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Ontario Now Recommending Against Moderna Vaccine for Men 18-24 Years Old

Toronto Sun reported:

The Ontario government is now recommending males aged 18 to 24 take Pfizer over Moderna as their COVID-19 vaccination due to the number of young men who have experienced myocarditis after getting the vaccine.

This comes after public health officials determined there is a 1 in 5,000 risk of myocarditis — a form of heart inflammation — following a second dose of the Moderna vaccine.

Disney’s Aladdin Broadway Musical Cancels Show Amid Multiple Positive Breakthrough COVID Cases

People reported:

Disney’s Aladdin musical on Broadway has canceled its Wednesday night show after multiple breakthrough cases of COVID-19 were detected within members of the production.

“Through our rigorous testing protocols, breakthrough COVID-19 cases have been detected with the company of Aladdin at The New Amsterdam Theatre,” a statement shared on the show’s verified Twitter account read. “Because the wellness and safety of our guests, casts, and crew are our top priority, tonight’s performance, Wednesday, September 29th, is canceled.”

Americans Who Aren’t Eligible for a COVID Booster Are Getting the Shot No Questions Asked in Pharmacies and Doctors’ Offices

Business Insider reported:

Americans who aren’t eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot are getting it without showing proof of eligibility in pharmacies and doctors’ offices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Patients seeking a booster shot told the Journal that pharmacies weren’t looking for confirmation of eligibility, or without any questions asked from either the pharmacist or the online scheduling tools.

33,851 Breakthrough COVID Cases Recorded In Indiana, 229 Have Died

International Business Times reported:

More than 30,000 residents in Indiana have contracted COVID-19 and over 200 have died of the novel coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated against the disease.

Indiana health officials have recorded 33,851 breakthrough COVID-19 cases among the state’s fully vaccinated individuals since the beginning of the pandemic. The cases represent 1.047% of the state’s vaccinated population, according to the latest data published Thursday.

Can Breakthrough Infections Lead to Long COVID? For an Unlucky Few, Yes

Time via Yahoo!News reported:

When health experts talk about the remarkable efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, they typically point to their ability to prevent severe disease and death. Fully vaccinated people can still get “breakthrough” infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 — but compared to an unvaccinated person, they’re more than 10 times less likely to be hospitalized or die from their illness, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research.

But people like April Zaleski know COVID-19’s worst outcomes aren’t limited to severe disease and death, even for the fully vaccinated.

Health Workers Once Saluted as Heroes Now Get Threats

Associated Press reported:

More than a year after U.S. healthcare workers on the front lines against COVID-19 were saluted as heroes with nightly clapping from windows and balconies, some are being issued panic buttons in case of assault and ditching their scrubs before going out in public for fear of harassment.

Across the country, doctors and nurses are dealing with hostility, threats and violence from patients angry over safety rules designed to keep the scourge from spreading.

Breakthrough COVID Infections: How Long Are Vaccinated People Contagious?

Huff Post reported:

There has been a lot of confusion about breakthrough COVID-19 infections recently — what it means to test positive after being fully vaccinated, what the risk for developing “long COVID” is and how vaccinated people can spread the coronavirus.

But to get a solid sense of how long people with breakthrough infections are contagious, we need real-world data on transmission events, which we don’t have much of. “We don’t actually know the degree of spread from vaccinated because you really do have to do a good contract-tracing study,” Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told HuffPost.

Russia May Allow Access to Unregistered COVID Vaccines, Report Says

Reuters reported:

Russians may soon be able to receive COVID-19 vaccines not registered in the country from clinics set up in a special economic zone, under a healthcare ministry proposal, Russian Kommersant daily reported on Thursday.

Many Western nations have not registered Russian vaccines such as Sputnik V and require visitors to have other shots that are not available to Russians, a situation that has prompted vaccine tourism.

According to the Kommersant report, the healthcare ministry has proposed allowing clinics set up in the Moscow International Medical Cluster to import vaccines made abroad, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), or Moderna (MRNA.O) shots.

Pfizer and Moderna COVID Vaccines Now Available to All Australians Over 60

The Guardian reported:

Australians aged 60 and over will be able to get Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from Friday regardless of their state or territory of residence, health minister Greg Hunt has announced.

Hunt said expanding vaccine choice from AstraZeneca to include the mRNA vaccines could help more than 300,000 older people who have been waiting to get vaccinated.

From 1 October all people aged 12 and over will be able to get Moderna from a pharmacist and Pfizer from a GP.