Category: Vaccine

Before the pandemic, Anthony Shingler was a strong and active man working 60-hour weeks in the security industry. But during his time off he liked nothing better than to take trips with his family.

In 2018, he and his wife Nicola climbed Snowdonia together, and in 2020 they took their children and grandchildren on holiday to Cornwall. They enjoyed walking along the cliffs and exploring hidden beaches together, while Mr Shingler messed around with some amateur photography.

The 60-year-old is in a very different position now. These days, he uses a mobility scooter to get about, and his hands are fused in a fixed position. He no longer has the dexterity to operate a camera or even manipulate a knife and fork. He has to have his food cut up for him.

Speaking from his home in Stoke-on-Trent, Mr Shingler still comes across as a jovial character. But his voice wavers as he explains: I feel such a burden.

Everything changed for the family on March 5 2021 when Mr Shingler received the AstraZeneca vaccination against Covid-19.

Like many people, he experienced mild symptoms the following day. But unlike most others whose symptoms improved Mr Shinglers got substantially worse. Over the course of two weeks, he developed a heavy feeling in his legs, and pins and needles in his hands, feet and lower lip.

He became so unsteady on his feet that his wife had to collect him from work. By this point, they were hugely concerned and sought medical help. But according to Mrs Shingler, he was sent home twice from Royal Stoke University Hospital in Staffordshire with one doctor putting his symptoms down to an allergic reaction, and another diagnosing him with sciatica.

On March 22, Mr Shingler woke up paralysed from the waist down and returned to hospital for a third time. This time he was admitted to the neurology ward, where he was subjected to tests and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, before being rushed to intensive care.

He had been diagnosed with GBS which can cause paralysis, sometimes including problems swallowing and breathing.

Mrs Shinglers voice cracks as she recalls this time. Covid restrictions meant that she was not allowed to accompany him and they had to say their goodbyes over FaceTime, not knowing if Anthony would survive. She also found it hard to get information. At some point, she says, a doctor suggested to Mr Shingler that he was having a reaction to a vaccine.

But when she raised this issue with another doctor on the phone, she says he became irate and lectured her.

He began to shout at me about people dying of Covid.

At this point I said, look doctor, we are going to have to agree to disagree on this because right now my husband needs help.

In the end, Anthony stayed in ICU for eight and a half months. He was finally discharged from hospital in May last year with papers stating that the primary admission diagnosis was respiratory failure secondary to guillian barre syndrome [sic] following the astra Zeneca [sic] covid 19 vaccination.

The following month, he was awarded a 120,000 payout from the Governments Vaccine Damage Compensation Scheme given to people who are deemed at least 60 per cent disabled by vaccine injury.

Whilst it has helped pay for the couple to adapt their bathroom and make up for some of Mr Shinglers lost earnings he is still struggling with his new life.

They returned to Cornwall for the first time a few months ago, but cut the trip short after two days because so many of the places and activities that he used to love are now inaccessible.

Its the frustration that makes you depressed. What you cant do, and what you used to do. Simple tasks, like taking the washing basket down even tightening screws up, he says. I cant go kicking a football with my grandson and he loves football.

Nickie doesnt deserve how I am now.

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AstraZeneca vaccine linked with 'spike' in cases of rare disease that can paralyse victims - The Telegraph

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SAG-AFTRA Hit With Over 100 Covid Vaccine Mandate Suits By Members; Claims Are Without Merit, Guild Says - Deadline

SACRAMENTO -- An estimated one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, killing on average 42,000 women a year in the United States.

What if there was a vaccine that would significantly lower each woman's chance of ever getting it in the first place? In that question lies what could be the answer to one day eliminating the deadly disease.

A groundbreaking vaccine created through decades of research at the Cleveland Clinic and developed by Anixa Biosciences in San Jose, California is driving innovation by targeting triple-negative breast cancer, the disease's deadliest and most aggressive form.

"This vaccine could potentially eliminate breast cancer," said Dr. Amit Kumar, Anixa CEO.

