Category: Covid-19

As more and more people contract COVID-19, there's a change in how some of those people are feeling after getting the virus.

Dr. Anthony Santella, professor of health administration and policy from the University of New Haven, spoke about how people are feeling a sense of relief after they've contracted COVID-19.

Dan: "Doctor, it used to be that a COVID-19 diagnosis was just straight up really scary, and it still very much can be, but has something shifted as of late, where people might not be as nervous as they once were to get this thing?"

Dr. Santella: "I think there are a lot of emotions playing out right now. You know, we all know someone who's had COVID. We all know people who have had a mild or asymptomatic case of COVID. And we probably have all known someone who's had a bit of a rough stint for a week or two. Certainly, in my own network, I know people from asymptomatic all the way to people who unfortunately passed away from COVID. And so I think we're getting to that almost at the two-year milestone, where people are just shrugging this off and thinking, you know what, if I get it, it's not going to be a big deal. I'm less concerned about not a matter of if I'm going to get it, but when."

Dan: "Thousands and thousands of people have tested positive in recent weeks in Connecticut. From those who've youve heard from who've had the virus, what's their take on this?"

Dr. Santella: "The message out there is a lot of people are like you know what, it's just it's not a big deal.' In fact, there's a message happening out there, we know that there are folks who are not being compliant with our mitigation strategies, because they just think it's inevitable that they're going to get it. But let me tell you, that's a that's a bad strategy to have in your back pocket right now. While the message really is that Omicron particularly is producing a very mild strain of this virus, we all experience disease differently and so mild for me may be very mild for you. We also are unsure about the long haul consequences and symptoms that people may experience over time. I don't know if you have any health professionals, all of you listening know out there, that every single person from the doctors, the nurses, the respiratory therapists, to health care administrators, they're tired, they're fatigued, they're burned out. Their systems are at the brink of collapse and so what you and I can do to make their jobs a little bit easier is to follow through with those public health strategies."

Dan: "Just to be abundantly clear, for anyone who's watching, even though getting COVID can provide you with some extra antibodies, trying to get the virus is certainly not the answer here, even if someone's vaccinated and they think they're going to be okay, right?"

Dr. Santella: "Exactly. This is not something that we want to mess around with. We know viruses, particularly this virus has been very smart, evolves and mutates over time. And at the end of the day, and I'm not a betting person, but if I were, I'd had my money on Mother Nature versus trying to just get it and get it over with."

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Q&A: Should People Be Feeling Relieved After They've Contracted COVID-19? - NBC Connecticut

Employers that are covered by the federal government's COVID-19 vaccination directive for health care workers must take swift action to comply with looming deadlines. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to put the rule on hold while its merits are debated in court.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule applies to health care workers at Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers. Covered workers must receive their firstCOVID-19 vaccine dose by Jan. 27 and be fully vaccinated by Feb. 28. Additionally, employers must track employees' vaccination statuses and develop policies that include medical and religious exemptions and accommodations.

"Covered employers should establish clear, confidential procedures for maintaining vaccination status and processing exemption requests," suggested Jody Ward-Rannow, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Minneapolis. "Covered employers need to be communicating with employees and any other staff who enter their facilities now in order to give staff time to get vaccinated and submit their vaccination status or apply for an exemption."

High Court Lifts Hold on Rule

The CMS health care worker mandate was challenged by several states in multiple lawsuits. In late November, lower courts in Missouri and Louisiana issued a stay that blocked enforcement of the CMS directivebut only in the states that had joined the lawsuits.

"As a result, the CMS vaccine mandate was in effect in some states but not others," noted Norma Zeitler, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. "The Supreme Court lifted the stays of enforcement, paving the way for the CMS to enforce its vaccine mandate nationwide."

The CMS rule is tied to federal funding and applies only to organizations that voluntarily participate in the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Congress authorized the secretary of health and human services "to impose conditions on the receipt of Medicaid and Medicare funds that the Secretary finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services," the Supreme Court noted in its ruling.

Who Is Covered?

The CMS rule applies to the following Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers:

The vaccination requirement applies to workers at covered facilities even if they don't have clinical responsibilities or patient contact. This includes facility employees, licensed practitioners, students, trainees and volunteers. Workers who provide care, treatment or other services for the facility or patients are also covered.

"These requirements are not limited to those staff who perform their duties within a formal clinical setting, as many health care staff routinely care for patients and clients outside of such facilities, such as home health, home infusion therapy, hospice, PACE programs, and therapy staff," according to the CMS.

