Tag: coronavirus

FDA authorizes Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday gave the green light for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be used in adolescents 12 to 15 years old, a move that will make millions more people eligible for a vaccine.

The highly anticipated decision is a key step toward ensuring middle and high schools can operate for full in-person learning in the fall — and a major boon to parents concerned about the safety of summer activities.

The FDA has been reviewing the amended application from Pfizer and BioNTech for more than a month. The companies cited research from their clinical trial in late March that found the vaccine was effective in the younger population and produced strong antibody responses. The side effects were also about the same as the older population. Continue reading.

Man Films Himself Stealing Vial of COVID Vaccine to ‘Test,’ Says it’s ‘Poisoning People’

A Minnesota man posted a video of himself that appeared to show him stealing a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in order to “test it at a lab.”

The man, who has been identified by his social media accounts as Thomas Humphrey, filmed himself at what appeared to be the beginning of a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at a CVS pharmacy on Thursday.

He can be heard saying, “I just want to read it. I just—you know, I’m taking the vaccine, I just want to read it,” he then reached across a counter and grabbed a white box.” Continue reading.

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offers strong protection against key variants of concern, real-world data from Qatar shows

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The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine provides strong protection against two concerning variants of the virus, including the one that has most worried scientists because it can evade parts of the immune response, according to new data from Qatar.

The study, published as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was about 90 percent effective at blocking infections caused by the B.1.1.7 variant, a more transmissible version of the virus now fueling outbreaks around the world. That encouraging finding was not a surprise, but the study also found that efficacy eroded only slightly, to 75 percent, against the B.1.351 variant that was first detected in South Africa.

The B.1.351 variant carries mutations that help it elude some antibodies and as a result is considered by many experts the most challenging variant among those that have been identified. Because the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and one from the biotechnology company Moderna were tested in clinical trials before that variant emerged, it had remained unclear until now whether protection would be eroded by the variant. While the new study suggests the vaccine is somewhat less protective against the variant, it offered strong protection, particularly against severe, critical or fatal cases of covid-19, the illness caused by the virus. Continue reading.

Minnesota’s COVID restrictions to end May 28, mask mandate July 1

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Though vaccine uptake is slowing, Walz said that amount of progress requires only another 473,000 eligible people 16 or older to get their first shots. 

An indoor mask-wearing mandate will end no later than July 1 and COVID-19 restrictions on business and social gatherings will end May 28 under a plan that Gov. Tim Walz hailed Thursday as a path to a “great summer” for Minnesota.

The rollback of COVID-19 restrictions will start at noon Friday with an elimination of capacity caps for outdoor entertainment venues such as Target Field, an expansion of caps for indoor venues, and an end to early bar and restaurant closing times. All caps will be eliminated May 28 ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

The mandate requiring masks in indoor public spaces could be lifted before July 1 if the state can increase the rate of Minnesotans who have received COVID-19 vaccine from 59% to 70%. Though vaccine uptake is slowing, Walz said that amount of progress requires only another 473,000 eligible people 16 or older to get their first shots. Continue reading.

The real reason right-wingers hate vaccines

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“Go get vaccinated, America,” the president urged the nationlast Wednesday in his State of the Union address. Joe Biden had a lot of good news to report to the US Congress on the COVID vaccination effort: 220 million shots have been administered in his first 100 days in office, everyone over 16 is eligible and 90 percent of Americans now live within five miles of a vaccination site. Vaccine manufacturing is booming. Supply will soon no longer be a limiting factor. Yet even as eligibility has expanded, demand has plateaued across the country and vaccination rates have dipped from their peak.

Time is of the essence. More transmissible variants of the virus mean a higher percentage of the population must be immunized to reach herd immunity. We’re in a race between the finest that human civilization has to offer and venal dumbassery.

In one corner is science, bolstered by billions in public investment. Eighteen months ago, there were no vaccines for human coronaviruses. Today, there are multiple safe, highly-effective COVID shots. Better yet, thanks to wise public policy and all-hands-on-deck roll-out, they’re available for free to any American adult. The president even announced tax credits to reimburse small- and mid-sized businesses that give their employees paid time off to get vaccinated and to recover from vaccine side effects. Continue reading.

Biden backs COVID-19 vaccine patent waivers

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The Biden administration will support a proposal to waive international patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, according to a top administration official.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement Wednesday that the “extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.”

The U.S. will begin participating in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations over the exact language of the waiver, which supporters say would make the details of vaccine production widely available and allow lower-income countries to make doses themselves. Continue reading.

Gazelka and GOP Continue To Play Politics With Pandemic, Public Health

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At every turn, Senate Majority Leader Gazelka and the GOP have spread misinformation and mislead the public on the state of the pandemic 

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Following Governor Walz’s timeline to roll back nearly all state COVID-19 restrictions, Senate Majority Leader Gazelka responded by putting politics ahead of public health. Unfortunately for Minnesotans, this is nothing new for Gazelka and his Republican colleagues, who repeatedly pushed to completely reopen Minnesota during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gazelka has continuously misled the public about the state of COVID-19 at virtually every turn. Almost a year ago, on July 13, 2020, he falsely claimed that “the emergency part of this pandemic is over.” Since this statement, the U.S. has lost more than 440,000 people to COVID-19. 

Continue reading “Gazelka and GOP Continue To Play Politics With Pandemic, Public Health”

Biden sets goal of at least one shot to 70 percent of adults by July 4

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President Biden announced Tuesday a goal to administer at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine to 70 percent of U.S. adults by July 4, as the country moves to vaccinate harder-to-reach Americans.

Biden, in a speech Tuesday afternoon at the White House, also set a goal to have 160 million U.S. adults fully vaccinated by Independence Day.

Together, those goals will mean about 100 million more shots, both first and second doses, across the next 60 days, a senior administration official said. Continue reading.

Federal judge vacates CDC’s eviction moratorium

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A federal judge on Wednesday vacated a nationwide freeze on evictions that was put in place by federal health officials to help cash-strapped renters remain in their homes during the pandemic.

The ruling was a win for a coalition of property owners and realtors, who brought one of several challenges against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium, which was first enacted under former President Trump and later extended through June.

In a 20-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by Trump, ruled that the agency exceeded its authority with the temporary ban.  Continue reading.

White House will make unordered vaccine supply available to other states

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Beginning this week, unordered doses will go into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply.

The White House on Tuesday told states that coronavirus vaccine doses they choose not to order will become available to other states — the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution since President Biden took office, and part of an effort to account for flagging demand in parts of the country.

The changes were unveiled to governors as Biden set a goal of providing at least one shot to 70 percent of adults by July 4, an increase that would account for about 40 million more people in the next two months. That level of coverage could drive down cases sharply, as it did in Britain and Israel. But achieving it, experts said, depends on efficiently delivering shots to places where people are still rolling up their sleeves — or can be persuaded to do so.

“The sooner we get the most people vaccinated not only in our local regions, but around the country, the sooner we will have fewer variants developing and less spread in general,” said David Kimberlin, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Now that there are places saying, ‘Our freezers are full, so please don’t send any more,’ there needs to be an ability to reallocate.” Continue reading.