Tag: October

  • Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

    Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

    Study Will Analyze If Psychedelic Can Aid In Quitting Cigarette smoking

    The Countrywide Institutes of Health grant to Johns Hopkins College marks the first time in 50 many years that a federal grant has absent to examine a psychedelic drug as a cure, NBC Information states. Meanwhile, the well being treatment impact of words and phrases and labels similar to habit is talked over, amid other information.


    NBC Information:
    NIH-Funded Psychedelic Trial Will Examine No matter whether Hallucinogen Can Assist People who smoke Give up


    The analyze, a randomized controlled trial predicted to start later on this calendar year, will look into no matter whether psilocybin, the psychedelic compound identified in “magic mushrooms,” can assistance men and women give up smoking tobacco. Hopkins researchers will guide the trial, which will be completed in collaboration with researchers at NYU Langone Wellbeing and the College of Alabama at Birmingham. (Syal, 10/26)

    More on drug use and addiction —

    In other health and fitness and wellness news —


    AP:
    Snooze Apnea Unit Recall Drags On, Stoking Stress


    A enormous remember of tens of millions of sleep apnea devices has stoked anger and disappointment between sufferers, and U.S. officials are weighing unparalleled legal action to velocity a alternative work that is established to drag into next year. … Philips to begin with estimated it could maintenance or change the models in a calendar year. But with the recall expanding to much more than 5 million equipment around the globe, the Dutch firm now states the exertion will stretch into 2023. That’s remaining many patients to choose involving employing a most likely dangerous device or making an attempt risky solutions. (Perrone, 10/25)


    United states of america Nowadays:
    Local weather Change Is Worsening Wellbeing And Disparities: What Can Be Carried out?


    Researchers throughout the world collaborate to research climate and wellness in an annual report, the Lancet professional medical journals’ “countdown” on wellbeing and weather transform. In this year’s U.S. part of the report, released Tuesday, experts break down investigate on the overall health impacts of a warming weather and define coverage suggestions, focusing on wellbeing fairness. (Hassanein, 10/25)

  • Coronavirus Today – October 27

    Coronavirus Today – October 27


    By Anne Blythe

    Pediatricians, pharmacies and county health departments could be ready by the end of next week to start vaccinating children from 5 to 11 years old if Pfizer’s kid-size dose of COVID vaccine gets the federal nods it needs.

    A Federal Drug Administration advisory committee set the stage on Tuesday for the latest plot twist in the story of this long-running coronavirus pandemic.

    More of the youngest among us soon could be better protected from severe illness related to COVID-19 if the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention follow through on the advisory committee’s unanimous recommendation to authorize lower dose Pfizer vaccines for emergency use in some 28 million children across the country.

    “The FDA and CDC are still doing their work,” Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters Wednesday during a briefing with the governor. “We think the earliest vaccines will be available will probably be the end of next week.”

    In anticipation of that possibility, the state has been planning how to get some 400,000 initial doses distributed to 750 doctor’s offices, health care centers, pharmacies and elsewhere. 

    The state also is partnering with 10 community organizations to offer family vaccine events in areas where, historically, there have been health care access disparities.

    Results from Pfizer’s trial of some 4,500 children ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years old showed that giving children a third of the COVID vaccine dose that adults get in each of the 2-shot regimens was 90 percent effective.

    The CDC is expected to take up the issue on Nov. 2.

    “What I can say is there is plenty of supply,” Cohen said. “Let the FDA and CDC do their work to review the evidence.”

    For anyone worried about their child mistakenly getting an adult-sized dose when they take them to get vaccinated, the Pfizer packaging of the vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds is a different color and size.

    Once the green light is given, Cohen and Gov. Roy Cooper are encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated as quickly as possible.

    “Getting school-aged kids vaccinated will help them to be safe in the classroom, play sports, participate in school theater, attend events, be with friends and support their mental health,” Cohen said. “I’m eager to get my daughters vaccinated once the FDA and CDC review the data and complete the process.”

    He led a vaccine trial for children

    Emmanuel “Chip” Walter, a pediatrician at Duke who led a trial examining the vaccine’s effectiveness of children, spoke with reporters on Wednesday morning about the findings.

    “My advice to parents is this is the best way to protect your child from serious illness and potentially death from COVID, … get them vaccinated,” Walter said. “It’s the best tool we have. By all means I would recommend and suggest they get the vaccine.”

    Some have raised concerns about cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, that, while rare, have been seen after men and women have received an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Federal health officials have noticed the issue in adolescent males and young men, but have not determined whether there is a direct correlation to the vaccine.

    “The risk for developing myocarditis really seems to be greater after the second dose of vaccine; it’s more commonly seen in males, particularly young males within the ages of 16 to 30,” Walter said. “The rate in that particular group is about 40 per million second doses of vaccine received.”

    More than 244 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been given in the U.S. to date according to the CDC, with 105.6 million who have received two doses.

    “I think it’s really important to recognize that not all myocarditis is the same,” Walter said when that question arose on Wednesday. “You can develop myocarditis after developing COVID as a complication and that myocarditis from COVID is usually quite severe and makes people quite ill and causes a prolonged hospitalization.”

    Walter added that the myocarditis that health care workers have seen after a vaccine “is generally fairly mild.” Sometimes that might lead to hospitalization, but the condition is easily treated, he added, once it’s recognized.

    “So I think you have to weigh that risk of developing COVID – depending on the prevalence of COVID in your community – versus the risk of myocarditis from vaccine, which is exceedingly rare,” Walter said.

    Nonetheless, as has happened throughout the pandemic, social media and other platforms rife with misinformation can sow confusion and mistrust that frustrates public health officials trying to get accurate information to households.

    A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 34 percent of the parents of 5- to 11-year-olds surveyed in September would vaccinate their child right away, even after Pfizer released early reports of the effectiveness of a lower dose in younger children. Twenty-four percent of the parents polled said they definitely would not get their child vaccinated and 32 percent preferred to take a wait-and-see stance.

    “We have to be able to afford children the same protection from COVID through vaccination that we afford to adults,” Walter said. “That is the right thing to do.”

    Children accounted for nearly 25 percent of the COVID cases caused by the surge in late summer caused by the Delta variant .

