Tag: coronavirus

US death rate jumps by nearly 16 percent

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The death rate in the United States jumped by 15.9 percent between 2019 and 2020, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. 

The coronavirus was responsible for about one in ten deaths in the country in 2020, and was the third-leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer. 

Overall, COVID-19 was the underlying cause of about 345,000 deaths last year, and was a contributing cause for another roughly 32,000, which together is 11.3 percent of all deaths in the country last year, the CDC said.  Continue reading.

Pfizer says COVID vaccine was 100% effective in trial of children ages 12 to 15

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Pfizer and BioNTech announced Wednesday that their coronavirus vaccine was found to be 100% effective at protecting against COVID-19 in a trial of more than 2,200 children between the ages of 12 and 15.

The big picture: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the companies plan to submit clinical trial data to the FDA for emergency use authorization in the coming weeks, with the hope of vaccinations for adolescents beginning before the start of the next school year.

  • The trial’s data will also be submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for emergency use authorization. Continue reading.

CDC director warns of ‘impending doom’ on potential new COVID-19 surge

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The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday warned of “impending doom” over rising coronavirus cases, telling the public that even though vaccines are being rolled out quickly, a fourth surge could happen if people don’t start taking precautions.

“I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing Monday.

“We do not have the luxury of inaction,” Walensky added. Continue reading.

Feuds, fibs and finger-pointing: Trump officials say coronavirus response was worse than known

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‘That’s what bothers me every day’: Birx and others admit failures that hampered the White House response

Several top doctors in the Trump administration offered their most pointed and direct criticism of the government response to the coronavirus last year, with one of them arguing that hundreds of thousands of covid-19 deaths could have been prevented.

They also admitted their own missteps as part of a CNN special that aired Sunday night, saying that some Trump administration statements the White House fiercely defended last year were misleading or outright falsehoods.

“When we said there were millions of tests available, there weren’t, right?” said Brett Giroir, who served as the nation’s coronavirus testing czar, referencing the administration’s repeated claims in March 2020 that anyone who sought a coronavirus test could get one. “There were components of the test available, but not the full meal deal.” Continue reading.

Pfizer, Moderna vaccines are 90% effective after two doses in study of real-life conditions, CDC confirms

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Report on essential workers is one of the first to estimate protection against any infection, regardless of symptoms

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines being deployed to fight the coronavirus pandemic are robustly effective in preventing infections in real-life conditions, according to a federal study released Monday that provides reassurance of protection for front-line workers in the United States.

In a study of about 4,000 health-care personnel, police, firefighters and other essential workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the vaccines reduced the risk of infection by 80 percent after one shot. Protection increased to 90 percent following the second dose. The findings are consistent with clinical trial results and studies showing strong effectiveness in Israel and the United Kingdom, and in initial studies of health-care workers at the UT Southwestern Medical Center and in Southern California.

The CDC report is significant, experts said, because it analyzed how well the vaccines worked among a diverse group of front-line working-age adults whose jobs make them more likely to be exposed to the virus and to spread it. Continue reading.

New U.S. coronavirus cases rise by 12 percent; nation braces for fourth pandemic wave

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NOTE: This article is provided free to all to read by The Washington Post.

New coronavirus cases in the United States continued to rise in the past week, jumping by as much as 12 percent nationwide, as senior officials implored Americans to stick to public health measures to help reverse the trend.

The seven-day average of new cases topped 63,000 for the first time in nearly a month, according to data compiled by The Washington Post, while states such as Michigan, Vermont and North Dakota reported substantial spikes in new infections. The nation appeared poised for a fourth wave of illness even as vaccine eligibility is expanding in many states.

Michigan led the nation in new cases with a 57 percent rise over the past week. The state, which relaxed covid-related restrictions earlier this month, also reported the largest increase in coronavirus hospitalizations, which grew by more than 47 percent. Continue reading.

‘Breathtaking’ interviews show Trump was ‘impervious’ to pleas to take pandemic seriously: NYT’s Haberman

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New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Monday described recent CNN interviews with former Trump public health officials as “breathtaking,” and said it showed how many of them were frustrated by their inability to get former President Donald Trump to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously.

While appearing on CNN, Haberman said that Dr. Deborah Birx and other former Trump health officials were now speaking freely after being muzzled for much of the past year.

“I think they wanted to peel off the muzzle,” she said. “I think it spoke to their frustration about what happened, spoke to their feelings on their own part, could they have done more, was there something else that could have been done… It’s breathtaking how quickly this happened.” Continue reading.

After Voting to Deliver Billions in Aid to Minnesota, Phillips to Visit Community Vaccination Site in Bloomington

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Phillips will tour the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site as vaccine eligibility expands in Minnesota

BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) will visit the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site as vaccine eligibility expands in Minnesota following American Rescue Plan distribution investments. Phillips will meet with local public health leaders and health care workers at the State-run site, which was created to expand vaccine access and improve equity. Minnesota’s vaccine administration is among the best in the nation, and after a record-setting weekend, nearly one-third of adults have received their first dose. 

Earlier this month, Phillips helped pass the American Rescue Plan, a historic COVID-19 relief bill that delivered $4.9 billion in aid to the state of Minnesota and is supported by a wide majority of Americans. According to state officials, more than $850 million will go towards public health, including $85 million to expand and improve COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. With new funding and additional vaccine supply forthcoming, Gov. Walz expanded eligibility to include all Minnesotans age 16 or older beginning March 30.

Continue reading “After Voting to Deliver Billions in Aid to Minnesota, Phillips to Visit Community Vaccination Site in Bloomington”

Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine

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Extremist organizations are now bashing the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in an effort to try to undermine the government.

Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks — the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like “Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction — and Could Wipe out the Human Race” or “Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.”

If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government. Continue reading.

Company with Trump administration tie may be COVID-19 vaccine bottleneck

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Company may be part of the reason why Johnson & Johnson vaccines are delayed

A pharmaceutical contractor under scrutiny for its ties to former government officials could be one of the bottlenecks holding up the production of millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

Emergent BioSolutions, the U.S. company making “drug substance,” the active ingredient in the vaccines, is still awaiting regulatory authorization, according to a company official familiar with the process. Emergent-made doses were not included in the paperwork Johnson & Johnson submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. That means that the material Emergent makes would not be available to be used for vaccines that can be administered in the United States now. 

Johnson & Johnson is due to deliver 20 million doses by the end of March, but just 4.7 million had been delivered as of March 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading.