Category: Covid-19

Since its return, Broadway has required eligible audiences, crews, performers and other staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19. This week, the Broadway League, a trade association for the industry, began enforcing a new vaccination and mask policy for children. The precautions are designed to ensure the show goes on in an industry that is a vital to New York City's economy and supports about 97,000 jobs, according to the Broadway League. The group said Broadway contributed $14.7 billion to the city's economy in the 2018-2019 season."Aladdin" became the first Broadway show known to cancel performances due to Covid-19 when it called off multiple shows in September.

'Hamilton'

"Our highest priority is always the health and safety of every cast, crew, and audience member," the show said on Twitter.

"We will have more information on upcoming performances as soon as possible. On behalf of everyone at Hamilton, we apologize for the disappointment and for any inconvenience this may cause," the show said.

Hamilton was one of the first Broadway shows to reopen in September following the pandemic shutdown.

'Ain't Too Proud'

The Temptations musical "Ain't Too Proud" canceled its Tuesday night Broadway performance "out of an abundance of caution ... due to a breakthrough Covid-19 case," the show said.

'Freestyle Love Supreme'

"The wellness of our cast, crew, and guests is of the utmost importance. We apologize for the inconvenience," the show said.

'Doubtfire'

"Daily testing of everyone at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre allows the opportunity to isolate anyone who tests positive for the wellness and safety of audiences, cast, crew and theatre staff," a statement from the production said.

'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'

The Wednesday matinee performance of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was canceled, but the evening show was expected to go on.

"We will enchant you another time," the show said.

'Tina'

"Tina," the Tina Turner musical, called off both scheduled performances Wednesday "due to the detection of a limited number of positive covid test results within the Broadway company," the production said.

Shows were expected to resume Thursday.

CNN's Alison Kosik contributed to this report.

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These are some of the Broadway performances canceled over Covid-19 - CNN

The rise in COVID-19 cases is becoming an increasing concern throughout the NHL.

In just over 36 hours (from early Monday to Tuesday evening), nearly 30 players and staff members were added to the league's COVID-19 protocols. Tuesday's game between the Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes was postponed because of COVID-19, one day after the Calgary Flames' season was put on pause amid an organizational outbreak.

The situation is subject to change at any time. Here, Emily Kaplan, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski, answer some of the questions about where the NHL is at, what might be in store for the season and how COVID-19 worries could impact the NHL's Olympics participation.

Greg Wyshynski: As of Wednesday night, the NHL has postponed 10 games this season because of "mini-clusters" of outbreaks on four specific teams. The Ottawa Senators had three games postponed (at New Jersey, at home against the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers) from Nov. 16-20. The New York Islanders had two road games scratched on Nov. 28 (Rangers) and 30 (Philadelphia Flyers).

The NHL paused the Calgary Flames' season before the team was about to embark on a U.S. road trip, postponing games in Chicago on Monday and Nashville on Tuesday as well as home games against Toronto on Thursday and Columbus on Saturday. Finally, the Carolina Hurricanes' game at the Minnesota Wild was postponed Tuesday.

Emily Kaplan: The NHL is implementing enhanced protocols through at least Jan. 7, sources told ESPN Wednesday afternoon.

The decision came after the NHL, NHLPA and their doctors held conference calls on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, following a rash of COVID cases across the league.

Under the enhanced protocols -- which NHL players experienced for all of last season -- players will be tested daily instead of every third day, according to sources. All team personnel will be required to wear face masks at facilities, meetings will be held virtually, and everyone will be asked to limit all social interactions outside of the hotel, rink or home. The NHL currently only has one player who is not vaccinated, Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi.

The NHL has recommended the booster shot, and many players have already received it. However the league does not intend to mandate a booster shot at this time, sources tell ESPN.

Emily Kaplan: As of now, the NHL is not considering a pause. The league views that as a last resort. Especially since most players who are testing positive have mild to no symptoms, the league is figuring out a way to play through the rash of cases.

ESPN.com: Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Tippett was placed in protocol after the team's loss Tuesday night. A number of Carolina Hurricanes players, including Sebastian Aho, are currently in protocol and the team's game Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild was postponed. Boston Bruins forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith were placed in protocol on Tuesday and Patrice Bergeron was added Wednesday.

The Calgary Flames have had a number of players in the protocol and have had three games postponed. They added 17 total team members to the league's protocols on Wednesday, including head coach Darryl Sutter (seven players, three coaches and seven support staff members).

Kristen Shilton: The situation this season is quite different from last season's.

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First of all, the entire NHL is vaccinated, save for Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who has refused to receive the vaccine. So while players and staff members have tested positive, the symptoms being reported by individuals have widely been either very mild or nonexistent.

By comparison, when COVID-19 ripped through 25 members of the Vancouver Canucks' organization last spring, several players and coach Travis Green were felled by debilitating symptoms.

Some players, like Milan Lucic, have also received their booster shots already (although Lucic still tested positive this week). More players may follow suit and receive their third doses sooner rather than later.

To that end, fully vaccinated players and employees haven't been subject to the same rigorous protocols as they were before. Last season, dressing rooms were more spaced out, players were expected to be masked at all times and to practice physical distancing. Now, fully vaccinated players are not beholden to those same parameters, which doesn't help at times like these, when the virus is suddenly spreading rapidly.

Then, of course, there's more travel for every NHL team this season. That results in more interactions with other people, more potential spread and more difficulties with containment.

And as one player noted Tuesday night, many guys have partners and children in contact with more people than they were last year. Schools have been back in session across the board and some offices have reopened. Those interactions create more potential exposures for players that weren't there before, when virtual learning and work from home was prominent.

Basically, there's no single culprit in this. But it may benefit the NHL to ramp up protocols again until the spread of the coronavirus settles down.

Kristen Shilton: There are different provisions in Canada vs. the U.S. if a player/staff member tests positive.

The NHL's COVID-19 protocol dictates that wherever a person is when they test positive is where that person must quarantine at the designated local hotel. However, the Canadian government requires a 14-day quarantine for any positive test. For example, Carolina Hurricanes forwards Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis plus a team staffer were forced to remain in Vancouver (and potentially stay there for two weeks) after testing positive during the Hurricanes' stop against the Canucks.

By comparison, when Hurricanes teammates Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Ian Cole and Steven Lorentz subsequently tested positive in Minnesota, they were sent to isolate in a hotel only "for the time being," according to the team.

As of Wednesday morning, the Hurricanes were developing a plan that could potentially involve using emergency medical transport to return the trio in Vancouver to Raleigh. The hope would be to settle on a way forward in the next day or so, but it remains a tricky situation to manage.

Hurricanes' GM Don Waddell told The Athletic on Tuesday that as far as getting everyone back home, "Those are details we're working on right now, because now we've got three guys there and four guys in Minnesota. Maybe we can bring them all home together."

Greg Wyshynski: From the NHL's perspective, the players' participation in the Beijing Olympics was collectively bargained last year, and they're sticking to that commitment -- provided there isn't a "material disruption" for the 2021-22 regular season because of COVID-19. Bettman said the league would pull the chute on their participation "if it became clear that we couldn't reschedule without doing something else, including [using] some portion of the break." The NHL isn't saying what its threshold is for a "material disruption" of the season, except that we're not there yet.

Cast your vote to determine the captain for each division's team for the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. Fans can submit up to 10 ballots per day at NHL.com and via the NHL app.

From the players' perspective, the concern is about getting COVID-19 while participating in the Olympics. According to the current "playbook" given to athletes by the Beijing Organizing Committee, a symptomatic player would be taken to a hospital there, while an asymptomatic player would go to an isolation center.

Asymptomatic athletes will be discharged after two consecutive negative COVID-19 test results at least 24 hours apart if they continue to exhibit no symptoms, although they'll face increased COVID-19 protocols. But it's the athletes who exhibit symptoms who could be in for a rather lengthy stay in China.

Athletes can be discharged from the hospital when their body temperature returns to normal for three consecutive days; their respiratory symptoms improve significantly, including documented improvement through lung imaging; they have two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests within 24 hours of each other; and they exhibit no other COVID-19 symptoms. After that, they'll still need a Chinese medical expert panel's approval to be discharged.

While it's not spelled out in the playbook, the NHLPA has communicated to players that the quarantine time for a symptomatic player in a hospital could be between three weeks and five weeks. Granted, recovery time could be faster, but this is the realistic range the players are hearing from the union -- especially since any discharge from quarantine requires the medical panel's approval.

That could mean over a month and a half away from loved ones in a quarantine facility in China, but it could also have a significant financial impact. Per the NHL and NHLPA agreement, players who contract COVID-19 while in Beijing will not be paid for any missed practices or games after the NHL Olympic break. There's an International Ice Hockey Federation fund, reportedly worth $5 million, to cover that lost salary. But once that's gone, players wouldn't be compensated for lost time.

The NHLPA is still waiting to hear from the Beijing organizers on a few matters, like the location of these quarantine facilities. But it's also waiting to get clarity on whether an infected athlete -- or an injured one -- can leave China to rehab back in North America.

Greg Wyshynski: It was believed that Jan. 10, 2022, was going to be a critical date on NHL participation, as any pullout following that day would mean financial penalties for the league. But deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Jan. 10 "has to do with financial responsibility for costs at that given point and time," and that a decision can be made beyond that date.

NHLPA executive director Don Fehr hopes for clarity by Jan. 10. "I would like to be able to say by that date. But even if it's yes, it's contingent on nothing changing [after that]," he said. "The plan is now that we go, unless something happens which causes us to reassess."

Of course, the longer this uncertainty goes, the more participating nations in the Beijing men's hockey tournament need to formulate a Plan B. Team USA GM Bill Guerin and his team are keeping an eye on AHL and NCAA players and those who play in international leagues for a hastily constructed alternate team -- although they obviously hope the NHL players are the ones making the trip. For Canada, look no further than the upcoming Channel One Cup for a glimpse at what their Plan B roster could look like: former NHLers like Ryan Spooner, Eric Fehr and Jason Demers, led by former Canadiens coach Claude Julien and Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton.

Greg Wyshynski: Some will be made up in the course of the season. Of the nine games postponed as of Tuesday night, two had been rescheduled. Unfortunately, the Olympic break provides the most room to wiggle. The NHL decided not to pad the end of its season with time to make up postponed games, as it did in the 2021 season. The last day of the regular season is April 29. The Stanley Cup playoffs begin on May 2. That date could be fluid, but in the first year of a new television deal with two U.S. networks, it's probably not ideal to push the postseason any further into the summer. Currently, June 30 is the date for a potential Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final.

How much could the league cram into the Olympic break? There is a "shadow schedule" created by the NHL that includes a one-week break -- gotta allow those non-Olympic, non-All-Star players their planned trips to Maui with the fam -- and some games move up from later in the season. But building availability is a problem. The NHL encouraged its arenas not to book events during the Olympic break, on the off chance the players don't go to Beijing. But arenas have been taking massive financial hits during the pandemic, too, and used that time to reschedule tours and book other acts.

Madison Square Garden, for example, has 11 concerts from artists ranging from Billie Eilish to Elton John, plus three Knicks games during the NHL break. Staples Center has 16 events, including Lakers and Clippers games and three days of concerts held in conjunction with the Super Bowl.

Kristen Shilton: At this point, only goalie Robin Lehner -- a lock for Team Sweden -- has publicly stated he would decline an invitation to participate in the Olympics.

But other stars around the league have begun commenting on some of the uncertainty and the possibility of a lengthy quarantine in China amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Hosts Linda Cohn and Emily Kaplan bring their hockey expertise and passion for the sport, discussing the latest news around the league as well as interviewing the biggest names both on and off the ice. Listen here

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, one of three players already named to Team Canada, told reporters on Tuesday that when it comes to the Olympics, "It's obviously going to be a very fluid situation. There hasn't been a ton of information [coming] out, and then there's that three- to five-week [quarantine] thing. It's kind of been floating around. Obviously, it's unsettling if that were to be the case when you go over there."

Still, the desire to represent his country remained strong for McDavid.

"I'm still a guy that's wanting to go play in the Olympics," he said. "But we also want to make sure it's safe for everybody. For all the athletes, not just for hockey players."

Alex Pietrangelo, who was also named to Team Canada, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday his concerns are mounting.

"I've got four kids that are under the age of three and a half," he said. "For me to be potentially locked up there for five weeks plus the Olympics, that's a long time being away from my family. I'm not going to make a decision until we get all the answers, because those are kind of hard to come by right now. So, we're all kind of sitting and waiting."

Also on Monday, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, who was selected to Team Canada for the 2014 Games in Sochi, shared his own hesitation about going to Beijing.

"I think we all hope to go, but clearly I think things are a little bit more uneasy than they were," he told reporters. "There are definitely some questions that we want to look into and have answered. Obviously there's going to be some hurdles and some challenges with where things stand. I'm probably a little more uneasy than I was a number of weeks ago, or a few months ago."

Meanwhile, Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, likely in the mix for Sweden, told reporters Wednesday that if things remain the same as far as a quarantine in China for those who test positive, he "likely won't be going" to the Olympics.

It seems likely more players will continue chiming in after the recent wave of positive cases throughout the NHL.

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Latest updates on the NHL and COVID-19: Postponements, protocols, the Olympics and more - ESPN

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 272.3 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has passed 5.33 million. More than 8.59 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Some British hospitals are struggling to maintain staffing levels due to the number who are having to isolate with COVID-19, a senior emergency doctor said on Thursday. Britain on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with a further 78,610 COVID-19 infections reported.

South Korea said on Thursday it will reinstate stricter social distancing rules a month-and-a-half after easing them under a 'living with COVID-19' policy. The number of new infections and serious cases is growing rapidly in South Korea. Curbs will return from Saturday to Jan. 2, limiting gatherings to no more than four people - as long as they are fully vaccinated - and forcing restaurants, cafes and bars to close by 9 p.m.

South Africa's National Coronavirus Command Council has retained its lockdown at 'adjusted level 1', or the lowest of a five-tier system of restrictions, in the battle on the Omicron variant, health authorities said on Thursday. In the past few days, South Africa has reported more than 20,000 new daily COVID-19 infections, but its scientists see no sign yet that the variant causes more severe illness.

Sweden will require visitors from other Nordic nations to have a vaccine pass to cross the border as it gradually tightens restrictions in the face of rising numbers of COVID-19 infections and worries about the Omicron variant, the government said on Thursday. Sweden has seen new infections jump in recent days. It has reintroduced a limited number of measures and authorities said further steps would be needed if infections kept rising.

Danish health authorities on Thursday approved treatment with Merck & Co Inc's molnupiravir tablet for COVID-19 patients at risk of serious illness, including the elderly. The medication has yet to be approved by the European Medical Agency,

Indonesia is working hard to stem the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant after detecting its first case, its President Joko Widodo said Thursday. In a public address, the president urged people to diligently enforce health protocols, and local governments to accelerate testing and contact tracing.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

France will increase controls on travellers arriving from Britain after a steep rise there in infections linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant, the government said on Thursday.

The measures include reducing the validity of antigen and PCR tests to 24 hours from 48 hours for arriving travellers and limiting reasons to travel from Britain to France.

"We are going to put in place a control... even more drastic than what is currently in place," government spokesman Gabriel Attal told BFM television.

"Tourism and business travel for people who are not French nationals nor Europeans, people who are not French residents will be limited," he said.

Travellers from Britain arriving in France will have to self-isolate for seven days, though isolation will be lifted after 48 hours if their test conducted in France is negative.

These restrictions until now applied only to non-vaccinated travellers from Britain.

"Our goal is to limit as much as possible the spread of Omicron across our territory," Attal said, adding there were currently 240 confirmed Omicron cases in France.

France on Wednesday reported 65,713 new coronavirus infections over 24 hours, bringing total cases since the start of the epidemic to 8.4 million. Total deaths in France since the start of the epidemic reached 120,983

The first human trial of a COVID-19 vaccine was administered this week.

CEPI, launched at the World Economic Forum, provided funding support for the Phase 1 study. The organization this week announced their seventh COVID-19 vaccine project in the fight against the pandemic.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched in 2017 at the Forum's Annual Meeting bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and to enable access to these vaccines during outbreaks.

Coalitions like CEPI are made possible through public-private partnerships. The World Economic Forum is the trusted global platform for stakeholder engagement, bringing together a range of multistakeholders from business, government and civil society to improve the state of the world.

Organizations can partner with the Forum to contribute to global health solutions. Contact us to find out how.

Euro zone business growth has slowed more than expected this month as renewed restrictions imposed to curb the Omicron coronavirus variant curtail the recovery in the bloc's dominant services industry, a survey showed on Thursday.

Europe is facing a fourth wave of infections and many governments have been encouraging citizens to stay home and avoid unnecessary social contact.

IHS Markit's Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, a good indicator of overall economic health, dropped to 53.4 in December from 55.4 in November, its lowest since March and below the 54.0 predicted in a Reuters poll.

That headline number was dragged down by the services PMI, which sank to an eight-month low of 53.3 from 55.9. While above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction it missed the Reuters poll estimate for 54.1.

