“The sudden suspension of multiple monoclonal antibody therapy treatments from distribution to Florida removes a health care provider’s ability to decide the best treatment options for their patients in their state,” the letter read, criticizing the “shortsightedness” of the Biden administration
New cases of coronavirus in the U.S. soared to their highest level on record Thursday, peaking at an average of over 265,000 per day as a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant continues unabated.
Mask appeal: The addiction of surgical masks in Japan
Wearing surgical masks is a social norm in Japan, but for some, it can be an addiction
1 of 3
Masked matchmaking events – like this one (above) in Tokyo last October – aim to encourage participants to get to know each other without being judged on looks. PHOTOS: REUTERS
Tor Ching Li For The Straits Times In TokyoPUBLISHED APR 8, 2017, 5:00 AM SGTFacebookTwitter
Spring has come – and with it, teary eyes and runny noses for those with hay fever, as pollen is released into the air with each gust of wind that comes with the change in seasons.
This is the start of the peak sales season for surgical masks in Japan, which help to alleviate the cold-like symptoms of pollen allergy.
Anyone visiting the country at this time of the year will find it hard to walk on the streets and not meet anyone wearing a mask.
But if you stay in Japan long enough, you would realise that the Japanese love affair with the surgical masks goes beyond health and hygiene – to the realm of psychology and even pathology.
While many wear the mask as a defence against allergens, some use it as a cover-up, a shield against social situations that trigger anxiety.
Figures attest to a phenomenon some have termed “mask dependency”: Mask production rose 20 per cent year on year in 2015, to a record high of 4.9 billion pieces, according to latest data from the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association.
20%Year-on-year percentage increase in mask production in 2015.4.9bNumber of masks produced in 2015, a record high.50%Percentage increase in number of mask addicts seeking counselling at a clinic in recent years, compared with in 2009.
Total sales nationwide tallied 23.2 billion yen (S$294 million) in 2014, said marketing consultant firm Fuji Keizai. When the H1N1 flu epidemic broke out in 2009, sales peaked at 34 billion yen.
NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT
Around one in three of Japan’s 127 million people suffers from hay fever, according to a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare survey.
The volume of pollen in the air is nothing to sneeze at – pollen from over 60 types of plants and trees, such as the Japanese cedar and cypress, are linked to hay fever.
Leading mask maker Unicharm was the first hygiene products supplier to offer disposable, pollen- blocking masks in 2003, and after the outbreak of Sars in the same year, developed masks it claimed could prevent cold.
Before that, masks were mainly reusable ones made of cotton, with a replaceable gauze filter.
Mr Kikuo Tomioka, a Unicharm spokesman, said: “Our masks are fitted with filters that can keep out pollen, viruses or air polluting PM2.5 fine particulate matter, and are designed for a snug fit.”
Since wearing a mask when one has a cold or flu is a socially-approved act of consideration for others, as well as a safeguard against viruses and allergens, disposable masks that were cheap and considered more hygienic proved to be the game changer.
Nearly one in three Japanese wore masks every day in 2011, compared with around one in five in 2008, according to a survey by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a leading maker of pollution-related face masks.
CONVENIENT CONCEALMENT
For many people, especially women, masks are for days when they feel less attractive.
“I wear masks on days when I don’t have time to put on make-up before going out,” said Ms Mai Hashimoto, a business marketing officer in her 30s.
She goes through about a dozen masks every two weeks.
“Now, there are many types of masks to choose from, such as those that can make your face look smaller, and they also come in various colours, which is nice,” she added.
Mr Eiji Takahashi, a salesman in his 40s, said he started wearing masks regularly about five years ago.
“During the dry winter months, I found that wearing masks helped to keep my throat moisturised. It also keeps my face warm when I’m outdoors,” he said.
“Now, it’s become a habit.”
Major pharmacies stock at least five to six different types of masks at any one time.
Unicharm’s Mr Tomioka said the company has 11 types of masks – from “3D” masks that stand away from the face and masks that make one’s face look smaller, to masks with aroma, like mint-scented ones, with various levels of textures for ease of wearing.
On the market, there are even pink masks for ladies and black ones for men.
