Tag Archives: COVID Vaccine

New Covid Vaccine: Their biggest concern how to fight skepticism and pandemic fatigue. Well, they will have to start by stirring it up; We need more sick people

New-COVID-Vaccine

The American Heritage Dictionary “plagues”
1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.

Important Takeaways:

  • New Covid vaccines are on the way as ‘Eris’ variant rises
  • A new COVID vaccine is due out next month, but health experts and analysts say it is likely to be coolly received even as hospitalizations from “Eris”, a variant of the Omicron form of the coronavirus, rise around the country.
  • Some public health experts hope that Americans will welcome the new shot as they would a flu jab. But demand for the vaccine has dropped sharply since 2021 when it first became available and more than 240 million people in the U.S., or 73% of the population, received at least one shot.
  • Healthcare providers and pharmacies such as CVS Health (CVS.N) will start next month to offer the shot, updated to fight the Omicron version of the virus that has been dominant since last year.
  • They will be fighting declining concern about the virus, as well as fatigue and skepticism about the merits of this vaccine, Kaiser Family Foundation Director of Survey Methodology Ashley Kirzinger said.
  • “Public health officials, if they want to see a majority of adults get these annual vaccines, they’re going to have to make the case to the American public that COVID isn’t over and it still poses a risk to them,” Kirzinger said.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Bombshell Report: CDC study confirms risk of heart disease skyrockets among those who were vaccinated

Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Important Takeaways:

  • CDC confirms heart disease risk soars 13,200 percent among vaccinated
  • A bombshell study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that the risk of autoimmune heart disease is 13,200% higher in people who are vaccinated for Covid.
  • The study found that the risk of myocarditis following mRNA Covid vaccination is around 133x greater than the background risk in the population.
  • The study’s authors used data obtained from the CDC’s VAERS reporting system.
  • The data was then cross-checked to ensure the results complied with the CDC’s definition of myocarditis.
  • The researchers also noted that given the passive nature of the VAERS system, the number of reported incidents is likely to be an underestimate of the extent of the phenomenon.
  • 1626 cases of myocarditis were studied.
  • The results showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech product was most associated with higher risk.
  • The Pfizer jabs caused 105.9 cases per million doses after the second vaccine shot in the 16 to 17 age group for males.
  • In the 12 to 15 age group for males, 70.7 cases per million doses were recorded after the second shot.
  • The 18 to 24 male age group also saw significantly higher rates of myocarditis for both Pfizer’s (52.4 cases per million) and Moderna’s (56.3 cases per million) products.
  • Researchers also noted that 82 percent of cases were in males, consistent with previous studies.
  • The risk was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Defense Secretary memo nixing vaccination for all troops

Pentagon

Luke 21:11 “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

Important Takeaways:

  • COVID Vax Mandate Finally Nixed for All Troops, Including National Guard, Reservists
  • As CBN News reported on Dec. 30, the Department of Defense was forced to rescind the COVID-19 shot mandate for all military service members after Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The legislation gave Austin 30 days to rescind the mandate.
  • Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed a memo Tuesday rescinding his August 2021 mandate requiring all members of the U.S. military to be vaccinated. The memo also canceled his November 2021 mandate requiring the same vaccinations for members of the National Guard and for reservists. But it also gives commanders some discretion in how or whether to deploy troops who are not vaccinated.
  • In his memo dated Jan. 10, Austin made it clear his department will continue to advocate for all service members to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
  • Austin also noted that those who sought an accommodation after refusing to get the shot would not be punished.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Biden defends U.S.-Mexico border policy in first White House news conference

By Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his policy of providing shelter to unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. border from Mexico at a news conference where he was repeatedly pressed on his handling of immigration issues.

Biden also set a new goal of administering 200 million vaccination shots against COVID-19 in the United States in his first 100 days in office and claimed economic progress as he held his first solo news conference since taking office.

Struggling to contain a surge in border crossings, Biden told reporters that no previous administration had refused care and shelter to children coming over from Mexico – except that of his predecessor, Donald Trump.

“I’m not going to do it,” Biden said, noting he had selected Vice President Kamala Harris to lead diplomatic efforts with Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador aimed at stemming the migration flow.

Appearing in the White House East Room, Biden said his initial goal of administering 100 million vaccination shots in his first 100 days in office was reached last week, 42 days ahead of schedule.

“I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close,” said Biden.

Biden said a May 1 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be difficult to meet. “It’s going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline,” he said. But he added, “We are not staying a long time” in Afghanistan, site of America’s longest war.

He also claimed economic progress with the news that the number of people claiming unemployment insurance had dropped significantly.

“There are still too many Americans out of work, too many families hurting and still a lot of work to do. But I can say to the American people: Help is here and hope is on the way,” he said.

Biden called for Republicans in the U.S. Congress to help him move forward with his agenda or “continue the politics of division” as he takes on issues like gun control, climate change and immigration reform.

“All I know is I was hired to solve problems, not create divisions,” he said.

Biden was repeatedly pressed to defend his migration policy along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Biden said the increase in migration was cyclical.

“It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months,” he said. “It happens every year.”

He said many migrants were fleeing problems in their home countries and blamed Trump, for dismantling parts of the U.S. immigration system.

Most of Biden’s predecessors had held their first news conference in their first two months in office, but the Democratic incumbent has so far taken few questions.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Alexandra Alper, Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)

Europe extends and tightens lockdowns, with fingers crossed for vaccines

By Claudia Cristoferi and John Revill

ROME/ZURICH (Reuters) – Governments across Europe announced tighter and longer coronavirus lockdowns and curbs on Wednesday amid fears of a fast-spreading variant first detected in Britain, with vaccinations not expected to help much until the spring.

Vaccines are being rolled out across the continent, but not as quickly as many countries had wished, and the effects are not expected until inoculations are widespread among the population.

Italy will extend its COVID-19 state of emergency to the end of April, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said as infections show no sign of abating.

Switzerland announced tighter measures to tackle new variants of the COVID-19 virus and extended the closure of restaurants, cultural and sport sites by five weeks to run until the end of February.

Germany is also likely to have to extend COVID-19 curbs into February, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, stressing the need to further reduce contacts to fend off the more infectious variant first identified in Britain.

The German cabinet approved stricter entry controls to require people arriving from countries with high caseloads or where the more virulent variant is circulating to take coronavirus tests.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told a meeting of lawmakers on Tuesday that the coming 8 to 10 weeks would be very hard if the more infectious variant spread to Germany, according to a participant at the meeting.

Health Minister Spahn told Deutschlandfunk radio it would take another two or three months before the vaccination campaign really started to help.

The Dutch government said late on Tuesday it would extend the lockdown, including the closure of schools and shops, by at least three weeks until Feb. 9.

“This decision does not come as a surprise, but it is an incredible disappointment,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a news conference, adding that the threat posed by the new variant was “very, very worrying”.

He said the government was considering imposing a curfew, but was reluctant and had sought outside advice before deciding on such severe restrictions.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron was discussing possible tighter rules with senior ministers. A nationwide curfew could be brought forward to 6 p.m. from 8 p.m., as has already happened in parts of the country, French media reported.

The French government’s top scientific adviser said new restrictions were needed in light of the variant first detected in Britain, adding that if vaccines were more widely accepted the crisis could be over by September.

“The coming three months will be difficult, the situation will slightly improve during the spring but should really get better at the end of the summer,” Jean-François Delfraissy told franceinfo radio.

In Switzerland, officials cancelled the Lauberhorn World Cup downhill race, out of fear that the new variant – brought in by what health authorities said was a single British tourist – was spreading now spreading rapidly among locals.

At least 60 people have tested positive in the Alpine resort of Wengen in the last four weeks.

Switzerland, which has so far taken a lighter touch to restricting business and public life than its neighbors, said it will close shops selling non-essential supplies from Monday.

It also ordered companies to require that employees work from home where possible. The country also eased rules on allowing pandemic-hit businesses to apply for state financial aid in hardship cases.

There was more optimistic news from Poland, where COVID-19 case numbers have stabilized after surging in the autumn.

“I hope that in two to three weeks the restrictions will be a little smaller, the vaccine will work,” Poland’s Finance Minister Tadeusz Koscinski said in an interview for Money.pl.

“Some restrictions will remain for quite a long time, but I think that 80% of these restrictions will start to disappear at the turn of the first and second quarter.”

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, John Miller in Zurich, Benoit Van Overstraeten in Paris, Sabine Siebold and Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, writing by Emma Thomasson; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Nick Macfie)

Moderna raises 2021 vaccine output forecast to at least 600 million doses

(Reuters) – Moderna Inc said on Monday it would produce at least 600 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, up by 100 million doses from its previous forecast, as the United States continues to roll-out the vaccine.

The company was working to invest and hire in order to deliver up to 1 billion doses this, the higher end of its production forecast, it said.

Moderna said it has so far supplied about 18 million doses to the U.S. government as part of a deal for 200 million doses. It has also signed a deal with the Canadian government for 40 million doses.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

U.S., European COVID vaccine developers pledge to uphold testing rigor

By Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss and Caroline Copley

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Nine leading U.S. and European vaccine developers pledged on Tuesday to uphold the scientific standards their experimental immunizations will be held against in the global race to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, issued what they called a “historic pledge” after a rise in concern that safety and efficacy standards might slip in the rush to find a vaccine.

The companies said in a statement they would “uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first COVID-19 vaccines”.

The other signatories were Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Moderna, Novavax, Sanofi and BioNTech.

The promise to play by established rules underlines a highly politicized debate over what action is needed to rein in COVID-19 quickly and to jump start global business and trade.

The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last month COVID-19 vaccines may not necessarily need to complete Phase Three clinical trials – large-scale testing intended to demonstrate safety and efficacy – as long as officials are convinced the benefits outweigh the risks.

This prompted a call for caution from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Developers globally have yet to produce large-scale trial data showing actual infections in participants, yet Russia granted approval to a COVID-19 vaccine last month, prompting some Western experts to criticize a lack of testing.

The head of China’s Sinovac Biotech has said most of its employees and their families have already taken an experimental vaccine developed by the Chinese firm under the country’s emergency-use program.

Chinese companies or institutions, which are involved in several leading vaccine projects, did not sign the statement.

PROMISE ON SAFETY AND EFFICACY

“We want it to be known that also in the current situation we are not willing to compromise safety and efficacy,” said co-signatory Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech.

“Apart from the pressure and the hope for a vaccine to be available as fast as possible, there is also a lot of uncertainty among people that some development steps may be omitted here.”

BioNTech and Pfizer could unveil pivotal trial data as early as October, potentially placing them at the center of bitter U.S. politics before the Nov. 3 presidential election.

President Donald Trump has said it is possible the United States will have a vaccine before the election. His Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, has said she would not take his word alone on any potential coronavirus vaccine.

The nine companies said they would follow established guidance from expert regulatory authorities such as the FDA.

Among other hurdles, approval must be based on large, diverse clinical trials with comparative groups that do not receive the vaccine in question. Participants and those working on the trial must not know which group they belong to, according to the pledge.

BioNTech’s Sahin said there must be statistical certainty of 95%, in some cases higher, and that a positive reading on efficacy does not come just from random variations but reflects the underlying workings of the compound.

The development race has intensified safety concerns about an inoculation, polls have shown.

Western regulators have said they would not cut corners but rather prioritize the review workload and allow for development steps in parallel that would normally be handled consecutively.

Sahin declined to comment on regulators specifically or on what events prompted the joint statement.

The chief executive of German vaccine developer Leukocare, which did not sign the pledge, was more forthright.

“What Russia did – and maybe also there are tendencies in the U.S. to push the approval of a vaccine which has not been sufficiently developed in clinic – bears a huge risk,” said CEO Michael Scholl.

“My biggest fear is that we will approve vaccines that are not safe and that will have a negative impact on the concept of vaccinations in general.”

Leukocare is working with Italy’s ReiThera and Belgium’s Univercells to produce a COVID-19 vaccine currently in phase I testing.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt and Caroline Copley in Berlin; Editing by Susan Fenton and Timothy Heritage)