Category: Covid-19

Feb 27, 2022, 10:42pmUpdated 9h ago

By: News 12 Staff

Newarks Metropolitan Baptist Church held a special service calledDay of Hope and Healingto mark their accomplishment of getting their community tested and vaccinated.

Reverend Dr. David Jefferson, Sr. describes seeing people back in the pews as inspirational.

When we could see individuals coming back,walking down those pews, I have to tell you that was so heartwarming, says Jefferson.

The pastor described the last two years as devastating for the church. However, vaccination efforts through the Choose Healthy Life initiative have brought members back.

Choose Healthy Life addresses public health disparities and inequities in the Black community through the Black church.Founder Debra Fraser says thechurch is the one place where Black people gather to get information.

We had to go to the people that we trusted and have them reach out to the people in the community and bring the people in, says Fraser.

Sundays celebration is not just a celebration of testing and vaccinations for COVID-19. They are also celebrating a healthy life. Through Choose Healthy Life, they have addressed other medical issues that hurt the AfricanAmerican community at higher rates such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

We now have an army ready to deal with those things on the community level, says Fraser.

Members of the church were able to get tested and take at-home COVID-19 testing kits. Nine of the 120 churches across the country that participate in the initiative are located in Newark.

View original post here:

Newark church celebrates COVID-19 resiliency with 'Day of Hope and Healing' - News 12 Bronx

An endemic is where many hope COVID-19 is going. It means there's a low level of acceptable disease.

ATLANTA The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed mask guidance for about 70% of Americans Friday. That's left many people wondering could we be to the point of learning to live with the virus, similar to the flu or common cold?

The CDC said most people don't have to mask up if they live in areas where COVID-19 hospitalizations, hospital beds used, and cases are low to moderate.

The next step is to wait and watch," Dr. Richard Rothenberg said.

That's what Dr. Richard Rothenberg, a regents professor at the Georgia State University's School of Public Health, said the medical community will be doing.

There are three words pandemic, epidemic and endemic," Rothenberg said.

He said a pandemic is when a disease spreads over several countries or continents, and it affects a large number of people.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.

As we speak of something as epidemic, we mean that it is on the upswing and we are experiencing a lot of disease," Rothenberg said.

An endemicis where many hope COVID-19 is going. It means there's a low level of acceptable disease.

The infection or whatever it is that we're talking about is embedded in the population," Rothenberg said. "It's there, and it can take a number of forms. It can just be constant throughout a period of time. It can be in increases that are often seasonal, such as influenza. It can die out and recur."

The WHO weighed in this week and said it's a gray area where COVID-19 goes from here.

Experts have recommendations on what you're encouraged to do once COVID-19 reached endemic levels.

It seems to me that the answer here is obvious for how to get out of this to get to an endemic stage. We can only vaccinate our way out of this pandemic," Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee, said.

Rothenberg added that people who are older or who have underlying diseases may want to continue wearing their masks.

What we learned in the winter of 2021 was that if you wear masks, and a lot of people did for a long period of time, instead of 50,000 flu deaths, there were 200 during that season," Rothenberg said.

Those at the CDC encourage those who are more comfortable wearing to continue doing so.

The rest is here:

When could COVID-19 become an endemic like the flu or common cold? - 11Alive.com WXIA

Deondray Moore sat in a plastic folding chair, rolled up his sleeve and got his first COVID-19 shot in the parking lot of Center of Hope Community Church in Oakland a week ago. He was the last in his family to get vaccinated after putting it off for more than a year, and only acquiesced because he wants to be in the delivery room when his son is born this summer.

My mom has been trying to get me vaccinated forever, since the (vaccines) came out, Moore said. My partner got it quick, and her kids got it as fast as they could. She wasnt playing around. She was like Dont miss out on the baby.

The 35-year-old Oakland native, an African American, knows multiple people who have contracted COVID-19 and died. Moore wears a mask and doesnt go out much. But hes suspicious of the vaccine and the way it was developed. I just dont trust the government, he said.

African Americans, who have a litany of historical reasons to mistrust public health officials and doctors, have the lowest vaccination rate in the state, at 55%.

