when a rich movie star hits you, a civil lawsuit may be an option. And the slap could still cost Will Smith his Oscar. The Academy has rescinded Oscars to other disgraced honorees.

Smith apologized to Rock, the Academy, the shows producers, the attendees, everyone watching around the world, the Williams Family and his King Richard Family on Monday night. Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive, he said. My behavior at last nights Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable.

A pedestrian carries an umbrella while walking on a path in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In the last two decades, 26 people who have attempted to take their own life by leaping from the Golden Gate Bridge still showed signs of life when they were rescued from the water. 14 of them survived crashing into the water at 75 miles per hour. But why did some survive and others didnt?

The answer is emerging that the way that the MarinHealth Medical Center treated the survivors made a lifesaving difference. But even the physicians and medical workers doing the rescue work cannot pinpoint why more people survive now. Part of the answer is that the survival rate went up around the same time the medical center began staffing as a trauma center, which designates caseloads and staff level. Today, anyone who jumps from the bridge goes straight to MarinHealth. Before, they might have been transported further across the bay.

In the 85 years since the bridge opened, 1,800 people have died after jumping from it. Engineers are currently installing new netting to prevent people from jumping to their death.

Well be back tomorrow with a new edition of Covering COVID-19. Are you subscribed? Sign up hereto get it delivered right to your inbox.

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Filtration, air exchange and air disinfection are the new COVID-19 focus - Poynter

COVID-19 digest for the week of March 28 – University of California, Riverside

March 29, 2022

Screening CheckBeginning today the Daily Wellness Check has changed to the COVID Screening Check. Moving forward UC Riverside students, employees, and visitors are required to fill out the COVID Screening Check to report: A positive COVID-19 test result COVID-19 symptoms (symptoms from a known or chronic condition such as allergies, asthma, etc. are not considered COVID-19 symptoms for this report) Exposure to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 (exposure is defined as close contact with a known positive person for more than 15 minutes in a 24 hour period) Completion of your required COVID test

Anyone else coming to campus will not need to complete the COVID Screening Check, unless they meet the above criteria. All employees and students should continue to self-monitor for symptoms prior to coming to campus each day. For more information visit the Campus Return website.

COVID-19 Town HallA virtual town hall focusing on UCRs COVID-19 response and operations will take place on April 14 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Details on how to register for and participate in the meeting are coming soon.

Testing RequirementsAll UCR employees are expected to get tested for COVID-19 at least once a month. Testing expectations for all employees and students, including those who are not up to date on vaccinations, symptomatic, or exposed, are online on the testing page of the Campus Return website.

Notifications About Potential Workplace Exposures on CampusVisit the UCR COVID-19dashboardfor the latest information about locations on campus where COVID-19 positive individuals were present in the past 14 days. This dashboard is updated daily.

More InformationFor updates and the latest information for the UCR community about COVID-19 visit the Campus Return website.

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COVID-19 digest for the week of March 28 - University of California, Riverside

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic – World Economic Forum

March 29, 2022

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 480.9 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 6.12 million. More than 11.17 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

An Israeli study has shown that senior citizens who received a second booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had a 78% lower mortality rate than those who had only received one.

COVID-19 infections continue to rise again in France, with the seven-day moving average of new cases at a six-week high of 110,874 on Friday.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has urged those aged over 60 with risk factors, such as high blood pressure or a weak heart, to get a second booster shot against COVID-19.

Australia is set to roll out a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to it most vulnerable population from next month.

Poland will lift the requirement to wear masks in confined spaces, except for health care facilities, and remove quarantine rules for travellers and roommates of infected people, its Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said on Thursday.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended the use of AstraZeneca's antibody drug for preventing COVID-19 infections.

The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic was reflected in a natural decrease last year in the population of nearly three-quarters of US counties versus the two previous years, the census bureau said on Thursday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be lifted for professional athletes and performers.

New Zealand announced on Wednesday it would lift COVID-19 vaccine mandates for a number of sectors including teaching and police from 4 April.

An Italian study suggests that efficient ventilation systems can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in schools by more than 80%.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

The COVID Social Enterprise Action Agenda builds on the actions that its members have already taken and seeks to inspire new commitments. It outlines 25 concrete recommendations for five key stakeholder groups to support social entrepreneurs during COVID-19:

The Chinese financial hub of Shanghai has launched a two-stage lockdown of its 26 million people, with bridges and tunnels closed and highway traffic restricted in a bid to contain rising COVID-19 cases.

