COVID-19 Up

2021-02-26 00:39:57 Pentagon, FEMA Open Mass Vaccination Sites in Texas and New York

@COVID19Up: The Pentagon and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened COVID-19 vaccination sites in Texas and New York on Wednesday, with more slated for Florida and Pennsylvania in the coming days.

Three vaccination centers were opened in Texas this week, with two similar sites in New York.

A senior military official told reporters that four sites are to be set up in Florida, and one in Philadelphia, according to multiple outlets.
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2021-02-25 23:04:55 Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Found to Be 94% Effective in Real-World Study

@COVID19Up: A real-world study of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine involving more than half a million inoculated people has demonstrated its overwhelming effectiveness after two doses were given, marking a major milestone for the shot. Even after one dose, the vaccine proved effective at preventing serious illness and death.

According to the independently reviewed study out of Israel's Clalit Research Institute, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot were 94% effective at cutting symptomatic COVID-19 cases across all age groups.

"The study provides the first large-scale peer-reviewed evaluation of the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine in a nationwide mass-vaccination setting," the institute said in a statement Thursday.
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2021-02-25 22:14:55 "I Have Only Bad News" PM Warns Hungary, as Hospitals Face Worst Weeks Yet

@COVID19Up: Hungary is entering its toughest period since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and over the next two weeks hospitals will come under strain like never before, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.

“I have only bad news,” Orban said in a Facebook video. “We are facing the hardest two weeks since the start of the pandemic. The number of infections is rising sharply and will continue to rise due to the new mutations.”

On Thursday, Hungary reported 4,385 new infections, the highest number this year.
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2021-02-25 21:53:47 Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Flu Has Disappeared in the U.S.

@G3News: February is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors’ offices and hospitals packed with suffering patients. But not this year.

Flu has virtually disappeared from the U.S., with reports coming in at far lower levels than anything seen in decades.

Experts say that measures put in place to fend off the coronavirus—mask wearing, social distancing and virtual schooling—were a big factor in preventing a “twindemic” of flu and COVID-19.

Another possible explanation: The coronavirus has essentially muscled aside flu and other bugs that are more common in the fall and winter. Scientists don’t fully understand the mechanism behind that, but it would be consistent with patterns seen when certain flu strains predominate over others, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert at the University of Michigan.

Nationally, “this is the lowest flu season we’ve had on record,” according to a surveillance system that is about 25 years old, said Lynnette Brammer of the U.S. CDC.
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2021-02-25 21:29:29 FDA Analysis Finds Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine is Safe and Effective

@COVID19Up: Unlike Moderna and Pfizer's vaccines, which are the only two candidates that have received EUAs, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is administered as a single dose and does not need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures—meaning the logistics for mass distributions would be far simpler.

The shot was found to be 66.9% effective against moderate to severe/critical COVID-19 cases 14 days after vaccination, and 66.1% effective after 28 days. Against severe/critical cases, the vaccine was 76.6% effective after 14 days and 85.4% effective after 28 days.

Assuming the FDA issues an emergency use authorization "without delay," meaning as soon as this weekend, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said J&J will have 3 million to 4 million ready for distribution next week.
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2021-02-25 18:10:58 Israeli Researchers Say Spirulina Algae Could Reduce COVID-19 Mortality Rate

@COVID19Up: A team of scientists from Israel and Iceland have published research showing that an extract of spirulina algae has the potential to reduce the chances of COVID-19 patients developing a serious case of the disease.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Biotechnology, found that an extract of photosynthetically manipulated Spirulina is 70% effective in inhibiting the release of the cytokine TNF-a, a small signaling protein used by the immune system.

The research was conducted in a MIGAL laboratory in northern Israel with algae grown and cultivated by the Israeli company VAXA, which is located in Iceland. VAXA received funding from the European Union to explore and develop natural treatments for coronavirus.
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2021-02-25 17:10:57 South Africa Has Found About 4,000 COVID-19 Re-Infections

@COVID19Up: About 4,000 cases of re-infection with COVID-19 have been found in South Africa, Barry Schoub, the chair of the country’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines, said.

“This is probably to a large extent due to the variant” of the virus that was first identified in the country, he said on a webinar on Wednesday.

The mutation, known by scientists as B.1.351, was identified in the country last last year and has become the dominant strain in the nation.

On Thursday the South African government will release the results of a study into the transmissibility of the variant, whether it can cause re-infection and whether it causes more severe disease.
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2021-02-25 16:10:57 Sweden Steps up Pandemic Restrictions in Bid to Avoid Third Wave

@COVID19Up: The Swedish government said on Wednesday it would reduce opening hours for all restaurants, bars and cafes as well as tighten limits on the number of people allowed in shops as it seeks to ward off a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government said it would propose that restaurants and cafes would have to close at 8:30 p.m. from March 1. It adds to a previous ban of alcohol sales after 8 p.m. already in place.

It also said the number of people allowed in shops and malls would be further restricted and that it would provide further details about this measure shortly.

“The situation in Sweden is serious, we have a high spread of infection and it is increasing,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told a news conference. “We can avoid a third wave if we keep distance.”
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2021-02-25 15:10:57 Meet the Kids Taking Part in the COVID-19 Vaccine Trial for Children

@COVID19Up: A group of volunteers aged as young as 12 have become the first children to have the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as part of a UK trial.

The young volunteers received a dose of the vaccine last week as part of a national trial to test its immune response in those aged under 18.

In total it will be given to 260 children in the next few weeks, with the hope the jab will produce a strong immune response to the virus.

Some of the children had to persuade their parents to let them take part in the trial.
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2021-02-25 14:10:57 Leaked WHO Document Says China Did "Little" to Find COVID-19 Origin in Early Months of Pandemic

@COVID19Up: Chinese officials did “little” in terms of epidemiological investigations into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan in the first eight months after the outbreak, according to an internal WHO document seen by the Guardian.

The internal WHO travel report summary, dated 10 August 2020, also said the team who met Chinese counterparts as part of a mission to help find the origins of the virus received scant new information at that time, and were not given any documents or written data during extensive discussions with Chinese officials.

The report from last summer, which was written as global infection rates reached 20m, offers new insights into how WHO scientists appear to have been stymied in their early efforts to study the outbreak in China.
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