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Mass. Reports 4,568 New Breakthrough Cases for the Last Week
The rate of breakthrough cases has been getting steadily steeper since the state started tracking cases in July — though they affect less than one percent of those vaccinated — but the comparative rate of deaths and hospitalizations is low.
The state released updated data Tuesday on the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths among vaccinated individuals in Massachusetts. There have been a total of 32,345 breakthrough cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 18, an increase of 4,568 from Sept. 11. There were 4,579,627 people vaccinated as of Sept. 18, meaning 0.71% reported a breakthrough case of COVID-19. The rate has been steadily increasing — it was 0.23% on Aug. 7.
Doctors Desperately Want Pregnant Women to Get Vaccinated. It’s an Uphill Battle.
Across the country, obstetricians are fighting an uphill battle in their efforts to convince pregnant women to agree to COVID vaccinations. They say misinformation, a false sense of invincibility among patients and a lack of understanding about vaccines have contributed to expectant mothers’ reluctance to get the shot.
The need to vaccinate pregnant women is urgent: They are at risk for pregnancy complications from the coronavirus, with some evidence indicating the virus might increase the chances of stillbirth. They also face a higher chance of requiring intensive care or mechanical ventilation, and nationwide, at least 159 pregnant women have died of COVID since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yet pregnant women’s vaccination rates are low: only about 25.1 percent have received at least one dose, according to the CDC, compared to 76.6 percent of adults overall in the United States who have.
Dr. Gottlieb Says CDC May Soon Offer Greater Clarity on Who Will Be Eligible for COVID Boosters
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC he anticipates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon offer greater clarity on who will be eligible for COVID booster doses.
Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member, elaborated on the FDA and CDC’s booster approval process during an interview Tuesday on “The News with Shepard Smith.” The FDA could make a formal decision on Pfizer’s boosters before the CDC begins a two-day series of meetings on third doses Wednesday and Thursday, where Gottlieb said health officials may expand upon the FDA’s direction.
Biden to Double U.S. Global Donation of COVID Vaccine Shots
President Joe Biden is set to announce that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses as he embraces the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year.
The stepped-up U.S. commitment is to be the cornerstone of the global vaccination summit Biden is convening virtually Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where he plans to push well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control.
Delta Variant Outbreak Infects Highly Vaccinated Prison Population, but Few Were Hospitalized, CDC Says
The fast-spreading Delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations, but few were hospitalized, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against COVID 19, according to the new report, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Clay Travis: Fauci’s Prediction on College Football Games and COVID Infections ‘Hasn’t Materialized’
With college students returning to campuses this fall, they’re also returning to college football stadiums across the country. OutKick founder Clay Travis, whose bus tour is hitting all the biggest college football games this season, joined “Fox & Friends” and called out Dr. Fauci for his prediction that the big games would turn into super-spreader events and create a wave of coronavirus infections.
All over the south, millions of people have gone to college football games and the number of COVID infections has been plummeting.
Brazil Health Minister Tests Positive for COVID at UN General Assembly
Brazil’s health minister on Tuesday tested positive for the coronavirus while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Marcelo Queiroga announced his positive test hours after going to the United Nations General Assembly, saying he will stay in the U.S. to quarantine.
Americans Are Using Alcohol to Cope With Pandemic Stress: Nearly 1 in 5 Report ‘Heavy Drinking’
More than 18 months into the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., nearly 1 in 5 Americans is consuming an unhealthy amount of alcohol, a new survey suggests.
About 17% of respondents reported “heavy drinking” in the past 30 days, according to the survey conducted by analytics firm The Harris Poll and commissioned by Alkermes, an Ireland-based biopharmaceutical company.
The survey was conducted online from March 30 to April 7 among 6,006 U.S. adults ages 21 and older. Of those, 1,003 adults reported “heavy drinking.”
Australia Asks Pfizer to Seek COVID Vaccine Authorization for Children as Young as Five
The Pfizer vaccine company has been asked by the Australian administration to seek authorisation to introduce its COVID vaccine to children as young as 5 years old.
As per Xinhua, Australia‘s Health Minister Greg Hunt urged Pfizer to get its COVID vaccine authorised for administering it to children age between 5 to 11 years old after testing revealed that the vaccination produced strong antibodies at comparable levels to those found in teens and young adults.