    “We’ve been kind of lulled by this thought that yes the pandemic is worse … for older adults and adults with comorbidities,” Walter said. “But children aren’t totally spared from COVID.

    “When I last looked the other day there had been 750 deaths from COVID in children under age 18, 160 deaths in this age group for which we’re now considering approval or authorization of the vaccine, between the ages of 5 and 11,” Walter added. “And that’s way more deaths than occur due to influenza in a typical year. So if you kind of put it in that perspective in terms of health, we really do need to get children vaccinated.”

    Tapering off

    Overall, North Carolina is in much better shape in its battle against COVID than a month ago, when Cooper and Cohen gave their last pandemic update to reporters.

    The number of people walking into emergency departments with COVID symptoms has dropped dramatically, as have the numbers of new lab-confirmed cases each day and hospitalized patients.

    “North Carolina’s fight is not over,” Cooper said. “We’re making great progress, but hospitalizations and deaths are still too high.”

    Since March 2020, when North Carolina reported its first lab-confirmed case of COVID-19, there have been more than 1.47 million cases reported. On Tuesday, there were 2,160 new cases reported.

    Though there were 1,406 people in the hospital battling illnesses related to COVID-19, that number was down significantly from Sept. 25, when 3,123 people were hospitalized.

    North Carolina is approaching a new milestone of 18,000 deaths related to COVID-19. As of Wednesday, the state was fewer than 100 deaths from that grim mark.

    “Although every death is painful and now often avoidable, we felt a renewed sense of hope over the last month as North Carolina’s COVID-19 numbers have continued their steady improvement,” Cooper said. “You the people of North Carolina who have gotten vaccinated, followed safety measures, deserve the lion’s share of the credit along with our health care professionals.”

    “We are grateful to see this latest surge in COVID-19 taper off,” Cooper added later. “And as we try to drive down our numbers, we know what works. Vaccines. The more people who get their shots, the less COVID we’ll have.”

    Are you eligible for a booster?

    As many parents contemplate when and where to get their children vaccinated, others across the state who have been vaccinated are weighing whether they’re eligible for boosters that have been recommended by federal and state health officials.

    Cohen, who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine in early March, said she got a Moderna vaccine as a booster last week.

    The FDA and CDC issued guidelines on Oct. 21 about who is eligible for a booster shot. The agencies said people could get a different vaccine from the one they initially received after a “mix and match study” showed extra protection from COVID was gained even if a different vaccine was administered.

    The CDC recommended a booster shot for the nearly 15 million people who got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine if at least two months have passed since the initial dose, saying that such a boost could substantially increase protection from COVID. 

    Some who received the single dose shot are switching to mRNA vaccines offered by Moderna or Pfizer with a goal of getting even more protection.

    Keeping track of all the recommendations can be dizzying.

    People who are 65 and older, those between 50 and 64 with certain underlying health conditions, and adults over 18 who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities all are at higher risk of getting COVID-19, according to the guidelines. 

    Anyone in the groups who got the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines should get a booster shot six months after their initial series.

    Cohen recommended that North Carolinians go to a DHHS quiz to find out whether they should get a booster.

    As of Wednesday, 67 percent of the adult population in North Carolina was fully vaccinated, a number that is not as high as Cohen or Cooper would like to see.

    Cohen said Wednesday that 42 percent of North Carolinians ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated and only 46 percent of those who are 18 to 24 are fully vaccinated.

    Pediatricians and others who provide health care to school-aged children will be key to boosting trust and an understanding about any recommendations that come from the FDA and CDC in the coming week, Cohen said.

    “It’s where our families and our children have gotten vaccinated for many other types of vaccinations that they get in early childhood,” Cohen said. “It’s again going to be a place where I think there will be trusted messengers.”

    Coronavirus by the numbers

    According to NCDHHS data, as of Tuesday afternoon:

    • 17,935 people total in North Carolina have died of coronavirus.
    • 1,472,655 have been diagnosed with the disease. Of those, 1,404 are in the hospital. On Aug. 1, 1,390 people were hospitalized, before the Delta save. The hospitalization figure is a snapshot of people hospitalized with COVID-19 infections on a given day and does not represent all of the North Carolinians who may have been in the hospital throughout the course of the epidemic.
    • North Carolina started tracking COVID-19 re-infections in the case counts on Oct 4, 2021. All told North Carolina has tracked 10,812 reinfections, 200 of those were in people who were previously vaccinated. Ninety-four people who were reinfected with COVID-19 have died. 
    • 1,422,175 people who had COVID-19 are presumed to have recovered. This weekly estimate does not denote how many of the diagnosed cases in the state are still infectious. Nor does it reflect the number of so-called “long-haul” survivors of COVID who continue to feel the effects of the disease beyond the defined “recovery” period.
    • To date, 19,012,089 tests have been completed in North Carolina. As of July 2020, all labs in the state are required to report both their positive and negative test results to the lab, so that figure includes all of the COVID-19 tests performed in the state.
    • People ages 25-49 make up the largest group of cases (39 percent). While 13 percent of the positive diagnoses were in people ages 65 and older, seniors make up 75 percent of coronavirus deaths in the state. 
    • 522 outbreaks are ongoing in group facilities across the state, including nursing homes and correctional and residential care facilities, that’s up from 107 outbreaks in early August.
    • As of Wednesday, 415 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units across the state. On Aug. 1, 372 patients were in ICUs. 
    • As of Aug. 17, 6,177,877 North Carolinians have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Eighty-nine percent of people over the age of 65 have been completely vaccinated, while 55 percent of the total population is fully vaccinated.
  • Dean’s Update | October 15, 2021 – College of Human Medicine

    Dean’s Update | October 15, 2021 – College of Human Medicine

    Dean’s Update | October 15, 2021 – College of Human Medicine

    Mates,

    One of the main initiatives for instructional applications is accreditation. It is usually a lot of work, and it requires a particular staff to deliver the vitality and enthusiasm necessary to successfully get a program accredited. Our Learn of Community Health degree system (MPH) has that team. A 7 days ago, the last of the content updates ended up despatched to the Council on Education and learning for Community Overall health (CEPH). And, on November 11 and 12, CEPH will do a website go to of the MPH at its household foundation in Flint.

    Having the MPH by means of the CEPH accreditation technique has been a prolonged-standing target for the university. It has not been straightforward, which speaks to the top quality of Director Wayne McCullough’s management and the fantastic accreditation staff he has set together. Kudos to Connie Currier for her great perform on this task – if any person has been through the thick and thin of the method over its historical past, it is Connie! (Photo over L-R: Wayne McCullough, Connie Currier, and Lynne Lievens.)

    I have completed a ton of accreditation do the job in my profession, and I have the greatest regard for the MPH faculty and employees as they’ve brought us ideal up to the end line. In truth, persons executing accreditation perform are cautious not to communicate about a web page go to as a complete line. There is usually get the job done to do following the visit, and accreditation nationally has moved toward a ongoing course of action improvement design. That stated, the internet site visit on Nov 11-12 is a great step on the pathway.

    The final pair of many years have been remarkable for the MPH. As an instance, admissions are up from about 30 in 2020, to 80 so much in 2021. Some of that may well be the impression of COVID-19, or learners selecting the program mainly because of accreditation, or the all round operate of the Division of Public Well being. In any case, the plan has a healthful 164 university student enrollment on the path to their MPH levels.

    All students who graduated just after the application entered the ultimate pathway for CEPH accreditation in 2019 count as graduating from an accredited MPH and share in crossing the finish line way too.

    The pandemic has shown how interconnected community well being is with legislation, local community daily life, drugs, conversation, media, and…politics. To aid organized MPH students and clarify the location of general public overall health in our state, MPH faculty Robey Champine, PhD, and John Clements, PhD, have designed MPH programs on the pandemic. HM 862: Global Pandemics and Community Well being Programs, Regulation, and Community Impacts is an elective for undergraduates, MPH pupils, and graduate pupils about our technique of general public health and COVID-19. A no cost, publicly available training course, Endorsing Community Overall health in Michigan in the Face of COVID-19, has helped 230 members of the community understand a lot more about COVID-19 and group wellness in Michigan.

    Quite shortly, the MSU-Henry Ford partnership (HFH+MSU Health Sciences) begins a new section as scientists at Henry Ford start the MSU system for formally making use of for college positions. Men and women like Kathy Huber at Henry Ford and Barbara Forney at MSU have carried out wonderful function revising our school forms and process to be distinct and useful for the more than 100 Henry Ford scientists coming into the school ranks. To be very clear, the departmental acceptance procedure is unchanged, but people have tried using to help obvious the red tape. Right after the scientists full the course of action, we will go on to clinicians and other educating faculty. This is an exciting stage that will even more integrate the institutions and expand the impact of MSU.

    Serving the individuals with you,

    Aron

    Aron Sousa, MD
    Interim Dean

  • Augusta Health Vaccine Clinic Update: October 12, 2021

    Augusta Health Vaccine Clinic Update: October 12, 2021

    In partnership with the Central Shenandoah Wellness District (CSHD), Augusta Health and fitness continues community vaccinations for COVID-19.

    Recent Vaccination Dose Depend at Augusta Overall health:

    • Full doses offered at Augusta Wellness Vaccination Clinics: 92,111
    • Local community member totally-vaccinated at AH Vaccination Clinics: 44,639
    • Boosters for the immunocompromised 6,717

    Latest Condition
    Our community continues to be in a precarious place. Whilst quite a few of our local community COVID indicators have lessened more than the past couple of months, they keep on being somewhat substantial when as opposed to the degrees needed to be a healthier community.

    For illustration, Augusta Health’s positivity charge last 7 days was 20.14{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c}, which is an advancement from the 31{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} in September. It does not method, even so, the 5.7{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} we professional final June.

    Our present-day inpatient COVID-19 census is 41, with 4 deaths in excess of the earlier week. When this is again a minimize from September’s census, it once more does not approach the exceptionally small volumes around the summer months. A several times this summer the census was , and we were capable, for a while, to near the COVID device. That is no more time the circumstance. The share of our COVID-19 people who are vital care/ICU amount people remains at about 20{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of hospitalized COVID clients. We continue on to function two ICUs and our ICUs each continue being in close proximity to potential.

    About the 24 several hours preceding 9 am on Tuesday, Oct 12, there were being 29 new beneficial COVID-19 scenarios identified as a result of Augusta Health and fitness screening web-sites.

    So, while we are considerably less entire than we have been in September, the current census and other volumes are nevertheless viewed as superior. We are also aware of the impression of the ‘golden days’ of summer—when men and women turned a little bit considerably less diligent with masking and social distancing—and the September surge that followed.

    Thanks to local community reaction, even though, vaccinations have greater. The elevated quantity of vaccinated men and women, and the renewed awareness of masking and social distancing, have begun to influence community unfold and quantities. This makes it possible for us to continue to system to step by step re-open expert services.

    It would be a oversight to interpret the lessen in indicators as a indicator that COVID has left the neighborhood. It stays, and is an opportunistic sickness that will surge all over again if provided the likelihood.

    Help to continue to slow the spread and decrease the projections: Be sure to vaccinate, don masks indoors even if vaccinated, clean palms routinely and remain socially distant from other people when doable. COVID vaccinations are the continue to the most effective and lasting way to stop COVID infections in our community, and the finest protection against really serious sickness and demise.

    Vaccination Eligibility
    Augusta Well being is vaccinating all people age 12 and more mature who lives, works or goes to school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for individuals age 18 and more than. Pfizer vaccine is approved for people today age 12 and more mature a parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of those beneath the age of 18.

    There are now two teams of earlier vaccinated men and women who can acquire third-dose COVID-19 booster pictures.

    The initial team, accepted many months back is:

    • Folks who are moderately or severely immunocompromised (no evidence of a professional medical affliction is essential at this time) and who
    • Have presently obtained two doses of both the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine and who
    • Acquired their 2nd dose of vaccine more than 28 days in the past.

    The second, not too long ago permitted group is:

    • These age 65 and in excess of, or
    • Individuals ages 18-64 with an fundamental healthcare affliction, or
    • These who live in congregate configurations such as prolonged-time period care services or shelters, or
    • Those who get the job done in large-chance occupations, who
    • Have currently been given two doses of PFIZER vaccine only, and who
    • Received their second dose far more than six months ago.

    Appointments are necessary for all booster shots and are readily available on vaccinate.augustahealth.com. Those who meet up with requirements for the 2nd group but gained Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not suitable for boosters at this time. We anticipate the Fda and CDC will evaluate additional rounds of vaccination for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson once again, and will be organized for that acceptance when it is supplied.

