A medical assistant rests while waiting for patients at an abandoned Dave & Busters thats been converted to a large-scale covid-19 testing facility on January 8, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Photo: Brandon Bell (AP)
The U.S. covid-19 vaccination rate has slipped to 59th in the world, right behind Iran and Sri Lanka, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. was ranked 55th in November of 2021, 40th in September, and 18th back in July, but has struggled with an onslaught of medical disinformation delivered to large swaths of the American people through outlets like Fox News.
During the earliest vaccination efforts of 2021, both smaller countries and more wealthy nations dominated the international rankings. But population size doesnt matter so much anymore and many low-income countries are doing very well compared with the U.S., which has vaccinated just 63% of its population.
For example, China, which boasts the largest population in the world, has vaccinated 87% of its population of 1.4 billion people, giving it the fifth highest vaccination rate globally. Cuba, one of the poorer countries in the world, is ranked seventh on the list, having vaccinated 85% of its population. Fiji, which is also a low-income country, has achieved a vaccination rate of 68%, well above wealthier countries like Switzerland, Israel, and the United States.
Japan stands out as a wealthy country that was lagging in 2021 but has really stepped up its vaccination efforts in recent months. Roughly 78% of Japan is now vaccinated against covid-19, up from just 49% back in September.
Germany is also notable in its recent efforts. The country has a large anti-vaccine population but has managed to do relatively well in the past few months. Germanys covid-19 vaccination rate was roughly 48% back in July of 2021, roughly the same as the U.S.s vaccination rate of 49% at the time. But Germany has been able to get more than 71% of its population vaccinated, while the U.S. is currently stuck at 63%.
Below, we have the current list of top 65 most vaccinated countries in the world, all based on data from Johns Hopkins University.
While most of the world is suffering though the current wave of the omicron variant right now, the U.S. has been particularly hard hit, thanks in large part to having such a large percentage of unvaccinated people.
The U.S. reported 1,459,005 new cases on Monday, an exceptionally high number thanks to the weekend backlog, but the seven-day average for cases is still historically high. The country is averaging 771,516 new cases each day and currently has 140,268 people in hospital with covid-19, up 4,158 from just a day before. The U.S. also reported 2,235 new deaths.
Get vaccinated. Get boosted. Thats the way to make sure youre protected against serious illness and death from a disease thats rocked the world for over two years now. And one day this will all be over. It has to be.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. - The Chesapeake Health Department will be hosting COVID-19 vaccine and testing clinics this week, starting Tuesday January 11.
These clinics come as cases continue to rise in Virginia after the holidays and tests are particularly hard to find locally. The vaccine clinic is also available, encouraging people who have not yet gotten it to do so or those who need a booster to get theirs.
The Chesapeake Health Department is offering a COVID-19 testing only clinic Wednesday, January 12 from 1-6 p.m., and Friday January 14 from 9-2 p.m.
The department is also offering a COVID-19 vaccine clinic January 11 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. and this clinic will happen every Tuesday unless otherwise noted.
All of these clinics happen at the Dominion Commons, 648 Grassfield Parkway, Suite 9.
These clinics also come after Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency during a press conference on Monday. The state of emergency is to help ease hospitals and staffing as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. It relaxes some regulations, allowing them to address concerns over the number of beds they have and staffing shortages.
Click here for more COVID-19 coverage
Chesapeake Health Dept.
COVID-19 booster doses are now available for ages 12 and older in Yakima County, and the Yakima Health District is urging people who are eligible to get one.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded booster dose eligibility to everyone 12 and older last week, and the YHD adopted the change for mobile vaccine clinics Monday, the health district said in a news release.
As we continue to see an increase of omicron cases throughout our state, we urge community members to utilize preventative measures to remain safe, local emergency response coordinator Nathan Johnson said in the release. Now that we are able to administer Pfizer booster doses to anyone 12 and older, we encourage parents to get their children their booster dose and adults to get theirs as well.
