First Edition: Jan. 13, 2022
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Incidental Cases And Staff Shortages Make Covid’s Next Act Tough For Hospitals
The Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, on Jan. 11 was treating 80 covid-19 patients — a tenfold increase since late December. Nearly half were admitted for other medical reasons. The surge driven by the extremely infectious omicron variant helped push the South Florida hospital with 206 licensed beds to 250 patients. The rise in cases came as the hospital struggled with severe staff shortages while nurses and other caregivers were out with covid. (Weber, Galewitz and Miller, 1/13)
KHN:
Long-Excluded Uterine Cancer Patients Are Step Closer To 9/11 Benefits
Tammy Kaminski can still recall the taste of benzene, a carcinogenic byproduct of burning jet fuel. For nine months after the 9/11 attacks, she volunteered for eight hours every Saturday at St. Paul’s Chapel, just around the corner from ground zero in New York City. She breathed in cancer-causing toxic substances, like fuel fumes and asbestos, from the smoke that lingered and the ash that blanketed the pop-up clinic where first responders could grab a meal, take a nap or get medical care. But in 2015, when Kaminski, a chiropractor who lives in West Caldwell, New Jersey, was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she didn’t get the same help that other volunteers did. Although Kaminski, 61, and her doctors believe the cancer is linked to her time volunteering after 9/11, the federal health insurance and monitoring program would not cover her treatments for endometrial cancer — or those of anyone exposed to toxic substances from the attacks who then developed that form of uterine cancer. (Hensley, 1/13)
KHN:
Watch And Listen: Examining The Risks Of Covid’s Spread Within Hospitals
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber appeared on Newsy’s “Evening Debrief” program to discuss her recent investigative series on the risks of covid’s spread within hospitals. The series, reported with Christina Jewett, documented how more than 10,000 patients were diagnosed with covid after being hospitalized for other medical conditions in 2020 — and how multiple gaps in government oversight fail to hold hospitals accountable for high rates of such infections. Patients and their loved ones have few options to seek improvements to infection control policies after states passed a raft of liability shield laws nationwide. (1/13)
The Hill:
Walensky Says CDC Mask Recommendation Will Not Change
Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Wednesday that it does not plan to change its mask guidance to advise Americans to wear higher quality masks amid the omicron surge. The CDC director said during a White House briefing that her agency currently recommends that “any mask is better than no mask" to battle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Coleman, 1/12)
Roll Call:
White House Emphasizes Testing Over Mask Update
The White House COVID-19 Response Team stopped short of announcing major changes to anticipated guidance surrounding masks and instead focused on changes to testing strategy on Wednesday. Experts have been calling for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its mask guidance to recommend high-filtration masks such as N95s and KN95s in light of the surge of the omicron variant. “Right now, we are strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans, and we’ll continue to follow the science here. The CDC is in the lead. But this is an area that we’re actively exploring,” said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients. (Raman, 1/12)
The New York Times:
The White House says it is considering offering ‘high-quality’ masks to Americans.