COVID-19 has become deadlier for Black Californians since the widespread availability of vaccinations, and vaccine hesitancy could be among the reasons why. Other races, which have higher vaccination rates, have seen death rates rise, but not as dramatically.

A CalMatters analysis shows since last summer, the rate of Black Californians dying from COVID-19 has increased tenfold from one death per 100,000 people last July to 10.4 deaths this week. That surpasses Latinos and all races except Pacific Islanders, who are dying at the rate of 14.7 per 100,000, according to state data.

And while statewide deaths from COVID have declined in the past week, they have continued to rise for African Americans.

So far, 5,544 Black people have died from the virus in California.

Dr. Kim Rhoads, an associate professor of epidemiology at University of California, San Francisco, said she isnt surprised by the growing death rate among African Americans. Disparities arent new. They arent new to COVID, said Rhoads, who helped organize the community clinic where Moore got his shot.

For some Black residents, the disparity grew worse after vaccines became widely available last summer, according to a study from UC Santa Cruz and UC San Francisco researchers.

Middle-aged Blacks make up a growing, disproportionate share of the Californians who died, while the proportion shrank for Latinos and others: In March 2021, Black people aged 40-64, who make up roughly 5% of all middle-aged Californians, accounted for 6% of COVID-19 deaths in that age group. But a few months later, their numbers skyrocketed, accounting for 21% by last July, according to the study.

In contrast, middle-aged Latinos accounted for 66% of all COVID-19 deaths at the beginning of March 2021, but then last July shrank to 30%, mirroring their proportion of all middle-aged Californians.

Lead researcher Alicia Riley said preliminary data through November shows continuing disparities.

So why did the vaccines apparently help Latinos but not Black Californians? Its possible that those who are most at risk of dying from the disease arent getting vaccinated. Younger African Americans also may not have been included in early vaccination campaigns or may have felt they werent at risk of severe illness or death.

Whats puzzling to me is that they have a really different story in terms of whos dying, said Riley, a UCSC assistant professor of global and community health. Are the people who were at risk of dying in the Latino community actually being reached with vaccination, whereas somehow thats not happening for Black Californians as effectively?

ALICIA RILEY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

Experts say myriad other factors could also be driving the trend, including poverty, lack of insurance, distrust of the health care system and higher rates of health complications like diabetes or heart disease.

The increased share of deaths for Black Californians is a powerful sign of who was left behind when everyone else was kind of moving on out of the pandemic, Riley said.

The study did not find significant differences for other age groups, although state data suggests Black children fare worse than other races, too.

Black children in California are the second most likely to die from the virus among Californians younger than 18, with 1.2 deaths per 100,000 Black children. Pacific Islanders are twice as likely to die from COVID as Black children, while all other races have less than one COVID-19 death per 100,000 children.

The drivers for African American deaths are likely deeper than vaccination disparities.

Photo by Marissa Leshnov

/

CalMatters

Rhoads, who studies death disparities in Black cancer patients, said pre-existing health complications also arent entirely to blame. Structural factors like poor quality health care also likely contribute to higher death rates, she said. For instance, medical devices like the pulse oximeter, which is used to determine whether a patient needs supplemental oxygen, dont work well on dark skin.

If we just say comorbidities, then were blaming the victim number one and were washing our hands of any responsibility, Rhoads said.

Vaccine campaigns successful for some

Substantial gains have been made among Latinos, according to Rileys study. After bearing the brunt in the early stages, Latinos death rate dropped from nearly 25 deaths per 100,000 people in January 2021 to 1 death per 100,000 in July. Over the last month, theCalifornia Department of Public Health estimates 7.2 Latinos died of COVID per 100,000 people, lower than the statewide rate of 8 per 100,000.

Around June 2021 the percentage of fully vaccinated Latinos outstripped Blacks and Native Americans, leaving Blacks in last place. Only 57% of Latinos are fully vaccinated, but some hard hit agricultural areas like Imperial County were quick to accept the vaccine and it has made a difference.

Eduardo Garcia, senior policy manager for the Latino Community Foundation, said high death rates among Latinos early in the pandemic galvanized local groups and clinics to dole out vaccines and combat misinformation.

