Category: Covid-19

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?

"Vaccine passports," or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the coronavirus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.

The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they'll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.

In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.

Objections revolve mostly around privacy and security how people's personal information will be stored and fairness. Critics say the passports will benefit people and countries with more access to vaccines.

Supporters say they could make reopenings faster and easier. Proof of vaccination or a negative test could be a way for businesses and schools to reassure customers, students and parents that steps are being taken to limit transmission of the virus.

International travel bans by countries could also be eased if people are able to show proof they're vaccinated. Some countries have long had requirements to prove vaccination against yellow fever.

Still, a challenge is creating certification systems that work across vaccine providers and businesses. More than a dozen initiatives are underway to develop a credential that could be stored on a smartphone or printed on paper, using a QR code.

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What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one? Crain's Detroit Business - Crain's Detroit Business

by: Shannon Halligan/WGN, Nexstar Media Wire

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (WGN) An Illinois family is mourning the loss of a 15-year-old girl who died from COVID-19 just two days after testing positive.

Dykota Morgan was, by all accounts, a healthy Bolingbrook High School freshman who excelled in school and athletics. But a little more than a week after she turned 15, she started feeling sick.

Sunday, we were out early and she called us and said that she woke up feeling dizzy and weak, and she was coughing on the phone, said mother Krystal Morgan.

Dykota had been complaining of headaches for the past two weeks but did not have any pre-existing conditions, her mother said.

Over the weekend, her parents noticed a change.

She just wasnt doing good, she was too tired, and the cough and the fever. So by about 5 oclock, I said, Im going to get you a COVID test because Im kind of worried you might have COVID,' Krystal Morgan said.

On Sunday, Dykota tested positive for COVID-19, and by Monday, she was in the hospital.

Her parents had to say goodbye to her at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

She was perfectly healthy, she just, her heart just She was perfectly healthy and she got COVID and it took her, father Rashad Bingham said.

Dykotas parents want people to know the virus is not gone and that children are not immune. Theyre hopeful the vaccine can soon help prevent this from happening to other families.

As soon as its available to the babies, I think they should do it, do it because you just never know. I didnt expect this. She was healthy, I feel like, I dont know, I just feel like I was robbed, I was robbed, her father said.

A balloon release will be held in Morgans honor at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Bolingbrook.

Continued here:

15-year-old Illinois girl dies from COVID-19 two days after testing positive - wcia.com

Its both a sign of the countrys success in protecting the elderly through vaccination and an urgent reminder that younger generations will pay a heavy price if the outbreak is allowed to simmer in communities across the country.

Were now seeing people in their 30s, 40s and 50s young people who are really sick, said Dr. Vishnu Chundi, a specialist in infectious diseases and chair of the Chicago Medical Societys covid-19 task force. Most of them make it, but some do not. I just lost a 32-year-old with two children, so its heartbreaking.

Nationally, adults under 50 now account for the most hospitalized COVID patients in the country about 36% of all hospital admissions. Those ages 50 to 64 account for the second-highest number of hospitalizations, or about 31%. Meanwhile, hospitalizations among adults 65 and older have fallen significantly.

About 32% of the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated, but the vast majority are people older than 65 a group that was prioritized in the initial phase of the vaccine rollout.

Although new infections are gradually declining nationwide, some regions have contended with a resurgence of the coronavirus in recent months what some have called a fourth wave propelled by the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, which is estimated to be somewhere between 40% and 70% more contagious.

As many states ditch pandemic precautions, this more virulent strain still has ample room to spread among the younger population, which remains broadly susceptible to the disease.

The emergence of more dangerous strains of the virus in the U.S. including variants first discovered in South Africa and Brazil has made the vaccination effort all the more urgent.

We are in a whole different ballgame, said Judith Malmgren, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington.

Rising infections among young adults create a reservoir of disease that eventually spills over into the rest of society one that has yet to reach herd immunity and portends a broader surge in cases, she said.

Fortunately, the chance of dying of covid remains very small for people under 50, but this age group can become seriously ill or experience long-term symptoms after the initial infection. People with underlying conditions such as obesity and heart disease are also more likely to become seriously ill.

B.1.1.7 doesnt discriminate by age, and when it comes to young people, our messaging on this is still too soft, Malmgren said.

Across the country, the influx of younger patients with COVID has startled clinicians who describe hospital beds filled with patients, many of whom appear sicker than what was seen during previous waves of the pandemic.

A lot of them are requiring ICU care, said Dr. Michelle Barron, head of infection prevention and control at UCHealth, one of Colorados large hospital systems, as compared with earlier in the pandemic.