As of Monday, 54% of the total population of Yakima County residents are fully vaccinated, and 60.3% have initiated vaccination, according to the state Department of Health. Of those 16 and older, 70% are fully vaccinated, and 67.5% of those 12 and older are.
About 20% of those who are eligible have received a booster dose, the health district release said.
The health district said breakthrough cases in those who are vaccinated are expected to increase as the overall number of COVID-19 cases rises. The health district emphasizes that vaccines and boosters still offer important protection.
The vaccines remain safe, and coupled with the booster, are protective against both delta and the new omicron variant, YHD health officer Dr. Neil Barg said in the news release. After receiving the booster, you are much less likely to experience severe infection, hospitalization and death, even if you contract the omicron variant.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalization are more common among unvaccinated individuals, according to the release. In Yakima County, about 91% of COVID-19 cases and 86% of hospitalizations have been among people who are not vaccinated, the release said.
The CDC recommends everyone 12 and older get a booster dose at least five months after completing the Pfizer primary vaccination series, six months after completing the Moderna primary vaccination series, or two months after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Boosters are safe to mix-and-match, according to the CDC.
Anyone age 5 and older is eligible to complete a primary vaccination series, according to the CDC. More information is available at www.YakimaVaccines.org.
Here is where you can get vaccinated this week in Yakima County:State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. in Yakima, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. in Yakima, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
YMCA, 5 N. Naches Ave. in downtown Yakima, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Barge-Lincoln Elementary School, 219 E. I St. in Yakima, 4-6 p.m.
Bearded Monkey Cycling, 1802 W. Nob Hill Blvd. in Yakima, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Yakima Valley Museum, 2105 Tieton Drive in Yakima, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lewis & Clark Middle School, 1114 W. Pierce St. in Yakima, 5-7 p.m.
State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. in Yakima, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
YMCA, 5 N. Naches Ave. in downtown Yakima, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Adams Elementary School, 723 S. Eighth St. in Yakima, 4-7 p.m.
Radio KDNA, 121 Sunnyside Ave. in Granger, 4-7 p.m.
State Fair Park, 1301 S. Fair Ave. in Yakima, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunnyside Community Center, 1521 S. First St. in Sunnyside, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to fix the location for the mobile clinic at Radio KDNA.
A health worker prepares an injection with a dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 6, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
MEXICO CITY, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Mexico is expecting delivery of nearly 27 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses in the coming weeks, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday, as the Omicron variant fuels a sharp increase in cases.
"We're going to receive 11.7 million more doses soon ... and before March, a further 15 million, with which we estimate that the numbers needed by the health ministry will be met," Ebrard said during a regular news conference.
He did not say what kind of vaccines they would be.
Mexico is under pressure to speed up its vaccine campaign as cases surge. The country logged over 30,000 new daily cases on Saturday, a record, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he had contracted COVID-19 for the second time.
Mexico has enough vaccine doses to roll out booster shots, Lopez Obrador said last week.
Register
Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Raul CortesEditing by Dave Graham
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2022 Olympics: COVID concerns will make winter games look different
The Winter Olympics will look different this year with strict COVID-19 guidelines in place as China battles an omicron outbreak.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
Coronavirus continues to ripthrough Michigan, breaking records for hospitalizations and newly confirmed cases as the extremely contagious omicron variant creates the state's worst yet surge.
"We're now at a point that we have not seen through this pandemic," Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said Tuesday, noting that the metro Detroit area is hardest hit with the highest hospitalization rate in the state from the virus.
"When we look at our percentpositivity, we are up to 33.2%. This is a number that we have not seen since the beginning of the pandemic when tests were very limited. And then, when we look at hospital capacity, we're at 21.9% of our inpatient beds filled with COVID-19 positive individuals."
It's likely to get worse before it gets better, she said. Models suggest that Michigan's omicron surge could peak in late January or early February.