Over 34,000 California Latinos have died since the beginning of the pandemic, Garcia said. It touched people close to home. I think that also created an impulse for people to get information from reliable sources and get the vaccine.

EDUARDO GARCIA, LATINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Rhoads said refocusing COVID-19 vaccination messaging on preventing deaths rather than infections is important for equity, particularly since getting her community to trust the vaccine has been harder.

Its about a historical relationship between Black people and public health and health care, Rhoads said. Instead of saying lack of trust, Im saying theres no relationship there, so there should be no expectation of trust.

That trust was further shaken last spring when the Food and Drug Administration warned of rare but severe side effects associated with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Rhoads said the number of people seeking vaccinations at her clinic dropped precipitously.

To help bridge the gap, Rhoads founded Umoja Health, a collective of community and faith-based organizations in the Bay Area, to make COVID-19 testing and vaccination easy and accessible for African Americans. They bring pop-up clinic supplies to churches, schools and neighborhoods where they know vaccination rates are low. It takes patience and continued effort, Rhoads said.

Marissa Leshnov

/

CalMatters

At Castlemont High School in Oakland, where the clinic frequently sets up shop, it was several weeks before many Black students trusted them enough to get the vaccine.

The Latino students came immediately, she said. But as weve been there over time, were starting to see more and more of the African American students come through, and then we started to see people bringing their parents.

Back to normal threatens Blacks and Pacific Islanders

Gov. Gavin Newsoms recent announcement that California would be moving into a new phase of the pandemic worries advocates and community health organizers like Rhoads.

The new state action plan acknowledges continuing disparities when it comes to COVID-19 deaths and highlights money in Newsoms budget that includes $819 million to expand Medi-Cal to undocumented individuals next year, $1.7 billion to invest in a more diverse health care workforce over five years and $65 million to fund the creation of an office of community partnerships and strategic communication.

But the plan offers little in terms of immediate action to fix disparities, and includes no specific programs to help Black communities.

The state health department on Thursday announced new $27 million contracts would be awarded to more than 100 community-based health organizations to shore up vaccination efforts in underserved communities, including African American ones.

However, community advocates worry that rhetoric used by Newsom like turning the page on the pandemic will ultimately prevent groups that have never caught up from moving forward.

We still have growing death rates and case rates. How can we move forward in the pandemic when were still suffering? said Karla Thomas, policy director for the UCLA Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Data Policy Lab.

Throughout the pandemic, Pacific Islanders have beenhit the hardest by COVID-19. Their mortality rate is nearly twice that of the statewide rate and nearly six times higher than the lowest rate of 2.5 deaths per 100,000 people among those who identify as multi-racial.

KARLA THOMAS, UCLA NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER COVID-19 DATA POLICY LAB

While data suggests that Pacific Islanders are nearly 100% vaccinated, Thomas said there is reason to believe that the states numbers are inaccurate. At times that number has creeped above 100%. From a personal experience, Thomas said she is one of only two people in her 50-person Samoan church in San Bernardino that she knows is vaccinated. Its not uncommon for there to be more than two funerals a month in her community.

Im really concerned that were not taking an equitable approach to mitigate the pandemic among (Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) communities and other communities of color, Thomas said. She criticized the lifting of the states mask mandate on Feb. 15 and the governors endemic plan.

Rhoads echoed Thomas sentiments.

The pandemic is not over. Its not for people who arent vaccinated, who dont have regular health care, she said.

Last week Rhoads and more than 35 organizations sent a letter to the state health department in part criticizing the states inconsistent and confusing messaging on masking. The health departments initial criteria for lifting the indoor mask mandate included vaccination and infection rates that were unmet when the mandate expired.

DR. KIM RHOADS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO

Rhoads said instances like this erode public trust in government and scientific organizations, particularly among groups that placed little faith in the institutions to begin with.

In response, the department agreed to schedule a meeting between Rhoads and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon.

In a separate response to CalMatters, the state health department said vaccine equity was the north star of its efforts to reach marginalized communities, and that it would continue to partner with community organizations, ethnic media, translators and faith-based groups.

This work is ongoing, and closing the equity gap across all California communities remains a priority to the states vaccination efforts, the department said in a statement.