    The requirements for the two kinds of vaccine boosters can be confusing if you have inquiries about eligibility, make sure you phone Augusta Health’s Vaccination Call Centre at (540) 332-5122.

    Be sure to bring COVID Vaccination Document Card to the booster appointment.

    Vaccinations in Key Care Workplaces
    Vaccinations for COVID-19 continue on in all Augusta Healthcare Group primary treatment places of work. Clients who favor to acquire a vaccination from their personalized physician should really call their doctor’s workplace to be scheduled into the subsequent out there vaccination appointment block.

    Neighborhood-Based mostly Clinics
    This 7 days, Augusta Wellness is sending vaccination teams to local extended-phrase treatment facilities, schools and homeless shelters to assist with the vaccination of inhabitants and staff members at individuals web sites.

    Local community companies that would like to lover with Augusta Well being for a Vaccination Clinic can get hold of VaccinationTaskForce [at] augustahealth.com for additional facts on the demands.

    Substantial on-campus Vaccination Clinics
    Appointments are chosen for clinics. Walk-ins are welcome.

    Go to vaccinate.augustahealth.com to watch the links and timetable an appointment. Information and facts about new clinics, the links and the requirements for every single website link, are posted as available. On-campus clinics for the remainder of this 7 days are:

    • Tuesday, Oct 12: After university/following work clinic several hours for people are not able to occur during the day. The clinic will operate from 3:30 pm until finally 7 pm. Stroll-ins welcome until 6 pm.

    This is a twin Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson clinic. Anybody age 12 and more mature may well obtain Pfizer vaccine Johnson & Johnson is a one particular-dose vaccine offered to these age 18 and more mature and administered if out there. The url is open up on vaccinate.augustahealth.com

    • Wednesday, October 13: 3rd-DOSE BOOSTER CLINIC.

    The clinic will operate from 1:00 pm right until 6:00 pm. Make sure you validate conditions for 1 of the two authorised populations for boosters. Pfizer booster accessible for both populations Moderna booster only accredited for immunocompromised inhabitants. Remember to bring Vaccination Document Card or file of previous vaccination. The hyperlink is open on vaccinate.augustahealth.com.

    • Thursday, Oct 14: Immediately after faculty/just after do the job clinic hours for these are not able to arrive throughout the day. The clinic will run from 3:30 pm right until 7 pm. Wander-ins welcome until eventually 6 pm.

    This is a twin Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson clinic. Any individual age 12 and older could get Pfizer vaccine Johnson & Johnson is a just one-dose vaccine out there to people age 18 and older and administered if offered. The url is open on vaccinate.augustahealth.com

    • Friday, Oct 15: Third-DOSE BOOSTER CLINIC.

    The clinic will run from 10:00 am right until 3:00 pm. Remember to confirm criteria for one of the two accredited populations for boosters. Pfizer booster offered for both of those populations Moderna booster only permitted for immunocompromised population. Remember to deliver Vaccination File Card or record of prior vaccination. The website link is open up on vaccinate.augustahealth.com.

    Vaccination Contact Centre
    Not everyone has entry to the online. Other people just have concerns. For assistance, contact Augusta Health’s Vaccination Get in touch with Middle at (540) 332-5122. The Contact Center is staffed Monday by Friday from 8:00 am right until 4:30 pm to reply issues and assist to schedule vaccination appointments.

    Homebound clients are being vaccinated via a pilot plan with Central Shenandoah EMS. Make contact with the Vaccination Phone Centre for far more info.

    We appreciate our continued partnership with CSHD as we operate alongside one another to provide vaccines to all in the group who will need them.

  • MUSC Health biweekly COVID-19 report (October 11) | MUSC

    MUSC Health biweekly COVID-19 report (October 11) | MUSC

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (Oct. 11, 2021) – At MUSC Health, the security of sufferers, family members, care group associates, learners, college and personnel stays the range a person priority. The MUSC General public Affairs and Media Relations (PAMR) office issues regular COVID-19 updates on Monday and Thursday of each week. If a federal or state holiday break falls on a Monday, then a report will be issued the adhering to day. Remember to read through the report in its entirety details can alter swiftly. 

    The Path Ahead / Recovery

    COVID-19 VACCINATION UPDATE

    MUSC Well being has vaccine appointments for all eligible individuals age 12 and up. Eligible men and women can visit muschealth.org/get-vaccine to make an appointment though appointments are encouraged, walk-ins are welcome at all MUSC COVID-19 vaccine clinic places. See information and a video clip with instructions on how to plan a vaccination appointment. The neighborhood is inspired to monitor muschealth.org for COVID-19 vaccine availability standards, updates and FAQs. 

    For a lot more data connected to public, community vaccination web pages operated by MUSC Well being during the point out, be sure to visit vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov/Appointments are inspired, but walk-ins are welcome.

    Homebound folks who require in-home COVID-19 vaccination providers should really get hold of DHEC’s COVID-19 vaccine details line by contacting 1-866-365-8110. You should note that community associates should really not directly make contact with the vendors. All calls will have to be routed by means of the DHEC COVID-19 vaccine info line to obtain this method.  

    MUSC Health and fitness vaccination administration facts is available upon request. 

    MUSC Health COVID-19 Vaccination Expectation for all care crew users

    All MUSC Health leaders and care workforce customers are now expected to have the COVID-19 vaccine. Spiritual and healthcare exemptions could apply for some care workforce users. All new treatment group users should really obtain a single dose vaccine prior to starting off get the job done or the initial dose of a two-dose vaccine prior to beginning perform. The 2nd dose ought to be finished in just three months as a affliction of employment. As of July 1, additional than 99.9{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of MUSC Overall health treatment team members have complied with this coverage. MUSC Wellness has set up this coverage for the security of our care group, our sufferers and patients’ families and website visitors.  

    FOR Current Information:

    COVID Update

    “Numbers are coming down, but do not get way too energized because it’s nonetheless rather significant,” scientist says. Are we in for an additional winter season surge?

    The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project is a digital dashboard that supplies main indicators associated to the COVID-19 epidemic to help educated selections. Existing circumstance assessments for MUSC Wellbeing – Charleston (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties), MUSC Health Florence, and MUSC Wellness Lancaster divisions are obtainable on this website. 