Since 2012, some matchmaking companies have even started offering speed dating where participants are required to wear surgical masks. The purported aim is to encourage participants to get to know their would-be sweethearts without judging each other first by looks.
Such matchmaking events have proven to be a hit and have spread all over Japan.
The spokesman for a Tokyo-based organiser, Mask Matchmaking, said: “Wearing masks sometimes makes it hard to hear what the other person is saying, so naturally, people draw nearer to each other.”
‘MASK DEPENDENCY’
But for some Japanese, wearing masks has become an addiction.
Mr Yuzo Kikumoto, who set up professional counselling service Kikiwell in 2006, was the first to coin the term “mask dependency” in a paper he wrote in 2009.
People were wearing surgical masks not for the purposes they were intended for, he wrote, but because they had grown used to living behind the anonymity of a mask.
The situation has got even more serious in recent years, Mr Kikumoto told The Straits Times.
The number of mask addicts seeking counselling at his practice has increased by 50 per cent since 2009, he said.
Sufferers are mostly in their 30s to 40s, with women making up slightly more than half of the number , or 60 per cent.
“While some people used to feel safe or secure when going out with a mask, it has reached a stage where they cannot go out without wearing a mask. That’s how serious it is getting,” said Mr Kikumoto, who is a frequent guest on local TV talk shows and news programmes.
The reason for mask dependency, he said, is a feeling of insecurity in public, exacerbated by the proliferation of social media. Many who use social media frequently have become more self-conscious and crave the praise and approval of others. Those who lack such affirmation may then suffer from a deeper sense of inferiority, he added.
“The mask acts as a security blanket, and people with this addiction cannot talk to people without wearing a face mask. And society’s acceptance of interactions behind masks perpetuates such a dependency,” said Mr Kikumoto.
Like any addiction, treatment needs to start with recognition and admission, he added.
“An environment or situation that requires interaction with people is also needed,” he said, recommending regular exposure to social situations.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 08, 2017, with the headline Mask appeal: The addiction of surgical masks in Japan. Subscribe
COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have also been increasing since mid-November but are far below levels during last winter’s surge, according to the Times.
France will ban concessions at cinemas and all consumables on public transport from January 3rd in order to “combat” the spread of the Omicron variant. Additional measures, ostensibly meant to combat the spread of the mild virus, were announced by French Prime Minister Jean Castex during a press conference on December 27th.
Indoor events with 2,000 attendees and outdoor events with 5,000 attendees will be allowed to continue, so long as everyone in attendance remains seated. Bars and restaurants will also stay open, but all food and drinks must be consumed from a seated position in order to battle the latest wave of COVID-19.
President Joe Biden prepares to throw a ball as he walks with his dog Commander in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Wallace said, “I mean, I am a Fauci groupie, a thrice vaccinated, mask adherent. I buy kn95 masks by the caseload. They are in every pocket. I wear them everywhere except when I sit down. And I am certain this is not a variant I can outrun.”
When asked by reporters if he will force domestic travelers to get the jab, Biden responded it depends on the recommendation of health experts.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president, is set to receive the largest federal retirement package in U.S. history at $350,000 per year, according to Forbes.
“Joe Biden claimed he would shut down the virus,” the RNC tweeted Monday night. “Now a year later when he failed to do so, he says there is no federal solution to COVID. Joe Biden is a hypocrite.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also fumed at Biden’s attitude change.
“When Joe Biden says ‘there is no federal solution,’ he’s trying to avoid blame for his incompetence,” Cotton tweeted. “If he really believes this, he should rescind his unconstitutional federal mandates.”
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 isn’t quite as widespread as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously led people to believe.
The agency reported Dec. 20 that 73% of COVID-19 cases across the United States were Omicron, up from just 0.7% two weeks before. Now, that number has been revised all the way down to 22.5%.
The numbers may have been skewed because not all COVID-19 cases in the United States are sequenced to determine which variant they are, meaning the CDC can only estimate based on the cases that are sequenced and submitted to the agency.
The latest face of face-diaper mental illness aboard aircraft, perpetuated by Joe Biden’s FAA.
Washed up model actress assaults elderly man on plane while he sat on airplane. Spits on him shortly after.