"We have a choice to make: Do we want to work on bringing that peak down or do we just want to let this omicron surge explode? ... This is a very dangerous time for us and this is not what we want to see with cases exploding the way they are."
Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state health department, urged Michiganders to get coronavirus vaccines and boosters wheneligible, to upgrade to a well-fitting KN95 maskor double up on masks if a KN95 isnot available, and to follow isolation and quarantine guidelines.
"To lessen your risk of getting COVID and the potential for severe infection, to avoid disruptions to in-person learning and the economic ramifications that come with so many people getting sick and needing to stay home or quarantine, and to try to ensure that our health and hospital systems have the capacity to treat you quickly when you walk through their doors for an emergency, including non-COVID conditions, it is critical that every person in this state continues to take steps to stay safe," Hertel said Tuesday.
The surge has led many hospitals across the state topostponenon-emergency tests, procedures and surgeriesas the flood of sick peopletaxestheir ability to care for all who need help.
"We've cancelled or postponed more than 250 surgeries since this surge began in December because we've needed the hospital beds for kids and adults who are coming down with serious cases of COVID-19," Dr. David Miller, president of University of Michigan Health, said Tuesday afternoon.
"What this means is that many people are not receiving potentially life-saving care because Michigan Medicine and other hospitals are full. ... We're also greatly limited in our ability to accept patients and transfer from other hospitals across the state, again reducing access to highly specialized services available at Michigan Medicine.
"Our emergency department also continues to run at full capacity almost constantly. And this is not how we or anyone else wants to receive or deliver health care."
He urged people whose symptoms are not severe to seek treatment at urgent care centers or through their primary care doctors rather than going to hospital emergency rooms.
Mercy Health Muskegon is using a climate-controlled tent outside the west Michigan hospital to serve as a waiting room for the emergency department, which has been converted into clinical space to treat more patients.
Even as hospitals are seeing record numbers of patients, they're also grappling with medical workers who are contracting the virus. Thousands of health care workers statewide were off the job last week because they were infected or exposed to the virus.
"We've had 739 employees test positive for COVID-19 since Jan.1," Miller said of Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine. "We're concerned about the impacts of staffing shortages for the well-being of both our patients and our team members."
Five federalmedical relief teams have come to help hospitals in Dearborn, Wyandotte, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, and Muskegon to help manage the crush of COVID-19 patients, Hertel said, adding that the state is now distributing 200 ventilators from the National Strategic Stockpile while it also ramps up efforts to improve access to coronavirus tests.
Already some K-12 school districts are sending tests home with students, and soon, the state health department will distribute tests at public libraries.
"This surge is not likeprevious surges," Bagdasarian said."We're expecting to see many, many more cases and what we want to prevent are many, many more hospitalizations and deaths."
The majority of patients hospitalized and those being treated in intensive care units with COVID-19 are unvaccinated or have yet to get a booster dose, she said.
"The people who are sickest with COVID, the people who are in ICUs(intensive care units) and on ventilators, it's much more likely that they are either unvaccinated or unboosted," she said. "So the role of vaccines and boosters is more important than ever to keep individuals from developing those severe complications."
The seven-day average of new daily cases topped 16,000 Monday, a pandemic record. The percentage of positive tests has topped 30% since New Year's Eve, and4,674people were admitted to hospitals statewide Monday with confirmed cases of the virus, another record.Of them, 94 were children.
"Hospitalizationsof children have increasedafter last week's all time highs," Hertel said.
While the majority of children who contract the virus fully recover and don't need hospitalization, "in this current COVID surge, we are experiencing the highest number of COVID-positive admissions to the hospital and the pediatric ICU,"Dr.Lauren Yagiela, a pediatric critical care physician at Childrens Hospital of Michigan said Tuesday.
The sickest kidsgenerally are hospitalized for treatment of three COVID-19-related conditions: life-threateningpneumonia,heart inflammation known as myocarditisand for the post-COVID complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome - children, Yagiela said.
