Nearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant’s prevalence was two weeks ago.
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Topic: variantsView all posts for the topic: variants
WHO upgrades BA.2.86 to COVID-19 variant of interest as US proportions grow
The World Health Organization (WHO) last week reclassified the Omicron BA.2.86 variant—and its offshoots, including JN.1—as a variant of interest as global proportions grow, including in the United States, where it now makes up about 9% of circulating viruses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
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More free COVID-19 tests from the government are available for home delivery through the mail
Americans can order more free COVID-19 tests online for home delivery.
The U.S. government is offering to send another round of four at-home virus tests ahead of the typical surge in cases during the winter holiday season.
Anyone who did not order a batch of four COVID-19 tests in September can secure up to eight of them this time around starting Monday at COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver them for free.
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Does Novavax’s Covid vaccine cause fewer side effects?
Erin Kissane, a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, rolled up her sleeve for the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine in mid-October soon after it was finally recommended in the United States. Like many people with autoimmune diseases, she wants to protect herself from a potentially devastating Covid infection.
Kissane’s autoimmune arthritis seems to make her susceptible to unusual vaccine side effects. After getting an mRNA booster last year, her joints ached so painfully that her doctor prescribed steroids to dampen the inflammation. She still considers the mRNA vaccines “miraculous,” knowing Covid could be far worse than temporary aches.
Comments closedTopic: human rightsView all posts for the topic: human rights
Physicians’ Refusal to Wear Masks to Protect Vulnerable Patients—An Ethical Dilemma for the Medical Profession
On May 11, 2023, the US federal government put an end to the COVID-19–related public health emergency. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends routine universal masking in most health care settings. Many clinicians and staff at hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes around the country have stopped regularly wearing masks. A conflict might arise when patients who are immunocompromised or have other risk factors that increase their susceptibility to COVID-19 complications seek health care and encounter an unmasked clinician. Individuals who have such conditions are considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Those disabled patients nowadays must embark on a “personal crusade for public health” to have their needs met.
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A Lot of Deer Carry COVID. Should That Worry People?
COVID hasn’t just colonized billions of humans. The virus has entered North America’s white-tailed deer populations, transforming one of the largest remaining wild mammal populations on Earth into another rapidly evolving reservoir for COVID.
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COVID increased gender life expectancy gap in US
For more than 100 years, American women have outlived American men, largely due to differences in rates of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Now COVID-19 has widened the gendered life expectancy gap, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog
There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems — with remembering, concentrating or making decisions — than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows.
The increase started with the pandemic: The number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people.
Comments closedTopic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
What Tony Fauci Told Me About Long COVID and Other Postviral Illnesses
Too many people are suffering from long COVID and other postviral syndromes. Anthony Fauci says we need to step up funding and research now.
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How lawmakers in Texas and Florida undermine Covid vaccination efforts
Katherine Wells wants to urge her Lubbock, Texas, community to get vaccinated against Covid-19. “That could really save people from severe illness,” said Wells, the city’s public health director.
But she can’t.
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Study: 1 in 7 Americans have had long COVID
A new investigation led by researchers from the University College London and Dartmouth College suggests 14% of Americans had long COVID by the end of 2022.
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Global COVID vaccination saved 2.4 million lives in first 8 months, study estimates
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in 141 countries averted 2.4 million excess deaths by August 2021 and would have saved another 670,000 more lives had vaccines been distributed equitably, estimates a working paper from University of Southern California (USC) and Brown University researchers.
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EU delays approval of Novavax’s revised COVID vaccine
European Union (EU) regulators have delayed a decision to give approval for Novavax’s (NVAX.O) variant-tailored COVID-19 vaccine, the Financial Times said on Sunday.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which was due to approve the updated vaccine last Friday has requested more information from the company, the FT report added.
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HHS unveils $500 million more in ProjectNext Gen COVID funding, including for 3 vaccines
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced more than $500 million more in funding through its Project NextGen program to speed the development of new vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.
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Florida settles lawsuit over COVID data, agrees to provide weekly stats to the public
Florida will have to provide COVID-19 data to the public again after a former Democratic state representative settled a lawsuit with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration over the decision two years ago to stop posting information on the virus’ spread online.
Comments closedTopic: universal maskingView all posts for the topic: universal masking
Mask mandates are returning to some hospitals. Should they be there to stay?
Some doctors are calling for more preventative measures to protect vulnerable patients in medical settings.
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Vaccine Scientist Warns Antiscience Conspiracies Have Become a Deadly, Organized Movement
Vaccinologist Peter Hotez explains how the movement to oppose science and scientists has gained power.
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