"The euro zone economy is being dealt yet another blow from COVID-19, with rising infection levels dampening growth in the service sector, in particular, to result in a disappointing end to 2021," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: Top news stories about the coronavirus pandemic on 16 December - World Economic Forum

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Factbox: COVID-19 and the U.S. courts: challenges to Biden vaccine rules - Reuters

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) There were 513 new total COVID-19 cases reported by the South Dakota Department of Health on Thursday, bringing the states total case count to 173,257, up from Wednesday (172,744).

The number of active cases reported on Thursday is at 7,080, up from Wednesday (7,065).

There were 11 new deaths reported, bringing the total to 2,430. While the difference in Wednesday and Thursdays total deaths is 11, there are 8 new deaths reported in the female category and 6 new deaths in the male category.

Current hospitalizations are at 268, down from Wednesday (271). Total hospitalizations are at 8,831, up from Wednesday (8,801).

Total recovered cases are now at 163,747, up from Wednesday (163,260).

The DOH currently reports total tests each day. There have been 1,772,710 total tests reported as of Thursday, up 4,998 from 1,767,712 total tests reported on Wednesday.

The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate for the state is 13.5% for Dec. 7 13.

Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 65 are listed as having high or substantial community spread. High community spread is 100 cases or greater per 100,000 or a 10% or greater PCR test positivity rate.

There have been 1,157 Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2, AY.1-AY.25) detected in South Dakota through sentinel monitoring. There have been 176 cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), 3 cases of P.1. (Gamma variant) and 2 cases of the B.1.351 (Beta variant).

On November 24, the South Dakota Department of Health updated how it reports the percent of the population getting vaccinated. To align with the vaccine-eligible population, the Department of Health is including children who are 5-11 years old. The state says there was a decrease of 7% from the 12+ year old population.

As of Thursday, 66.20% the population 5-years-old and above has received at least one dose while 54.81% have completed the vaccination series. 23.13% of those eligible have completed their booster dose.

There have been 594,356 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered, 426,050 of the Moderna vaccine and 34,986 doses of the Janssen vaccine.

There have been 168,123 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna. There have been 238,016 persons who have received two doses of Pfizer.

As for booster doses, 82,666 people have received a 3rd Pfizer shot, 65,390 have received a 3rd Moderna dose and 1,882 have received a Janssen booster.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 513 total new cases; Death toll rises to 2,430; Active cases at 7,080 - KELOLAND.com

This recent outbreak follows a national trend of rising Covid-19 cases before the holiday season as an average of close to 120,000 new Covid-19 cases are being diagnosed each day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University -- 50% more than a month ago.

In the DA's office, the uptick of Covid-19 cases "has caused significant staffing shortages, disruptions to the department's practice, and other challenges," Sard explained in her letter, which the office shared with CNN.

It's unclear how many staff members tested positive and a representative of the district attorney's office would not elaborate on the impact of the outbreak.

Some of the positive employees have experienced mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19, the administrative assistant said.

Staff members who tested positive must quarantine, and numerous staff of the impacted department have been asked not to come into the office for work out of an abundance of caution, Sard said.

"The health and safety of our staff continues to be of paramount importance, and it is with this in mind that we are instructing all bureaus, units and departments to cancel any on-site holiday or social gatherings through the end of the year," the letter said.

The letter instructs employees to stay home and gets tested if they feel unwell, as well as following protective measures such as masking indoors while in the office and get vaccine boosters.

"We urge you to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster right now if you still have not received one. A number of studies emphasize the protective effect of booster vaccination against severe COVID illness and variants such as Delta and Omicron," Sard said.

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Covid-19 outbreak at Manhattan District Attorney's office after offsite holiday party causes shortages and disruptions - CNN

With the world facing the latest in a seemingly endless stream of coronavirus variants and with bullish talk from manufacturers about a need for even more vaccine shots you wouldnt be alone if you were wondering: Are Covid boosters always going to be a fixture in our future?

The simple truth is that, at this point, theres no definitive answer to that question.

But virologists, immunologists, and vaccinologists have opinions that are anchored in an understanding of how the immune system works and in emerging data on how Covid vaccines engage with this complicated enterprise that has evolved to help humans fend off disease threats.

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STAT asked a number of these experts whether they think we face a future of endless Covid boosting. In the main, their answers were more reassuring than we expected.

Some said they think three doses of vaccine may protect many people for some time against the worst of Covids potential ravages. Many said they think the benefit of the third shot, given after a six-month interval, will turbocharge immune responses.

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Interestingly, a number said they think that even if we end up needing more boosters down the line, the messenger RNA vaccines the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that have been the cornerstone of the U.S. vaccine effort to date may not be the vaccines we use for that purpose. Vaccines that cause fewer side effects may be needed if public health authorities want to persuade people to get regular or even sporadic boosters.

Here are some observations and informed theories from nine leading experts in this field.

Ali Ellebedy, an associate professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, studies what happens in the lymph nodes and bone marrow of people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Hes been amazed at how long the first two doses of mRNA vaccine act on the immune system; half a year after the second shot, the response is still maturing. He wouldnt have predicted that, Ellebedy admitted.

There is an ongoing reaction in our lymph nodes thats going for six months. And that reaction, we are showing, that it is actually enhancing the potency of the antibodies, he said. Even before the third dose.

The maturation of the immune response which would be accelerated by a third dose, given after a longer interval brings big benefits. The antibodies we make improve in quality through a process called affinity maturation. They become more capable of recognizing their viral target, even if that target has made changes to its appearance, in the way variants have done.

If you wait six months or more between a priming and boost, what you see is not just a boosting of the immunity that you got from the first vaccine, but you see a broadening of the immune response so that it recognizes other viruses or other variants. Your immune response becomes much more cross-protective, said David Topham, an immunologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center and director of the New York Influenza Center of Excellence.

Florian Krammer, a professor of vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, had been reluctant to get a booster shot, figuring he had solid protection from the two doses of Pfizer he received earlier this year. Better to allocate scarce doses to low-income countries that have had limited access to date to vaccine, he thought.