Nothing to be afraid of

In Oakland at the Umoja clinic last week, George Dowell, a 40-year-old African American, said he was getting his second vaccination dose because he didnt want to be left behind as more and more businesses require proof of vaccination for entry.

Dowell is among the age group experiencing higher death rates in Rileys study. He spent the past year watching vaccinated friends and family carefully for side effects before deciding to get the shot himself.

Social media and misinformation played a role in Dowells hesitation. I was listening to certain people, social media, instead of listening to myself and doing whats right, Dowell said.

Three weeks ago, he decided it was time. He found the Umoja clinic while driving around the neighborhood and got his first Pfizer shot. Dowell wanted to show his school-aged nieces and nephews that there was nothing to be afraid of as they became eligible for the vaccine.

Dowells 27-year-old son is also unvaccinated, and Dowell said he promised he would call to let him know how he feels after this second shot

CalMattersis a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

More:

COVID-19 has turned deadlier for Black Californians, who have the state's lowest vaccination rate - Jefferson Public Radio

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

The rest is here:

COVID-19 in Israel: Nearly 6,000 COVID cases recorded over weekend - The Jerusalem Post

A Massachusetts businessman has been convicted of fraudulently seeking more than $13 million in federal coronavirus pandemic relief loans.

Federal prosecutors say 40-year-old Elijah Majak Buoi, of Winchester, was convicted Thursday of wire fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution following a trial in Boston federal court.

Prosecutors say Buoi submitted six federal loan applications but misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses for his startup company.

They also say he submitted fraudulent IRS tax forms. Buois lawyer says his client was mislead by a bank loan officer and made a good faith mistake in completing the forms.

See more here:

Mass. Man Convicted of Fraudulently Seeking $13M in COVID-19 Loans - NBC10 Boston

Feb 26, 2022; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts during a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Register

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving said he was hopeful he would be able to finally play on his team's home court as New York moves to ease COVID-19 vaccination requirements amid falling case numbers.

Irving has refused to take the vaccine and as a result has been able to play only road games with the squad due to New York City's rule.

"The circumstances this year have not been ideal but I'm glad things are settling down and there's light at the end of the tunnel," Irving told reporters after the Nets' 126-123 win over the Bucks in Milwaukee on Saturday.

Register

"Hopefully I can get back on that home floor playing in Barclays and we can have a conversation about turning the page and moving forward beyond this."

Irving said he appreciated recent comments by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said the city's mandate, which has kept Irving from playing home games but allows unvaccinated players from visiting teams to compete, "doesn't quite make sense to me".

"My respect for him went to a whole new level and I'm just grateful that he did that," Irving said of Silver. "He really took one for the team."

The NBA does not require its players to be vaccinated but Silver has strongly urged them to do so anyway. He has said that 97-98% of its players are vaccinated.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who took office on Jan. 1, has also been critical of the policy but has suggested a change to it is coming.

Irving scored a season-high 38 points on 14-for-26 shooting to upset the defending champion Bucks in a rematch of the 2021 Eastern Conference semi-finals.

It was Irving's first game in Milwaukee since he injured his right ankle in Game Four of that series at Fiserv Forum, ending his season.

"It definitely felt like there was a weight lifted being back here, being healthy, getting a win and knowing that there's a possibility we could see them down the line again," Irving said.

Register

Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read the original post:

Brooklyn's Irving sees light at end of the tunnel as COVID-19 restrictions ease - Reuters

Almost two years after the new coronavirus caused the World Health Organisation to declare a pandemic, the world has racked up some impressive vaccination statistics.

One of them is that more than 1.27 billion booster doses have already been administered as governments look to strengthen the immunity of their citizens.

Typically a booster has been a third shot, although sometimes it has been a second if the initial vaccine was single-dose.

Fourth doses have already been administered in some nations, including Israel, where they were introduced in December for people with weakened immune systems, for healthcare workers and for the elderly.

It raises the question of whether boosters will be required indefinitely, perhaps to protect against new variants, or to bum up immunity that wanes over time.

Recent studies have indicated that after a third shot, people are able to produce a much wider range of antibodies than after just two doses. One piece of research looked at memory B cells, a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies.