    Helpful World-wide-web Hyperlinks FOR THE Normal Public: 

    Basic information

    Normal info

    Info about screening solutions

    MUSC Digital Urgent Treatment

    COVID-19 vaccination

    MUSC COVID-19 cell diagnostic testing 

    MUSC Health and fitness provides COVID-19 screening in healthcare facility, clinic and other areas. Sufferers are inspired to talk with their providers as a result of MUSC MyChart ought to they need to have screening providers. Present-day turnaround time is somewhere around 24 hours for take a look at outcomes. A complete record of tests facts is out there at this web site: musc.co/screening.

    MUSC Health, in partnership with the condition legislature, is also rotating cell screening and assortment sites in rural and underserved regions through the point out, for each walk-up and drive-via sufferers, which are marketed domestically in partnership with municipalities, neighborhood organizations and companies. Prescreening is not required and there is no price tag to sufferers. Individuals will be contacted in just two days with the success of their take a look at, if not quicker. Individuals are requested to deliver photograph identification and an insurance plan card if they have a person. The CARES Act requires MUSC to monthly bill insurance policies providers if people do have coverage. Individuals could email [email protected] if they have thoughts concerning their final results. If they do not have an email deal with, they may possibly phone 843-985-8888.

    Websites may perhaps close early or function with decreased hrs if weather conditions conditions develop into unsafe for treatment workforce customers or if volume exceeds site security ability. 

    Details connected to Balanced Me — Wholesome SC absolutely free, statewide cellular testing web-sites for each individual week can be found here.

    COVID-19 linked stories for comply with-up

    Funding File

    The Health-related University of South Carolina sets extramural funding report with support of COVID-similar funds.

    Vaccinating Young children

    “It is genuinely remarkable, but it was a really preliminary stage. It was not an acceptance.” What skilled would like mothers and fathers to know about vaccine for young children.

    COVID in Little ones

    Any person who thinks COVID doesn’t actually have an affect on young ones demands to know what is been going on in faculties and hospitals, infectious ailment pediatrician says.

    ECMO in COVID

    A machine she’d by no means read of prior to, ECMO, served maintain a Conway woman’s 10-12 months-previous daughter alive as she battled COVID.

    Basic stats / COVID-19 constructive cases 

    Earlier described details details, these kinds of as the complete range of  COVID-19 group screening assessments accomplished by MUSC Wellness- Charleston and the selection of constructive instances established by using all those tests, the selection of  telehealth screenings, whole amount of specimens gathered at many cell internet sites, or the variety of COVID-19 beneficial MUSC treatment workforce associates are out there upon ask for. Data similar to vaccinations is at the top rated of this launch.

    • Full selection of COVID patients (MUSC Wellbeing – Charleston): 51
      • MUSC Overall health monitors these variety to determine that we have present and potential capability in conditions of health care companies, materials, ventilators and PPE. Documented figures are steady with the modeling and expectation that MUSC Well being will have suitable methods to regulate these sufferers. 
      • Of the 51 COVID-relevant inpatients now in the MUSC Wellbeing-Charleston location, 20 are in MUSC Well being COVID-19 intensive treatment, with 16 of the 51 whole inpatients presently receiving ventilator treatment for sickness progression.
      • Of the 51 inpatients at the MUSC Health and fitness – Charleston location, 5 pediatric clients are in the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Medical center. A few pediatric people are in pediatric intensive care with 2 of all those clients acquiring ventilator care for ailment development.
      • Unvaccinated vs. vaccinated inpatient standing update: Approximately 79{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of current inpatients ended up unvaccinated on admission. 

    For precise details about MUSC Wellness Florence or Marion Health-related Facilities, make sure you call Kim Geiger at [email protected]

    For information and facts about MUSC Health and fitness Chester or Lancaster Healthcare Centers, you should call Ashley Shannon at [email protected]

    For facts about MUSC Wellbeing Columbia Professional medical Facilities Downtown or Northeast and MUSC Overall health Fairfield Unexpected emergency and Imaging, make sure you make contact with Amber Fields at [email protected]

    For info about MUSC Overall health Kershaw Medical Center, be sure to contact Karlin Ferguson at [email protected]

    ###

    About MUSC 

    Launched in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is residence to the oldest medical college in the South as well as the state’s only built-in academic well being sciences middle, with a special demand to serve the condition via education and learning, investigation and affected individual care. Every single year, MUSC educates and trains additional than 3,000 learners and approximately 800 residents in 6 schools: Dental Medicine, Graduate Scientific studies, Health Professions, Drugs, Nursing and Pharmacy. MUSC introduced in much more than $271 million in biomedical exploration funds in fiscal year 2020, continuing to lead the condition in acquiring Countrywide Institutes of Health funding, with a lot more than $129.9 million. For information and facts on academic packages, go to musc.edu.

    As the clinical health and fitness process of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Overall health is committed to offering the optimum high-quality and harmless client treatment though training generations of compassionate, competent wellness care suppliers to provide the people of South Carolina and further than. Close to 25,000 care crew members provide treatment for patients at 14 hospitals with about 2,500 beds and 5 supplemental medical center places in progress, more than 300 telehealth websites and virtually 750 treatment locations positioned in the Lowcountry, Midlands, Pee Dee and Upstate areas of South Carolina. In 2021, for the seventh consecutive year, U.S. Information & Environment Report named MUSC Overall health the No. 1 healthcare facility in South Carolina. To understand extra about clinical individual providers, go to muschealth.org.

    MUSC and its affiliate marketers have collective yearly budgets of $4.4 billion. The additional than 25,000 MUSC crew associates include things like entire world-class school, doctors, specialty suppliers and experts who deliver groundbreaking instruction, investigation, technology and individual treatment.

  • Coronavirus daily news updates, October 5: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world

    Coronavirus daily news updates, October 5: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world

    Editor’s note: This is a live account of COVID-19 updates from Tuesday, October 5, as the day unfolded. It is no longer being updated. Click here to see all the most recent news about the pandemic, and click here to find additional resources.

    Washington health officials on Monday urged state residents to stay as healthy as possible as the deadline for state workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine approaches in a couple of weeks. Officials cited worries that the inability of unvaccinated health employees to work may place additional strains on hospitals already struggling with staffing.