The vaccine's findings from its first trial with 16 women were published Wednesday, with each participant reporting no bad side effects and no resurgence of their cancer so far.

Jennifer Davis, a brave woman from small-town Ohio, was the first woman in the world to get the vaccine in October 2021.

"This is how we advance medicine. It's important to be a part of those things," Davis said. "I am just beyond grateful."

When Davis heard the dreaded words "you have cancer" in September 2018, it came six months after her first alert to an abnormality on a routine mammogram and ultrasound.

At the time, her biopsy turned up negative for cancer.

"I really wanted to believe everything was OK, but I knew something wasn't right," Davis said.

At 41 years old, she had no history of cancer. Still, she could feel a lump growing and decided to go for a second opinion and a second biopsy.

She was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. Her mind instantly went to her family and three children.

"It was very hard to tell them and try and be strong for them," Davis said. "With triple negative, there is nothing for us to take no pill or anything to prevent recurrence. The rate is high and outcomes are poor if it does come back."

After chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and radiation, Davis was finally free of cancer, but she was not free of the fear that lingers.

"I was always nervous and afraid of it coming back," she said.

So when she learned of an experimental vaccine trial while receiving her cancer care at the Cleveland Clinic, she thought, "What do I have to lose?"

"It was something that was going to give me peace of mind," Davis said. "If this could work for me, then I wouldn't have to worry about a recurrence."

She became the first woman in the world to take the breast cancer vaccine.

A registered nurse herself, what eased her mind was the fact that in years of trials in animals, there had been no cancer recurrence and no anaphylactic reaction.

"That was all I needed to hear," said Davis, who reports that in the two years since taking the vaccine, she has never felt better.

The vaccine has been studied for more than two decades at the Cleveland Clinic, pioneered by pre-clinical research led by the late Dr. Vincent Tuohy.

Inspired by this and what it could mean for the future of cancer diagnosis, Dr. Kumar approached the clinic about developing the vaccine.

"I looked at it and I saw the vision," Kumar said.

So how does it work?

"Is it, in essence, teaching your body not to grow a tumor?" CBS13 reporter Ashley Sharp asked.

"That's exactly right. It's teaching your body to destroy the cells that can grow a tumor," Kumar said.

If a virus shows up in the body, the immune system teaches itself how to destroy it, knowing, easily, which cells are bad.

In cancer, it is more difficult, Dr. Kumar explained.

"All of the cells that become cancerous in your body came from normal, healthy cells," Kumar said. "The difference is not big, so the immune system has a harder time recognizing a cancer cell and distinguishing it from a healthy cell."

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the vaccine works by targeting a lactation protein called -lactalbumin, which is no longer found after lactation in normal, aging tissues. It is, however, present in most triple-negative breast cancer patients. If breast cancer develops, the vaccine is designed to instruct the immune system to attack the tumor and keep it from growing entirely.

"The results are incredibly promising," Kumar said. "The vision is one day to be able to give this to any woman who wants to prevent cancer from ever occurring in her body. It's a small step and we have many more steps to go, but it's incredible if we can make this happen."

It's a promising find for the future of fighting cancer that started with one woman but hopefully ends with every woman.

"The bigger picture of this is overwhelming for me," Davis said.

The second vaccine trial is set to start in 2024, this time with 600 women instead of 16. This study will be on a much larger scale, where half the women will get the vaccine and the other half will get a placebo.

The hope is that within five years, they can get FDA approval to distribute the vaccine to the public.

Originally posted here:

An end to breast cancer? California company develops groundbreaking vaccine with promising future - CBS News

Polio vaccination has been part of routine childhood immunization since the late 1950s. Adults who received any childhood vaccines almost certainly were vaccinated against polio. Thus, most adults who were born and raised in the United States can assume they were vaccinated against polio as children, even if they do not have written documentation of vaccination, unless they have specific reasons to believe they were not vaccinated. The current definition of a complete primary polio vaccination series is receipt of 3 appropriately spaced doses of tOPV or IPV in any combination, with the final dose in the series administered on or after the fourth birthday.

Adults who might be at increased risk for exposure to poliovirus include travelers to countries where polio is epidemic or endemic, laboratory and health care workers who handle specimens that might contain polioviruses, health care workers or other caregivers who have close contact with patients in a community with a polio outbreak, and other adults who are identified by public health authorities as being part of a group or population at increased risk for exposure to poliovirus because of an outbreak.

Adults requiring a primary polio vaccination series should receive 2 doses of IPV administered at an interval of 48 weeks; a third dose should be administered 612 months after the second dose. There is no need to restart the series if the interval between doses exceeds the recommended interval. If 3 doses of IPV cannot be administered within the recommended interval before protection is needed (e.g., before travel to a country with endemic polio), an accelerated schedule is recommended based on the amount of time available.

IPV is an inactivated vaccine and is safe to administer to persons who are immunocompromised or who have close contact with other persons who are immunocompromised. However, IPV might be less effective when administered during periods of altered immunocompetence. For this reason, when feasible, IPV should be administered before initiation of immunosuppressive therapy or anticipated period of altered immunocompetence. Specifically, for persons anticipated to be eligible for an IPV booster in the future (e.g., before travel to a country with endemic polio), administration of the booster dose before the period of altered immunocompetence should be considered. Additional guidance regarding immunization in persons with specific conditions is available at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/immunocompetence.html.

Contraindications and precautions are unchanged from previous recommendations. Severe allergic reaction (e.g., anaphylaxis) to IPV or to antibiotics contained in trace amounts in IPV (streptomycin, polymyxin B, or neomycin) is the only contraindication to administration of IPV. Pregnancy is a precaution to administration of IPV. Although there is no evidence that IPV vaccine causes harm to pregnant persons or their fetuses, out of an abundance of caution IPV should not be given during pregnancy if there is not an increased risk for exposure. However, if a pregnant person is at increased risk for exposure and requires immediate protection against polio, IPV can be administered in accordance with the recommended schedule for adults (2).

Adverse events occurring after administration of any vaccine should be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Reports can be submitted to VAERS online, by fax, or by mail. Additional information about VAERS is available by telephone (1-800-822-7967) or online at vaers.hhs.gov.

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Use of Inactivated Polio Vaccine Among U.S. Adults... - CDC

In response to the spread of a respiratory illness in dogs, Bernalillo County officials are hosting a free vaccine clinic next week.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. In response to the spread of a respiratory illness in dogs, Bernalillo County officials are hosting a free vaccine clinic next week.

The clinic will take place Wednesday, Dec. 13, from 1-4 p.m. Officials say that while there are no identified positive cases in New Mexico, theyre offering these free Bordetella shots as a proactive precautionary measure.

The walk-up clinic will take place at the resource center, located at 3001 2nd Street SW. Dogs and puppies will receive the Bordetella immunization on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Bordetella immunization is one of several ways to reduce and protect dogs should the Canine Respiratory Syndrome make its way into New Mexico, an official said in a news release. Animals should be vaccinated for at least two weeks before commingling with other animals. That includes areas such as dog parks, groom facilities and boarding centers.

Symptoms of the Canine Respiratory Syndrome include but are not limited to:

Officials say, if your dog displays more than one of those symptoms, you should contact a veterinarian immediately.

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Spread of respiratory illness in dogs prompts free vaccine clinic - KOB 4

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After four long months marching on Hollywood picket lines, bargaining inside hostile negotiating rooms, and giving Buddhist sermons, Fran Drescher can finally exhale.

Through the 118-day actors strike, The Nanny star turned SAG-AFTRA national president, joined by SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, has served as the face of the 160,000-strong union and says she uses the Nineties sitcoms message around unity and acceptance in her leadership. I can be exactly who I am, she says in her raspy Queens accent, and still rock a red lip and hold a plushie toy.

