One COVID Vaccine Held Up Best Over Time, CDC Study Suggests
In terms of preventing COVID-related hospitalizations, the two-dose mRNA vaccines from Pfizer (Comirnaty) and Moderna offered the best protection upfront and over time, a case-control analysis involving data from 21 U.S. hospitals showed. From March to August 2021, the vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 hospitalizations landed at 93% for the Moderna vaccine, 88% for Pfizer’s,…
Vaccines for kids ages 5 to 11 could be available by Halloween
Vaccines for COVID-19 have been readily available in the United States for a number of months now. However, they are still only approved for Americans age 12 and older. Families with kids younger than that have needed to remain extra cautious over the past several months while waiting for the vaccines to get approved for…
Unvaccinated 11 Times More Likely To Die Of Covid, CDC Says
Topline After the coronavirus’ delta variant took root in the United States, vaccinated Americans were still 10 times less likely to be hospitalized for Covid-19 and 11 times less likely to die than unvaccinated people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, a result CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cast as “further evidence of…
Fauci: Mask, Vaccine Mandates Needed in Schools
Mask mandates are needed in schools as part of a layered approach to prevent the spread of COVID-19, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, said during a New York Times event on Thursday. COVID vaccines could become available for some children under the age of 12 as early as this fall, he said, but until that…
Pence slams Biden vaccine mandates: ‘Unlike anything I have ever heard’
Former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PenceDoes Pence really call his wife ‘mother’? Aide says it’s ‘a myth that drives me crazy’ Trump schedules rallies in Iowa, Georgia Spotlight turns to GOP’s McCarthy in Jan. 6 probe MORE on Friday slammed President BidenJoe BidenKentucky state lawmakers vote to scrap school mask mandate Arkansas governor…
Biden announces sweeping new vaccine mandates for 100 million Americans
In his most forceful pandemic actions and words, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase COVID-19 vaccinations and curb the surging Delta variant. Speaking at the White House, Biden sharply criticised the roughly 80 million Americans who are…
United Airlines staff who are granted religious exemptions to vaccine mandate will be put on unpaid leave
United Airlines’ employees who are granted exemptions to a company vaccinate mandate for religious reasons will be put on temporary unpaid leave starting next month, the airline told staff Wednesday, citing the recent rise in Covid cases.The airline last month said its 67,000-person U.S. workforce must be vaccinated against Covid-19 this
Howard Stern rips vaccine opponents: ‘F–
Radio host Howard Stern blasted opponents of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, stating that “nutjobs” are trampling on his “freedom to live.””When are we going to stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say it’s mandatory to get vaccinated?” Stern said to listeners on his eponymous SiriusXM program. “As I remember, when…
This year’s flu season could be a rager. Shots can help.
As summer winds down and gives way to cooler weather, people are once again bracing themselves for an uptick in COVID-19 cases—viruses like SARS-CoV-2 prefer colder seasons. But there’s another virus looming that’s all-too-familiar: influenza. Now, two new study preprints, neither yet peer-reviewed, suggest that last year’s drop in flu cases could lead to a…
Fauci: ‘Dramatic Data’ From Israel Support COVID-19 Boosters
WASHINGTON — COVID booster shots are showing good efficacy in Israel, Anthony Fauci, MD, chief medical advisor to President Biden, said Thursday at a briefing held by the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Researchers have found that, even with the country’s very high vaccination rate, “we see new PCR-positive infections and new severe COVID cases…
Among the unvaccinated, Delta variant more than doubles risk of hospitalization
New research from England’s public health service has confirmed a suspicion spawned by bursting hospital wards across the United States: The Delta variant of the coronavirus not only spreads 50% more readily than the Alpha variant it rapidly overtook, it’s also making unvaccinated people sicker.Through most of April and May, unvaccinated Britons who were infected…
Covid-19 hospitalizations top 100,000 as delta variant surges
Covid-19 hospitalizations are on the rise again across the United States as more people become sickened with the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.More than 100,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19, according to data released Friday morning by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That means 1 in every 6 hospital beds…
Unvaccinated Covid Patients Cost U.S. Health System Billions — And They’re Not The Ones Paying For It
Topline Unvaccinated adults hospitalized with Covid-19 cost the American health system at least $2.3 billion in June and July this year, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most of which will be borne by society as a whole and not by the unvaccinated patients. A clinician cares for COVID-19 patients in the Intensive…
Supporters at Alabama rally boo Trump after he tells them to get vaccinated
Some members of a crowd gathered in Cullman, Ala., briefly booed former President TrumpDonald TrumpDemocrats sound alarm over loss in Connecticut suburbs Abbott Laboratories directs employees to dispose of rapid COVID-19 test materials Sunday shows preview: Chaos in Kabul mars US evacuation efforts MORE after he told those at his rally to take the coronavirus vaccine.“You…
Vaccination Status May Be Considered To Get ICU Beds At Dallas-Area Hospitals If Covid Spread Worsens
Topline If North Texas starts running out of ICU beds, doctors may have to consider coronavirus vaccination status as a factor in who gets priority care—a situation health officials hope to avoid but worry is becoming increasingly likely—with the vaccinated potentially being prioritized for treatment on the assumption that they’re more likely to survive. Doctors…
COVID cases are rising steeply throughout the southeastern US
Click here to see all of PopSci’s COVID-19 coverage. This post is updated weekly. We are well into year two of the COVID-19 pandemic, which officially began on March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared the viral outbreak a global event. That came just two months after WHO announced on January 5, 2020,…
Biden administration to begin rolling out booster shots the week of Sept. 20
Health care workers and nursing home residents are first in lineAugust 18, 2021, 2:34 PM• 5 min readThe Biden administration is prepared to begin rolling out booster shots for many Americans the week of Sept. 20, the nation’s top health officials announced Wednesday, citing data that show the effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against…
Biden administration to announce booster shots for most fully vaccinated Americans: reports
The Biden administration is reportedly planning to announce that most Americans should receive a COVID-19 booster shot eight months after they have been fully vaccinated, expanding the pool of people who should get the extra doses beyond those with compromised immune systems.The New York Times reported that the U.S. could begin offering a third shot as soon…
FDA OK’s extra vaccine dose for some with weakened immune systems
U.S. regulators on Thursday said transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to better protect them as the Delta variant continues to surge. The late-night announcement by the Food and Drug Administration applies to several million Americans who are especially vulnerable…