"The children we have cared for with COVID pneumonia, COVID myocarditis and multi-system organ syndrome have often required a variety of medical treatments to help support their hearts and lungs when they are sick,"Yagiela said.
Some children are so severely ill, they need ventilators or treatment with a heart-lung bypass machine, she said.
"My greatest wish is that a child or family never needs the medical care that I provide in the pediatric ICU," Yagiela said. "Vaccinating children 5 and older will help us achieve this."
Hertel said it's vitalto keep kids in classrooms for in-person learning, despite the rapid spread of coronavirus among children and the state's population.
"If we can continue to make sure these kids are vaccinated as well as teachers, they are masking and following the protocols that have been laid out, then I think schools should safely remain in person if they can," Hertel said.
To keep schools open, the state health department recommends all K-12 schools adopt mask requirements for students and staff. Though state health leadershaven't issued a statewide school mask mandate, they updatedquarantine and isolation guidelines Monday.
Those guidelines now mirror recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention andinclude shorter quarantine and isolation periods, allowingstudents and school staff to return to classroomssooner after an exposure to a person with the virus or a positive test.
The following are details of the new recommendations for K-12 students, teachers and school staff:
If you test positive but are asymptomatic:Isolate for five days, even if you do not have symptoms and regardless of your vaccination status toseparate yourself from peoplewho are not infected.Monitor for symptoms from the day of exposure through day 10. Return to school for days six to 10 with amask.
If you are positive and symptomatic: Isolate at home for five days. If your symptoms have improved and you've been fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours, you canreturn to school for days six to 10 with a mask.
Day 0 is day symptoms beginor daytest was takenforstudents, teachers & staff who do not have symptoms.
If you are unwilling/unable to wear a mask and test positive: Stay home for 10 days and isolate from others.
If you were exposed to a person with COVID-19:You do not need to quarantine at home if you:
However, people who were in closecontact with a person with COVID should still monitorfor symptoms and wear a mask around others for 10 days from the date of last exposure.
If symptoms develop, get tested immediately and isolate until receiving test results. If the test is positive, then follow isolation recommendations.
If symptoms do not develop, get tested at least five days after last exposed.
If possible, stay away from others in the home, especially people who are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. And for the full 10 days after last exposure, avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, including those who live in nursing homes and other high-risk settings.
If you were exposed and are not current on vaccinations and have not had a coronavirus infection in the last 90 days:Quarantine for five days, and, if possible, test on day five. Wear a mask for 10 days.
Monitor for symptoms, and if symptoms develop, get tested immediately. Isolate until receiving test results. If test is positive, then follow isolation recommendations.
If symptoms do not develop, get tested at least five days after last exposed.
If possible, stay away from others in the home, especially people who are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. And for the full 10 days after last exposure, avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, including those who live in nursing homes and other high-risk settings.
If you've been exposed to someone with the virus but are unwilling/unable to wear a mask:Quarantine for 10 days and watch for symptoms.
Another option for those who've been exposed to the virus is to called "Test to Stay," which involves testing every other day for six days following exposure and wearing a well-fittedmask around others for 10 days.
More: Outdoor tent serves as waiting room at Mercy Health Muskegon during COVID-19 surge
More: Michigan attorney general issues consumer alert for COVID-19 test scams
The shorter isolation/quarantine guidelines for K-12 schools were met with opposition from Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools, a group of that has advocatedfor months for stricter pandemicregulations.
The organizers pointed to the state's own findings on the current surge and its impact on kids, along with the litany of K-12 school districts and universities that recently switched to virtual lessons.
Our state is on fire because too many of those in power have not used that power to keep us from getting to this point, said Kathleen Lucas, an Ottawa County parent, in a statement. Our children and educators and our health care workers and those who need their care are suffering needlessly due to this dereliction of duty.
