COVID-19 Up

2021-03-02 19:22:16 Data on Long COVID in UK Children is Cause for Concern, Scientists Say

@COVID19Up: Scientists have warned that emerging data on long COVID-19 in children should not be ignored given the lack of a vaccine for this age group, but cautioned that the evidence describing these enduring symptoms in the young is so far uncertain.

Recently published data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has caused worry. The data suggest that 13% of under 11s and about 15% of 12- to 16-year-olds reported at least one symptom five weeks after a confirmed COVID-19 infection. ONS samples households randomly, therefore positive cases do not depend on having had symptoms and being tested.

Although children are relatively less likely to become infected, transmit the virus and be hospitalized, the key question is whether even mild or asymptomatic infection can lead to long COVID in children, said Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London.

“The answer is that it certainly can, and the long COVID support groups contain a not insignificant number of children and teens,” Altmann said.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-02 18:11:15 WHO Panel: Hydroxychloroquine Should Not Be Used to Prevent COVID-19

@COVID19Up: The anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent COVID-19, according to a new recommendation from the World Health Organization.

Multiple clinical trials of more than 6,000 people showed the drug had no meaningful effect on death or admissions to the hospital in people who had no prior exposure to COVID-19.

The trials showed a "moderate certainty" that not only did hydroxychloroquine have no meaningful effect on laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection, it also probably increased the risk of adverse effects.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-02 16:11:12 Canada Vaccine Committee Advises Against Use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Shots for 65 Years and Above

@COVID19Up: Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization released new guidelines on Monday that advise against vaccinating people who are 65 years and older with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, citing lack of information about efficacy in that age group.

The vaccine was authorized for people who are 18 and older by drug regulator Health Canada on Friday. The committee’s recommendations are not binding, but may influence provincial vaccination plans.

Health Canada’s decision noted that available clinical trial data was too limited to reliably estimate how well the vaccine worked in people 65 and older.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-02 07:15:43 Variants Pose "Real Threat" to COVID-19 Vaccine Progress, CDC Warns

@COVID19Up: The spread of highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 variants is threatening to fuel a "potential fourth surge of cases" in the US, a top health official has warned.

The head of the CDC said she was concerned by recent COVID-19 data.

She said about 70,000 new cases a day were recorded last week, "a very high number." There were nearly 2,000 deaths a day in the same period, she said.

"Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained," Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said on Monday. "These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress."
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-02 04:39:59 Over 60% of Russians Don't Want Sputnik V Vaccine, See SARS-CoV-2 as Biological Weapon: Reuters Poll

@COVID19Up: Nearly two thirds of Russians are not willing to receive Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, and about the same number believe SARS-CoV-2 was created artificially as a biological weapon, an independent pollster said on Monday.

The Levada Center said a poll it conducted last month showed that 62% of people did not want to get Russia’s domestically produced vaccine, and that the highest level of reluctance was identified among 18 to 24-year-olds.

Most respondents cited side effects—which can include fever and fatigue—as the main reason for not wanting to get vaccinated.

The poll, which sampled 1,601 people in 50 regions, also found that 64% of people thought SARS-CoV-2 was created as a biological weapon.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-02 03:51:17 Twitter to Label Posts With COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

@G3News: Twitter announced Monday that it will begin labeling posts that contain misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

The labels will alert users that health officials consider vaccines for COVID-19 to be safe for most people.

They may also contain links to content from trusted sources on vaccines

Twitter is also implementing a strike system for its broader policy on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, where more than one violation will lead to accounts being locked and five or more will trigger permanent suspensions.
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2021-03-02 03:12:38 Trump Already Received COVID-19 Vaccine at White House in January

@COVID19Up: Former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump were both vaccinated at the White House in January, a Trump adviser tells Axios.

Trump declared at CPAC on Sunday that "everybody" should get the COVID-19 vaccine. It's unclear which vaccine they received.

"We took care of a lot of people—including, I guess, on Dec. 21, we took care of Joe Biden, because he got his shot, he got his vaccine," Trump said at CPAC on Sunday. "So everybody, go get your shot."
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 23:59:58 Experts Warn Brazil Facing Darkest Days of COVID Crisis as Deaths Hit Highest Level

@COVID19Up: Health experts and lawmakers have warned Brazil is steaming into the darkest days of its coronavirus catastrophe, as fatalities soared to new heights and one prominent politician compared the crisis to an atomic bomb.

Politicians from across the spectrum voiced anger and exasperation at the deteriorating situation on Monday, after Brazil’s weekly average of COVID-19 deaths hit its highest level since the epidemic began last February and hospitals around the country reported being swamped.

According to the newspaper O Globo, intensive care units in 17 of Brazil’s 26 states were near capacity, while six states and the capital Brasília had run out of intensive care beds altogether.

“We are living through one of the worst moments in our history,” said Tasso Jereissati, an influential centre-right politician who is among a group of senators demanding a congressional investigation into president Jair Bolsonaro’s globally condemned handling of the pandemic.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 23:29:59 CDC Director Warns States Against Lifting COVID-19 Restrictions

@COVID19Up: CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday warned states against lifting coronavirus restrictions, pointing to the threat of variants and the "stalling" of recent declines in new cases.

"Our recent declines appear to be stalling, stalling at over 70,000 cases a day," Walensky said at a White House press briefing.

"With these new statistics, I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19," she added.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 22:34:58 U.S. Reports Record Number of SARS-CoV-2 Variant Cases

@COVID19Up: The U.S. on Sunday reported an all-time high of 306 cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants, with the majority concentrated in Florida, Michigan and Texas.

The new cases included 104 new infections in Florida, for a total of 605 in that state; 85 in Michigan for a total of 421; and 41 in Texas for a total of 102. Although various new strains are known to be circulating in the U.S., the majority of the new and existing variant cases are the B.1.1.7. strain that originated in the U.K. The CDC has said the British strain may become the most common in the country over the next month.

Overall COVID-19 cases declined over February after reaching an all-time high in January, but there are signs the decline is slowing or reversing. The majority of states on Sunday reported rising case counts for the past week for the first time in more than a month.
SOURCE | TIP

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