The White House on Wednesday said it was considering a program to offer “high-quality” masks to Americans as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads through the nation. Jeffrey D. Zients, the Covid-19 response coordinator, said at a news conference that the Biden administration was “strongly considering options to make more high quality masks available to all Americans,” though he offered no details about what type of masks might be distributed, how many or when. (LaFraniere and Weiland, 1/13)
AP:
Soaring COVID-19 Cases Renew US Debate Over Mask Mandates
Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions. Much of the debate centers around the nation’s schools, some of which have closed due to infection-related staffing issues. In a variety of places, mask mandates are being lifted or voted down. (Kinnard, 1/12)
NPR:
Americans Are Tuning Out As Omicron Rages. Experts Call For Health Messaging To Adapt
Access Health CEO Jeff Fortenbacher's nonprofit tries to provide better health care by offering l0wer-cost health insurance and offering counseling and care to low-income and minority patients around Muskegon, Mich., where the rate of full vaccination in that population is at a mere 14%. He says the challenges of reaching these communities has gotten even harder lately. "It just cuts across that whole issue of trust and suspicion and not getting the information," he says. After two years of recommendations on masking, isolation, travel and vaccines, many are just checked out. "I mean, it's almost like white noise." (Noguchi, 1/12)
The Washington Post:
A Rochelle Walensky Interview Sparked Outrage. But The CDC Says ABC Omitted Crucial Context
Context is everything, as was demonstrated this week by ABC News and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky. Walensky suffered a nasty case of backlash after ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired an edited clip of her interview on Friday, discussing the pandemic and the fast-spreading omicron variant. (Farhi, 1/12)
CNN:
4 States Have Fewer Than 10% Of ICU Beds Left As Health Care Staffing Shortages Complicate Care
As a record number of Americans are infected with Covid-19, largely due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, some states' health care systems are beset with nearly full intensive care units. Four states have less than 10% remaining capacity in their ICUs: Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana and New Hampshire, according to data Wednesday from the US Department of Health and Human Services. (Caldwell, 1/13)
The Atlantic:
COVID-Hospitalization Numbers Are As Bad As They Look
But the “with COVID” hospitalization numbers are more complicated than they first seem. Many people on that side of the ledger are still in the hospital because of the coronavirus, which has both caused and exacerbated chronic conditions. And more important, these nuances don’t alter the real, urgent, and enormous crisis unfolding in American hospitals. Whether patients are admitted with or for COVID, they’re still being admitted in record volumes that hospitals are struggling to care for. “The truth is, we’re still in the emergency phase of the pandemic, and everyone who is downplaying that should probably take a tour of a hospital before they do,” Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Massachusetts, told me. (Yong, 1/12)
The Boston Globe:
New Measure Of COVID Hospitalizations May Obscure Strain On System, But Will Help With Planning
“I am concerned that people will be hearing this [new data] and thinking we are twiddling our thumbs in the hospital,” said Dr. Maren Batalden, chief quality officer at Cambridge Health Alliance, which operates hospitals in Cambridge and Everett. In Massachusetts, the share of patients hospitalized primarily for COVID varied from about 50 percent to 78 percent, according to interviews with hospital executives. Advocates of the reporting change say the new numbers would shed light on the regions hardest hit by COVID and help direct resources, such as new antiviral drugs, to those areas. But others worry the methodology the Baker administration is using may miss patients acutely ill with COVID-19. (Lazar, 1/12)
Fox News:
California Hospital Has 700 Employees In Isolation Because Of Covid
Hundreds of employees at one hospital in California are in self-isolation following COVID-19 exposure, amid a nationwide surge of the omicron variant, health officials said Wednesday. The Community Medical Center in Fresno announced 717 employees would remain in their homes, following the coronavirus protocols to self-isolate, and that 690 of those staff members had tested COVID positive, FOX 26 of Fresno reported. "This reflects how contagious the Omicron variant is to the public and how important it is to be vaccinated, wear a mask, and socially distance," Thomas Utecht, M.D., the hospital's senior vice president and system chief medical officer, told the news outlet. (Richard, 1/13)
CNN:
Biden To Announce New Federal Medical Team Deployments To Help Hard-Hit Hospitals
President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks on Thursday announcing a new wave of federally deployed medical teams to six states to help hospitals combat Covid-19, a White House official told CNN. The military medical teams will support the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital outside Detroit, University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, the official said. (Diamond and LeBlanc, 1/13)
AP:
Oregon Gov. Deploys National Guard To Hospitals Amid COVID Surge