The Whitmer administration has said K-12 mask requirements should be decided bylocal health departments and school districts, but confusion over seemingly threatening language in the state budget pushed at least some local authorities to rescind school maskmandates. Others have faced pushback from vocal parents and opponents of mask wearingwho dispute the widely held scientific belief that masks prevent the spread of the virus.
Stronger mitigation measures should be in place so that in-person school can be safely prioritized whenever possible. But, when too many staff are out sick it becomes impossible to keep students in an effective and safe learning environment," said Oakland County parent Nicole Kessler in a statement.
"A short-term pivot to distance learning is less disruptive than multiple substitutes in one day and last-minute cancellations.
At no point during Tuesday's news conferencedid Hertel or Bagdasarian suggest statewide pandemicregulations, such as a K-12 school mask mandate, are being considered to slow the spread of the virus.
Instead, the health leaders relied on the same rhetoric used frequently in recent months by Gov. GretchenWhitmer's administration: asking people to use the tools available to slow the spread of COVID-19.
During a December media roundtable, Whitmer ridiculed the idea that politics or fear are driving her pandemic decisions. She said it was "total baloney" that an alleged kidnapping plot made her decide against future pandemic mandates the health department issued sweeping rules in 2020 after indictments were announced and added she's not making any of her decisions based on political fallout.
More: Michigan's top doctor talks COVID-19 disruptions, mask mandates, quarantine controversy
More: 'We are really at a breaking point,' Beaumont Health doctor says of COVID-19 surge
She also again suggested restrictions won't be effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
"Using blunt tools like closing sectors of our economy I really, there's no evidence that that is going to dramatically change the decision of this small but still serious group of people that have not yet been vaccinated. That's who's filling up our hospitals. That's who continues to be a host to a virus that will continue to mutate. And that's where our focus has to be getting people vaccinated and boosted," Whitmer said.
With such high transmission levels, it has been "challenging" for public health departments to contact every person who tests positive or who may have been exposed,said Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state health department.
So public health departments are instead targeting the most vulnerable populations for contact tracing and outbreak identification. That includes people who live inlong-term care facilities and nursing homes, group homes, jails and prisons, shelters and dormitories as well as schoolchildren.
The state health department plans a public education campaign related to help people understand the guidelines for isolation and quarantine so they know what to do if they are exposed, when they should seek testing, and when to seek medical care/therapeutics.
Since the pandemic began, there have been more than1.68 million confirmed cases of the virus in Michigan and27,878 deaths.
Eleven hospitals were at 100% capacity Monday with both COVID-19 patients and people with other medical conditions. They were:Ascension Borgess, Ascension St. Mary's, Beaumont Troy, Beaumont Trenton, Beaumont Wayne, Bronson South Haven, Holland Community Hospital, Promedica Coldwater, Sparrow, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Sturgis Hospital.
And additional 18 more were at 90% capacity or higher.
Staff writer Christina Hall contributed to this story.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.
Subscribe to the Free Press.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 310.5 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.49 million. More than 9.46 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
New COVID-19 cases in Australia continue to hover around record levels, with Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews warning of "significant pressure in our health system".
Poland's total COVID-19 death toll has passed 100,000, the country's health minister has announced.
Japan has announced its tight entry restrictions, in place to prevent the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, will remain in place until the end of February.
India has reported 168,063 new COVID-19 cases - less than the previous day's figure of 179,723.
Pfizer's Chief Executive Albert Bourla said yesterday that a redesigned COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant is likely needed. The company could have one ready to launch by March, he said.
Chile has begun its roll-out of a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to immunocompromised people - a first for the region.
Peru reported an all-time high of 70,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections in the first week of January, a health official said yesterday.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in France rose by 767 to 22,749 on Monday, the biggest increase since April 2021.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.