…encouraged by Joe Bidens Face Diaper FAA rules.
Public records also reveal that Cornwall was arrested for driving under the influence in Walton County, Florida, last year. She also has several arrests for domestic abuse, one in Florida and another in Los Angeles. Both arrests were from last year.
Baltimore County this week declared a state of emergency due to the Chinese coronavirus and is reintroducing mask mandates — a move Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski blamed on unvaccinated Americans, calling them selfish for refusing to get the shot.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 are on the rise again due to the omicron variant and its high level of transmissibility.
On Dec. 26, 189,714 new cases of COVID-19 were reported. Of those, 54,828 came from New York City. This means that 28.9% of new cases reported for Dec. 26 came from the Big Apple.
Citing official government statistics, the numbers are contained in a report by MailOnline’s Senior Health Reporter.
“In the two weeks to December 21, hospitals in England recorded 563 new coronavirus inpatients – the majority of which are believed to be Omicron now that the variant is the country’s dominant stain.”
“But just 197 (35%) were being primarily treated for Covid, with the remaining 366 (65%) only testing positive after being admitted for something else.”
Through December 21, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a total of 5,779 unruly passenger incidents this year. Of these incidents, the FAA has launched 1,054 investigations, which is approximately a 600% increase from the annual average of the previous twenty-five years.
Despite Kelly’s words of wisdom, Delta Air Lines issued regulations demanding masks be continuously worn “except while eating, drinking, or taking oral medications for brief periods. Prolonged periods of mask removal are not permitted for eating or drinking – masks must be worn between bites and sips.” American Airlines issued a similar masking requirement for passengers.
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has found that the most common symptoms are akin to the common cold.
PROJECTIons:
COVID-19 deaths will soar by 73% to 15,600 a week by January 8 and cases might leap to 1.3 million by Christmas Day, the CDC said. New projections released Wednesday show there will be some 15,600 new COVID deaths a week as of January 8 — more than 2,200 deaths per day. That’s about a 58% jump from the 8,900 deaths currently being recorded each week, which equals nearly 1,300 deaths a day.
U.S. health officials and scientists have been forced to rely on information from outside the U.S., mainly from Israel, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, in order to learn more about the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19.
“There’s a lot of data that’s coming in from a lot of different places. It’s coming in from the U.K., it’s coming in from Israel, it’s coming in a lot from South Africa, which is ahead of the rest of the world in the experience they’re having with omicron,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a statement to Politico. “We’ve gotten virus either in the live virus form or in the pseudo virus form. But we don’t have enough of this in the United States to be able to bank on our own clinical experience
Bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, a former member of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board during the transition, told Politico that “We’re relying on everyone else’s data. We should be providing data to the world and we are not. We started [the pandemic] with a serious problem of not enough data and bad data infrastructure. We have not made the structural investments we need. The ideal is that we have real-time data. And we don’t have that. We’re not even close to that.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has tested positive with a “breakthrough case” of coronavirus after previously receiving two doses of the vaccine and a booster shot.+
Booker, who received both doses of the vaccine and a booster shot, said he tested positive for the virus while encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) instituted a stricter mask policy Sunday night, ordering all cops to wear masks while on duty regardless of their coronavirus vaccination status.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has mandated the wearing of masks for all church services, including weddings and funerals, despite a vaccination rate of nearly 90 percent.
On Friday’s “CNN Tonight,” New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams (D) said that “temporarily shutting down the schools” in areas of the city that have large coronavirus outbreaks is “smart, it’s a great way to go, and we’re going to continue to do that.”
CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday he’s tested positive for Covid and isolating at home with a mild case.
“I have Covid. I came down with Covid on Thursday night,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.” He added he’s been triple vaccinated: two shots of Moderna and a Moderna booster.
Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) revealed on Wednesday that she has contracted the Chinese coronavirus despite being vaccinated and boosted. Schakowsky said she is experiencing a fever and feeling generally “ill.” “As I mentioned in my weekly video, my husband Bob tested positive for COVID Friday. Yesterday I was having a bit of fever and feeling ill. After several negative tests in the days before, I tested positive for COVID last night. We are both vaccinated and received the booster,” she revealed on social media.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) on Wednesday revealed he has a breakthrough case of the Chinese coronavirus, meaning he contracted the virus despite being vaccinated, using the opportunity to warn Americans that “no one is immune” from the illness.