On Dec. 5, Screen Actors Guild members approved multi-year contracts with the Hollywood studios and streamers, or the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), by 78.33 percent, with 21.67 percent dissenting. Lauded as the billion-dollar deal, which will run through June 30, 2026, actors will receive residual and minimum wage increases, along with certain AI protections.

But Drescher has not been free from criticism. Before the strike began in July, she faced backlash for cheesing next to Kim Kardashian during a Dolce & Gabbana promotional trip and following the strikes end on Nov. 8, actors spoke out on the then-tentative deals AI provisions.

Despite this, Drescher felt certain that SAG-AFTRA members would ratify the agreement. During an interview this week following the deals approval, she says the vote and turnout was a sigh of relief. (The vote received a 38.15 percent turnout, compared to the 27.15 percent of members who ratified the TV/theatrical contracts in 2020.)

Even the naysayers will see the benefits of it as they work the contract themselves, Drescher quips.

As Drescher reflects on the months that upended the film and TV industry, she tells Rolling Stone about the Venus and Mars energy in the bargaining room, how Disney CEO Bob Iger ignited the hot labor summer, and the possibility of a book documenting her SAG-AFTRA leadership.

The deal was ratified Tuesday night. How are you feeling? Is this what you anticipated? I dont get a lot of opportunities to rest on my laurels. Its all going to flood over me at a time thats not immediate. In the immediate, Im actually just putting one foot in front of the other and making sure that I represent the union and my position as best as I can so that the communication that goes out to the world is the right one. Its a lot of pressure, but I think I slept better last night than Ive slept in many months because it was over and its done. Now we can experience it, live it, and build upon it.

I want to talk about two major points that led both SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP to reach a tentative agreement: the streaming bonus and AI protections. What was the last piece that SAG-AFTRA needed from the AMPTP on AI? What we needed was that we get compensation and consent and that they had to tell us in very clear language what they would use it for on a particular job specifically. [It] could only be used for that one job. We went from not having any protections they would be pulling our members off to go get scanned and think that was OK and they could just use it in perpetuity and now weve put it into the members decision. Theyre in the drivers seat now.

As we know, 21.67 percent of members voted against the deal. Justine Bateman has criticized the AI provisions, SAG-AFTRA board member Matthew Modine said consent is surrender, and some actors I spoke to still have concerns. Do you have anything to say to these actors that are still worried about losing their voice and likeness during productions? Even [AMPTP president] Carol Lombardini said that Duncan Crabtree-Ireland she is fully aware is always the smartest one in the room. So dont trust them either and then dont trust your negotiating committee who gave blood, sweat, and tears for a year of their lives sacrificing so much for them, fought so hard to get a billion-dollar deal that was three times bigger than the last contract and bigger than the last three contracts put together. [They] filled page after blank page with new language and recognized for the first time performance capture. For 21 years, theyve been trying to get that into a contract and we got it in.

Some people get very obsessed on one thing and are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water. In two and a half years, were gonna roll up our sleeves and go right back into it but in the meantime, we went from nothing to putting our members in the drivers seat when it comes to AI. The things that have been brought up seem like this is not what you obsess on unless youre an obsessive personality. What I do feel is that the majority of the members understood that this is going to benefit our members in a way that has never been achieved since the 1960 contract, which got us pension, health care, and residuals. That is not something that you walk away from because to walk away from a deal like this makes you look like a fool and not to be taken seriously.

The streaming bonus, whats been nicknamed the Robin Hood fund, gives performers on heavily-watched streaming shows a bonus. I understand 75 percent of the fund will go to actors on those high-budget streaming shows, but who will get the other 25 percent? That hasnt been decided yet. I think that we need to really think about how it will be best used, who will benefit. Obviously, its going to be people that are on that platform. We havent really thought about the best and most fruitful way to distribute that money, but we will and it will be whats most beneficial for the most members.

When the women would cry over an issue that they were passionate about, my heart broke for them. I listened with great empathy, and I wanted to fix it. I wanted to make it better. When the men were very aggressive and fist-pounding, I couldnt even hear that.

I want to talk about the secret sauce you used in the negotiating room: your heart-shaped plushie, Buddhist mantras, and feminine energy. How did these practices help you reach this deal? If someone is angry and fists pounding on the table, and acting like theyre gathering their things because theyre gonna march out any second and whatever it is, shouting, [theres] all of this really aggressive male energy not only in the room, frankly, but in the negotiating committee room. Men generally, in my observations through this experience, react very differently than women. Mostly, all the tears that happened were from women and when the women would cry over an issue that they were passionate about, my heart broke for them. I listened with great empathy, and I wanted to fix it. I wanted to make it better. When the men were very aggressive and fist-pounding, I couldnt even hear that.

When you say men on both sides were shouting and pounding on the table, were you referring to a specific person? Im talking about gender at large. There was nobody specifically that I would say was more physical or more offensive or anything like that. I was just able to passively observe the way the same problem is dealt [with] between men and women, and it has nothing to do with their intellect. There were really smart people in the room, men and women. But, its Venus and Mars, baby.

You questioned if Disney CEO Bob Iger was an ignoramus after he called actors demands unrealistic. How did you feel about comments around the deal being too far or too much for actors? Look, Bob and the rest of them Im sure would be very charming at a cocktail party, but he actually helped ignite the Hot Labor Summer because his comments were so tone-deaf, in the way that they showed the inequity between the highest-paid at the company and our members who are struggling to make a living and get medical benefits. So, it was what he said in contrast to my speech that bookended the whole conversation in a nutshell and triggered the Hot Labor Summer around the world.

In an email chain, you said you were willing to go on strike in 2021 over Hollywoods vaccination mandates. Why is that? I didnt think that vaccine mandates were something that the employers should have imposed on our members. I thought it should be an option. I thought that the original pieces that were put in place for COVID protections were working long before the vaccine was introduced. Those protocols should have remained in place and the vaccine should have been a personal choice. But no matter how many times I brought it to the board as a single-item discussion, no matter how much I presented them with video from doctors that disagreed with the vaccine, or articles that showed how companies were managing differently, the majority of the members on the board voted not to go up against the employer.

I had to get on with the business of being president and solving many, many other problems successfully, I might add but I could not become a one-issue president. There was too much at stake, too much to do, too much to fix, and too much division to the degree of great dysfunction.

With the actors strike behind you, are we going to see you on screen soon? Im supposed to do the sequel to [This is] Spinal Tap. Im also supposed to do another independent film with Ben Affleck and Adam Sandler. That all went on the back burner during the strike. Im sure theyll circle back when the time is right to pick up those little movies. My writing, Ive been neglecting. I feel like theres for sure a book about this whole experience.

I dont know whether Im gonna dive into another sitcom because I like climbing new mountains and something like this that Ive accomplished and being seen through a new lens which didnt surprise any of the people that know me very well but certainly did surprise everybody that only knew me as the Nanny I could see myself doing something where I can apply more of my skills to influencing the way people think in a new and fresh way. Maybe a new 21st-century Fran Drescher-style Barbara Walters.

Excerpt from:

Fran Drescher Gets Candid About the SAG Deal, AI, and Vaccine Mandates - Rolling Stone

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One renowned vaccine scientist became a voice of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Peter Hotez is professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. His new book is called The Deadly Rise of Anti-science: A Scientist's Warning.

On this episode of Weekend Insight, TPRs Jerry Clayton talks to Hotez about some of the experiences that led to the writing of his newest book.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity

Clayton: During the pandemic, you were attacked by anti-vaxxers, but this is not something new. Tell me about what happened after you wrote the book, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism back in 2019.

Hotez: Yeah, that was my first effort to go up against a rising anti-vaccine lobby here in the United States, which unfortunately is particularly strong in Texas. And it was around false claims that vaccines cause autism. The original assertion was that the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine did it.