Gov. Kate Brown is deploying Oregon National Guard members to help at hospitals that she says are under extreme pressure due to a COVID-19 omicron-fueled surge in hospitalizations. A total of 1,200 Guard members will be deployed to more than 50 hospitals across the state, KATU-TV reported. (1/13)
Bloomberg:
Colorado’s Covid Test Positivity Is Highest Of Pandemic At 30%
Thirty-percent of people tested for Covid-19 in Colorado are receiving positive results, the highest of the pandemic, as the omicron variant rages, officials said Wednesday. The data imply a high level of community spread with the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations surpassing an autumn peak, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There are more hospital beds available in Colorado than during the delta variant peak in late 2021, Scott Bookman, the state’s Covid-19 incident commander, said during an online briefing. (Del Giudice, 1/12)
Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska Shatters COVID-19 Case Record As Omicron Adds To Growing Strain On Hospitals
Around the state, some facilities are seeing higher numbers of patients sickened with other respiratory illnesses, or chronic health issues that may have been left untreated during previous surges, hospital administrators say. Other hospitals now have fewer staff than they did in the fall and are being hit with significant absences among workers who were exposed to or infected with the virus recently. The latest developments have dealt yet another blow to an exhausted health care workforce, and come just months after a delta-driven surge pushed many of the state’s hospitals close to a breaking point. (Berman and Krakow, 1/12)
AP:
Virus Hospitalizations Rise In Hawaii As Omicron Spreads
Hawaii recorded an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday as the omicron variant continued to spread throughout the islands. State data initially showed was a 35% increase in hospitalizations from the previous day, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. But the newspaper later said the state mistakenly reported more than 400 hospitalizations due to double-counting one hospital’s patient census. (1/13)
Reuters:
AstraZeneca Says Early Trial Data Indicates Third Dose Helps Against Omicron
AstraZeneca said on Thursday that preliminary data from a trial showed that its COVID-19 shot, Vaxzevria, generated an increase in antibodies against the Omicron and other variants when given as a third booster dose. The increased response, also against the Delta variant, was seen in a blood analysis of people who were previously vaccinated with either Vaxzevria or an mRNA vaccine, the drugmaker said, adding that it would submit this data to regulators worldwide given the urgent need for boosters. (Aripaka and Burger, 1/13)
Bloomberg:
J&J Vaccine Gets Additional Warning On Bleeding Side Effect
The fact sheet for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine has been revised by U.S. regulators to warn of the risk of a rare bleeding disorder. The Food and Drug Administration said in a letter to the company on Tuesday that adverse-event reports suggested an increased risk of immune thrombocytopenia, or ITP, during the 42 days following vaccination. Symptoms include bruising or excessive or unusual bleeding, according to the agency. The changes to the fact sheet include recommendations to vaccination providers about giving the J&J shot to people with existing medical conditions, including those who have a low level of platelets, a type of blood cell that helps stop bleeding. (Rutherford, 1/11)
Bloomberg:
Novartis Seeks Nod for Covid Drug in U.S. Before Final Test
Novartis AG will seek to bring its experimental Covid-19 drug to patients without waiting for results from a large clinical trial, Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan said, potentially giving governments another option to battle the latest pandemic onslaught. The Swiss pharma giant aims to request an emergency-use authorization for the compound, ensovibep, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the next month, Narasimhan said in an interview. A larger study to confirm promising data that emerged this week could be finished by the second half of the year, he said. (Kresge, 1/12)
Fox News:
Anti-COVID Nasal Spray Could Protect Against Infection For Up To 8 Hours: Researcher
Scientists at the University of Helsinki have developed a novel nasal spray treatment that can reportedly provide protection against COVID-19 "for hours." A release from the university said the Finnish researchers had developed a molecule that has the ability to inactivate the coronavirus spike protein and offers effective short-term protection against the virus. It said that cell cultures in a petri dish and animal studies have shown that the TriSb92 molecule protects against infection for "at least eight hours even in cases of high exposure risk" and is effective immediately after its administration. (Musto, 1/12)
USA Today:
Less Than 20% Of Elementary Students Are Vaccinated
Just over 17% of U.S. children ages 5 to 11 were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, more than two months after shots for the age group became available, according to an Associated Press report. Vermont is at 48% while Mississippi is only at 5%. Vaccinations among elementary school kids surged after the shots were introduced in the fall, but the numbers have crept up slowly since as omicron’s explosive spread appears to have had little effect. The low rates are “very disturbing,’’ said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director for the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Hospitalizations of children under 18 have climbed to their highest levels on record in the past few weeks. (Bacon, Ortiz and Tebor, 1/12)