“Tonight, I received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. This is a breakthrough case, and I am asymptomatic,” he said in a statement, adding that “America is in a new phase of this pandemic.”
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), speaks during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations to examine US-Russia policy at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 7, 2021. (Photo by Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Sen. Chris Coons said Thursday he has tested positive for COVID-19, but has “minimal symptoms.”
(Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said he has tested positive for COVID-19, but is experiencing no symptoms.
He wrote: “Today, after being notified of a recent exposure, I tested positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19. Fortunately, I am fully vaccinated and recently received my booster shot. I am feeling fine and currently have no symptoms.”
“Today, I received a positive, breakthrough COVID-19 test result. Thankfully, my symptoms are mild & I’m grateful to be fully vaccinated & boosted,” the congresswoman and “squad” member tweeted. “I’m currently isolating & following all health protocols.”
In her statement, Pressley touted the vaccines as life-saving and encouraged her followers to “do their part by getting vaccinated, boosted and masking up.”
“Vaccines save lives. With this unprecedented pandemic continuing to rage, I am deeply grateful for the scientists, researchers, and frontline healthcare workers who have worked tirelessly to develop vaccines that are safe and effective, and ensure that our communities are protected,” she wrote.
City council members of Keene, New Hampshire, voted on Thursday to continue to enact regressive coronavirus policies, opting to mandate masks in indoor areas yet again. However, the Keene City Council took the policy a step further, choosing to fine “repeat violators” up to $250.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced this weekend that 80 percent of COVID-19 “Omicron variant” cases are found in so-called “fully vaccinated” individuals.
Only 19 percent of cases were identified in unvaccinated individuals.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that of the 43 cases attributed to Omicron variant, 34 people had been fully vaccinated. Fourteen of them had also received a booster, although five of those cases occurred less than 14 days after the additional shot before full protection kicks in.
Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration made the announcement Monday. California is one of only nine states imposing an indoor masking requirement for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated, along with Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. Washington DC also has a similar mask mandate in place.
Fauci said, “It’s tough to tell because the third shot of an mRNA could not only do what we absolutely know it does, dramatically increase the level of protection, but it could very well increase the durability of protection by things that you can’t readily measure by the level of antibodies, but you might have a maturation of the immune system that would prolong the durability. You don’t know that, George, until you just follow it over a period of months. If it becomes necessary to get yet another boost, then we’ll just have to deal with it when that occurs. But I’m hoping from an immunological standpoint that that third shot of an mRNA and the second shot of a J&J will give a much greater durability of protection than just the six months or so that we’re seeing right now.
Effective Thursday, December 9, 2021, all guests ages 3-11 who visit SAP Center at San Jose must be fully vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event. … These requirements will remain in place until state and local health and safety guidance is revised.
New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a vaccine mandate on October 29. But in a ruling that throws into question the legality of the “mandate,” a judge for the Supreme Court of New York has blocked it.
“Mayor Bill de Blasio’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for New York City employees, including the NYPD, has been blocked by a Manhattan court,” Newsweek reported.
“On Tuesday, Judge Frank P. Nervo in the Supreme Court of New York gave notice that the mandate was suspended, pending a hearing scheduled for December 14,” the report added.
Joe Biden and his White House’s legally questionable vaccine mandate for federal contractors’ was halted nationwide by a federal judge on Tuesday, it was confirmed this morning.
As many as 69 trials trials, including 31 randomized controlled trials, have shown the effectiveness of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. And 269 peer-review studies show the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine.
A 2005 study indexed in the National Institutes of Health library found chloroquine, from which hydroxychloroquine is derived, had “strong antiviral effects” on SARS-CoV-1, which is about 90% the same as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Ivermectin, as WND reported, is featured on the NIH website as a treatment for COVID-19 that is “under evaluation.”
Dr. Paul Marik, a professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, says it’s “completely outrageous” that the hospital in Norfolk where he serves as ICU director is telling physicians what they can prescribe and not prescribe, violating the doctor-patient relationship and the Hippocratic Oath.