The median age of COVID patients at UCHealth hospitals has dropped by more than 10 years in the past few weeks, from 59 down to about 48 years old, Barron said.

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I think we will continue to see that, especially if theres not a lot of vaccine uptake in these groups, she said.

While most hospitals are far from the onslaught of illness seen during the winter, the explosion of cases in Michigan underscores the potential fallout of loosening restrictions when a large share of adults are not yet vaccinated.

Theres strong evidence that all three vaccines being used in the U.S. provide good protection against the U.K. variant.

One study suggests that the B.1.1.7 variant doesnt lead to more severe illness, as was previously thought. However, patients infected with the variant appear more likely to have more of the virus in their bodies than those with the previously dominant strain, which may help explain why it spreads more easily.

We think that this may be causing more of these hospitalizations in younger people, said Dr. Rachael Lee at the University of Alabama-Birmingham hospital.

Lees hospital also has observed an uptick in younger patients. As in other Southern states, Alabama has a low rate of vaccine uptake.

But even in Washington state, where much of the population is opting to get the vaccine, hospitalizations have been rising steadily since early March, especially among young people. In the Seattle area, more people in their 20s are now being hospitalized for covid than people in their 70s, according to Dr. Jeff Duchin, public health chief officer for Seattle and King County.

We dont yet have enough younger adults vaccinated to counteract the increased ease with which the variants spread, said Duchin at a recent press briefing.

Nationwide, about 32% of people in their 40s are fully vaccinated, compared with 27% of people in their 30s. That share drops to about 18% for 18- to 29-year-olds.

Im hopeful that the death curve is not going to rise as fast, but it is putting a strain on the health system, said Dr. Nathaniel Schlicher, an emergency physician and president of the Washington State Medical Association.

Schlicher, also in his late 30s, recalls with horror two of his recent patients close to his age and previously healthy who were admitted with new-onset heart failure caused by COVID.

Ive seen that up close and thats what scares the hell out of me, he said.

I understand young people feeling invincible, but what I would just tell them is dont be afraid of dying, be afraid of heart failure, lung damage and not being able to do the things that you love to do.

Doctors and public health experts hope that the troubling spike in hospitalizations among the younger demographic will be temporary one that vaccines will soon counteract. It was only on April 19 that all adults became eligible for a covid vaccine, although they were available in some states much sooner.

But some concerning national polls indicate a sizable portion of teens and adults in their 20s and 30s dont necessarily have plans to get vaccinated.

We just need to make it super easy not inconvenient in any way, said Malmgren, the Washington epidemiologist. We have to put our minds to it and think a little differently.

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Serious COVID-19 cases on the rise in younger adults - Grand Forks Herald

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) A COVID-19 outbreak at a high school wrestling tournament held in April is linked to more than 20 infections in five communities across southeast Alaska, according to health officials.

Ketchikan High School hosted the regional wrestling tournament, an annual event that this year attracted athletes from seven different schools, Anchorage Daily News reported.

Officials from the regional school activities association issued a warning to the school last week on accusations of failing to test competitors and enforce mask orders at the event as is required by the regions mitigation policies.

By Thursday, at least 11 students, two staff members and five other residents in the surrounding community tested positive for COVID-19 as part of the school outbreak. Contact tracing showed that at least five people who attended the wrestling tournament were infected with the virus at the time, according to Kacie Paxton, spokesperson for the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center.

Another five cases associated with the outbreak were found in four other communities that participated in the tournament, bringing the total number of infections that could be traced back to Ketchikan High School to 23.

More cases were reported in Ketchikan on Thursday, but health officials are still determining if they are connected to the tournament, Paxton said.

Ketchikan had a total of 53 active COVID-19 cases as of Thursday.

District officials said that the matter was still under investigation. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District, which has 30 days to respond to the warning from the regional school activities association, is looking into exactly what happened and plans to provide information soon due to the high level of public interest, said Katie Parrott, acting superintendent.

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This story has been corrected to show in the headline that there were over 20 cases, not 20 cases.

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Over 20 COVID-19 cases linked to Alaska wrestling tournament - Associated Press

Official birth data from the final months of 2020 were released last night from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. The data confirm what many suspected and what we predicted back in June 2020 and further discussed in December 2020: nearly 40,000 missing births in the final month and a half of 2020, which would have otherwise been conceived in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were 53.9 births per 1,000 women (at an annualized rate) in the last quarter of 2020, in October, November, and December. That is substantially lower than the 57.6 annualized births per 1,000 women in the last quarter of 2019. However, not all of that decline can be attributed to the early stages of the pandemic. Birth rates have fallen steadily in the U.S. since 2007. Assuming births would have fallen between 2019 quarter 4 and 2020 quarter 4 at the same rate by which they fell between 2018 quarter 4 and 2019 quarter 4 (specifically, 2.3 percent), the observed drop between the final quarters of 2019 and 2020 incorporates a 4.3 percent excess decline. (Figure 1 plots quarterly birth rates for 2018, 2019, and 2020.) Since the effects of the pandemic in the U.S. really took hold in March 2020, only missing births from the second half of the quarter can reasonably be attributed to effects of the pandemic. The estimated COVID impact on births is thus twice as large an excess decline of 8.6 percent.

We estimate the excess decline in births potentially attributable to the early stages of the COVID pandemic for women by age group. This exercise shows that the largest excess birth rate declines occurred for women between the age of 15 and 24 and above age 35. (Figure 2 plots the predicted COVID induced declines in birth rates by age group.) This would correspond with the largest number of averted births among those most likely to be in newer relationships (younger women) and those most likely to already have a child (older women). In the words of economists, births to younger and older women might be considered more marginal, whereas women and couples in their late 20s and early 30s are most likely to be committed to having a child during this time. Unfortunately, the birth data do not allow us to do more detailed subgroup analyses, such as looking by occupation or industry or employment status.

These data reflect birth responses to the very early days of the pandemic. Additional data that comes out over the following months will reveal how the path of the pandemic and associated recession played out for women and couples and their childbearing over the course of the year.

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The coming COVID-19 baby bust is here - Brookings Institution

For Immediate Release: May 05, 2021

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a new report titled, Resiliency Roadmap for FDA Inspectional Oversight, outlining the agencys inspectional activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and its detailed plan to move toward a more consistent state of operations, including the FDAs priorities related to this work going forward.

Like most organizations around the world, the FDA experienced unprecedented and unique challenges during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In particular, our inspection, surveillance and compliance activities were significantly impacted, said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. The FDA fully understands the importance of getting back to a more consistent state of inspectional capacity. This plan provides the public with a transparent picture of both the successes and challenges weve faced in these areas over the past year, as well as our plan moving forward. We want to assure the American public that we have used a variety of tools to oversee the regulated industry and ensure that Americans continue to have access to safe food and high-quality FDA-regulated products.

In March 2020, the FDA announced that it was temporarily postponing all domestic and foreign routine surveillance facility inspections, while continuing mission critical inspections when possible. Beginning the week of July 20, 2020, the FDA began to work toward resuming prioritized domestic inspections using its COVID-19 Advisory Rating system. The report outlines inspections that the agency was unable to complete during the past year due to travel restrictions or inability to ensure the safety of our workforce or the workforces the agency regulates. The report also outlines the number of mission-critical inspections the agency completed during that time, such as inspections of facilities for which there was a drug shortage, inspections needed for the approval of novel drugs or drugs related to the potential treatment of COVID-19, support of pre-market and pre-license applications and response to foodborne disease outbreaks or other food safety risks such as undeclared allergens.

Among other things, the report highlights:

Additionally, the report outlines the FDAs continued successful use of alternative tools and approaches where inspections were or are not currently feasible, including remote interactive evaluations (e.g., remote livestreaming video of operations, teleconferences or screen sharing), record requests and leveraging information from trusted regulatory partners. For example, over 1,300 record requests have been made to human and animal drug and biologic drug manufacturers that have led to a high level of on-time regulatory decision actions.

The report further outlines the ongoing steps the agency is taking in order to resume standard operational levels of inspection activities, including how it intends to prioritize domestic and foreign inspections that were not performed during the pandemic. The plan highlights a variety of possible scenarios given the continued uncertainty of the trajectory of the ongoing pandemic. Inspections considered critical to the FDAs mission will remain the primary focus. When planning routine surveillance inspections, the agency will prioritize higher-risk establishments. Therefore, a longer interval between inspections will occur for the less high-risk facilities as the FDA adjusts to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that postponed inspections will be prioritized based on risk and conducted over a longer period of time, ultimately increasing the amount of time between inspections of certain lower-risk facilities.

The agency will also soon begin a multi-year modernization effort to further transform our data enterprise platforms and cross-program interoperability infrastructure to better support innovation related to its regulatory oversight role, including remote approaches. This modernization effort will include a review of inspectional approaches using next-generation assessment technologies and improvements. The FDA is also establishing an agency-wide FDA Inspectional Affairs Council that will plan and coordinate inspectional activities. The agency intends to share more information on these efforts as this work progresses. The FDA will continue to leverage and maximize every available tool and resource to meet its inspectional responsibilities, while achieving optimal public health outcomes.