That was in a paper that was published in The Lancet, an important medical journal, but it was shown to be false and retracted. And from then on, anti-vaccine groups started monetizing the internet, selling phony autism cures or nutritional supplements that nobody needed or anti-vaccine books on Amazon. So it became its own industry and not even a cottage industry, a multibillion dollar industry in time.

And even though the scientific community refuted the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, then they said it was the thimerosal preservative that was in vaccine. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had written an article in Rolling Stone to that effect. That was also shown not to be true. And then it was spacing vaccines too close together.

Or they made up stories about HPV vaccines for cervical cancer and other cancers. So it became kind of this game of whack a mole or moving the goalposts. And that's why I wrote the book to kind of really tamp down the false assertions about vaccines.

Clayton: You famously declined to debate Robert F Kennedy Jr. on Joe Rogan's show. Was that an easy decision for you?

Hotez: Yeah, that was never in the cards. I've known Bobby Kennedy for a number of years and I've had a number of conversations with him over the years. They didn't get anywhere. He's just too dug in, doesn't want to listen to the science. So I knew it wouldn't be productive, but I also thought it could harm the field because it would give people the wrong message about how science works.

I mean, science is not something that's achieved through public debate. Science is achieved through writing scientific papers by serious scientists that submit articles for peer review, and then they get modified or rejected and grants that get modified, rejected, or you present in front of scientific conferences in front of your peers for critical feedback. And it's a very successful approach.

You don't debate science like you'd debate enlightenment, philosophy or politics.

Clayton: This most recent rise in anti-science, is it psychological, do you think, or is it just politics?

Hotez: It's hard to untangle those two, but it's clear that the people who lost their lives, those 40,000 Texans and 200,000 Americans overall were victims.

In my view, they were victims of a predatory, anti-science, anti-vaccine movement that started and this is what I talk about in the book at the CPAC Conference of Conservatives that was held in Dallas in the summer of 2021, where the rhetoric was first, they're going to vaccinate you, then they're going to take away your guns and your Bibles. And as ridiculous as that sounds to us, people in our state of Texas accepted it.

And then the pile on came from leaders of the United States Congress, from the House Freedom Caucus. People like Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called people like me who want to vaccinate medical brownshirts, comparing vaccines to the Holocaust and then were amplified every night on Fox News. Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, every night during that horrible Delta wave when so many people in Texas and the United States refused to get vaccinated and died from Covid.

Those nighttime Fox News anchors with 3 million viewers each filled their broadcast with anti-vaccine content and ultimately people paid for it with their lives. And then how do we reverse that trend, I think, is one of the really great, great challenges.

Continued here:

New book by Dr. Peter Hotez takes on the anti-science movement - Texas Public Radio

Many people mistakenly believe that the flu is just a mild cold or a winter ailment. However, the Health Ministry emphasizes that influenza is a highly contagious and severe viral disease.

The flu virus spreads through coughing, sneezing, and contact with nasal secretions and phlegm, which contain a multitude of viruses.

The infection rate for flu is alarmingly high. It primarily affects the respiratory tract and results in symptoms such as fever (over 38 degrees Celsius), sore throat, headache, runny nose, cough, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, and loss of appetite.

Pneumonia is a common complication of the flu, often requiring hospitalization for vulnerable groups such as young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals.

To combat this, the Health Ministryrecommends flu vaccination for everyone over the age of 6 months. The flu vaccines provide effective protection for one winter season.

Each year, a new vaccine formulation is produced containing the four strains of influenza expected to be prevalent in the upcoming year.

To understand the effectiveness of the flu vaccine, let's examine the situation in the UK. The UK is at the forefront of childhood flu vaccination in the Western world and has implemented a systematic program to vaccinate children in schools for several years.

The vaccination takes place before winter using a nasal spray. Numerous studies conducted in the UK have not only shown a high response rate to the vaccine, but also significant effectiveness in reducing the spread of the virus and the risk of hospitalization.