Marik was a co-author of a peer-reviewed study published in February by the American Journal of Therapeutics that found that ivermectin reduces coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths by about 75%.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) met on Thursday for about two hours to begin the process of drafting an order to make the state’s indoor mask requirement permanent
U.S. Federal District Judge Allen Winsor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida has ruled that Pfizer-BioNTech’s Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccine” bearing emergency use authorization (EUA) is not interchangeable with the company’s new Comirnaty injection, which was fully licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in August.
Judge Winsor did, however, reject a preliminary injunction requested by 16 service members against the U.S. military’s Chinese Virus injection mandate. A hearing for that case is scheduled for Sept. 14, 2022, which is nearly 10 months down the road.
If you are under 70 you have a 99.95% survival rate against COVID. That threat diminishes the younger you get. But let’s just engage in gross human rights abuses against people who don’t want to get vaccinated against a virus that is not a threat to their life.
Judge Terry A. Doughty in the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana ruled in favor of a request from Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to block an emergency regulation issued Nov. 4 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that required vaccines for nearly every full-time employee, part-time employee, volunteer, and contractor working at a wide range of healthcare facilities receiving Medicaid or Medicaid funding.
Louisiana was joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general in 13 other states.
The citations will include a $1,000 fine for a second violation, $2,000 fine for a third violation and a $5,000 fine for a fourth and subsequent violations.
National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.
Since the pandemic began, the U.S. Congress has “pumped nearly $5 trillion taxpayer dollars into COVID-19 ‘relief’ spending.” These programs have offered very little relief to the economy and have instead conditioned people to expect “regular monthly payments that, when combined, are far more lucrative than work.” These exorbitantly expensive welfare initiatives have “infected several significant government programs and threaten to tank the American economy” entirely.
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty ImagesWASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 29: U.S. first lady Jill Biden smiles after she read her book Don’t Forget, God Bless our Troops to a second-grade class from Malcolm Elementary School in Waldorf, Maryland, in the State Dining Room of the White House November 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. First lady Jill Biden unveiled the 2021 White House holiday décor today with the theme “Gifts from the Heart”. A variety of interactive viewing experiences will be launched on digital platforms, including Instagram, Google Maps Street View, Snapchat, and others that will allow the public to engage with the White House from home over the course of holidays. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 29: U.S. first lady Jill Biden reads her book Don’t Forget, God Bless our Troops to a second-grade class from Malcolm Elementary School in Waldorf, Maryland, in the State Dining Room of the White House November 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. First lady Jill Biden unveiled the 2021 White House holiday décor today with the theme “Gifts from the Heart”. A variety of interactive viewing experiences will be launched on digital platforms, including Instagram, Google Maps Street View, Snapchat, and others that will allow the public to engage with the White House from home over the course of holidays. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)Screengrab Via C-SPAN)
So now we want to vaccinate the entire world. Naturally one wonders why, because up until now the reasons have all been either wrong or misleading. Allow me to summarize:
At first, they said they only wanted to vaccinate the vulnerable groups. So, the people over 60.
Now they say, no, you have to start at the age of 18.
Then the second reason was, we need 70% [vaccinated] for herd immunity.
Now they say we need 100%. The peak of this absurdity is that the unvaccinated are a danger to the vaccinated. We haven’t heard that one before.
The third justification is that we had to be vaccinated out of solidarity.
Out of solidarity with vulnerable groups.
Now, it is said that the vaccinated have a particularly high viral load, which means that for vulnerable groups, it is obviously safest if they are visited by unvaccinated people.
And now, we have more and more vaccine breakthroughs, i.e. people who become severely ill with COVID, despite being vaccinated twice. The newest rationale to be heard here now is, since the first two vaccinations have thus totally failed, we should urgently be vaccinated a third time, with a vaccine that will probably fail just like the last two vaccines did the first time around. That’s really smart.
In Germany, we have 48 confirmed cases of deaths that occurred in connection with the vaccination. 48 cases, those are just the cases that were autopsied. Of course, we know that many people who died after a vaccination were not autopsied at all.
That means the unreported number is probably many times higher.