Image: Our World in Data
The COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship is a coalition of 85 global leaders, hosted by the World Economic Forum. Its mission: Join hands in support of social entrepreneurs everywhere as vital first responders to the pandemic and as pioneers of a green, inclusive economic reality.
Its COVID Social Enterprise Action Agenda, outlines 25 concrete recommendations for key stakeholder groups, including funders and philanthropists, investors, government institutions, support organizations, and corporations. In January of 2021, its members launched its 2021 Roadmap through which its members will roll out an ambitious set of 21 action projects in 10 areas of work. Including corporate access and policy change in support of a social economy.
For more information see the Alliance website or its impact story here.
The United States reported a record 1.35 million new COVID-19 cases yesterday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country since the start of the pandemic.
The previous record was 1.03 million, reported in the US on 3 January. A large number of cases are reported each Monday as many states do not report over the weekend. The seven-day average for new cases has now tripled in two weeks to over 700,000.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has also hit an all-time high in the US.
T cells created by the body to ward off the common cold can actually help protect against the virus that causes COVID-19 - and could aid in future vaccine development.
Scientists at Imperial College London found the presence of T cells at the time of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 can influence whether someone becomes infected.
Dr Rhia Kundu, from Imperials National Heart & Lung Institute, says: Being exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus doesnt always result in infection, and weve been keen to understand why. We found that high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold, can protect against COVID-19 infection."
However, Dr Kundu warned people should still get their booster: "While this is an important discovery, it is only one form of protection, and I would stress that no one should rely on this alone. Instead, the best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 is to be fully vaccinated, including getting your booster dose.
Previous research looked at whether other T cells induced by other coronaviruses, including the common cold, could recognize SARS-CoV-2.
T cells are white blood cells that are a vital part of the body's immune response to disease and they play different roles.
"They can act as 'killer cells', attacking cells which have been infected with a virus or another kind of pathogen, or they can act as 'helper cells' by supporting B cells to produce antibodies," says Imperial's Professor Rosemary Boyton.
The latest findings could provide a blueprint for a second-generation, universal vaccine that could prevent infection from current and future SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription.
You will be charged $ + tax (if applicable) for The Wall Street Journal. You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call Customer Service. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service.
Please click confirm to resume now.
Like those in other public-facing jobs, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have been testing positive for Covid-19 in record numbers. (Photo by Scott Olson)
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reporting3,694employees with active Covid-19 infections,according to agency data, roughly 7% of the agencys screeners. For context, the week before the omicron variant was first identified in the United States, there were 275 positive Covid-19 cases among the TSAs ranks.
Like others who work in public-facing jobs, TSA employees have been testing positive for the coronavirus in record-breaking numbers. The skyrocketing of cases at the agency is an 1,243% increase since Thanksgiving.
Over the past two weeks, TSA officers at 202 U.S. airports have tested positive for Covid-19. The list includes all of the 20 busiest hub airports in the country and comprises 46% of federalized airports.
TSA employees who test positive for Covid-19 may not return to the workplace until at least 10 calendar days have passed since taking the test or experiencing symptoms. To date, the thousands of impacted screeners on leave due to Covid-19 have caused minimal disruption to airport queues across the country, according to the agency.
So far, the sole exception is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), where the TSA has temporarily consolidated security checkpoints in Terminal 4, beginning last Friday. Wait times for non-PreCheck passengers could be up to 30 minutes and passengers should plan their arrivals accordingly, said R. Carter Langston, a TSA spokesperson, via email. We urge travelers to be patient as they head to PHX airport and go through security. Current security wait times are available onskyharbor.comor travelers can check the wait times on the flight information screens in the airport terminals.
More airports may be affected as the number of positive cases among TSA screeners continues to rise. We are monitoring others because communities and transportation systems have been hard hit by increasing Covid infections, said Langston.
November 22, 2021 was the deadline by which all federal employees must either be vaccinated against Covid-19 or get a religious or medical exemption, perPresident Joe Bidens vaccine mandate.