NBC News:
Child Covid Vaccinations Off To Uneven Start As Southern States Lag
Two months after children ages 5 to 11 became eligible for Covid-19 shots, vaccination rates are lagging in Southern states. Nationally, more than 1 in 4 of the roughly 29 million children ages 5 to 11 have received their first shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, that rate is closer to 1 in 10. (Ramos, 1/12)
ABC News:
Study Finds COVID-19 May Increase Risk Of Diabetes In Kids
Kids who have recovered from COVID-19 may have an increased risk of developing diabetes, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study, which looked at databases with information for over 2.5 million patients under 18, found that children diagnosed with COVID-19 were about 2.5 times more likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis a month or more after infection. (Kindelan, 1/12)
CIDRAP:
Global Study Notes Risk Factors For Uncommon Severe COVID-19 In Kids
A 10-country study of more than 3,000 children who tested positive for COVID-19 in emergency departments (EDs) finds that 3% went on to develop severe disease within 2 weeks, with risk factors being older age, having chronic conditions, and experiencing symptoms longer. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Wappes, 1/12)
Houston Chronicle:
Houston Reports Child Under 10 Died From COVID, The City's Youngest Virus Death
A Houston girl under the age of 10 died of COVID-19 last year, the Houston Health Department confirmed Wednesday. The girl, who health officials said had underlying health conditions, died at a Houston hospital in mid-October. Scientists were unable to determine whether she was infected with the delta variant, which sickened thousands of Texas children. The Houston Health Department did not provide the girl’s age, but said she was the first fatality in a child under the age of 10. (Mishanec, 1/12)
The Washington Post:
New York City High School Students Stage Walkout Over Covid Measures
Students walked out of schools across New York City around lunchtime on Tuesday to protest what many called inadequate protections against the coronavirus — and to demand an option for remote learning until they improve. It’s the latest flash point in an ongoing debate over in-person versus remote learning that has seen new life with the unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant. (Timsit, 1/13)
Oklahoman:
Oklahoma City Public Schools To Close Districtwide Over COVID-19
Oklahoma City Public Schools, the state's second-largest traditional district, will close all its schools for the rest of the week because too many employees are out with COVID-19. Superintendent Sean McDaniel announced the closures Wednesday afternoon. Students finished school in person on Wednesday and will complete online assignments from home Thursday and Friday. McDaniel said the district has been reassigning staff and hiring substitutes to cover as many classes as possible, but Oklahoma City schools can no longer maintain a safe and meaningful learning environment. "This is a manpower issue, and we are simply out of options," McDaniel said. (Martinez-Keel, 1/12)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger:
COVID-19 Spike Leaves Thousands Of Mississippi Students Quarantined
The week most Mississippi schools returned after winter break, thousands of students were out because of the coronavirus' resurgence. Of 633 schools reporting from 66 of Mississippi's 82 counties, there were 3,854 new COVID-19 cases in Mississippi students statewide from Jan. 3 to 7, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health's report Tuesday. The last report, spanning Dec. 13 to 17, showed 292 students with a new COVID-19 infection. In between the two time periods, the COVID-19 omicron variant began spiking daily cases to record-high counts and driving up hospitalization rates. (Haselhorst, 1/12)
The Dallas Morning News:
D.C. Delegate Says Ted Cruz’s Effort To Block District’s Student Vaccine Mandate ‘Crosses The Line’
Eleanor Holmes Norton has a message for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans in Congress seeking to derail vaccine mandates in the District of Columbia: Butt out. Norton, D.C.’s longtime delegate to the U.S. House, said the effort by Cruz “crosses the line” and interferes with local control. (Caldwell, 1/12)
Bay Area News Group:
San Jose City Council Approves Booster Shot Mandate For Large Events At City-Owned Buildings
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the omicron variant, San Jose is about to become the first city in California to require all of its employees to get a booster shot in addition to the initial vaccine doses mandated earlier. The City Council on Tuesday night also adopted a new ordinance requiring visitors of large, indoor events held at public facilities such as the SAP Center and San Jose Convention Center to show proof they received a booster shot — or at least submit a negative COVID-19 test — before entering. (Angst and Lin, 1/12)
CBS News:
Army Has Relieved Six Active-Duty Commanders For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
The Army has relieved six active-duty commanders, including two battalion commanders, and issued 2,994 general officer written reprimands to soldiers for refusing a COVID vaccine. In a release Wednesday, the Army said the punishments were for refusing the lawful order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The Army has not yet initiated separations for soldiers refusing the vaccine but expects further guidance later this month. (Watson, 1/12)