The emergence of the highly mutated Omicron variant has changed his thinking on the advisability of giving booster shots. But Krammer is not sure what the long-term impact of the third dose will be. We see that you get your booster and you get up to two times, three times the [antibody] level that you had after the second dose. But the question is: How long does it last? How far will it fall? Will the set point be the same? he asked.

Even with booster doses there might be breakthrough infections at some point, said Krammer. And I think the real goal is to get so much immunity in the population that the virus is annoying but not problematic.

Barney Graham has long thought that a delayed third dose would be needed to complete a Covid vaccine series.

An immunologist who was deputy director of the National Institutes of Healths Vaccine Research Center until his retirement at the end of August, Graham led the NIH team that worked on the prototype of the Covid spike protein that many vaccine manufacturers used in their vaccines.

The antibodies induced by delayed third doses will be of higher quality, generating a broader immune response that can more reliably recognize even mutated viruses, such as new variants, he said.

Once you give the [antibody-producing] B cells a chance to mature and then boost them later that type of response tends to make immunity across all these different variants more similar, he said.

Graham also believes as we go forward, our immunity against SARS-CoV-2 may be naturally topped up by occasional exposures to the virus; thats called anamnestic boosting. Neutralizing antibodies will probably decline after the third dose, as they did after the second, so we may get infected by SARS-2 from time to time. But the other facets of the immune response will kick in to stop the virus from descending into the lungs, where it can do serious damage.

So I think that the whole question about durability of immunity is going to have to be determined by three years from now, are people still getting sick or are they relatively well-protected against severe disease regardless of whatever their antibody level is in serum. Because that may wane, but you still have a lot of memory B cells that can rapidly respond, Graham said.

Anthony Fauci, Grahams former boss, agreed, though he didnt rule out the possibility of another booster down the road.

What I think could ultimately happen is that by a prime, second, and then a third boost and who knows, maybe a fourth boost, you get a level of protection that would sort of transform all of this to overwhelmingly an asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection. So that it starts to drift much, much more towards the common cold coronaviruses, said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Marion Pepper and her laboratory at the University of Washington have been working to come up with real world evidence on how well the immunity weve been acquiring protects against SARS-2. They have been following a cohort of people who were vaccinated or who were infected and in some cases were both infected and then vaccinated. Among those vaccinated, some have received two shots; some have received a third. It is an observational study; they did not randomly assign the people they are following to these groups.

Pepper said from what her group is seeing, she expects boosters to give an important window of enhanced protection. But she doesnt think there is limitless benefit from boosting again and again, using the same vaccine strain. She and her team saw, for instance, that people who had been infected, vaccinated, and then boosted did not get much additional benefit from the third dose of vaccine.I think there is a misconception that the immune system can constantly be repetitively elevated such that you dont go back to that same starting point, she said. And in some people, maybe if they didnt have a good first immune response, it will enhance their cell numbers. But for the large majority you end up hitting a set point of memory that doesnt just keep getting bigger every single time you get the same boost.

She suggested vaccinating with another strain of the virus something like the Omicron version, for example might draw new immune cells into the fray and broaden the scope of the protection the vaccine offers. There are, however, many weighty factors to consider in making a decision to change the Covid vaccine.

Other experts have concerns about whether were as far along as Graham and some others hope. Paul Bieniasz, head of the laboratory of retrovirology at Rockefeller University, said the work he and his team have done suggests there is still room to top up immunity in vaccinated people and unfortunately plenty of unvaccinated people who still need protection.Bieniasz had thought, like some of the others cited here, that with booster doses people would start to get the upper hand on the virus. But the emergence of Omicron has shaken his faith that our immune systems are going to take the lead in what he called a genetic arms race.

I was much more confident a couple of weeks ago that the antibodies would have the edge in being able to outstrip the evolutionary capacity of SARS-CoV-2. But I dont think thats completely clear now, he said.

Topham too thinks viral evolution may dictate whether we have future dates with booster shots.

If next week we see the emergence of a variant that can escape the current vaccine, then yes, were going to have to get another shot of an improved vaccine as soon as they can make it, he said.

People likely wont agree to take mRNA vaccines indefinitely

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been game-changers in this pandemic, proving that new vaccines can be designed, tested, and mass-produced within a hitherto unthinkable time. The first syringes containing the Pfizer vaccine began to slide into arms in the United Kingdom and the U.S. about 11 months to the day from when a Chinese scientist posted the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on internationally accessible databases.

The vaccines are extraordinarily protective. Theyre also reactogenic; they can come with a real kick. Some people experience no side effects of note while others have only a sore arm. But a significant portion of people experience headache, fatigue, and malaise; others spike fevers, experience muscle aches, and are wracked with chills. And of course, there is an elevated rate of myocarditis and pericarditis inflammation of heart muscle or tissue around the heart, respectively in some males in their teens and early 20s who get vaccinated with these shots.

In the throes of the pandemic, people have seen these vaccines as the best hedge against a potentially fatal encounter with Covid-19. But as our immunity against the new virus rises, experts like Ellebedy dont think folks will be willing to put up with potentially feeling lousy for a day or two after getting a booster.

People in a pandemic can accept things, but I think if youre talking about a regular vaccine thats not really needed because of a pandemic, Im not sure if people would be more accepting of that, he said.

John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, agreed. I dont think were going to see just a yearly wild-type spike mRNA vaccine every year ad infinitum, he said, suggesting people will likely be drawn to other types of vaccines as boosters down the road, if we need them.

Currently in the U.S. the only other vaccine option is the one manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, which has not been a popular draw. Less than 4% of vaccine doses administered in the country have been J&Js vaccine. But it is conceivable other vaccines with fewer side effects will become available here.