The lockdown, announced by Shanghai's city government on Sunday, will split the city in two roughly along the Huangpu River for nine days to allow for 'staggered' testing.

Wu Fan, a member of Shanghai's expert COVID team, told a briefing recent mass testing had found "large scale" infections throughout the city, triggering the stronger response.

"Containing the large scale outbreak in our city is very important because once infected people are put under control, we have blocked transmission," she said, adding that testing would be carried out until all risks were eliminated.

A record 3,450 asymptomatic COVID cases were reported in Shanghai on Sunday, accounting for nearly 70% of the nationwide total, along with 50 symptomatic cases, the city government said.

Singapore announced last week that it will lift quarantine requirements for all vaccinated travellers from April.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the financial hub will also drop requirements to wear masks outdoors and allow larger groups to gather.

"Our fight against COVID-19 has reached a major turning point," Lee said in a televised speech that was also streamed on Facebook. "We will be making a decisive move towards living with COVID-19."

Singapore began lifting quarantine restrictions for vaccinated travellers from certain countries in September, with 32 countries on the list before Thursday's extension to vaccinated visitors from any nation.

It joins a number of other Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and Indonesia in easing restrictions and travel requirements.

Written by

Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic - World Economic Forum

U.S. Healthcare Spending Growth Slowed in 2021 After Covid-19 Surge – The Wall Street Journal

March 29, 2022

WASHINGTONU.S. healthcare spending growth is expected to have slowed last year after reaching a nearly two-decade high driven by the pandemic, according to a new report by federal regulators.

National health spending is projected to have grown 4.2% to $4.3 trillion in 2021, compared with a growth surge of 9.7% in 2020, according to the report from actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The slowdown came from a decline in the use of healthcare services and federal financial stimulus as Covid-19 cases fell amid a pandemic that has led to nearly 975,000 deaths and almost 80 million cases in the U.S.

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U.S. Healthcare Spending Growth Slowed in 2021 After Covid-19 Surge - The Wall Street Journal

After SXSW, numbers show a slight uptick in new COVID-19 infections – KVUE.com

March 29, 2022

The local threat level remains at Stage 2 across the area as hospitalizations remain low.

AUSTIN, Texas Data from Austin Public Health showed a 47% rise in coronavirus transmission rates Monday, a week after the conclusion of South by Southwest and just a day after the end of Dell Match Play and NASCARs events at Circuit of the Americas.

In spite of this pattern, hospitalizations remain low 41 people were in Austin-area hospitals for COVID as of Monday.

A report from KVUEs news partners at the Austin-American Statesman explains that Austin Public Health officials use community transmission rates as a key indicator to develop risk-based guidelines. Those numbers track new cases per 100,000 residents, which APH officials say were more accurate than hospitalization numbers in assessing risk during the delta variant outbreak.

On Friday, the transmission rate was 37.8 before jumping to 61.1 on Sunday. As of Monday, that rate sat at 55.7.

More people also tested positive for COVID over the last few days, with the rate jumping from 4% on Friday to 6.3% at the start of the week.

Last week, municipal leaders lifted all COVID-19 orders related to mask use in most city spaces and the risk level remains at Stage 2.

State health officials reported nine new deaths from COVID as of Monday.

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After SXSW, numbers show a slight uptick in new COVID-19 infections - KVUE.com

US omicron variant wave creates surge in at-home covid-19 tests – WWLP.com

March 29, 2022

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US omicron variant wave creates surge in at-home covid-19 tests - WWLP.com

Use of COVID-19 treatment paused in New Hampshire because it might be ineffective against subvariant – WMUR Manchester

March 29, 2022

THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION IS PAUSING THE USE OF A COVID ANTIBODY TREATMENT IN EITGH STATES INCLUDING NEW HAMPSHIRE. THATS BECAUSE OF CONCERNS SOTROVIMAB WILL NOT WORK AGAINST THE OMICRON B.A.-2 SUBVARAT.IN CDC ESTIMATES SAY THAT IS WNO -- IT IS NOW ACCOUNTING FOR MORE THAN HALF THE NEW CASES IN THOSE EIGHT AT