Staff members who typically work remotely but occasionally have contact with other staff membersat worksites, administrative offices or in-person meetingsare also covered by the rule. The agency noted, however, that staff who perform 100 percent of their duties remotely are not required to get vaccinated.

"Facility staff vaccination rates under 100 percent constitute noncompliance under the rule," according to CMS guidance. But the agency will be flexible with its enforcement efforts. "Noncompliance does not necessarily lead to termination [from the programs], and facilities will generally be given opportunities to return to compliance."

Compliance Tips

The CMS issued aninterim ruleon the health care directive in November and updated guidance in December.Unlike the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's emergency temporary standardwhich the Supreme Court blocked on Jan. 13the CMS mandate does not allow covered facilities to implement a COVID-19 testing program as an alternative to requiring vaccination, Zeitler noted.

Jackson Lewis highlighted the following key provisions of the interim rule:

"CMS is expected to provide additional guidance with regard to the implementation of the interim rule for the states that had been covered by the stays," Jackson Lewis noted.

According to Fisher Phillips, the following components are critical parts of a successful plan:

Visit SHRM's resource hub page on the coronavirus and COVID-19.

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Covered Health Care Facilities Must Prepare for COVID-19 Vaccination Deadlines - SHRM

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the messaging around the COVID-19 pandemic and changing guidance should have been clearer.

State of play: Walensky is being coached by media experts and is planning to have more press briefings by herself in order to ensure that CDC is seen as an independent, scientific entity, rather than as a political one, the Journal reports.

What she's saying: "I think what I have not conveyed is the uncertainty in a lot of these situations," Walensky said, adding that she is committed to communicating CDC guidance more clearly.

The big picture: The CDC recently changed its isolation guidance to say that the people who have tested positive for the virus should isolate for at least five days, and did not initially recommend that a negative COVID test be the condition to end isolation.

The CDC later added testing recommendations saying that anyone ending isolation who "has access to a test" and "wants to test" can do so. This new language was added after it was clear that people wanted guidance on how to use rapid tests to check if they're infections.

Go deeper: Another point of confusion over COVID guidance

Originally posted here:

CDC director says COVID-19 messaging should have been clearer - Axios

In 2020, the shop had its best year ever. And 2021 was even better.

COVID changed everything at our store, Titcomb said. It made us a better business by far.

The pandemic crushed many small companies, as health concerns, supply chain issues, and labor shortages converged. But some were able to adapt and thrive. They upgraded technologies and expanded online offerings. They sought out new customers and jump-started new lines of business. Others, like Titcomb, saw an opportunity and ran with it.

The pandemic didnt kill them, it made them stronger.

For nearly two years, there has been a global scrambling as companies try to stay afloat, said Sridhar Tayur, professor of operations management at Carnegie Mellon University. And this crisis mindset has sparked changes that could have a lasting impact. Businesses are tracking customers online orders in ways they never did for in-person sales, he said. Operations are being automated and simplified.

Necessity is the mother of invention, he said. I dont think theyve had this amount of necessity at least in the last 20 or 30 years.

Lightyear Strategies, a marketing firm in Boston, witnessed the shift in its clients. At first, the mindset seemed to be, the worlds ending ... lets get rid of the marketing, said chief executive Nima Olumi. But a few months later, clients realized they needed help adapting to a changed and largely virtual world.

A New York property management firm asked Lightyear to figure out how to e-mail thousands of residents about new sanitization measures. Boston hospitals wanted videos educating patients about safety protocols.

At the same time, Olumi realized he needed to narrow his focus rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades yes man. Today, his recurring monthly revenue is more than 10 times what it was in 2019.

If you make hot dogs, he said, stick to making hot dogs.

For other business owners, though, the pandemic was the right time to branch out. Runamok Maple in Fairfax, Vt., saw its online syrup sales skyrocket, while restaurant and hotel sales slumped. So the company decided to launch Sparkle Syrup, infused with edible pearlescent mica, to bring a little bit of joy, said co-owner Eric Sorkin. And its been a huge hit. All the working dads out there were now at home, and what does a working dad know how to make? he said. They make breakfast.

At Copper Dog Books in Beverly, mastering online orders when nobody wanted to shop in person opened the door to shipping gift boxes, including a monthly subscription with two sci-fi novellas, a snack, and a small item such as a journal or key chain. Scenic Roots Garden Center in Sandwich launched a virtual landscape design business and started selling produce from a nearby farm. Both businesses have had record-breaking sales for the past two years.