    Meanwhile, federal authorities charged a Michigan nurse with stealing coronavirus vaccination cards from the hospital where she worked and selling them to unvaccinated individuals at $150-$200 during a period of over four months.

    In a move following Pfizer and Moderna, Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a booster shot as evidence continues to highlight that elderly and high-risk groups may need additional safeguards against the virus.

    We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see previous days’ live updates and all our other coronavirus coverage, and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington and the world.



    Full house: Fans flow, home-field edge back for MLB playoffs

    Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena makes a catch on a fly out by New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge during the third inning of a baseball game on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)


    Kevin Kiermaier and the Tampa Bay Rays fought furiously in 2020 for their first division title in over a decade, assuring themselves home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.

    In the end, it meant little more than last at-bats and a more comfortable clubhouse in San Diego.

    The reigning AL champions are back as the league’s top seed, anticipating a few more travel miles and a lot more adrenaline. Plus, this time the fan noise will be real.

    “It’s going to be a lot different from last year,” said Kiermaier, a defensive whiz in the outfield. “And obviously for the better.”

    Baseball’s postseason is returning to its pre-pandemic format a year after COVID-19 confined most of last October’s action to empty stadiums in neutral sites. It’s a welcome change for players who pushed through last year’s playoffs supplying their own energy on a stage normally powered by the buzz created by live audiences.

    Read the full story here.

    —Jake Seiner, The Associated Press


    Two Texas university employees asked students if they were vaccinated. They were fired weeks later.

    On move-in day in August, students in the Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities arrived at their dorm at Lamar University and were handed a blue slip of paper.

    The form asked the students – gifted high school juniors and seniors from around the state – if they had been vaccinated against the coronavirus or if they planned to get immunized. With just a few exceptions, almost all of the nearly 30 students said they had already been vaccinated.

    Relieved by the outcome, student services coordinator Bruce Hodge emailed the results of the survey to the university dean who oversees the program. Shortly thereafter, he said, the dean responded and asked what he planned to do with the information.

    In conversations with the dean, Hodge said he wanted to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. He and his colleagues who run the program essentially act as parents in absentia for the mostly 16- and 17-year-old participants, making sure they are safe in their dorm rooms each night, caring for them in sickness, and even taking them to urgent care or the emergency room if needed.

    “I could foresee a situation with an incapacitated student where I couldn’t reach a parent and a doctor is asking me if they’re vaccinated,” Hodge told The Washington Post.

    Read the full story here.

    —Jessica Lipscomb, The Washington Post


    Idaho governor, National Guard boss shun lt. gov. actions

    FILE – In this Sept. 15, 2021 file photo Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin addresses a rally on the Statehouse steps in Boise, Idaho. Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he will rescind an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines by McGeachin, and the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard also on Tuesday, Oct. 5 told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border. Little and Major General Michael J. Garshak made the decisions as McGeachin attempted to exercise her authority as acting governor with Little out of the state. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler,File)


    Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he will rescind an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines by Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, and the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard also on Tuesday told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border.

    Little and Major General Michael J. Garshak made the statements as McGeachin on Tuesday in a flurry of activity attempted to exercise her authority as acting governor with Little out of the state.

    Little is in Texas meeting with nine other Republican governors over concerns on how President Joe Biden is handling border issues. McGeachin, a far-right Republican, is running for governor. In Idaho, the governor and lieutenant governor don’t run on the same ticket.

    McGeachin’s executive order issued Tuesday afternoon seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to stay out of the employee-employer relationship.

    Read the full story here.

    —Keith Ridler, The Associated Press


    One-third of Seattle cops haven’t submitted proof of COVID vaccination so far

    More than 350 Seattle Police Department officers had not submitted proof of coronavirus vaccination by Tuesday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)


    With less than two weeks until a city deadline, more than 350 Seattle police officers — a full one-third of all cops available to be called into service in the city — have yet to submit proof showing they’ve been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a department spokesperson acknowledged Tuesday.

    Sgt. Randy Huserik, a spokesman for the department, confirmed the figures on Tuesday, but said officers who haven’t submitted vaccination records are not yet out of compliance with the city’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

    The total number of officers who had not submitted vaccination records — 354 — was the latest count presented during a videoconference among Seattle police commanders Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the presentation. The number represents 33{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of all officers in service, the sources and city figures say.

    “The actual deadline isn’t until Oct. 18,” Huserik said. “So, we will continue to urge people to get their cards in during the next two weeks, and then figure out what our hard numbers will become Oct. 19.”

    Read the full story here.

    —Lewis Kamb and Daniel Beekman


    State health officials confirm 2,392 new coronavirus cases

    The state Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,392 new coronavirus cases and 53 new deaths on Tuesday.

    The update brings the state’s totals to 670,207 cases and 7,860 deaths, meaning that 1.2{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of people diagnosed in Washington have died, according to the DOH. The data is as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. Tallies may be higher earlier in the week because new state data isn’t reported on weekends.

    In addition, 37,238 people have been hospitalized in the state due to the virus — 109 new hospitalizations. In King County, the state’s most populous, state health officials have confirmed a total of 153,740 COVID-19 diagnoses and 1,889 deaths.

    Since vaccinations began in mid-December, the state and health care providers have administered 9,154,939 doses and 58.3{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of Washingtonians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to vaccination data, which the state updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Providers are currently giving an average of about 15,583 vaccine shots per day.

    The DOH says its daily case reports may also include duplicate test results, results assigned to the wrong county, results that are reported for today but are actually from a previous day, occasional false positive tests and other data discrepancies. Because of this, the previous day’s total number of cases plus the number of new daily cases does not add up to the new day’s total number of cases. State health officials recommend reviewing the dashboard’s epidemiologic curves tab for the most accurate representation of the state’s COVID-19 spread.


    Rapid At-Home COVID Tests Are About to Become Much More Widely Available, FDA Says

    Rapid at-home COVID-19 testing is about to become much more widely available in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said, following authorization of a mass-produced testing kit.

    Competing at-home tests have been on the market for months, but Acon Laboratories’ test, authorized by the agency Monday, “is expected to double rapid at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next several weeks,” Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

    “By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” he said.