Novavax and the partnership of Sanofi and GSK are both producing recombinant protein vaccines that are thought to be highly promising. Novavax, which has struggled to produce vaccine at commercial scale, has been given an emergency use authorization by Indonesia and other countries are expected to follow suit. Novavax has filed with regulatory authorities in Canada and the European Union, among others, and has said it expects to file for an EUA from the Food and Drug Administration. The Sanofi-GSK vaccine is still in Phase 3 testing.

Recombinant protein vaccines are generally not as reactogenic as mRNA vaccines.

If you get two vaccines and both work and one you know makes you feel sick for a day, and the other one doesnt, you know who wins, right? Krammer said of the prospects for another type of vaccine to make inroads in the U.S. booster shot market.Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, thinks we will likely need vaccines that are administered differently if we want to prevent Covid infections. She and colleagues last week published a paper in Science on pre-clinical study of an intranasally administered vaccine. Early data from Israel is showing that the third dose, even though it provides a very effective protection, it also does wane, Iwasaki said. So its not like the third dose will fix antibody response forever. Thats kind of hard to ask any vaccine to do that.Developing a vaccine that aims to arm the mucosal tissues of the upper respiratory tract with immune protection would stop SARS-2 at its point of entry, not after it is rampaging through our cells. Its really like putting the guard outside the door as opposed to inside the door, she said.

The early estimates of the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines to prevent infections in the 95% range created unrealistic expectations about what Covid vaccines would be able to do over the long-term in blocking all infections. As months pass from vaccination, weve seen declines in neutralizing antibody levels and an increase in breakthrough infections among the vaccinated a phenomenon that seems to be accelerating with the spread of the Omicron variant.

But make no mistake. The vaccines are working. In the vaccinated, hospitalizations and deaths triggered by Covid infections have plummeted. Those are the performance metrics we need to be keeping our eyes on, said Wherry.

We are currently hyper-aware hyper-aware of infections. And the reaction to these infections in at least vaccinated people is disproportionate with their consequences right now, he told STAT. To me, its the wrong mindset.

Wherry said he knows people who have been vaccinated and have later become infected. Im walking the dogs and they complain to me, Great vaccine. And I just turn and say When did you have Covid? And they said Two days ago.

His response? Really? Yeah, its a great vaccine.

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Will we always need Covid-19 boosters? Experts have theories - STAT - STAT

For immediate release: December 15, 2021(21-249)

Contact: DOH Communications

Public inquiries: State COVID-19 Information Hotline, 1-800-525-0127

Dozens of cases impacting several counties in Washington

OLYMPIA The Washington State Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with several local public health jurisdictions, is investigating multiple outbreaks of COVID-19 among vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, connected to high school wrestling tournaments. The number of cases linked to the events is estimated to be between 80 and 90, but as this investigation is ongoing, the total may change.As of 11 a.m. Dec. 15, DOH has confirmed three cases connected to the outbreaks are the omicron variant.

The impacted wrestling tournaments all happened on Dec. 4, 2021 and include:

Counties that had high school(s) in attendance include Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Skagit, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston, Whatcom, and Yakima. A high school in Oregon also sent participants.

Over the coming days, local health jurisdictions will likely send out notifications to the impacted schools with further guidance for next steps. DOH recommends that anyone who attended these events as a participant, coach, official, support staff, or spectator should monitor for symptoms and get tested for COVID-19. Further, anyone with symptoms or who tests positive should stay home from work, school, childcare or social activities.

This outbreak serves as a clear reminder that COVID-19 continues to spread in our communities. The best protection against it is to get vaccinated, and then for those 16 years and older to get a booster shot as soon as they are eligible. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and should start their two-shot series immediately. COVID-19 prevention measures that are part of statewide K-12 requirements and sports guidance include consistent and proper mask wearing. These requirements state, Universal masking is required indoors at all times when not actively practicing or competing.

A team of DOH epidemiologists, in collaboration with local health jurisdiction epidemiologists, is working on gathering more information about these events and the corresponding COVID-19 cases. This is a dynamic situation and evolving investigation, and we will share updates as we learn more.

The DOHwebsite is your source for a healthy dose of information. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Sign up for the DOH blog,Public Health Connection.

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COVID-19 outbreaks traced to high school wrestling tournaments - Washington State Department of Health

For a moment in early 2020, it seemed like we might get a break from capitalism.

A novel coronavirus was sweeping the globe, and leaders and experts recommended that the US pay millions of people to stay home until the immediate crisis was over. These people wouldnt work. Theyd hunker down, take care of their families, and isolate themselves to keep everyone safe. With almost the whole economy on pause, the virus would stop spreading, and Americans could soon go back to normalcy with relatively little loss of life.

Obviously, that didnt happen.

Instead, white-collar workers shifted over to Zoom (often with kids in the background), and everybody else was forced to keep showing up to their jobs in the face of a deadly virus. Hundreds of thousands died, countless numbers descended into depression and burnout, and a grim new standard was set: Americans keep working, even during the apocalypse.

Now its been nearly two years since the beginning of the pandemic a time that has also encompassed an attempted coup, innumerable extreme weather events likely tied to climate change, and ongoing police violence against Black Americans and weve been expected to show up to work through all of it. I dont think people are well, says Riana Elyse Anderson, a clinical and community psychologist and professor at the University of Michigans School of Public Health. We are moving along but we are certainly not well.

For some Americans, working during the apocalypse is fatal think of the transit workers who died from Covid-19 in 2020, or the Amazon warehouse workers killed by a tornado on December 10 in Illinois. All disasters are workplace disasters for some people, said Jacob Remes, a historian and the director of the Initiative for Critical Disaster Studies at New York University. For others, the effects are more of a slow burn; the chronic stress that comes with putting on a game face at work, day in and day out, as the world becomes ever more terrifying.

