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Your Coronavirus Update – Oct. 12, 2021
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
Some nursing homes set to deliver boosters this week have been delayed until the end of October.
Smithfield HS has 24 students testing positive – 15 are on the football team and several games have been canceled.
Gov. is asking for bonuses for childcare workers to help attract new employees as a severe shortage is being reported by the industry.
Gov. is not anticipating any new categories of vaccine mandate for RI.
Mayor Elorza plans to use American Rescue Plan funds for a one year nonviolence training and youth mentorship program – $500,000 for training and $1.1 million for mentorship.
Vaccine mandate protesters demonstrated outside of the Governor’s home over the weekend – 2 were arrested by the RI State Police.
Hospitals across Massachusetts are preparing to fire hundreds of employees who refuse to be vaccinated
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics player tests positive, but is asymptomatic.
UConn Huskies have over a dozen players testing positive – all had been vaccinated.
Providence City Council is considering a resolution requiring all Providence teachers/staff to be vaccinated to work in Providence schools.
Protocols for what to do if you are exposed, and vaccinated: If you’re fully vaccinated and had close contact with someone who tested positive you should get tested 3-5 days after exposure. Wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days, or until you receive a negative result. Learn more at http://covid.ri.gov/whattodo.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
The predictions that there would be a worsening of labour shortages because of the vaccine mandate in healthcare is proven not to be true, with the vast majority of people subject to workplace vaccination mandates complying, according to the Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/865a6de5-cba5-46ee-9d66-7672abbc5c37)
The NY Teachers’ Union saw 43,000 vaccinations in the month after the mandate went through.
In a White House report dated Oct. 7th: Vaccination requirements have increased vaccination rates by 20+ percentage points to over 90% in many organizations. An analysis of health care systems, educational institutions, public-sector agencies, and private businesses shows that organizations with vaccination requirements have seen their vaccination rates increase by more than 20 percentage points and have routinely seen their share of fully vaccinated workers rise above 90%. That is substantially higher than broader working-age vaccination rates for Americans aged 18 to 64 where only 63% are fully vaccinated.
The FDA will review booster data from Moderna and J&J this week.
The waning of immunity and the risk of getting a breakthrough infection that leads to hospitalization is much higher in people 65 and up.
Dr. Fauci commented that we might need to wear a mask, even though vaccinated, when outdoors, in congregate settings, this winter. He also said we can see a downward slope in cases and a flattening of deaths – “how quickly and how thoroughly they go down will depend a lot on influences such as the cold weather and people moving indoors, etc.”
Florida positivity rate below 5% – lowest in 3 months.
There are 70 million adults eligible for vaccine who have not been vaccinated in US.
Pfizer will vaccinate an entire city in Brazil and then study the long term impact
A third of residents in Portuguese care homes “lost” antibodies conferred by the Pfizer vaccine within roughly five months of receiving their second shots.
Portugal will give a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people aged 65 and older next week, starting with the most vulnerable groups, such as care home residents and those over 80 years old. The southern European nation, which has the world’s highest vaccination rate with 85% of its total population fully jabbed, started last month to give an extra COVID-19 shot to those aged over 16 with weakened immune systems. It is now extending it to everyone aged 65 and older starting Oct. 11.
Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas and North Carolina have 15% or less of their ICU capacity available to patients
There will be no vaccine mandate to fly right now – Dr. Fauci reserved saying if he would support one or not.
Cases have fallen 22% in the U.S.
AstraZeneca has submitted a COVID medication for EUA – emergency authorization.
27% of all cases nationwide are children – under 18 – though cases may be less severe, some children have long lasting effects from the virus.
Sweden has put the Moderna vaccine on hold for those under age 30
A 30-day eviction notice must be given to anyone renting in a HUD program.
A transplant was denied to a Colorado woman who refused to get a COVID19 vaccine.
While eviction protections have ended, landlords hesitate to evict because rental relief money in process that they have not yet received would not then come to them if the tenant is no longer living there.
The White House has purchased 1.5 Million doses of the Merck anti-COVID-viral pill – experts have said this is not nearly enough – should be increased to 50-100 Million doses.
The Department of Defense is mandating all civilian workers get vaccinated by Nov. 22.
96% of teachers in NYC are vaccinated – the National Guard was not needed on Monday.
Cases and deaths are rising in Russia.
Johnson & Johnson has gone for approval of a booster this week.
CDC/FDA will consider boosters’ approval for several other vaccines.
Cuban tourists are beginning to return
Moderna has plans to build a factory in Africa
Flu vaccines are important say US health officials, to avoid a twindemic. Sanofi Pasteur is the maker of the flu shot and said supplies will be adequate and people should get their flu shots not.
Over 120,000 American children have lost at least one parent to the pandemic.
Workers in adult and senior care facilities and in-home aides have been added to the list of California health workers who must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Dr. Collins of NIH will retire at the end of the year
Wyoming ran out of ICU beds in their hospitals at one point this week.
Moderna is struggling to make vaccines to meet need – in a relatively small production facility, with only this one drug in production.
$1 billion purchase of at-home rapid tests, a move aimed at scaling up test production in the U.S. and quadrupling their availability by December. Demand for fully at-home rapid tests has surged in recent weeks, due in part to the Biden administration’s announced mandate of weekly testing for unvaccinated employees at workplaces of over 100 people. At-home testing suppliers have struggled to meet this demand in a way not experienced in other countries. Some government-funded tests will be distributed free at pharmacies
The EU has approved 3rd booster Pfizer vaccine.
The FDA approved a second new rapid at-home test last week that can be bought in stores or online.
People with substance use disorders may be at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections, as reported in one study: (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/people-substance-use-disorders-may-be-higher-risk-sars-cov-2-breakthrough-infections)
Some women may experience swelling lymph nodes under their arm with the booster. Because of this, it is recommended that mammographies be delayed by two weeks to avoid false positives. There is no bad side effect of the swelling.
Companies who make headstones are said to be swamped with demand.