Adopting new technologies has been a game-changer for many companies. In response to COVID restrictions, the owner of a nautical jewelry business in Washington state put scannable QR codes next to each necklace and bracelet in her window display, directing shoppers who couldnt come inside to the items on her website. A business consultancy in Utah started digitizing operations when the world went online, including using artificial intelligence to help predict employee turnover, a major challenge during the pandemic. Financial services firms have turned to facial recognition technology from Bedford biometric software provider Aware to give mobile customers a more secure way to check their accounts.

Many companies have embarked on a digital transformation during the pandemic, said Mark Tina, vice president of sales for Verizon Business in the eastern US. New high-speed Internet-based services not only have more capabilities than older technologies, they are less expensive, he said, which is key for businesses struggling to survive.

When workers stopped going into their offices, Dependable Cleaners, based in Quincy, saw its business drop to a fraction of what it used to be, driving the dry cleaner to look for ways to become more efficient, said director of operations Carlyn Parker. It switched to a Verizon service that assigns one business number to ring on multiple mobile devices and desk phones, and it added a texting feature to its biweekly pickup-and-delivery service.

Now, instead of visiting every home-delivery customer twice a week, the drivers only go where requested, allowing the company to add more customers without more drivers. Before Omicron drove companies to push back office reopening dates, Dependable Cleaners had climbed back to 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Were in the fourth generation, said Parker, whose grandparents started the company. Were here to stay.

Finding new customers has also been a life-saver. When travel came to a halt in March of 2020, revenues dropped to nearly zero for LugLess, a Boston company that ships luggage for travelers. But it quickly started playing up the fact that using its services meant less human contact, said chief executive Aaron Kirley. No more waiting in line at the airport to check bags, no more gathering with the masses at the baggage carousel. The company also partnered with moving companies to reach the surge of digital nomads who could suddenly work wherever they wanted and likely didnt have room in their cars for all their stuff. And when people complained they could no longer print out shipping labels because they werent at work, LugLess developed digital labels.

By the fall of 2020, business had tripled from its pre-pandemic high, then tripled again last year.

It kind of forced us to open our eyes and look at new opportunities, Kirley said.

Some of the new opportunities revealed during the pandemic arent just boosting revenues. Theyre also saving lives.

Groups Recover Together, an addiction therapy provider based in Burlington, has almost doubled the number of people it serves around the country since it started offering virtual sessions. Before COVID, people battling opioid abuse had to attend group therapy in person due to the medication being provided, said chief executive Colleen Nicewicz.

But when that requirement was rescinded during the shutdown, Groups Recover Together started holding sessions over Zoom, and then through a new app. The organization now reaches more than 10,000 people a week, nearly a third of whom live in counties with no physical site. Opioid addiction is rampant in rural areas, Nicewicz said; in one Indiana county with a population of just 10,000, Groups Recover is serving one out of every 200 residents, even without a clinic.

Crucially, data show that virtual group therapy is just as effective at keeping people off drugs as in-person sessions, she said. At a time when the opioid epidemic is worse than ever overdose deaths rose nearly 29 percent in the 12 months ending in April 2021 compared to the year before reaching more people is critical, said Nicewicz, who is hopeful virtual therapy will become a permanent offering.

We really met an unmet need, she said.

Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ktkjohnston.

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For some Mass. businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed changes for the better - BetaBoston

Austin's new COVID-19 business order takes effect and compliance is mixed  KEYE TV CBS Austin

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Austin's new COVID-19 business order takes effect and compliance is mixed - KEYE TV CBS Austin

How Metro is spending more than $380M in COVID-19 relief funds  The Tennessean

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How Metro is spending more than $380M in COVID-19 relief funds - The Tennessean

The World Health Organization issues a strong recommendation for baricitinib and a conditional one for sotrovimab.

A World Health Organization (WHO) group has issued a strong recommendation for the use of baricitinib to treat patients with COVID-19 and a conditional recommendation for the use of sotrovimab to treat the disease.

Baricitinib, a type of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but can also treat individuals with critical or severe COVID-19 in combination with corticosteroids, according to a WHO Guideline Development Group of International experts and published in The BMJ.

Their recommendation is based on moderate certainty evidence that baricitinib improves survival and reduces the need for ventilation, with no observed increase in adverse effects.

The WHO experts said that baricitinib has similar effects to other arthritis drugs called interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors, so when both are available, they recommend choosing a treatment based on availability, clinician experience, and cost.

Using both drugs at the same time is not recommended.

The experts advise against the use of 2 other JAK inhibitors, ruxolitinib and tofacitinib, for individuals with critical or severe COVID-19, because low certainty evidence from small trials failed to show a benefit and suggests a possible increase in serious adverse effects with tofacitinib.