Of course, Americans havent all quietly accepted the demand that we work through the end times. Record numbers are quitting their jobs in search of higher pay and better conditions. After more than 20 months of being asked to keep showing up uncomplainingly while everything crumbles around them, people are demanding a more humane approach to work in the age of interlocking crises.

A disaster, whether its the pandemic or climate change or the existential threat to democracy or all of the above, can help us to understand the ordinary structures of work differently, Remes said. The conditions we find ourselves in today, dark as they are, are an opportunity to remake American culture around an ethic of care rather than productivity, so that we can face the next disaster together rather than being forced to ride it out in isolated cubicles.

Since the pandemic began, workers in America have faced compounding and continuous crises, Anderson said. Theres the threat of the virus itself, which has taken a devastating toll on front-line workers, with line cooks, warehouse employees, and agricultural workers at especially high risk of death in 2020. The first waves of the virus also brought economic hardship in the form of job insecurity, slashed hours, and depleted savings, anxieties that fell especially hard on Black and Latinx workers who had less wealth than white ones to begin with, and who were less likely to receive federal assistance in the form of PPP loans.

As Covid-19 raged, Americans witnessed the murder of George Floyd and ongoing police violence against Black Americans, a reminder that the pandemic was not the only threat to Black life, as Anderson put it. At the same time, then-President Donald Trump refused to say whether hed accept the results of the 2020 election, stoking widespread fear over the fate of American democracy. Then, when he did lose the election, his followers stormed the Capitol in an insurrection that left five people dead.

That day, a tweet asking if we were really supposed to be working during the coup went viral, as workers questioned whether we were still expected to be productive while the highest levels of American government appeared to be crumbling before our eyes.

This is the black heart of productivity culture: the maniacal focus on the individual capacity to produce elides the external forces that could (and should!) short-circuit our concentration and work ethic, Anne Helen Petersen, co-author of the book Out of Office, wrote at the time. If we had time and space to process the tragedies of daily life, if we gave ourselves permission for deep empathy then maybe wed have the fortitude and will to fight for the changes that would actually make the world less traumatic.

Then the coup was over. Some companies gave employees extra days off, or expanded mental health options, or yoga classes. But mostly, it was business as usual. The answer to whether Americans were expected to work during the coup was: basically, yeah.

Since then, the crises have kept compounding. A new variant of the coronavirus stalks the globe, stoking fear and uncertainty in leaders and ordinary people alike. Tornadoes killed at least 90 people across six states in December in what one federal official warned will be the new normal due to climate change. American democracy looks ever more at risk, with experts warning that the country is sleepwalking toward a future in which votes no longer matter.

Workers havent just been sitting still through all this: Theyve been quitting jobs in record numbers all year long. Those numbers have included many low-wage workers who left for better-paying jobs, as the Atlantics Derek Thompson reports. Indeed, workers next year could experience the biggest pay increase since 2008. Thousands are also striking or joining unions to take back at least some power from their employers. And Americans from office workers to Olympians are speaking out about the importance of prioritizing their mental health.

However, talk of the so-called Great Resignation often ignores the experiences of people who might want to quit but dont have the savings (or inherited wealth) to risk walking out on a job, Anderson noted. Meanwhile, even if wages are rising, that doesnt mean employers or the country at large have figured out how to handle work in an age of constant disaster.

At the extreme end, the expectation that people keep working no matter whats going on around them can lead to their deaths. Some workers at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory in Kentucky said they were told they would be fired if they left their posts, even as deadly tornadoes approached. They and workers at an Illinois Amazon warehouse were, in effect, compelled to work by the almost sovereign power of their respective employers, with horrific consequences for them, their families and their communities, Jamelle Bouie wrote in the New York Times.

The pressures of work in the 21st century can also have subtler effects. For example, environmental and labor economist R. Jisung Park and his team have found that extreme heat, a more common occurrence thanks to climate change, leads to an increase in workplace injuries like falls and chemical spills. If youre in a baseline dangerous working environment, temperature is just one of many variables that might just make it incrementally harder to sustain focus and avoid injury, Park said.

Thats true not just in outdoor occupations like construction or agriculture, but in workplaces like warehouses that may lack air conditioning or other climate control, Park added.

Then there are the emotional and psychological consequences of trying to get your job done, day in and day out, during unceasingly chaotic times. Because of the pandemic and climate change, people are being forced to continually evaluate and reevaluate their risk tolerance, Remes said. Is it safe to eat in a restaurant? To send a child to day care? To take the subway?

Making these kinds of calculations all the time is exhausting and takes a toll on mental health. The constant, low-level stress of slow-moving disasters like the melting polar ice caps can make everything more difficult, including work, Remes said. It makes it harder for people to be productive, because theyre worrying about their basement flooding.

Seventy percent of respondents in one September survey said they were anxious or stressed about work, and 81 percent said they were more burnt out than at the start of the pandemic. Among Americans of color, who have experienced many of the pandemics interlocking crises most acutely, depression and anxiety and stress are spiking in ways that are disproportionate to their peers, Anderson said.

Companies have made some effort to acknowledge the problem. As Petersen notes, many white-collar employers have sent out emails to workers along the lines of feel free to take some time if you need to.

Such messages can ring hollow, though, when every day is more frightening than the next after more than 20 months of a pandemic, how do we even know when we need to take time? Moreover, those who need a break the most are probably the least likely to be offered one nobody in the Mayfield factory was given the opportunity to take time.

Experts say whats needed is, at minimum, a new approach to employee well-being and, at a maximum, a full rethinking of the meaning of work in America.

Companies can start by taking the onus off individual employees and offering time off to everyone in difficult times. Even if management encourages people to take time off, employees may fear repercussions if they actually do it, Anderson pointed out plus theyll be coming back to a mountain of work on their return. A better strategy is to simply give time off to all employees without requiring them to request it. Nike, for example, gave all office employees a week off earlier this year, and Bumble and LinkedIn enacted similar policies.

