Coronavirus Tidbits #201 7/17/2021

Announcements:

First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.

Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.

New Post:

This SCOTUS Endangers Us All - Gun "rights" edition

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/976549

News 

Covid

US regulators OK new COVID-19 shot option from Novavax

Novavax makes a more traditional type of shot than the three other COVID-19 vaccines available for use in the U.S.—and one that's already available in Europe and multiple other countries.

Nearly a quarter of American adults still haven't gotten their primary vaccinations even this late in the pandemic, and experts expect at least some of them to roll up their sleeves for a more conventional option—a protein-based vaccine.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-covid-shot-option-novavax.html

~ ~ ~

Vaccine Boosters:

Ashish Jha, MD, the White House committee's coordinator, said officials have been closely tracking the rapidly evolving BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which are the most transmissible forms of Omicron and can evade protection from earlier infection and vaccines. He and his team, however, emphasized that the vaccination can still protect against severe outcomes.

Jha said if people haven't gotten a vaccine dose in 2022, it's time to get one now. "It could save your life," he said.

He acknowledged that some people may be holding off on getting boosted, anticipating a rise in COVID activity in the fall, while others might be waiting for an Omicron-specific booster. Jha said getting boosted now won't preclude people from getting another dose in the fall or winter when the Omicron-specific version is expected to be available.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/07/white-house-officials-push-boosters-ba5-surge-intensifies

~ ~ ~

Better brain function, fewer long-COVID symptoms after hyperbaric oxygen

Long-COVID patients in Israel who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) saw improvement in brain function and cognitive, psychiatric, and physical symptoms, according to a report published today in Scientific Reports.

Researchers from the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research conducted the randomized, controlled trial of 73 patients who had long-COVID symptoms for 3 months or more after acute infection.

Jul 12 Sci Rep study

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/07/covid-19-scan-jul-12-2022

~ ~ ~

COVID-19 pandemic fuels largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades

WHO and UNICEF sound the alarm as new data shows global vaccination coverage continued to decline in 2021, with 25 million infants missing out on lifesaving vaccines

The percentage of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) – a marker for immunization coverage within and across countries – fell 5 percentage points between 2019 and 2021 to 81 per cent.

18 million of the 25 million children did not receive a single dose of DTP during the year, the vast majority of whom live in low- and middle-income countries, with India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia and the Philippines recording the highest numbers.

https://worldhealthorganization.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/d/A1AD6113E74152052540EF23F30FEDED/6839E639424B8857E89F0E32AAFB68BF?alternativeLink=False

~ ~ ~

Monkeypox:

In just over 2 months, a global monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries has led to at least 10,857 infections. Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States have reported the most cases

In San Francisco, health officials said they have only received 3,000 doses of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, but they need 35,000.....(similar in NYC)

As US cases top 1,000, more testing to come

The United States now has 1,053 cases from 43 jurisdictions, an increase of 124 cases since yesterday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With Quest, Labcorp, and Mayo Clinic all offering tests—as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—the country should have the capacity to perform 60,000 tests weekly by the end of this month. Half of those tests will be performed by Quest.

 

Other news:

Women in the health and care sector earn 24 percent less than men

The report, the world’s most comprehensive analysis on gender pay inequities in health, finds a raw gender pay gap of approximately 20 percentage points which jumps to 24 percentage points when accounting for factors such as age, education and working time. This highlights that women are underpaid for their labour market attributes when compared to men.

Much of the wage gap is unexplained, perhaps due to discrimination towards women - who account for 67 percent of health and care workers worldwide. The report also finds that that wages in the health and care sector tend to be lower overall, when compared with other economic sectors. This is consistent with the finding that wages often are lower in economic sectors where women are predominant.

https://worldhealthorganization.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/d/381814194086AD512540EF23F30FEDED/6839E639424B8857E89F0E32AAFB68BF?alternativeLink=False

~  ~ ~

Damn good and scary article.

Diagnostics:

Frequent rapid-antigen testing can help keep groups of people safe from COVID-19

Among oil-rig workers, shipping crews, and other groups of people who work closely together, COVID-19 can spread like wildfire. Yet trying to prevent spread with long quarantines can be just as disruptive.