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The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nations food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

05/05/2021

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Outlines Inspection and Assessment Activities During Pandemic, Roadmap for Future State of Operations - FDA.gov

Tents of mountaineers are pictured Monday at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Prakash Mathema/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Tents of mountaineers are pictured Monday at the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

The coronavirus pandemic has reached the top of the world, where it has reportedly disrupted the annual climb up Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks just as the window for summiting the mountains opens up.

In recent days, reports have emerged of an outbreak at Everest Base Camp in Nepal, at 17,597 feet (5,364 meters), where hundreds of climbers assemble each year to adjust to the oxygen-starved altitude as they prepare to ascend the 29,032-foot (8,849-meter) peak.

The BBC and The Guardian have reported recently what climbers have anecdotally been seeing, and posting to social media rising numbers of positive coronavirus tests and climbers with COVID-19 symptoms.

According to the BBC, base camp officials say there have been 17 confirmed cases after tests at hospitals in the capital, Kathmandu, where climbers with symptoms were sent for treatment. It said that staff at a private hospital in Kathmandu had confirmed that climbers tested positive after arriving from Mount Everest.

Last month, Polish climber Pawel Michalski posted to Facebook that "more than 30 people have already been evacuated [by air] to Kathmandu, with suspicion of pulmonary edema - later found to be positive for coronavirus."

Prem Subedi, the undersecretary at Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told the BBC, "None of the COVID cases at Everest Base Camp have been reported so far to the Ministry."

May usually presents 10 to 15 days of good weather for reaching the summit of Mount Everest and the country's other peaks.

The apparent infections at Everest Base Camp come as Nepal, like neighboring India, has been battling a new surge in coronavirus cases and deaths. On Wednesday, Nepal's health ministry recorded 58 new COVID-19 deaths, with a new daily record of 8,605 coronavirus infections, according to The Kathmandu Post. While those numbers pale in comparison with India's more than 382,000 cases on Wednesday, Nepal's population of 29 million is a tiny fraction of its neighbor to the south.

Last month, Nepal's Department of Tourism reported that despite the pandemic, it expected the number of climbing permits this year nearly to equal the record 381 issued in 2019.

Nepal's Himalayan Times on Wednesday reported a similar outbreak at Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-tallest peak, with more than 10 climbers both foreigners and Sherpas evacuated by air from the mountain's base camp to Kathmandu after preliminary reports of COVID-19 infection.

It said that five climbers, including one foreigner, were similarly airlifted out of the base camp on Tuesday.

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COVID-19 Reaches Mount Everest As Nepal Struggles With Record Infections - NPR

As set forth in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), employers and certain governmental employers are allowed to claim refundable tax credits that reimburse them if they choose to provide paid sick and family leave due to COVID-19, including leave taken to receive and/or recover from COVID-19 vaccines. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued afact sheetfurther explaining how employers may claim those tax credits. The ARP tax credits are available from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021.

The IRS defines eligible employers for the ARP tax credits as follows:

Any business, including a tax-exempt organization, with fewer than 500 employees;

A governmental employer, other than the federal government; and

Any agency or instrumentality of the federal government that is not an organization described in section 501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Employers that choose to provide this leave may claim tax credits for any wages paid for leave taken by employees who are unable to work or telework due to reasons related to COVID-19, including leave taken to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Employees may also take leave to recover from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to the vaccinations.

The expansion of eligible employers receiving tax credits is certainly enticing for employers to continue providing COVID-19 related paid time off for their employees. Eligible employers may encourage their employees to get vaccinated and even provide a paid day off. The employer would then receive a tax credit equal to the wages paid to employees for that day. Providing paid leave for COVID-19 vaccines and any vaccine related side effects may help encourage additional Wisconsinites to receive the vaccine. As noted above, the time period began April 1, 2021, and continues through September 30, 2021. Davis|Kuelthau will update you if this time period is extended or any other future tax credits are offered to employers.

2021 Davis|Kuelthau, s.c. All Rights ReservedNational Law Review, Volume XI, Number 125

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Claiming Tax Credits for COVID-19 Voluntary Leave Guidance - The National Law Review

Austin, Texas Austin Public Health (APH) updatedthe COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelinestoday, May 4, to clarify personal behavior recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated versus those who are partially or not vaccinated.

Individuals who are vaccinated may:

Individuals who are partially or not vaccinated may:

Regardless of vaccination status or stage, individuals need to continue to follow the additional requirements of local businesses, venues and schools, as theHealth Authority Rulesremain in place through May 18.

