Different Takes: Updated Covid Prevention Strategies; Omicron Doesn’t Just Infect Unvaccinated
Opinion writers weigh in on these covid issues.
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Opinion writers weigh in on these covid issues.
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Wednesday's new confirmed case numbers in the U.K. were the highest since the pandemic began. Moderna, meanwhile, is set to begin trials of its covid shot in Africa on an as-yet-untested population: people with HIV.
Politico's figures place the medical system as accounting for just less than a fifth of the economy at the end of 2020. Modern Healthcare says overall U.S. healthcare spending jumped 9.1% in 2020, with covid relief money as the primary driver — the biggest jump since 2002.
The Houston Methodist team found triple negative breast cancer tumors regressed, and were prevented from spreading when treated with chemotherapy and a drug normally used against heart failure. Also, lead in drinking water, stuttering treatment, medical malpractice and more are in the news.
Reports suggest the Food and Drug Administration is poised to make it permanently easier to access abortion medication by mail. Separately, the Houston Chronicle says Harris County will be allowed to spend public money to counter Texas' strict anti-abortion laws, including direct funding of care.
The ancient Romans knew lead was poisonous. Over 2,000 years later, Vice President Kamala Harris will detail the plan to replace every lead water pipe in the U.S. Meanwhile, the White House's social spending agenda may be delayed again by Sen. Joe Manchin, who reportedly still wants to a lower price tag on the bill.
Advisers will meet today to review updated data from the Johnson & Johnson single-dose covid vaccine. The panel is expected to vote on whether to update its recommendation for the vaccine’s use, which could mean continuing to administer it to anyone 18 or older or even to “get rid of it, or only use it in certain populations,” said one clinician familiar with the agenda.
And a case over the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for large private companies has been punted to a smaller three judge panel. Meanwhile, the Navy is now dismissing sailors who refused to get shots, with about 5,700 active-duty service members currently unvaxxed.
News outlets report shuttering of in-person classes across the U.S. as covid outbreaks affect the student body. Meanwhile, a lawsuit is trying to prevent an employee vaccine and test mandate in schools in Las Vegas, and lawmakers in Louisiana are pushing against vaccine mandates for students.
Like the Pfizer mRNA shot, a preliminary study finds that the initial two-dose protocol of Moderna's covid vaccine does not hold up against the omicron variant. But a booster dose can restore some of that effectiveness.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the findings of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation into its initial batch of covid PCR tests in 2020, and how they impacted early pandemic responses. Politico reports on worries that omicron covid will stretch supplies of current covid tests.
In the first week of December, 841 people were admitted to U.S. hospitals with influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's up from the prior week, when there were 496 new flu admissions.
The omicron variant has been found to infect 70 times faster than the delta or original covid strain -- but causes less severe disease -- in a study from the University of Hong Kong. Why? Researchers observed that the virus takes stronger hold in the airways rather than the lungs.
The "double surge" of omicron and delta infections will stretch the ability of the U.S. health care system to research, test for and treat covid this winter.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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The New York Times reports that Vuity, a once-a-day eye drop treatment that can help users see close-by objects without making their vision short-sighted, is now available. Other news outlets report on forever chemical contaminations, Lyme disease, CTE in a shooting case and more.
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