    Like tests already available from Abbott, Quidel, Becton Dickinson and other makers, Acon’s test is made to detect antigens, proteins from the coronavirus, on a nasal swab, and produces results in 15 minutes.

    Read the full story here.

    —Richard Perez-Pena, The New York Times


    Lindsey Graham told Republicans they ‘ought to think about’ getting a coronavirus vaccine. They booed him.

    South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was only midway through his sentence when the crowd began shouting over him.

    “If you haven’t had the vaccine you ought to think about getting it because if you’re my age — “

    “No!” attendees at a Republican event held Saturday responded as others booed. Graham was speaking at a country club in Summerville, S.C., about 25 miles outside of Charleston.

    Bowing his head and holding up a hand, the 66-year-old — who got his coronavirus vaccine in December — responded to the crowd, telling them, “I didn’t tell you to get it. You ought to think about it.”

    Read the full story here.

    —Gina Harkins, The Washington Post


    A maker of rapid coronavirus tests recalls nearly 200,000 kits over concerns of false positives

    Ellume, an Australian company that makes a widely available at-home coronavirus test, has recalled nearly 200,000 test kits because of concerns about a higher-than-expected rate of false positives. That represents about 5.6{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of the approximately 3.5 million test kits Ellume has shipped to the United States.

    The company, which detected the problem in mid-September, traced the issue to variations in the quality of one of the raw materials used in the test kit, Dr. Sean Parsons, Ellume’s CEO, said. He declined to specify the material in question, citing a desire not to publicly disclose precisely how the test kits work.

    Approximately 427,000 test kits, including some provided to the U.S. Department of Defense, were affected by the problem, Parsons said. Roughly half have already been used, he said, yielding about 42,000 positive results. As many as one-quarter of those positives may have been inaccurate, Parsons said, although he stressed that it would be difficult to determine exactly how many.

    Read the story here.

    —Emily Anthes, The New York Times


    King County woman confirmed to have died from rare J&J vaccine complication

    A King County woman in her late 30s has become the first person in Washington state to die from a rare blood-clotting syndrome after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, local health officials confirmed Tuesday morning.

    The woman received her shot on Aug. 26. She died less than two weeks later on Sept. 7, according to a statement from Public Health — Seattle & King County.

    Public health officials said the syndrome was a “very rare” complication of the vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted three other similar deaths nationally.

    “We at Public Health are saddened by this loss and offer condolences to the woman’s family and loved ones,” the Tuesday statement said.

    The woman’s cause of death was thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a condition researchers have said is a rare but “potentially serious adverse event in people who received the J&J vaccine,” the statement said.

    Her diagnosis was confirmed by the CDC’s clinical immunization safety assessment project, according to the public health department.

    Read the story here.

    —Elise Takahama


    Arizona can’t use COVID money for anti-mask grants, feds say

    FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2020, file photo, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey speaks at a press conference in Phoenix.  In the summer of 2021 Ducey signed into law several measures that restricted the power of local governments to enact COVID-19 protection measures. On Monday, Sept. 27 a judge struck down Arizona laws prohibiting public school districts from imposing mask requirements, colleges from requiring vaccinations for students and communities from establishing vaccine passports for people to show they were vaccinated. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File)


    The Biden administration on Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to stop using the state’s federal pandemic funding on a pair of new education grants that can only be directed to schools without mask mandates.

    In a letter to Ducey, the Treasury Department said the grant programs are “not a permissible use” of the federal funding. It’s the latest attempt by the Biden administration to push back against Republican governors who have opposed mask mandates and otherwise sought to use federal pandemic funding to advance their own agendas.

    Ducey, a Republican, created the grant programs in August to put pressure on school districts that have defied the state’s ban on mask mandates.

    Read the story here.

    —Collin Binkley, The Associated Press


    Thousands of SEIU 775 home-care workers remain exempt from Gov. Inslee’s vaccine mandate

    The sweeping vaccination mandate issue d by Gov. Jay Inslee demands that hundreds of thousands of health care and government workers get fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face firing.

    That includes doctors and nurses, chiropractors and massage therapists, and people working in dental offices, pharmacies and midwifery centers. It also applies to tens of thousands of K-12 and state government employees, including many still working remotely from home.

    Inslee has generally played hardball with his order, declining to offer a regular testing alternative like those offered in other states for employees who don’t want to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

    But his order included a big carve-out — exempting tens of thousands of unionized home-care workers who care for older adults and people with disabilities, helping them with meals, dressing, bathing and other daily tasks. On Page 9 of Inslee’s Aug. 20 proclamation was a little-noticed clause stating the mandate does not apply to “individual providers” and others who offer personal care in someone’s home.

    Washington has about 45,000 such providers, who contract with the state to provide in-home services to clients who are eligible for care through Medicaid. Thousands more not covered by the mandate are home-care workers who are trained, paid and supervised by larger home-care agencies.

    Read the story here.

    —Jim Brunner and Paige Cornwell


    Everything you need to know about Merck’s game-changing COVID pill

    Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against COVID-19.

    The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases.

    The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before regulators have decided whether to approve its use.

    Read the story here to learn more about molnupiravir.

    —Jason Gale, Bloomberg


    Vaccines are here. School’s open. Some parents still agonize

    This photo provided by Amber Cessac shows Amber Cessac taking a selfie as her daughters do their homework at their home in Georgetown, Texas on Sept. 9, 2021. A year and a half in, the pandemic is still agonizing families. There is still the exhaustion of worrying about exposure to COVID-19 itself, and the policies at schools and day cares where children spend their time. The spread of the more infectious delta variant, particularly among people who refuse vaccinations, has caused a big increase in infections in children. But there’s also COVID exposures and illnesses — and even minor colds — at schools and day cares that mean children get sent home, forcing parents to scramble for child care. (Amber Cessac via AP)


     Eight days into the school year, all five of Amber Cessac’s daughters, ages 4 to 10, had tested positive for COVID-19.

    Having them all sick at once and worrying about long-term repercussions as other parents at their school, and even her own mother, downplayed the virus, “broke something inside of me,” Cessac said.

    “The anxiety and the stress has sort of been bottled up,” she said. “It just felt so, I don’t know, defeating and made me feel so helpless.”

    Like parents everywhere, Cessac has been dealing with pandemic stress for over 18 months now.