We want people to getvaccinated, said Dr. Mark Escott, Interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority. Now andcertainly in the future asthe vaccination rate improves,there will be improved freedom associated withvaccination. In other words, the need to continue masking and the other necessary precautionswill continue to decrease for those who are vaccinated.

Additionally, the threshold to enter Stage 2 has been updated to 5-14 new hospital admissions on the 7-day moving average. The threshold to enter Stage 1 has also been updated to less than 5 new hospital admissions on the 7-day moving average or 70%-90% herd immunity is achieved through vaccination.

While APH monitors the 7-day moving average of COVID-19 new hospital admissions as the primary key indicator for the Risk-Based Guidelines, additional key indicators, including positivity rate, the doubling time of new cases and current ICU and ventilator patients, are monitored to determine the current staging.

As a result of both declining length of hospital stays and declining mortality rates, we feel comfortable reassessing the transition of stages, added Dr. Escott. We expect that there isgoing to be a long tail interms of achieving vaccine herdimmunity or completely getting COVID-19 out of our community. So, we expect that we may seea slow decliningplateau of cases, and as thevaccination rate improves inthe community, and we hit70% to 90% vaccinated we could lookat transitioning to Stage 1 safely.

Austin-Travis County remains in Stage 3 of the Risk-Based Guidelines, with acurrent 7-day moving average of new hospital admissions of 17.

For additional COVID-19 information and updates, visitwww.AustinTexas.gov/COVID19.

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COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelines Updated to Factor in Vaccination - AustinTexas.gov

President Joe Biden (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Student loan borrowers will have received at least $90 billion of student loan forgiveness due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Heres what you need to know.

President Joe Biden and Congress may be debating the future of student loan cancellation, including who, if anyone, will cancel student loan debt and how much, if any, student loan forgiveness there will be. Amidst this ongoing debate, its important to highlight that more than $90 billion of student loans will be cancelled through September 30, 2021. How is this possible? Lets explore.

Under the Cares Act the $2.2 trillion stimulus package Congress enacted several temporary benefits for student loan borrowers, including:

These student loan benefits were scheduled to expire on September 30, 2020. However, President Donald Trump extended this student loan relief twice until January 31, 2021. When Biden became president, Biden extended this student loan relief through September 30, 2021. While this student loan relief is expected to end September 30, 2021, its possible that Biden could extend student loan relief beyond this date.

The U.S. Department of Education released data that confirmed student loan borrowers collectively have saved approximately $5 billion each month since student loan payments have been paused and interest hasnt accrued. Between now and September 30, 2021, student loan borrowers will save another $25 billion. That represents a major savings for student loan borrowers.

Its important to clarify what this means. First, this student loan cancellation applies only to federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education. Second, there is no direct one-time student loan cancellation of existing student loan debt. Rather, this student loan cancellation is due to student loan borrowers not having to pay interest during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, consider this student loan forgiveness for interest that wont accrue on your principal balance. That might not feel as exciting as one-time student loan cancellation of your existing student loan balance, but the amount can be significant. Why? Effectively, from March 2020 to September 30, 2021, student loan borrowers will have zero interest added to their federal student loans for 19 months. Consider this future student loan forgiveness (from the student loan interest you wont be paying) rather than current student loan forgiveness.

Its estimated, according to Yahoo Finance, that student loan borrowers have saved $2,000 on average.

The $90 billion of student loan forgiveness isnt the only student loan debt that has been cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, Biden already has cancelled $2.3 billion of student loans. (You can learn if you qualify for the $2.3 billion of student loan forgiveness here). First, Biden cancelled $1 billion of student loans for 72,000 student loan borrowers and second, he cancelled another $1.3 billion of student loans for 41,000 borrowers with total and permanent disability. America has reacted to Bidens student loan cancellation in different ways. In addition to direct student loan cancellation and student loan forgiveness due to no interest, student loan borrowers also have benefitted in another way during Covid-19 pandemic. For example, student loan borrowers who are pursuing public service loan forgiveness got credit for making a monthly student loan payment, even if they didnt actually make one. This is also a significant benefit because student loan borrowers potentially got 1.5 years of student payments counted toward the requirement of 10 years of student loan payments (120 monthly payments). This student loan cancellation is independent of any one-time student loan cancellation. If Congress or the president enacts student loan cancellation, it would be incremental to the student loan forgiveness that will continue through September 30, 2021.

As you evaluate your options for student loan repayment, make sure you consider these potential options:

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Student Loan Cancellation Will Top $90 Billion During The Covid-19 Pandemic - Forbes