Over 96% of TSA employees are currently fully vaccinated, a statistic that has likely saved many from serious illness and hospitalization. The chief objective remains full compliance with the vaccination requirement and a workforce protected against hospitalization and death from Covid-19, Langston said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, TSA has cumulatively had16,883federal employees test positive for Covid-19. Thirty-fourTSA employees and two screening contractors have died after contracting the virus.
(SACRAMENTO)
A new international study offers a clearer picture of the impact of COVID-19 infection and the risk of severe outcomes on young people around the world.
The study was co-led by a team of researchers from UC Davis Health, University of Calgarys Cumming School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago. It followed more than 10,300 children at 41 emergency departments in 10 countries, including the United States and Canada.
Researchers tracked more than 3,200 of those children who tested positive for COVID-19. Approximately three percent (107 total) of those diagnosed with COVID-19 experienced severe outcomes within two weeks of their visit to an emergency department. In addition, 23 percent (735 total), were hospitalized for treatment. Severe outcomes included cardiac or cardiovascular complications, such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart), as well as neurologic, respiratory, or infectious problems. Four children died.
The study identified patients older than five years of age, having a pre-existing chronic illness, a previous episode of pneumonia, and presenting to the hospital four to seven days after symptom onset were at higher risk for severe outcomes.
The results of our study show that risk factors such as age, underlying chronic illness, and symptom duration were important risk factors for severe outcomes," said Nathan Kuppermann, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and co-lead of the study. "
Researchers found children not admitted to the hospital at an initial emergency department visit rarely deteriorated significantly after the first visit.
Fortunately, the risk of developing severe disease in children with COVID-19 discharged from the emergency department is very low, said study co-lead Todd Florin, director of research in emergency medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago and associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Our findings can provide reassurance to parents and clinicians for children well enough to be managed in the community, while also providing important insights on which children may be at particular risk for severe outcomes."
Although asthma has previously been suggested as a risk factor for severe outcome, this study was not able to confirm a link. It also did not find that very young infants were at a higher risk for severe outcomes.
With emergency departments across the world seeing an influx of patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stressing capacity, this study will help address the surge by providing an estimate of the risk among pediatric COVID-19 patients screened in emergency departments, said Kuppermann. It will help emergency physicians triage pediatric patients more efficiently by knowing who has risk factors for severe outcomes and focus advanced level care to those who do.
The study occurred within the Pediatric Emergency Research Network, a global consortium of the world's major pediatric emergency care research networks. It received support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alberta Innovates, Alberta Health Services and the University of Calgary. It also received COVID grant funding from the University of California Davis, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center and Ann and Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago.
There are no specific evidence-based treatments and therapies for children at this time and detailed research data describing outcomes in young people with COVID-19 has been lacking, so this study offers important insights that we believe will be helpful into front-line care providers treating children with COVID-19, added study co-lead Stephen Freedman, pediatrician and professor at University of Calgarys Cumming School of Medicine.
Key messages:
---
In September 2021, WHO established the Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC). This multidisciplinary group of 18 experts reviews and assesses the public health implications of emerging VOCs on the performance of COVID-19 vaccines and provides recommendations on COVID-19 vaccine composition.[1] The work of this group complements that of the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE), the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and its Working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, and the working groups of the WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics.
Since its emergence, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has continued to evolve and WHO has designated five variants as SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern (VOC) to date namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron due to their impact on transmission, disease severity, or capacity for immune escape. While the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the world, the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is expected to continue and Omicron is unlikely to be the last VOC.
The TAG-CO-VAC is developing a framework to analyze the evidence on emerging VOCs in the context of criteria that would trigger a recommendation to change COVID-19 vaccine strain composition and will advise WHO on updated vaccine compositions, as required. This framework considers the global spread and transmissibility, clinical severity, genetic, antigenic and phenotypic characteristics of the VOC, including capacity for immune escape and assessments of vaccine effectiveness.[2]
Since the WHO classified the Omicron variant as a VOC on 26 November 2021, the TAG-CO-VAC has met regularly to review the evidence on the characteristics of the Omicron variant. This statement reflects the current understanding of the implications of the emergence of the Omicron variant on current COVID-19 vaccines and provides the TAG-CO-VACs current perspective on vaccine options for the future.