After a third mRNA vaccine dose, scientists found that the antibodies produced showed significantly increased potency and breadth when compared to antibodies obtained after the second vaccine dose.

This is thought to be why a third dose increases protection against variants like Omicron which has numerous mutations distinguishing it from other variants even though the vaccines were not specifically designed to protect against variants.

Other research found that in people given some of the most popular Covid-19 vaccines, T cells, a type of immune cell often linked to durable protection against pathogens, were 80 per cent as effective against Omicron as they were against other variants.

This indicates that, thanks to T cells, the protection against Covid-19 generated by vaccination may be sustained even after antibody levels may decline.

Aside from looking at peoples immune response after two or three doses, researchers are also analysing the real-world effectiveness of multiple jabs at preventing disease.

A US study published on February 11 found that during the two months after a third dose of an mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccine, the jab was 91 per cent effective at stopping a person from requiring urgent care. But by the fourth month after the third dose, this had dropped to 78 per cent.

In response, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the US president, said there may be the need for yet again another boost in this case, a fourth-dose boost for an individual receiving the mRNA [vaccine].

Speaking at the same time, he suggested this could depend upon a persons age and whether they have underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.

Indeed the US and some other countries, such as the UK, now recommend a fourth dose for people with weakened immune systems.

A young woman receives a Pfizer jab in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa. AP Photo

While studies of B cells and T cells indicate the immunity may be durable in some people, information is limited by the fact that mass vaccination programmes began little more than a year ago (although some people on clinical trials were jabbed earlier).

The data just doesnt exist to say how the immunity will pan out, said Prof Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading in the UK.

We simply dont know what the rate of decline will be after being boosted My guess would be for the coming year, certainly six months or 12 months, there will be detectable immunity in people whove received the booster.

That will be deemed sufficient for the next wave the standard [expected peak in] winter we have at the end of this year and beginning of next year.

Prof Nicolas Locker, professor of virology at the University of Surrey in the UK, said scientists can follow the immunity of people over a certain period and use the information gathered to predict how immunity will change later on.

But this, he said, was no substitute for following people for a year or two years, and it would not indicate what protection would be like against new variants.

A trial in Israel, details of which were released on Wednesday indicates that a fourth dose of an mRNA jab tops up a persons antibodies against Covid-19, but perhaps does not do much more than this.

The trial involved 274 healthcare workers given a fourth dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jabs and compared them to hundreds of other people who were not administered the extra booster.

Researchers found that levels of neutralising antibodies (which can prevent the virus infecting human cells) increased after the fourth dose, but were not higher than amounts seen after a third jab.

So while a third jab has been shown to significantly boost protection, especially against new variants, a fourth may have a less significant effect, at least among healthy people whose immune systems already responded well to the third dose.

Also, even after the fourth dose, the vaccine had limited effectiveness at protecting a person from being infected with the coronavirus, although infections tended to be mild or asymptomatic rather then severe.

The researchers concluded that the low efficacy at preventing infections raise[s] the urgency of next-generation vaccine development.

A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Covid-19 vaccine in Mogadishu, Somalia. Reuters

There has been much discussion over whether repeated boosters will be needed to maintain protection against Covid-19.

Prof Paul Digard, chair of virology at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, said there probably wont be much call for a regular booster unless significantly different variants emerge.

Protection from virus infections and vaccination will give us some reasonable protection for a while. Im not expecting to be queuing up for a fourth booster in the next few months, he said.

Even if your antibody titres [concentrations] have waned enough that you can be reinfected, you still have memory response; you will be able to mount a good immune response faster and better.

Some experts, such as Prof Locker, think that governments may vaccinate populations periodically, as is the case against influenza in some countries.

In the long term, provided vaccine coverage is increasing, well probably move into a pattern of annual vaccination that covers us against circulating variants, he said. But this is only going to be efficient if we have good vaccine coverage worldwide.