Use of COVID-19 treatment paused in New Hampshire because it might be ineffective against subvariant

Sotrovimab use paused by FDA

Updated: 3:04 PM EDT Mar 28, 2022

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pausing the use of a COVID-19 antibody treatment in eight states, including New Hampshire.The move is coming because of concerns Sotrovimab will not work against the new omicron BA.2 subvaraint.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates say the subvariant is now accounting for more than half the new cases in those eight states, which include New York, New Jersey and all of New England.** Town-by-town: COVID-19 case data | Vaccination data **----Stay in the know! Download the WMUR app for Apple or Android devices and turn on push notifications. You can choose to receive all alerts or ones that fall into certain categories like local news, national and international news, health and COVID-19 news, politics news, sports updates and weather forecasts. You can also sign up for severe weather alerts for your geolocation and/or up to three ZIP codes. In addition, you can receive word when precipitation is coming to your area.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pausing the use of a COVID-19 antibody treatment in eight states, including New Hampshire.

The move is coming because of concerns Sotrovimab will not work against the new omicron BA.2 subvaraint.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates say the subvariant is now accounting for more than half the new cases in those eight states, which include New York, New Jersey and all of New England.

** Town-by-town: COVID-19 case data | Vaccination data **

--

--

Stay in the know! Download the WMUR app for Apple or Android devices and turn on push notifications. You can choose to receive all alerts or ones that fall into certain categories like local news, national and international news, health and COVID-19 news, politics news, sports updates and weather forecasts. You can also sign up for severe weather alerts for your geolocation and/or up to three ZIP codes. In addition, you can receive word when precipitation is coming to your area.

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Use of COVID-19 treatment paused in New Hampshire because it might be ineffective against subvariant - WMUR Manchester

COVID-19 Related Circulars or Guidance (Non-Exhaustive) Published By Financial Services Regulators of Hong Kong (Last Updated: 25 March 2022) |…

March 29, 2022

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Covid funding inaction threatens fragile progress on racial, economic disparities – POLITICO

March 29, 2022

The congressional stalemate threatens to upend the fragile progress that has been made since the early days of the pandemic when the federal governments decision to make Covid interventions available to everyone free of charge temporarily helped level the playing field in a nation where access to health care is usually tied to employment and income and often correlated with race.

Im concerned that well go back to the status quo, which we know carries with it great disparities and suffering, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), the leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and an emergency physician, told POLITICO. And the hardest-to-reach communities will be the first to suffer and the most to suffer from the lack of funds.

While the lack of Covid funding is expected to have an outsize impact on communities of color, low-income white people, particularly those in rural communities where vaccine hesitancy is higher and hospital closures are on the rise, are likely to be hurt as well.

The Biden administration cautioned lawmakers in a meeting last week that without immediate new funding, the federal government will stop reimbursing doctors for testing, vaccinating and treating the uninsured. If a second booster shot is recommended for the general population, the government wont be able to provide it free of charge. Disease surveillance will also be hampered, they warned, meaning public health workers wont know about outbreaks or the emergence of new variants before theyre already widespread.

Global health experts additionally fear that congressional inaction will stall the governments efforts to vaccinate low-income countries around the world, furthering the chances of a new, more dangerous variant emerging.

Its quite a long list of very serious issues, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said as he emerged from the briefing with top administration officials. Merkley added that a new Covid surge could very well hit us again, and to fail to be prepared for the next potential wave would be failure of Congress.

Racial and ethnic gaps have narrowed considerably since the pandemic began. During the initial Covid-19 wave, Black Americans were dying at about three times the rate of white Americans. That gap began to narrow in the summer of 2020 as Covid-19 moved from more urban, densely populated areas into more rural parts of the country. The Covid death rate for white people is now higher than the rates for their Black, Latino and Asian American counterparts, and roughly even to the death rate for American Indian and Alaska Native people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thats in part because of the vaccines. Even as people of color are more likely than whites to have housing, transportation and jobs that put them at higher risk of catching Covid, the vaccination gap that existed at the beginning of 2021 is closing, improving outcomes for people of color. Fifty-seven percent of Black Americans have had at least one shot, compared with 62 percent of whites and 64 percent of Hispanics, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.