Global public health goals of COVID-19 vaccines
With available COVID-19 vaccines, the current focus remains on reducing severe disease and death, as well as protecting health systems. Vaccines that have received WHO Emergency Use Listing, across several vaccine platforms, provide a high level of protection against severe disease and death caused by VOCs. For the Omicron variant, the mutational profile and preliminary data indicate that vaccine effectiveness will be reduced against symptomatic disease caused by the Omicron variant, but protection against severe disease is more likely to be preserved. However, more data on vaccine effectiveness, particularly against hospitalization, severe disease, and death are needed, including for each vaccine platform and for various vaccine dosing and product regimens.
In alignment with SAGE and its Working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, the TAG-CO-VAC therefore supports urgent and broad access to current COVID-19 vaccines for priority populations worldwide to provide protection against severe disease and death globally and, in the longer term, to mitigate the emergence and impact of new VOCs by reducing the burden of infection. In practical terms, while some countries may recommend booster doses of vaccine, the immediate priority for the world is accelerating access to the primary vaccination, particularly for groups at greater risk of developing severe disease.[3]
With near- and medium-term supply of the available vaccines, the need for equity in access to vaccines across countries to achieve global public health goals, programmatic considerations including vaccine demand, and evolution of the virus, a vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable.
Composition of current and future COVID-19 vaccines
The TAG-CO-VAC considers that COVID-19 vaccines that have high impact on prevention of infection and transmission, in addition to the prevention of severe disease and death, are needed and should be developed. Until such vaccines are available, and as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, the composition of current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated, to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide WHO-recommended levels of protection against infection and disease[4] by VOCs, including Omicron and future variants.
The TAG-CO-VAC will consider a change in vaccine composition:
To that aim, COVID-19 vaccines need to:
In line with this approach, there are many options to consider:
In the interim, the TAG-CO-VAC encourages COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to generate and provide data on performance of current and Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, including the breadth, magnitude, and durability of humoral and cell mediated immune responses to variants through monovalent and/or multivalent vaccines. These data will be considered in the context of the framework mentioned above to inform the TAG-CO-VAC decisions when changes to vaccine composition may be required. It would be important for vaccine manufacturers to take steps in the short-term for the development and testing of vaccines with predominant circulating variants and to share these data with the TAG-CO-VAC and other relevant WHO expert committees. Vaccine manufacturers are also encouraged to provide such data for any novel and broadly reactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that are developed.
The TAG-CO-VAC will continue to assess evidence on the predominant circulating VOC(s) with respect to properties of spread/transmissibility, clinical severity (virulence), genetic, antigenic and phenotypic characteristics of the VOC, including capacity for immune escape and assessments of vaccine effectiveness and impact, and information provided by manufacturers. The TAG-CO-VAC will then advise WHO on COVID-19 vaccine strain composition, which could potentially be developed either as a monovalent vaccine with the predominant circulating variant or a multivalent vaccine derived from different variants.
Addressing the challenge of continuing to ensure the production of the best possible vaccines in a timely manner requires a continuous exchange of information and collaboration between WHO and its expert groups, the TAG-CO-VAC, regulatory authorities, and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers. WHO, on behalf of its Member States, is committed to facilitating this process.
This statement and its conclusions will be updated by the TAG-CO-VAC as data become available.
[1] The functions of the TAG CO VAC are to:
[2] Accounting for population demographics and prior vaccine or infection induced immunity
[4] The third version of the Target Product Profile for COVID-19 vaccines published on 29 April 2020 is currently under revision.