Updated: February 28th 2022, 4:30 AM

See the rest here:

Will we always need Covid-19 booster shots to fight off virus? - The National

Country

United States of AmericaUS Virgin IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsCanadaMexico, United Mexican StatesBahamas, Commonwealth of theCuba, Republic ofDominican RepublicHaiti, Republic ofJamaicaAfghanistanAlbania, People's Socialist Republic ofAlgeria, People's Democratic Republic ofAmerican SamoaAndorra, Principality ofAngola, Republic ofAnguillaAntarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S)Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Argentine RepublicArmeniaArubaAustralia, Commonwealth ofAustria, Republic ofAzerbaijan, Republic ofBahrain, Kingdom ofBangladesh, People's Republic ofBarbadosBelarusBelgium, Kingdom ofBelizeBenin, People's Republic ofBermudaBhutan, Kingdom ofBolivia, Republic ofBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana, Republic ofBouvet Island (Bouvetoya)Brazil, Federative Republic ofBritish Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)British Virgin IslandsBrunei DarussalamBulgaria, People's Republic ofBurkina FasoBurundi, Republic ofCambodia, Kingdom ofCameroon, United Republic ofCape Verde, Republic ofCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChad, Republic ofChile, Republic ofChina, People's Republic ofChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombia, Republic ofComoros, Union of theCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, People's Republic ofCook IslandsCosta Rica, Republic ofCote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of theCyprus, Republic ofCzech RepublicDenmark, Kingdom ofDjibouti, Republic ofDominica, Commonwealth ofEcuador, Republic ofEgypt, Arab Republic ofEl Salvador, Republic ofEquatorial Guinea, Republic ofEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFaeroe IslandsFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Fiji, Republic of the Fiji IslandsFinland, Republic ofFrance, French RepublicFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabon, Gabonese RepublicGambia, Republic of theGeorgiaGermanyGhana, Republic ofGibraltarGreece, Hellenic RepublicGreenlandGrenadaGuadaloupeGuamGuatemala, Republic ofGuinea, RevolutionaryPeople's Rep'c ofGuinea-Bissau, Republic ofGuyana, Republic ofHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)Honduras, Republic ofHong Kong, Special Administrative Region of ChinaHrvatska (Croatia)Hungary, Hungarian People's RepublicIceland, Republic ofIndia, Republic ofIndonesia, Republic ofIran, Islamic Republic ofIraq, Republic ofIrelandIsrael, State ofItaly, Italian RepublicJapanJordan, Hashemite Kingdom ofKazakhstan, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofKiribati, Republic ofKorea, Democratic People's Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwait, State ofKyrgyz RepublicLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanon, Lebanese RepublicLesotho, Kingdom ofLiberia, Republic ofLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein, Principality ofLithuaniaLuxembourg, Grand Duchy ofMacao, Special Administrative Region of ChinaMacedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascar, Republic ofMalawi, Republic ofMalaysiaMaldives, Republic ofMali, Republic ofMalta, Republic ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritania, Islamic Republic ofMauritiusMayotteMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonaco, Principality ofMongolia, Mongolian People's RepublicMontserratMorocco, Kingdom ofMozambique, People's Republic ofMyanmarNamibiaNauru, Republic ofNepal, Kingdom ofNetherlands AntillesNetherlands, Kingdom of theNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaragua, Republic ofNiger, Republic of theNigeria, Federal Republic ofNiue, Republic ofNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorway, Kingdom ofOman, Sultanate ofPakistan, Islamic Republic ofPalauPalestinian Territory, OccupiedPanama, Republic ofPapua New GuineaParaguay, Republic ofPeru, Republic ofPhilippines, Republic of thePitcairn IslandPoland, Polish People's RepublicPortugal, Portuguese RepublicPuerto RicoQatar, State ofReunionRomania, Socialist Republic ofRussian FederationRwanda, Rwandese RepublicSamoa, Independent State ofSan Marino, Republic ofSao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic ofSaudi Arabia, Kingdom ofSenegal, Republic ofSerbia and MontenegroSeychelles, Republic ofSierra Leone, Republic ofSingapore, Republic ofSlovakia (Slovak Republic)SloveniaSolomon IslandsSomalia, Somali RepublicSouth Africa, Republic ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSpain, Spanish StateSri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic ofSt. HelenaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSudan, Democratic Republic of theSuriname, Republic ofSvalbard & Jan Mayen IslandsSwaziland, Kingdom ofSweden, Kingdom ofSwitzerland, Swiss ConfederationSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailand, Kingdom ofTimor-Leste, Democratic Republic ofTogo, Togolese RepublicTokelau (Tokelau Islands)Tonga, Kingdom ofTrinidad and Tobago, Republic ofTunisia, Republic ofTurkey, Republic ofTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUganda, Republic ofUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom of Great Britain & N. IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