According to the latest report published in July, which assesses the vaccine's effectiveness annually, there was a two-thirds decrease in the risk of hospitalization among children aged 2-17 who were vaccinated against the flu. Most of these children received the nasal spray vaccine.

This year's report, unlike previous seasons, primarily focuses on the dangers of the flu and its potential complications. It examines the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations in children, whereas previous reports analyzed various parameters such as clinic visits or flu-like symptoms.

The UK recognizes that school students are particularly susceptible to the flu and act as major spreaders of the disease in the community. Consequently, the flu vaccination program in schools has been expanded throughout the UK for children aged 4-17.

It's important to note that influenza is a complex disease that undergoes changes each season, presenting three to four different strains every winter. Therefore, revaccination is crucial, even if you or your child have already been exposed to the flu.

Exposure to one strain does not guarantee protection against other strains. Only through vaccination can the body generate natural antibodies against the specific flu strains identified by the World Health Organization as the cause of the disease.

However, it's worth mentioning that vaccine effectiveness typically ranges between 50-75%. In some years, when the estimated vaccine strains do not match the actual flu strains, the effectiveness may fall below 50%. A study conducted during the 2020-2021 flu season in Denmark found high effectiveness (ranging from 66% among children aged 2-6 to 72% among children and adolescents aged 2-17) of the nasal spray vaccine.

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How effective is the flu vaccine in preventing the disease? - The Jerusalem Post

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The vaccine works by making the immune system attack any tumor cells to keep them from growing. Results of the first trial were released this week. No one had any bad side effects and none of their cancer returned.

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New experimental breast cancer vaccine prevents disease from returning - CBS News

NEW DELHI: Countries in East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) were among the first and hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, the World Bank swiftly executed a comprehensive strategy, channelling funds into emergency operations, training medical staff, and reinforcing national public health systems. This approach included reallocating existing project resources, triggering emergency components, and activating Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Options (CAT DDOs) tailored to each country's unique context and epidemic status. The World Bank committed USD 1.9 billion across 18 Covid-19 health response projects in the EAP region from April 2020 to October 2022. Notably, the Philippines received 33 million vaccine doses (13 per cent of the total supply), while Mongolia procured vaccines to inoculate up to 66 per cent of its population with two doses. With World Bank support, the Lao People's Democratic Republic achieved a 76 per cent full vaccination rate, and 94 per cent of Covid-19 testing samples were reported within 48 hours of testing. The EAP region faced significant disruptions, with the World Bank estimating that the Covid-19 shock could push an additional 38 million people into poverty in 2020. The impact on sales, employment, and productivity growth, particularly affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), necessitated urgent intervention. The World Bank's response to EAP since April 2020 involved deploying over USD 157 billion globally. In the EAP region, emergency operations through the Covid-19 Fast-Track Facility addressed economic, social, and poverty impacts. The World Bank also repurposed existing projects, utilizing Contingent Emergency Response Components (CERCs) and activating Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Options (CAT DDOs). Countries in EAP witnessed positive outcomes from the World Bank's initiatives. The bank committed USD 1.93 billion across 18 Covid-19 health response projects, and an additional USD 40.5 million was reallocated through CERCs and CAT DDOs. Noteworthy successes include Indonesia's treatment of 6 million Covid-19 cases and testing 60 million suspected cases, and the Philippines receiving 33 million vaccine doses. Collaborating with various partners such as the Covax initiative, other multilateral development banks, and international agencies, the World Bank formed a broad coalition for a multi-faceted response. Partnerships with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), and the World Health Organization (WHO) facilitated project preparation and vaccine financing. The EAP Economic Update in April 2023 indicates economic recovery in major EAP economies, with GDP growth and increased per capita income. The World Bank's Evolution Roadmap prioritizes urgent action to address poverty, economic distress, and global challenges like climate change and pandemics, recognizing the cross-border nature of these issues.

Continued here:

World Bank drives Covid-19 recovery in East Asia, Pacific with USD 1.9 billion commitment and vaccination success ... - IndiaTimes