And here is more on adding vaccination info to your phone:
I just took a photo of my vax card, and marked it as a “favorite” in my regular photo app. It’s not proof any more than the easy-to-fake paper card is, but so far, everyone who wanted my vaccine data has accepted it.
My postings are going to be a little early for the next few days; I am not in my normal time zone.
247,447,446 total cases
5,014,779 dead
224,112,234 recovered
In the US:
46,823,938 total cases
766,299 dead
36,715,313 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
247,824,398 total cases
5,020,125 dead
224,523,024 recovered
In the US:
46,904,413 total cases
767,215 dead
36,864,094 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
Shanghai Disneyland locks 33,000 inside park for mass testing after 1 case of COVID detected
Fireworks boomed as more than 33,000 visitors at Shanghai Disneyland waited — and waited — for mandatory COVID-19 test results, surrounded by health workers dressed from head to toe in white protective suits.
Shanghai Disneyland announced suddenly Sunday evening that it was no longer accepting any new visitors and was cooperating with an epidemiological investigation from another province. It then locked down the park as Shanghai city health care workers and police rushed to conduct a mass testing of the visitors already inside.
More at the link.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1102-PediatricCOVID-19Vaccine.html
edited to add from the link above (the summary does not show it):
Today, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccine.
So now it is official, at least in the US, and kids from 5-11 can start getting shots tomorrow (2021-11-03)
//i\\
248,261,939 total cases
5,028,119 dead
224,949,993 recovered
In the US:
46,999,026 total cases
768,797 dead
37,009,990 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
Just plain nuts.
Even worse, the family wasn’t told.
Saunders’ widow reportedly learned about how her late husband’s body was used via a KING 5 report last week questioning the ethics of the event. A photojournalist from the news outlet observed Saunders’ name on a medical bracelet.
This might vary by state. It is states that ultimately regulate the practice of medicine, so some states have an additional hoop to authorize the vaccines. My state is one of several that will authorize it after the recommendation of a regional advisory board. But like the whole process up until now, it should be quick because they are already prepared, unless unexpected info were to come out.
I would say it was an educational use – I think educating the public about such things is good. It’s the for-profit nature of it, as well as failing to remove a hospital bracelet that made his identity apparent that are appalling. Both of those things ought to require specific consent from the donor and next-of-kin. And it should be clear in the general consent that “educational” use doesn’t just mean medical students.
Weirdly, they may not have filled for approval in the US, despite having been developed here?
Novavax said it has already filed for authorization of the vaccine in the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia, India and the Philippines.
Perhaps they figure there is no market in the USA - demand for vaccines is not there.
I expect that we’ll all be getting boosters of novavax in a few years. It’s cheaper and more shelf-stable than the mRNA vaccines, and appears to be about as effective, with milder side effects.
Story from back in August:
“It’s a matter of getting validation work done” to demonstrate consistency in the vaccine’s manufacturing process to the FDA, said Chief Executive Officer Stanley Erck during an interview with Reuters.
He added that other countries’ regulators have been more aggressive in moving Novavax’s vaccine through the authorization process.
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ETA - out of curiosity I checked the EMA. They started their (rolling) review in Feb. So yep, more aggressive.
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/ema-starts-rolling-review-novavaxs-covid-19-vaccine-nvx-cov2373
Good point. Here (New Hampshire) shots for ages 5-11 start Sunday. Or, at least, I haven’t seen any articles yet about locations offering it sooner than CVS’s plan to begin on Sunday. Other places, like Dartmouth-Hitchcock, won’t be offering it until over a week from now.
On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority announced health care providers could begin administering the shot, after scientific advisors to a coalition of western states also signed off on the CDC decision.
They say the vaccine shipments will be here beginning next week, so I guess the approval was quicker than distribution could keep up with. But it did take two additional steps – regional advisory group approval and state Health Authority approval.
248,812,788 total cases
5,036,921 dead
225,433,596 recovered
In the US:
47,105,468 total cases
770,854 dead
37,116,604 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
The New York Times: Widespread Coronavirus Infection Found in Iowa Deer, New Study Says.
Interesting…
Huge news from Pfizer, following on from Merck’s antiviral success, Pfizer have also stopped their clinical trial of a covid antiviral following exceptional efficacy results. From the official release.
The scheduled interim analysis showed an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause compared to placebo in patients treated within three days of symptom onset (primary endpoint); 0.8% of patients who received PAXLOVID™ were hospitalized through Day 28 following randomization (3/389 hospitalized with no deaths), compared to 7.0% of patients who received placebo and were hospitalized or died (27/385 hospitalized with 7 subsequent deaths). The statistical significance of these results was high (p<0.0001). Similar reductions in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death were observed in patients treated within five days of symptom onset; 1.0% of patients who received PAXLOVID™ were hospitalized through Day 28 following randomization (6/607 hospitalized, with no deaths), compared to 6.7% of patients who received a placebo (41/612 hospitalized with 10 subsequent deaths), with high statistical significance (p<0.0001). In the overall study population through Day 28, no deaths were reported in patients who received PAXLOVID™ as compared to 10 (1.6%) deaths in patients who received placebo.
For those not familiar with such things, this is a big, big win. Whether you get to people within 3 or 5 days of symptom onset, you seem to stop them dying. And these were people chosen to have specific risk factors for increased severity of disease and death.
I personally think this, combined with the Merck treatment, is more of a game changer than the vaccines.
I’m also struck by the similarity in protection offered by giving the drug within 3 days or 5 days. Though I cannot find any reference to it in the release, the lack of appreciable protective drop-off in that time period may well hint at efficacy as a treatment for those who miss that 5 day window and get admitted anyway.
I have no doubt further trials of that nature will follow.
Has the efficacy of fluvoxamine been discussed?
A 32% reduction in death from a cheap, widely available medication is pretty damn good, too. (It’s an anti depressant that’s been on the market for years, and the cost of using it to treat covid is less than $10.)