USA Today:
Cruise Lines' CDC COVID Protocols Will Become Voluntary
Cruise lines will no longer be obliged to follow COVID guidance on ships as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC's Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, which was extended and modified in October, will expire Saturday at which point the health agency's COVID guidance for cruise ships will become voluntary, the CDC confirmed to USA TODAY Wednesday. This means cruise lines can choose whether to follow the health agency's guidance or not. The health agency "is transitioning to a voluntary COVID-19 risk mitigation program" the CDC said in a statement shared by spokesperson David Daigle. (Hines, 1/12)
The Washington Post:
Cruises Use Quarantine Ships For Isolating Covid-Positive Crew
While some of the world’s largest cruise lines are scrambling to manage coronavirus outbreaks onboard, at least two companies are offloading crew members who test positive onto ships that are sailing without any passengers. Two industry giants, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International, say they are transferring workers to crew-only ships to wait out their isolation periods. The movement of crews has raised eyebrows among some passengers, who have documented transfers of more than 100 workers. Neither cruise line would disclose to The Washington Post how many employees are staying on quarantine ships. (Sampson, 1/12)
CIDRAP:
Researchers Develop Wearable Air Sampler To Detect COVID-19 Exposure
Yale University researchers have developed a wearable passive air sampler to monitor personal exposure to COVID-19, they reported yesterday in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based air sampler, the Fresh Air Clip, continually monitors exposure to virus-containing aerosols, which could prove helpful to workers in high-risk settings such as healthcare. ... The highest viral loads (more than 100 RNA copies per clip) were found in two clips worn by restaurant servers. (1/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Blood Shortage Closed L.A. County Trauma Center For Hours
Blood shortages forced the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services to shut down one of its trauma centers to new patients for hours earlier this week — a step it had not taken in over three decades, officials at the county department said Wednesday. The trauma center at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center closed to new patients for more than two hours on Monday, according to a department spokesperson. It had to reach out to other hospitals in the DHS system for blood in order to reopen. (Alpert Reyes, 1/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
Red Cross, Facing Blood Shortage, Offers Donors Chance To Win Super Bowl 2022 Tickets
“This crisis is so severe that we are having to limit the amount of blood that can be sent to hospitals,” said Emily Coberly, Red Cross divisional medical officer.... The nonprofit hopes to entice donors by entering those who give blood in January into a drawing to win tickets to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles next month. January donors will also get a chance to win a home-theater package for the game. (Prang, 1/12)
USA Today:
Pig Heart Transplant: Dave Bennett Recovering, Exceeding Expectations
Dave Bennett, the Maryland man who received the first heart transplant from a genetically modified pig last week, continues to recover well, his doctors said late Wednesday. "The new heart is still a rock star," said Dr. Bartley Griffith, who led the transplant team at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "It seems to be reasonably happy in its new host … It has more than exceeded our expectations." Bennett, 57, is now off of the machine that kept blood circulating through his body for more than 45 days, including several days after the surgery. He is breathing on his own, and speaking with a quiet voice. (Weintraub, 1/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Unions Sue DaVita, Fresenius Over Alleged Discriminatory Dialysis
A labor union sued DaVita, Fresenius Medical Care and Satellite Healthcare on Tuesday, alleging Latino and Asian patients are more likely to experience adverse symptoms during hemodialysis at the companies' California centers. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West and the National Health Law Program allege nearly one in five treatments delivered to Asian patients and one in seven treatments given to Latino patients are administered at high speeds above 13 milliliters per hour. That's a higher rate than white patients, according to the groups' analysis of renal data submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (Devereaux, 1/11)
Houston Chronicle:
Feds Terminate UMMC Medicare Contract; Hospital Appeals Decision
Federal officials said they terminated the Medicare contract with United Memorial Medical Center after the Houston hospital system failed yet another inspection. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the federal health insurance program for the elderly, said it will no longer reimburse United Memorial Medical Center for patients admitted to the small hospital system after Tuesday. The loss of Medicare would likely deal a crippling financial blow to United Memorial, which serves low-income neighborhoods and depends heavily on the federal reimbursements. (Carballo, 1/11)
AP:
Maryland Confirms Ransomware Attack At Health Agency
The disruption of Maryland’s reporting of COVID-19 data last month was caused by a ransomware attack, state officials said Wednesday .Chip Stewart, the state’s chief information security officer, said the state has not paid extortion demands for the attack, which began on Dec. 4.“While the investigation is ongoing — and is occurring on a parallel track to our restoration efforts — we can confirm this much today: this was, in fact, a ransomware attack,” Stewart said. (1/12)
USA Today:
Cancer Report: Millions Of Deaths Averted, Racial Disparities Persist
A new report says 3.5 million cancer deaths have been prevented in recent decades, thanks to declines in smoking, advances in treatments and improved early detection. But the cancer statistics paper published Wednesday, a companion to the American Cancer Society's 2022 annual report, cautions pandemic-related impacts to cancer detection and treatment aren't yet known. The scientific paper also calls out racial disparities in cancer rates that have long persisted. (Thornton, 1/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Faces September Sentencing
A federal judge has scheduled a late-September sentencing date for Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes, when she could be handed prison time after her fraud conviction. The Wednesday order from U.S. District Judge Edward Davila comes just over a week after a jury convicted Ms. Holmes of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud for intentionally deceiving investors about her now-defunct blood-testing startup. (Randazzo and Somerville, 1/12)
CIDRAP:
Multistate Salmonella Outbreak Tied To Bearded Dragon Pets Sickens 44
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it and state partners are investigating a Salmonella Uganda outbreak linked to contact with pet bearded dragons that has sickened 44 people from 25 states since December 2020. Bearded dragons have been linked to other Salmonella outbreaks in the past, most recently a Salmonella Muenster outbreak in 2020 that made 18 people sick in 11 states. (1/12)
CBS News:
An Experimental Vaccine Could Help Fight The Opioid Epidemic
Tackling the opioid crisis requires changing strategies and the way we think about addiction, says Columbia University professor Sandra Comer. ... "One of the mistakes that people make when they think about drug users, 'Oh, it's somebody's choice to have this disorder.' That's not true," she said. "It's a medical disease and we need to treat it." Medically assisted treatments can be effective but have a relapse rate of about 50%, Comer said. "That's why we're continuing to look for new medications," Comer said. That search led to a new type of treatment — a vaccine that targets the chemical makeup of oxycodone. Comer and her research colleague, Marco Pravetoni, are testing the vaccine on volunteers with substance use disorder. (Lapook, 1/12)
AP:
Report: Alcohol-Related Deaths In Wisconsin Rose 25% In 2020
Alcohol-related deaths in Wisconsin rose almost 25% in 2020, according to a report released Thursday. Data compiled by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum shows 1,077 Wisconsin residents died of alcohol-related causes in 2020, up from 865 in 2019. The data was compiled from U.S. residents’ death certificates. (1/13)
CNN:
Government Says Quebec's 'Unvaxxed Tax' Leads To Spike In First Dose Appointments
One day after the Canadian province of Quebec announced it would financially penalize residents who are unvaccinated, the province's health minister said Wednesday first-time appointments spiked in the hours following the announcement. "It's encouraging!" Quebec's health minister, Christian Dube, tweeted, indicating that Tuesday's first-dose appointments were the highest in several days. The fine for the unvaccinated would not apply to those with a medical exemption, and no details have been announced, although officials said the amount to be levied would be "significant." (Newton, 1/12)
AP:
PAHO: Omicron To Become Dominant Variant In Americas Shortly
The Pan American Health Organization said Wednesday it expects omicron to become the predominant coronavirus variant in the Americas in the coming weeks, where confirmed cases have reached record levels. The health agency added that although healthcare systems face challenges with rising hospitalizations, vaccination has meant that COVID-19 deaths have not increased at the same rate as infections. (Solomon, 1/13)
The Washington Post:
Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta To Enforce Vaccine Mandate At Bars, Casinos
Travelers to popular Puerto Vallarta will soon have to follow new vaccination and testing requirements for many activities ordered by the Mexican state of Jalisco. The state will require proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result for bars, clubs, casinos and concerts, Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro announced Monday. The requirement, which will take effect Friday, also applies to other venues such as convention centers and stadiums. (Diller, 1/12)
AP:
China Faces Omicron Test Weeks Ahead Of Beijing Olympics
Just weeks before hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, China is battling multiple coronavirus outbreaks in half a dozen cities, with the one closest to the capital driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. With the success of the Games and China’s national dignity at stake, Beijing is doubling down on its “zero-tolerance” COVID-19 policy. (Wu, 1/13)