Public health experts say the governments early decision to provide free testing for people exposed to the virus and free treatment for those who become ill eventually helped mitigate Covid-19 health disparities by making pricey new drugs and precautionary checkups accessible to many who otherwise couldnt afford them.

Cutting off funding now for those key Covid-fighting tools threatens to undo two years of progress toward more equitable health outcomes, public health experts warn.

Yet lawmakers remain at an impasse with many Republicans questioning the need for more money and demanding it be paid for with cuts to other programs. Some Democrats refused to approve the money if it came out of pandemic aid to their states, while others warned that the $22.5 billion the White House is requesting will only last a few months before another cash infusion is needed.

An analysis by the nonprofit Surgo Foundation found that Alaska, Florida and Washington, D.C., would see the biggest impact on racial disparities if new Covid funding is not approved given their higher percentages of uninsured, immunocompromised and people of color. But their researchers stress that communities of color in every state are disproportionately vulnerable to a surge in Covid cases, which many fear is looming given the rise in infections in Europe.

In Alabama, for example, Black residents were significantly more likely to die from Covid-19 than the states white residents at the beginning of the pandemic. But successful outreach campaigns have so improved vaccine uptake among Black Alabamians that their rates now exceed that of their white counterparts and white and Black residents in the state are now dying from the virus at roughly equal rates.

Some disparities have narrowed because of the higher rates of vaccine hesitancy and opposition to masking among white conservatives. When the highly contagious Omicron variant spread through those areas, hospitalization and death rates for white people matched those of people of color.

But if the federal government cant subsidize a potential fourth dose of the vaccine it could be a disaster for the states uninsured population nearly half of whom are non-white, though people of color make up just about a third of the population said Scott Harris, Alabamas state health officer.

If a second booster dose is approved soon and theres no money for booster doses, then were just creating just another health disparity on the basis of our funding policy, Harris said. Thats just a really sad situation.

A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis published Friday found that without more funding, the government could be short more than 118 million doses if a new booster is recommended for Americans of all ages. If there is a shortage, experts expect people of color will lose out to those better able to take time off work to hunt for an appointment or travel farther to find a dose.

When we have a constrained set of resources, as when the vaccines became first available, the people able to get them were the people with the resources and time to navigate the system, said Samantha Artiga, vice president and director of the Racial Equity and Health Policy Program at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Over the last year, state and local health officials have worked to convince residents that there was no cost for the shots and have seen their efforts pay off in terms of narrowing disparities. Now those on the front lines fear that work could be undone.

We know exactly what we can do to prepare. Were just choosing not to.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole

Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphias health commissioner, said Latino residents initially experienced some of the worst outcomes from Covid-19 but now have among the highest immunization rates in the city.

The fact that we could clearly message that the vaccine is free, that tests are free, the treatment of Covid is free, it has made an immense difference because every time you have to waffle on that, people step back, Bettigole said. The fact that were having this conversation two months after the Omicron wave basically leveled us is just mind-boggling.

For those who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if infected, treatments like monoclonal antibodies may no longer be covered by the government without new funding from Congress, worsening the disparities that plagued their distribution even when they were fully covered. CDC data released in January found that monoclonal antibodies were given to Hispanic patients 58 percent less often than to white patients over the past year, and rates for Black, Asian and other patients similarly lag. Without government funding, a single treatment could cost an uninsured person thousands of dollars.

Thats something that if you dont have insurance, Im not sure how you would even begin to pay for, said Judith ODonnell, hospital epidemiologist at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

The lack of funding is also threatening the United States global vaccination efforts, which public health experts say will worsen already stark global health disparities. More than a dozen low-income countries that are depending on U.S. donations, for example, have vaccination rates below 10 percent, the overwhelming number of them in Africa, including Kenya, Malawi and Cameroon.

State and local health officials say its not an us vs. them situation, arguing that investing in vaccination abroad is crucial to protecting vulnerable residents at home in the U.S.

Each time as the wave hits, or just after the wave, there are people saying and Im pointing very clearly to the places where were not vaccinating the world We have to do this. We have to do this. If we dont do this, its going to happen again. And then it happens again, and somehow were surprised, Bettigole said. We know exactly what we can do to prepare. Were just choosing not to.

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Covid funding inaction threatens fragile progress on racial, economic disparities - POLITICO

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