In the same guidelines update, the WHO experts also conditionally recommended the use of the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab for individuals with non-severe COVID-19 but only those who are at highest risk of hospitalization, reflecting trivial benefits in those at lower risks.

The WHO experts made a similar recommendation for casirivimab-imdevimab, another monoclonal antibody drug.

There is insufficient data to recommend 1 monoclonal antibody treatment over another, and the WHO experts acknowledged that their effectiveness against new variants, such as omicron, is still uncertain.

The guidelines for monoclonal antibodies will be updated when additional data become available, the WHO experts said.

The new recommendations are based on new evidence from 7 trials that include 4000 individuals with critical, non-severe, and severe COVID-19 infection.

These recommendations are part of a living guideline, developed by WHO and the methodical support of MAGIC Evidence Ecosystem Foundation, to provide guidance on the management of COVID-19 and help physicians make better decisions for patients.

Living guidelines are useful in fast-moving research areas, such as COVID-19, because they allow investigators to update previously peer-reviewed and vetted evidence summaries as new information becomes available.

The panel considers a combination of evidence assessing relative benefits, feasibility, harm, preferences, and values to make their recommendations.

The new guidance adds to previous recommendations for the use of conditional recommendations for the use of casirivimab-imdevimab, another monoclonal antibody treatment, in selected individuals; IL-6 receptor blockers and systemic corticosteroids for individuals with critical or severe COVID-19; and against the use of convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine, or ivermectin in individuals with COVID-19, regardless of disease severity.

Reference

WHO recommends two new drugs to treat patients with COVID-19. EurekAlert. News release. January 13, 2022. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/939923

Original post:

WHO Recommends 2 New Drugs to Treat Patients With COVID-19 - Pharmacy Times

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) As of the afternoon of Monday, January 17, there are a number of pharmacies in Sioux Falls where you can buy COVID-19 at-home test kits.

Supply of kits may vary and the list below reflects only availability at the time this story was published. This is not a guarantee of test kit availability.

KELOLAND News spoke on the phone with Lewis Drug VP of Merchandise, Bob Meyer, who said that the company had received a shipment earlier in the day and was in the process of distributing them to stores in the city.

According to Meyer, all Sioux Falls Lewis locations (with the exception of the Phillips Ave. store) as well as the store in Brandon would be receiving test kits by this evening, and by Tuesday, all Sioux Falls locations should be fully stocked.

Lewis locations in Sioux Falls are:136 S Phillips Ave1301 E 10th St Suite 1002700 W 12th St2901 S Minnesota Ave4409 E 26th St5500 W 41st St6109 S Louise Ave2525 S Ellis Rd

3020 E 10th St.The Hy-Vee at E 10th St. received a shipment of tests today, and the store currently has over 1,000 tests according to an employee.

1601 S Sycamore Ave.A south Sycamore store employee also said that the store was in-stock, possessing around 1,000 tests.

1231 E 57th St.The 57th St. Hy-Vee currently has around 700 tests according to an employee.

It is unknown to KELOLAND News whether the Louise Avenue Hy-Vee, located at 4101 S Louise Ave, has tests. Neither the 1900 S Marion Road nor 3000 S Minnesota Ave. locations have tests in-stock as of Monday.

Walmart and Walgreens pharmacies are not included on this list due to issues getting information from the stores. This does not necessarily mean that these locations do not have tests.

More:

Where to buy at-home COVID-19 tests in Sioux Falls - KELOLAND.com

Vials of the Moderna, Jannsen and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

Spains sixth coronavirus wave, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, has multiplied positive cases among both unvaccinated and vaccinated people, with almost 1.4 million infections reported since the beginning of January and thousands more going unreported. However, Covid-19 vaccines are proving highly effective in protecting against severe infection. While pinpointing the exact level of this protection is complex, partial data collected in Spain and extensive analysis in the United Kingdom show that vaccinated individuals are at a much lower risk of being hospitalized or dying from the virus.

The most detailed information in Spain has come out of Catalonia, where the data is broken down by vaccination status. Analyzing the deaths in this northeastern region between December 23 and January 12 per 100,000 inhabitants, the mortality rate among individuals aged 70 and 80 is five times higher for the unvaccinated. Something similar occurs in other age demographics. In the 70-79 population, 50 deaths per 100,000 people are reported among the unvaccinated, compared to 10 per 100,000 among the vaccinated, i.e. five times less. Meanwhile, in the 60-69 demographic, the disparity is repeated: the mortality rate among the unvaccinated is 15 per 100,000 people while, for the vaccinated, it is 5.5 per 100,000.

