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‘One Last Christmas’: After Six Decades Together COVID Claims Husband and Wife in Same Week
From the moment they met to their final days in hospital together, Jeannette and Michael Ryan’s relationship was a love story. For six decades they were dedicated to each other, and both tested positive to COVID-19 on New Year’s Eve.
They were admitted to a hospital in the regional Victorian city of Shepparton 10 days later. Michael was 84 years of age when he passed away on Jan. 15. His wife followed him exactly a week later, aged 82.
Their children pushed the couple to protect themselves from the virus before the vaccine arrived, and only go into town for essential shopping. “They begrudgingly listened to what we said and they agreed with it,” daughter Joanne says.
“But they knew that time was marching on for them. So they waited like we’d ask them to be vaccinated. They waited until they’d had the booster. And then their feelings were … ‘We need to see our family. We are getting older and we are getting frailer. And we can’t wait any longer’.”
Vaccine Researcher Who Developed Tinnitus After COVID Shot Calls for Further Study
A little more than a year ago, Gregory Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, was driving back from the hospital after receiving his second COVID shot when he nearly veered out of his lane. “It was like someone suddenly blew a dog whistle in my ear,” Poland told MedPage Today. “It has been pretty much unrelenting.”
Since then, Poland said he has been experiencing what he describes as life-altering tinnitus, or ringing in the ear. It occurs in both ears, but is worse in the left than in the right. Poland realizes his life may never be the same, and that many others may be grappling with the same reality. He continues to receive emails from other individuals across the country and around the world who say they have also developed tinnitus after COVID vaccination.
Poland believes there may be tens of thousands of people affected in the U.S. and potentially millions worldwide. He feels strongly that more research should be done to determine what caused these symptoms and what can be done to help people desperate for relief.
House Passes $1.5 Trillion Spending Plan With Ukraine Aid, Without COVID Relief
The House of Representatives approved a bipartisan $1.5 trillion spending bill that was stripped of funds originally earmarked to fight the coronavirus pandemic while sending billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine.
The passage of the measure marked the first time Democrats were able to largely shape a spending package during President Biden’s term, but the White House was incensed that the House majority dropped a $15.6 billion pandemic aid package to save the bill.
White House Warns of ‘Severe’ Hit to COVID Response After Funding Dropped
The White House on Wednesday warned of “severe consequences” for the country’s COVID-19 response after Congress stripped funding to fight the virus out of a government funding package.
The Biden administration warned that without the additional funding, testing capacity will start declining this month, potentially requiring months of ramp-up if a new variant causes another surge. “Simply put, failing to take action now will have severe consequences for the American people,” a White House official said Wednesday.
The $15.6 billion to fight COVID-19, already less than the White House request, was removed from the must-pass government funding bill earlier on Wednesday, though, amid a partisan fight.
Number of COVID Deaths in Mass. Will Drop Under State’s New Counting Method
The official count of COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts will decline by about 3,700 under a new surveillance system that state health leaders say more accurately captures the true toll from the virus.
The new system will narrow the state’s definition of who died of COVID. Currently, Massachusetts records anyone who died within 60 days of a COVID diagnosis as having died from COVID, unless it is clear the person died from another cause, such as a traumatic accident.
COVID Treatment Sotrovimab Can Cause Drug-Resistant Mutation, Study Finds
Australian virologists have uncovered a drug-resistant mutation in the COVID-19 virus associated with the drug sotrovimab and say without the monitoring of patients given the treatment the mutated virus could spread in the community.
The world-first findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, are the result of an analysis of the first 100 patients in western Sydney during the Delta outbreak in 2021 to be given sotrovimab.
Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody that is available in many countries to treat vulnerable patients who are at risk of severe disease and death due to COVID-19 infection. Sotrovimab must be administered via infusion within the first five days of COVID-19 infection, and prevents COVID-19 symptoms from becoming severe. It is one of the few human-engineered monoclonal antibodies that can target Omicron.
Detroit Parents More Hesitant of COVID Vaccine Than Non-Parents
Studies show that Detroit parents are less likely to vaccinate themselves, than Detroiters who are not parents, leading to low vaccination rates in kids.
That’s according to a new study out of the University of Michigan, which reported a strong link between a parent’s vaccination status and the vaccination status of their kids. The survey was administered by the Detroit Metro Area Communities (DMACS), and says that less than 50% of adults in Detroit with kids under the age of 18, reported having been vaccinated, compared to 75% of adults without kids.
COVID Vaccines May Be Enhancing Disease: Malone
COVID-19 vaccines may be causing enhanced disease because they target an old version of the coronavirus, Dr. Robert Malone says.
“The data are showing that vaccination can actually increase the risk of being infected with the Omicron version of this virus,” Malone told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.
Malone was referring to how in some areas, including Scotland and New Zealand, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are more likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine than not.
Nearly 50% of Women Consider Themselves ‘Very Ambitious’ as They Regain Jobs Lost During the Pandemic
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on women in the workplace. In fact, two years into the crisis, the National Women’s Law Center reports that 1.1 million women are still missing from the labor force.
Women’s economic future has looked grim throughout the pandemic — but despite this downturn, more women are eager to advance in their careers, rejoin the workforce and pursue new opportunities than last year.
Nearly 50% of women consider themselves “very ambitious” and are optimistic about their career growth, according to CNBC and Momentive’s new Women at Work survey.