If any company, let’s say Nestlé or Pepsi or any other company were to put a product on the market and then 48 people were to die from it within a year, we wouldn’t talk about whether we should or should not distribute this product to the world.
We would talk about whether or not we should enforce liability on the management.
That’s what I would urgently suggest that this parliament do. We should be discussing the [lack of] efficacy of these vaccines and about liability issues for the management of the vaccine manufacturers.
I think that’s what this parliament should concentrate on, not on vaccinating the world. Thank you very much.
Translation: Miss Piggy
https://rairfoundation.com/mep-demand-answers-when-will-vaccine-deaths-be-counted-video/
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a group of health care workers who sought exemptions from their Boston-based hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
The request was denied without comment by Justice Stephen Breyer, who handles emergency matters arising from the region.
A judge halted President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in ten states on Monday, court documents show.
Missouri-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued the preliminary injunction for employees at Medicare and Medicare-certified medical facilities in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Alaska, and Arkansas. Under the Biden administration’s mandate, healthcare workers who work at hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities that receive federal funding have been ordered to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, receive a medical or religious exemption, or face firing.
The White House Office of Management and Budget is reportedly telling federal agencies they can hold off suspending or firing federal workers for not complying with a vaccine mandate until after the holidays.
President Joe Biden urged Americans to wear masks indoors and in public places, as the administration braces for the new COVID-19 variant Omicron to appear in the country.
Every New Yorker regardless of vaccination status is encouraged to wear a mask in indoor public settings, according to a new mask advisory issued Monday by New York City’s health commissioner as concerns about the omicron COVID-19 variant spreads.
The study showed that there is “no significant differences were detected in duration of RT-PCR positivity among fully vaccinated participants (median: 13 days) versus those not fully vaccinated (median: 13 days; p=0.50), or in duration of culture positivity (medians: 5 days and 5 days; p=0.29)” among the 95 eligible participants out of 190, of whom 78 were fully vaccinated and 17 were not fully vaccinated.
In this investigation, we found no statistically significant difference in transmission potential between vaccinated persons and persons who were not fully vaccinated. Therefore, our findings indicate that prevention and mitigation measures should be applied without regard to vaccination status for persons in high-risk settings or those with significant exposures. In congregate settings, and correctional and detention facilities in particular, post-exposure testing and quarantine remain essential tools to limit transmission when cases are identified, in addition to other recommended prevention measures. Our data add to a growing body of evidence characterizing transmission potential from vaccinated persons. Future studies of transmission potential from vaccinated persons with infection, incorporating similar laboratory-based markers as well as evidence of transmission from secondary attack rates and network analysis, may help to further describe the contributions of vaccinated persons in chains of transmission as the pandemic evolves and new variants emerge.
A South African doctor who was one of the first to suspect a different coronavirus strain has said that symptoms of the Omicron variant appear to be mild and could be treated at home
Family sitting at the Christmas Thanksgiving table at home in the year of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Grandmother adjust the surgical mask to her grandson. New rules, Covid outbreak, lockdown. (Family sitting at the Christmas Thanksgiving table at home Basilico Studio Stock/Getty Images
A member of the ‘racial equity committee’ in Texas’s Fort Worth school district published addresses and phone numbers of parents who sued to stop a mask mandate, saying “Internet do your thing,” according to Fox News.
Newport News shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls reverses their position on the vaccine mandate and claims they misinterpreted the federal requirement. After further consultations with the federal government, the shipbuilder now says the vaccine mandate doesn’t apply. “This recent information is different from what we understood to be the government’s and the Navy’s intent,” the company said.