With every-other-day testing, all RA test brands—even less accurate ones—work to suppress COVID outbreaks, the authors found.

Testing every three days was feasible with some RA tests, while others weren't accurate enough to offer a clear picture.

Testing every four or five days, though, risked COVID spreading out of control.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-frequent-rapid-antigen-groups-people-safe.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

Drugs and Vaccines:

WHO advises against use of two drugs for non-severe COVID-19

The antidepressant drug fluvoxamine and the gout drug colchicine are not recommended for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 because there is currently insufficient evidence that they improve important outcomes for patients, and both drugs carry potential harms, says a WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel of international experts in The BMJ today.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-drugs-non-severe-covid-.html?

~ ~ ~

Devices and Masks:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Epidemiology/Infection control:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/DavidSteadson/status/1546308765171224576?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

Tips, general reading for public:

Ventilate.

Mask.

Vax.

Politics:

Covid

https://twitter.com/Caro_Dew_/status/1547366540785471488?s=20&t=IFzvx41GPmDsjem0uS5QQw

~ ~ ~

Jan 6:

https://twitter.com/QasimRashid/status/1547954816877441025?s=20&t=IFzvx41GPmDsjem0uS5QQw

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/DonLew87/status/1547038906603954179?s=20&t=IFzvx41GPmDsjem0uS5QQw

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

SCOTUS:

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1548031226065235969?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

GOP:

image.png

~ ~ ~

Abortion:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who is facing reelection, has so far declined to comment on the law he signed that prompted a 10-year-old rape victim this month to travel to neighboring Indiana for the procedure. In Texas, attorney general Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Biden administration guidance that requires doctors to perform abortions when they believe the procedure is needed to stabilize a mother in an “emergency medical condition.”

And in Washington, Democrats forced Republicans to oppose bills in the House and Senate that would ensure women could travel across state lines for the procedure, after a June poll found that 77 percent of Americans opposed laws that would prevent such travel.
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
LGBTQ:

Guns:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Antisemitism:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Religion:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

So what is USATransform? ‘Compelled by the love of Christ, they seek to educate and encourage faith-oriented individuals and organizations to advocate for and advance positive outcomes in the social welfare and public policy arenas.’ For the love of Christ.

Now that SCOTUS essentially ended the separation of church and state, it would be fair to say this ‘political organization’, is pushing hard in the *religious* ‘public policy arena’. It’s as if they are charitably advancing a Christian Nationalist Policy. A CNP if you will....

On January 4th, 2020 the Capitol Police approved a permit for a group called Women for a Great America / 50+ Days of Blessings. According to their permit, they were there to pray and worship for our nation. This was not the only permit issued to Christians...

You see, they didn’t exactly market their presence at the Capitol as being prayerful so much as they called it a ‘Battle Cry for the Republic.’ They were going to be praying alright, but ‘for war for god’s purpose for our nation.’ Who prays for war?

Whole thread at https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1546598480055001090.html

~ ~ ~

Racism/Disparities:

~ ~ ~

Healthcare:

~ ~ ~

Elections:

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1546989373400535043?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

Florida:

~ ~ ~

Georgia:

~ ~ ~

Indiana:

~ ~ ~

A law that recently went into effect in Indiana mandates that doctors, hospitals and abortion clinics report to the state when a patient who has previously had an abortion presents any of dozens of physical or psychological conditions — including anxiety, depression, sleeping disorders ---because they could be complications of the previous abortion. Not doing so within 30 days can result in a misdemeanor for the physician who treated the patient, punishable with up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

While clinicians are generally required to have malpractice insurance, such coverage does not typically cover expenses related to criminal charges.

Pennsylvania:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Ohio:

https://twitter.com/Poements/status/1546579322441551872?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

Texas:

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Elon Musk:

~ ~ ~

UK:

Other:

Ukraine/Russia

Feel good du jour:

https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1545525136572329984?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

Comic relief:

~ ~ ~

Image

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1545054274987577344?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1544356459219238912?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

 

https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1544606933805670401?s=20&t=BLydqAVLAVmCVLX8Fsxu8w

Perspective/Poem

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~

 

 

Bits of beauty:

 

Share this post: