TODAY’S HARRISON COUNTY STATS FROM NYT
(J. Harris: And the NYT has a small error; our Covid hospital usage stats are increasing.)
NY YANKEES STRIKE OUT AGAIN WITH COVID
“…Six players on the New York Yankees have tested positive for Covid-19, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters Thursday, in the second instance this year of breakthrough cases occurring among some members of the baseball team…The three named players were all vaccinated, according to the team. Two of the players received Johnson & Johnson vaccines and the other was from either Pfizer or Moderna, Cashman says…Earlier this season, eight positive tests were recorded among coaching and travel staff, all of whom had previously taken the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Of the team members who tested positive, only one showed mild symptoms and his condition improved, the Yankees said.
(J. Harris: Sounds like the Yanks need to take a booster? Most likely the DELTA variant is the culprit this time?)
I MISSED THIS ON THE 14TH IN THE NYT
“… many scientists now believe that breakthrough infections [IN VACINATED PATIENTS] are unlikely to cause the [LONG COVID] syndrome. When a vaccinated person is infected, the virus may go through a few rounds of replication, but “the immune response is so quick and so robust that it basically stops the infection in its tracks,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada…”
(J. Harris–quick review)
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rising sharply in 4 states — 7 things to know, per NYTThough new COVID-19 cases are rising in most states, the rates per 100,000 residents in Florida, Arkansas, Missouri and Nevada are among the highest in the country. Florida is reporting 5,178 new daily cases per 100,000 people, Arkansas is reporting 1,023, Missouri is seeing 1,608 and Nevada at 676 per 100,000.
FROM HOPKINS SELECTIONS:
1. Pfizer Expected to Brief U.S. Officials in Coming Days on the Need for a Booster Shot (Washington Post) Pfizer is expected to brief top U.S. government health officials in the coming days about the need for a coronavirus vaccine booster shot after an unusually public spat between the pharmaceutical giant and federal officials over whether a third shot will be necessary, according to the company and six people familiar with the plans. Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech announced on Thursday that they planned to seek regulatory approval for a booster within weeks because they anticipated that people would need a third dose six to 12 months after receiving the companies’ two-shot regimen.
2. The world is unprepared for new ‘age of pandemics,’ G-20 panel“Rather than thinking we were unlucky with COVID, the lesson may be that we were lucky with Ebola, lucky with SARS, lucky with MERS, lucky with N1H1……. the risks of a coronavirus pandemic have been doubling nearly every decade…The report calls for at least doubling current international spending on pandemic prevention and preparedness to $75 billion over five years. That includes $10 billion a year to finance a Global Threats Fund to improve surveillance for future pandemics and increase the supply of vaccines, treatments, and other medical resources needed to respond to outbreaks more quickly…”
3. Deaths from COVID ‘Incredibly Rare’ Among Children (Nature): A comprehensive analysis of hospital admissions and reported deaths across England suggests that COVID-19 carries a lower risk of dying or requiring intensive care among children and young people than was previously thought. In a series of preprints published on medRxiv, a team of researchers found that COVID-19 caused 25 deaths in people younger than 18 between March 2020 and February 2021. About half of those deaths were in individuals with an underlying complex disability with high healthcare needs. Taken together, the unusually comprehensive studies could provide some comfort to parents who have been shielding children who they thought might be vulnerable to severe complications from COVID-19.
FROM NEJM: JNJ VACCINE WORKS VERY WELL
Durable Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses 8 Months after Ad26.COV2.S Vaccination
“These data show that the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine-elicited durable humoral and cellular immune responses with minimal decreases for at least 8 months after immunization. …with increased neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants over time, including after single-shot vaccination, further supports the use of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine to combat the global Covid-19 pandemic.
(J. Harris: This one jab vaccine will continue to be widely used all over the world because it works and its side effects, which have been widely noted, are, fortunately, rare. It is easy to keep cool and to dispense and it is relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately, it does have a short shelf life apparently, and it didn’t completely protect the NY Yankees on two different occassions.)
FROM NEJM: PFIZER VACCINE WORKS WELL AND SAFELY IN AGE 12-16 YOUTHS:
Safety, Immunogenicity, and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine in Adolescents
“…Evaluation of BNT162b2 [PFIZER VACCINE] in younger adolescents was undertaken for several reasons. The incidence of Covid-19 is reported to be higher among 12-to-17-year-old adolescents than among younger children.21 In addition, children, especially from low-income families, have been negatively affected by the lack of in-person learning during the pandemic.17,18 Therefore, a demonstration of efficacy and safety in 12-to-15-year-old adolescents is important in order to expand the emergency use authorization to include children 12 years of age or older and make a critical step toward achieving herd immunity. Finally, the favorable safety and side-effect profile and high efficacy, along with the acceptable risk-to-benefit ratio in adolescents, now justify vaccine evaluation in younger age groups….These results have several implications. Vaccination of adolescents is likely to confer the direct benefit of preventing disease along with indirect benefits, including community protection… Although children generally have a lower burden of symptomatic Covid-19 than adults, schools, youth sports, and other community gatherings may represent important sources of ongoing outbreaks and transmission, despite high rates of adult immunization… Vaccination of adolescents will allow them to reintegrate into society and resume in-person learning safely, which are especially important outcomes given the severe mental health effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on this group…. Recent real-world data suggest that BNT162b2 prevents asymptomatic infection….[and] it is likely that vaccination will also prevent asymptomatic infection in children, thereby broadening community
protection.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEASED:
MY ALL -TIME FAVORITE JOKE, STOLEN FROM DALLAS’ ALL-TIME BEST SPORTS WRITER, BLACKIE SHERROD:
It concerns the dyslectic, agnostic, insomniac who tosses and turns all night wondering if there really is a Dog?.
(and wouldn’t you know it, I now find that the joke has been all over the net for years. I’m glad Blackie didn’t have to see it there, or here?)
THE ONLY THING FLAT-EARTHERS HAVE TO FEAR IS SPHERE ITSELF
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