[Via Facebook] President and CEO Mike Petters issued a message to employees Nov. 16 indicating that the government’s Jan. 4, 2022, deadline for vaccination is suspended. The message also clarified that after considerable work with the Navy to meet the intent of the mandate, our Navy contracts with Newport News Shipbuilding do not include a vaccine mandate requirement at this time.This recent information is different from what we understood to be the government’s and the Navy’s intent. As a result of what we know today, some of the related mandate policies and processes will now change. Because employee safety continues to be our top priority, other COVID-related policies will not change.Here’s what is changing:• COVID-19 vaccination is not required as a condition of employment for current or leased employees.• Employees who applied for a religious or medical exemption will be contacted in writing with additional clarification.• Shipbuilders who opted to submit for retirement or to resign as a result of the federal mandate have the option to request reversal of their decision.– For those who have started the retirement process, please contact the HII Benefits Center for more information.– For employees who notified management or Human Resources of plans to resign, please talk with your immediate supervisor if your plans change. Supervisors should contact their Human Resources business partner for guidance.• Offsite employees will be required to follow the guidance provided by the work location.• Subcontractors do not need to be fully vaccinated. (read more)
COLE COUNTY, Mo. — A Missouri judge ruled Tuesday that local health orders imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state are illegal and should be lifted.
The Timescited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Tuesday figures, which reported 386,233 coronavirus related fatalities in the U.S. for 2021.
In all of 2020, the U.S. recorded 385,343 fatalities. The former figure is only expected to rise, as there is still over one month left of the year.
In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.<sup)1 But this view is far too simple.
There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission. In Massachusetts, USA, a total of 469 new COVID-19 cases were detected during various events in July, 2021, and 346 (74%) of these cases were in people who were fully or partly vaccinated, 274 (79%) of whom were symptomatic. Cycle threshold values were similarly low between people who were fully vaccinated (median 22·8) and people who were unvaccinated, not fully vaccinated, or whose vaccination status was unknown (median 21·5), indicating a high viral load even among people who were fully vaccinated.2
In the USA, a total of 10 262 COVID-19 cases were reported in vaccinated people by April 30, 2021, of whom 2725 (26·6%) were asymptomatic, 995 (9·7%) were hospitalised, and 160 (1·6%) died.3 In Germany, 55·4% of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in patients aged 60 years or older were in fully vaccinated individuals,4 and this proportion is increasing each week. In Münster, Germany, new cases of COVID-19 occurred in at least 85 (22%) of 380 people who were fully vaccinated or who had recovered from COVID-19 and who attended a club.5
People who are vaccinated have a lower risk of severe disease but are still a relevant part of the pandemic. It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Historically, both the USA and Germany have engendered negative experiences by stigmatising parts of the population for their skin colour or religion. I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.
“This attack on me, which clearly has political overtones to a nonpolitical scientist, I feel, is dangerous to the entire field of science and[shows] how people try to intimidate scientists,” he told the Post.
The agency said in a court filing Monday that in order to complete a Freedom of Information Act request for data and information on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, it will need to process 329,000 pages of documents and can only do so at a rate of 500 pages per month. At that rate, the information requested will not be fully released until the year 2076.
The FOIA request was submitted to the FDA in August by Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, a group of more than 30 international public health professionals, medical professionals, scientists, and journalists that “exist solely to obtain and disseminate the data relied upon by the FDA to license COVID-19 vaccines.” The group includes academics and medical experts from Yale, Harvard Medical School, and UCLA; alumni from the Trump administration; and prominent health experts from around the world.
PHMPT is being represented by Siri & Glimstad, a New York-based law firm that has performed millions of dollars of legal work on behalf of groups opposed to vaccine mandates.
On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, published on November 5, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 61402) (“ETS”). The court ordered that OSHA “take no steps to implement or enforce” the ETS “until further court order.” While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation.
“On Friday, I was fired by the PGA Tour. I was in need of religious exemptions from their vaccine protocols of masking and testing,” Gregson explained in a Facebook video. “They would not accommodate me in such a way that I did not have to violate my religious beliefs.
Dr Rochelle Walensky from CDC is claiming in advertisements, without evidence, that wearing a mask could reduce the risk of infection by 80%. However, a Cochrane study by Jefferson et al. and a report of the European Center of Disease Control concluded there is no high-quality evidence in favor of facemasks. No association was observed between mask mandates or use and reduced Covid-19 spread in US states. Up to now there are no results available of randomized clinical trials that could demonstrate beyond any doubt that wearing masks prevent people from viral infection and could slow the spread of the virus.
Randomized controlled trials during this pandemic on the effects of wearing medical masks in Denmark by the general population could not alter the conclusions of previous trials with (medical) masks on the spread of influenza virus in a hospital setting or in non healthcare settings there is no substantial effect.