    There’s the exhaustion of worrying about the disease itself— made worse by the spread of the more infectious delta variant, particularly among people who refuse vaccinations, which has caused a big increase in infections in children.

    Online school disrupted kids’ educations and parents’ work. Then the return of in-person school this year brought rising exposures and community tension as parents fought over proper protocols. The politicization of masks, vaccines and shutdowns have worn many parents out. Deciding what’s OK for children to do and what isn’t can feel fraught.

    Read the story here.

    —Tali Arbel, The Associated Press


    Pfizer’s COVID vaccine provides 90{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} protection against hospitalization for 6 months, study finds

    The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 90 percent effective at preventing hospitalization for up to six months, with no signs of waning during that time period, according to a large new U.S. study conducted by researchers at Pfizer and Kaiser Permanente. (Emily Elconin/The New York Times)


    The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is 90{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} effective at preventing hospitalization for up to six months, with no signs of waning during that time period, according to a large new U.S. study conducted by researchers at Pfizer and Kaiser Permanente.

    The vaccine also provides powerful protection against the highly contagious delta variant, the scientists found. In a subset of people who had samples of their virus sequenced, the vaccine was 93{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} effective against hospitalization from delta, compared with 95{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} against hospitalization from other variants.

    “Protection against hospitalization remains high over time, even when delta predominates,” said Sara Tartof, an public health researcher at Kaiser Permanente Southern California and the first author of the study.

    The vaccine’s effectiveness against infection did decline over time, however, falling from 88{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} during the first month after vaccination to 47{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} after five months.

    Read the story here.

    —Emily Anthes, The New York Times


    Venice, overwhelmed by tourists, tries tracking them

    A view of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, Sept. 13, 2021. The city’s leaders are acquiring the cellphone data of unwitting tourists and using hundreds of surveillance cameras to monitor visitors and prevent crowding. (Alessandro Grassani / The New York Times)


    As the pandemic chased away visitors, some Venetians allowed themselves to dream of a different city — one that belonged as much to them as to the tourists who crowd them out of their stone piazzas, cobblestone alleyways and even their apartments.

    In a quieted city, the chiming of its 100 bell towers, the lapping of canal waters and the Venetian dialect suddenly became the dominant soundtrack. The cruise ships that disgorged thousands of day-trippers and caused damaging waves in the sinking city were gone, and then banned.

    But now, the city’s mayor is taking crowd control to a new level, pushing high-tech solutions that alarm even many of those who have long campaigned for a Venice for Venetians.

    The city’s leaders are acquiring the cellphone data of unwitting tourists and using hundreds of surveillance cameras to monitor visitors and prevent crowding. Next summer, they plan to install long-debated gates at key entry points; visitors coming only for the day will have to book ahead and pay a fee to enter. If too many people want to come, some will be turned away.

    The conservative and business-friendly mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, and his allies say their aim is to create a more livable city for beleaguered Venetians.

    “Either we are pragmatic, or we live in the world of fairy tales,” said Paolo Bettio, who heads Venis, the company that handles the city’s information technology.

    Read the story here.

    —Emma Bubola, The New York Times


    Virus deaths in Russia hit record for third time this month

    Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a record for the third time this month on Tuesday, and daily new infections once again exceeded 25,000 — a surge that comes as vaccination rates in the country remain stagnantly low and the government shuns imposing tough restrictions to stem the spread.

    Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 25,110 new confirmed cases on Tuesday and 895 new deaths — the country’s highest daily death toll in the pandemic. The previous record, of 890 deaths, was registered on Sunday, and the one before that, of 887 deaths, occurred on Friday.

    The Kremlin has said that the situation elicits concern, but still it is not considering a countrywide lockdown or any other nationwide measures.

    Read the story here.

    —The Associated Press


    AstraZeneca asks FDA to authorize COVID antibody treatment

    AstraZeneca, the drugmaker that developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the emergency use of a first-of-a-kind antibody treatment to prevent the disease.

    The Anglo-Swedish company said Tuesday that the treatment, known as AZD7442, would be the first long-acting antibody combination to receive an emergency authorization for COVID-19 prevention. If authorized, the drug would likely be limited to people with compromised immune systems who don’t get sufficient protection from vaccination.

    The FDA has authorized three other antibody drugs already, including two that can be given after a possible COVID-19 exposure to head off symptoms. AstraZeneca’s drug would instead be given as a preventive measure in people who have increased vulnerability to the virus.

    The FDA has stressed that antibody drugs are not a substitute for vaccination, which is the most effective, long-lasting form of virus protection. Antibody drugs also are expensive to produce and require an IV or injection and health care workers to administer.

    Read the story here.

    —The Associated Press


    WHO still reviewing Sputnik V vaccine, as Russia presses bid

    The World Health Organization is still reviewing data about Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as part of hopes that it can be approved by the U.N. health agency for emergency use against coronavirus, but said Tuesday that no decision is imminent.

    The clarification comes after Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in recent days said that administrative issues were among the main holdups in WHO’s decision-making process about whether to grant an emergency use listing to Sputnik V, as it has for a half-dozen other vaccines.

    Such approval would be a show of international confidence in the vaccine after a rigorous review process, and could pave the way for its inclusion into the COVAX program organized by WHO and key partners that is shipping COVID-19 vaccines to scores of countries around the world based on need.

    Read the story here.

    —The Associated Press


    Catch up on the past 24 hours

    Will Washington’s highest-paid employee lose his job? There’s no reason to believe WSU football coach Nick Rolovich got a vaccine in time to comply with the state’s mandate. That leaves one path: an exemption. A look at how that works shows the end of this saga could get really messy.

    Everyone, please stay as healthy as possible because this is really not the time to need care, Seattle-area hospitals are warning. They’re worried about an exodus of unvaccinated health care workers who didn’t get their shots in time to meet the mandate. Some state workers will get extra time to comply, Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration said yesterday.

    People who got the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines could get booster shots as soon as this month. J&J today sought U.S. approval, touting how a second dose revs up immunity. Meanwhile, a new study details how Pfizer’s vaccine holds up against the delta variant.

    Alaska villagers tried to keep out COVID-19 by putting a gate on the only road in and taking turns guarding it around the clock. For remote places like Tanacross, hours away from the closest hospital, the dangers are high as Alaska sees one of the nation’s sharpest COVID-19 surges.

    —Kris Higginson