Beyond time off, more companies are also offering wellness perks from art classes to visits from therapy dogs, said Rebecca Rice, a professor of communication studies at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, who studies how organizations work during emergencies. Such extras can be nice, but ultimately theyre a temporary fix to a broader feeling of everyone being overextended, Rice said.

Employers need to understand that todays slate of overlapping crises is a new normal that perhaps requires different standards, Rice explained. That means having honest conversations with employees about what work is necessary and a priority and what work is not for right now. That could mean a daily meeting happens only three days a week or never.

These conversations are starting to happen in white-collar workplaces but have yet to permeate as much into lower-wage and service-sector work. While more companies institute time off for office workers, some Amazon warehouse employees say the company uses a high-tech monitoring system to watch their every move and goad them into working faster.

Tighter labor regulations, including those governing work in extreme weather, could help protect workers whose employers have not so far shown an interest in protecting them. More broadly, the disasters of the last two years should prompt a reexamination of what work is really for, some say. For Remes, the pandemic has shown the importance of care labor, from teaching to elder care to nursing. That should actually be the essential thing that we do with our lives, he said. Everything else should support that as opposed to that care and maintenance supporting the production of consumer goods.

Reorienting the American economy around care would mean fairly compensating workers in fields like child care and elder care, which routinely pay poverty-level wages. It would also mean providing other workers with the paid leave, flexibility, and reasonable schedules necessary for them to attend to their own care responsibilities at home.

Overall, surviving the disasters of the 21st century will require a new kind of strength from Americans not the dogged persistence to keep doing our jobs while the world falls down around us, but the empathy and generosity to come together to stop the collapse. As Remes put it, nothing is possible when we all have to pretend to be independent all the time.

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From Covid-19 to climate change, Americans are still working through the pandemic - Vox.com

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Football Team, already impacted by injuries, continues to add players to the reserve/COVID-19 list at a time when it can least afford to lose depth.

Washington has placed 17 players on the COVID list this week -- including eight on Wednesday and three more on Thursday -- bringing its total to 21 as it prepares to play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Both teams are 6-7, with Washington holding the seventh and final playoff spot with four games remaining. Coach Ron Rivera said he has not heard any discussions about possibly canceling the game.

Of those 21 players, 11 were possible starters Sunday. Washington also has 13 players on injured reserve (two players are on both lists), leaving the team having to piece together a lineup for a game that impacts its playoff fate.

The latest additions Thursday included starting safety Kamren Curl and starting center Tyler Larsen. Keith Ismael, Larsen's backup at center, also was placed on the COVID list.

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"We're in meetings and one of the guys told me someone else had it, it's like, 'Here's another one; there's another one,'" guard Brandon Scherff said Wednesday. "Like coach Rivera said, 'Next man up.' It's a big opportunity for them to show everyone what they've got."

Washington's strength has been its defensive line, but as of now that group is decimated. Of the top six linemen on the active roster, five are on the COVID list; only tackle Daron Payne remains fine.

Another lineman, end Montez Sweat, is also on the list but remains on injured reserve with a fractured jaw. Sweat would have played last week had he not tested positive for the coronavirus. He is eligible to come off the list Saturday, but that would require him to then play in a game for the first time since Oct. 31 without the benefit of a practice.

Several players could come off the list later this week, including defensive ends James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill, both of whom missed Sunday's loss to Dallas. Defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Tim Settle also could come off the list. All four players must test negative twice in a 48-hour span to return. Some of the affected players, including Allen and Settle, had not shown symptoms as of Tuesday night.

Washington signed a possible reinforcement for the defensive line Thursday, adding veteran Akeem Spence.

Rivera said he is not concerned for himself, despite the high number of positives. Rivera, who battled cancer last year, had said in August that he was immunocompromised and was frustrated with the pace of his players getting vaccinated.

But this week he said he already has received his booster shot and wears a mask when in a crowd or around other people. The current situation goes well beyond what they anticipated, Rivera said.

"Nobody expected this [Omicron] variant," he said. "Because it's spreading so quickly around the league right now, that almost feels like a matter of time. I don't think anybody expected it to be like this. Our thought might be that guys that hadn't gotten vaccinated might have come down with it at some point or another, not that it would be a crossover."

Rivera said he did not know for sure that the players testing positive have the new variant. Rather, he said he was speculating given the rapid spread.

Washington only has two healthy tight ends on the roster -- Ricky Seals-Jones and rookie John Bates. Its top corner, Kendall Fuller, will miss Sunday because he was placed on the COVID list. Two key offensive players, receiver Terry McLaurin and running back J.D. McKissic, are in the concussion protocol.

If McLaurin can't play, his replacement, Cam Sims, likely will be unavailable as well. He was put on the COVID list Wednesday. Receiver Curtis Samuel, who has been limited in his return the past three games after battling a groin injury, did not practice because of a hamstring issue.

"We've dealt with adversity all year," Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. "We've had guys go down and step up and play; it's just more for this week. We have confidence in all our guys. It should be an interesting one Sunday, but I feel good about it."

Rivera said the staff focuses on teaching during the walk-through sessions to get new players caught up, although Washington should have four of its original five offensive linemen available.

"You take every able body you have and they all get opportunities to practice, get opportunities in meetings and walk-throughs to make sure they're brought up to speed," Rivera said.

And then they have to hope others don't test positive later in the week.

"I got vaccinated so I trust the vaccine," said rookie defensive end Shaka Toney, who, as of now, would make his second consecutive start Sunday. "I've seen guys come back fast from being vaccinated and their symptoms are perfectly normal. I won't say I'm not worried, but I trust my body; I have a good diet, I got vaccinated; I did the booster shot. You can't live life with fear. I will follow all the precautions and do my best to stay available."

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Washington Football Team's COVID-19 list grows to 21 players with 3 more additions Thursday - ESPN