Follow this link:

Idahos ongoing COVID-19 costs: $27.5 million for health care staff, and counting - Idaho Press-Tribune

A study released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine by Providence, one of the largest health systems in the United States, confirms the overall effectiveness of vaccines in preventing severe infection resulting in hospitalization from Covid-19, but also shows a substantial decline in protection after six months. Completed by a team of clinicians and scientists in the Providence Research Network, the study examined data from nearly 50,000 hospital admissions between April and November of 2021, finding that vaccines were 94% effective at preventing hospitalization 50-100 days after receiving the shot but fell to 80.4% 200-250 days later, with even more rapid declines after 250 days.

In addition to examining the effectiveness of vaccines over time, the Providence study was also able to identify factors associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness. Key risk factors for a severe "breakthrough" infection included advanced age (80+), comorbidities such as cancer, transplants, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, or heart failure, the amount of time that had elapsed since being vaccinated, and the type of vaccine one received. For the latter factor, the study found that the Moderna vaccine offered the best overall protection over time, while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered initial protection equivalent to Moderna's but declined more rapidly over time. Persons receiving the Janssen vaccine also had higher odds of experiencing a severe breakthrough infection compared to Moderna.

This data helps us understand differences in waning protection by vaccine type and identify the key risk factors for severe breakthrough infections to help inform the targeting of potential vaccine booster programs. Unlike most other studies, our data stretched beyond six months, where we found evidence of rapidly waning protection, especially for patients 80 or older. We were also able to identify important differences by vaccine type and patient characteristics that should help inform potential booster programs."

Amy Compton-Phillips, M.D., Providence chief clinical officer

The Providence study, one of the largest of its type, showcases the value of connecting a network of researchers with large scale health care data to help health systems, public health agencies, policymakers, and patients and community members learn and react more quickly to emergent or endemic health challenges. Overall, the data supports the importance of vaccinations for protection against hospitalization, and also clearly evidences the need to boost that protection after 200 days, particularly for patients age 80 and up or with specific medical conditions that increase their risk of severe infection.

"Additional protection may be warranted for everyone, but especially for these populations," said Ari Robiscek, M.D., Providence chief medical analytics officer. "In addition to promoting general vaccine uptake, clinicians and policy makers should consider prioritizing booster shots toward those most at risk for severe Covid-19."

Source:

Journal reference:

Wright, B.J., et al. (2022) Comparative vaccine effectiveness against severe COVID-19 over time in US hospital administrative data: a case-control study. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00042-X.

Go here to read the rest:

Study finds waning protection of COVID-19 vaccines after six months - News-Medical.Net

During his midweek COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Jim Justice sounded a cautious note of optimism. Anyone who has taken a look at the states maps lately can see more green blooming across our counties. In fact, 27 of the 55 are now in the lowest-risk category on the Department of Health and Human Services COVID alert map.

That is good news. But on the other hand, at the time of that briefing there were 3,574 active virus cases in the state, 596 hospitalized, 135 in intensive care units 78 on ventilators and 31 had died since the previous days report.

The number of deaths will trail, and we will still escalate a little bit, Justice said. But we are making progress and maybe the skies are looking better.

If that progress is to continue, West Virginians will have to continue maybe even step up their efforts to combat the virus. Easing off the accelerator is the wrong approach. COVID-19s variants dont need much of a window to attack.

If you have not yet gotten vaccinated or boosted, do so. Think carefully about whether it is still necessary to wear a high-quality mask in some communities. We cannot declare this fight won just yet. Mountain State residents must push as hard as ever to get the job done. Dont give up now.

Continued here:

Don't Give Up: COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet - Martinsburg Journal