The Catalan data also shows that vaccine protection helps prevent hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. For those vaccinated between 70 and 79, the probability of ending up in hospital is almost six times lower than for those who are not immunized. Meanwhile, the chance of being admitted to an ICU for Covid-19 is up to 10 times lower for the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.

The Spanish Health Ministry also publishes hospitalization data throughout Spain broken down by vaccination status, although in this case it is based on estimates: to calculate the number of unvaccinated in each age group, they subtract the number of vaccinated from the population in 2020. However, the target population will have grown since then, so it is possible that the ministrys calculations overestimate the incidence among the unvaccinated. While the element of overestimation may explain why this figure is much higher than in Catalonia, the ministrys figures yield similar conclusions: for people between 60 and 79, for example, hospital admission is 18 times higher among the unvaccinated.

In other countries, hospital data leads to the same conclusions. In Italy, where the sixth wave is following a similar pattern to Spain, the gap between vaccinated and unvaccinated is evident and maintained over time. The probability of hospital admission is 10 times higher for the unvaccinated in the 60-79 age group, a figure also echoed in Switzerland.

In the UK, the Health Security Agency (HSA) has analyzed more than half a million omicron infections in the last weeks of 2021. In order to draw accurate conclusions when comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, many factors influencing the probability of infection and admission were taken into account, such as age, gender and region of residence as well as whether a person had previously tested positive, traveled to other countries or suffered from any health conditions. The aim is to monitor the effectiveness of vaccines by measuring the extent to which the risk of infection, hospitalization and death is reduced by vaccination.

The HSA results confirm that the vaccines continue to protect those who are fully vaccinated, particularly against severe disease, but they also note a loss of effectiveness over a period of weeks. Soon after receiving the second dose, the effectiveness of the vaccines with regard to preventing hospital admission is around 72%, but this drops to 52% after six months. In this sense, the good news is that a booster shot strengthens protection; for those over 65, for example, Covid-19 vaccines are 90% effective at preventing severe disease.

The new variant is very capable of infecting vaccinated individuals, as studies from the UK have shown: the effectiveness of two doses against symptomatic infections could drop to almost zero after six months, whereas with the delta variant it remained at 40%. Even after the booster shot, vaccine effectiveness against omicron is partial, with rates of between 40% and 60%, again with figures worse than those recorded against delta (90%).

These results are adjusted according to many variables. In fact, when the basic infection rates are compared for the vaccinated and unvaccinated without factoring in the variables, they are very similar or even worse for the vaccinated group than for those who have not received any shots. This could be the case if there are many more individuals among the unvaccinated who have natural immunity from a previous infection and may explain why some studies find what looks like negative vaccine effectiveness, as has been noted in reports from the UK and a preliminary study in Denmark.

Something similar is observed in the official data coming out of Iceland: the 14-day incidence rate is higher among the vaccinated population who have not received a booster shot than among the unvaccinated (5,600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 4,000 in the unvaccinated group). However, the lowest incidence is among Icelanders with three doses.

This coincides with the data emerging from Catalonia: in November the incidence was lower for the vaccinated than for the unvaccinated in all age groups. But since the arrival of omicron, among the under-50 population a demographic that has received few boosters the infection rates seem to be higher among the vaccinated.

English version by Heather Galloway.

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The success of Covid-19 vaccines against omicron: Vaccinated up to five times less likely to be hospitalized - EL PAS in English

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Missouri's Show Me Strong Recovery Task Force, a group created by Gov. Mike Parson to assess the recovery of small businesses, has released its final report.

The report makes recommendations that the task force believes will help small businesses recover from struggles brought by COVID-19.

"In addition to a seven-city listening tour, the Task Force worked closely with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses across Missouri," a release from the governor's office said. "The analysis confirmed that businesses in some industries, such as hospitality and retail, were particularly negatively affected, and businesses across all sectors are experiencing ongoing difficulties with hiring, supply chain issues, and workforce challenges."

The recommendations included improving child care availability and affordability, expanding apprenticeships in the hospitality industry and promoting state programs that support small, women and minority-owned businesses, among an array of other things.

The full report, with a complete list of its recommendations, can be found here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our state in many ways, and Missouri small businesses are among those hardest hit, Anna Hui, the director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and chair of the task force, said. Our hope is these findings will be helpful in addressing the needs of business owners and securing a prosperous future.

We want to hear from you on what resources Kansas City families might benefit from to help us all through the pandemic. If you have five minutes, feel free to fill out this survey to help guide our coverage: KSHB COVID Survey.

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MO COVID-19 task force releases final recommendations to help small businesses - KSHB