The countries that are vaccinating children against Covid-19: As at mid September 2021

‘While many high-income nations, including the United States and most members of the European Union, now offer Covid vaccines for children 12 and older, a handful of countries have now authorized the shot for younger people. Meanwhile, severe vaccine inequality persists on a global level, with many developing nations continuing to struggle to provide first and second doses to high-risk groups -- with the very idea of getting shots to children still a pipe dream. Here's a global snapshot of where things stand.’

Read here (CNN, Sept 17, 2021)

As Covid sweeps India, experts say cases and deaths are going unreported

‘India, home to the world's worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 17.6 million cases since the pandemic began last year. But the real number, experts fear, could be up to 30 times higher -- meaning more than half a billion cases. Health workers and scientists in India have long warned that Covid-19 infections and related deaths are significantly underreported for several reasons, including poor infrastructure, human error, and low testing levels.’

Read here (CNN, Apr 28, 2021)

Finding an ultimate vaccine to fight the mutating “emperor” virus

‘We are commenting on the shocking CNN website report (March 2), headlined “All our recent progress with COVID-19 could be wiped out by variants, CDC director says”. The first two paragraphs (below) are enough to sum up the CNN report: “The US is at risk of losing all its recent gains in the battle against COVID-19 as highly contagious variants take advantage of Americans getting lax with safety measures... “Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the US centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”...

‘With new variants, serious doubts are suggested by the CNN report on whether this “vaccine” [mRNA], the first in the global market, would work, even if safety factor is put aside. Nevertheless, there are safe and workable vaccines, using tried and tested technologies like using inactivated or attenuated virus from nature to stimulate the body to produce anti-body response. Even the adenovirus viral vector technology, tried and tested for Ebola, appears to be safer than mRNA.

‘There are also safe and good alternatives, like the anti-viral “broad spectrum” drug Ivermectin, which can destroy the new variants. In the meantime, it is vital that we improve our body immunity against COVID-19 by taking Vitamin C with zinc, Vitamin D, minerals and trace elements needed, explore proven traditional and complimentary medicines, and maintain established standard operating procedures (SOPs) of physical distancing, wearing surgical masks and personal hygiene in public places.’

Read here (Focus Malaysia, Mar 4, 2021)

As the world vies for vaccines, Cuba’s making its own

‘Cuba may be on the verge of a coronavirus vaccine breakthrough and not a moment too soon, as deaths and cases spike on the communist-run island.

‘Starting in March, two of the island's four homegrown vaccine candidates will begin their third and final trials, the Cuban government has announced. While other developing countries compete with richer nations for a limited supply of doses, Cuba has gambled everything on producing their own vaccines, as much an exercise in national pride as a response to a public health crisis.’

Read here (CNN, Mar 3, 2021)

Tribal health providers have figured out the key to Covid-19 vaccine success. Here's their secret

‘It's important to note that there are 574 federally recognized tribes, making it difficult to broadly characterize how the vaccine rollout is going across Indian Country. Native people get their health care from a patchwork system of Indian Health Service facilities, tribally-operated clinics and urban Indian health centers, and vaccination efforts have varied from tribe to tribe and state to state.

Still, the successes of some tribal health providers offer lessons for communities struggling to vaccinate their populations efficiently. Here are some of them.

• They tailored their messaging to build trust
• They have the autonomy to decide who gets priority
• This health system is owned by its people
• They made big investments in health care
• Ultimately, success depends on the nation's vaccine supply

Read here (CNN, Feb 9, 2021)

German officials say AstraZeneca vaccine shouldn't be given to over-65s, citing lack of data

‘Germany's vaccine commission said the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should not be given to people older than 65 years, amid a bitter dispute between the European Union and the drugmaker over delayed supplies.

‘The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) at Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's main public health authority, found there is insufficient data on the effectiveness of the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, for this age group, according to a statement from the interior ministry on Thursday. "Due to the small number of study participants in the age group ≥65 years, no conclusion can be made regarding efficacy and safety in the elderly. This vaccine is therefore currently recommended by STIKO only for persons aged 18-64 years," the panel said in its recommendation.’

Read here (CNN, Jan 28, 2021) 

Double masking for Covid-19 protection: A trend with a purpose

‘Layering your face is in -- but not as a fashion statement. It may just save a life. Public health officials are suggesting double masking as a way to increase the level of protection from the coronavirus and its multiple, more contagious variants. "If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective, and that's the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95," Dr. Anthony Fauci, now chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told NBC's Savannah Guthrie.

‘Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been doubling up for weeks -- in fact Biden was often seen with a surgical mask under his go-to black fabric covering before being sworn into office.’

Read here (CNN, Jan 28, 2021)

WHO team blocked from entering China to study origins of coronavirus

‘The World Health Organization said that China has blocked the arrival of a team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, in a rare rebuke from the UN agency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two scientists on the United Nations team had already left their home countries for Wuhan when they were told that Chinese officials had not approved the necessary permissions to enter the country. The arrangements had been jointly agreed with China in advance.’

Read here (CNN, Jan 6, 2021)

In an Iranian intensive care unit, doctors grapple with Covid-19 and US sanctions

"The most worrying thing for a doctor is to know there are medicines (plentifully) available in some parts of the world but not here," said Dr. Alireza Fatemi. This how the agony of coronavirus differs in Iran: nowhere else in the world faces this monster of a virus with the added scourge of President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" sanctions, which Iranian officials and doctors insist have hampered their Covid-19 fight.

Read here (CNN, Dec 10, 2020)

Vaccination cards will be issued to everyone getting Covid-19 vaccine, health officials say

‘The Department of Defense released the first images of a Covid-19 vaccination record card and vaccination kits Wednesday. Vaccination cards will be used as the "simplest" way to keep track of Covid-19 shots, said Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director of the Immunization Action Coalition, which is supporting frontline workers who will administer Covid-19 vaccinations... Every dose administered will be reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. The CDC did not immediately respond to CNN's inquiry about whether such a database would include a record of everyone immunized.’

Read here (CNN, Dec 3, 2020)

How Biden plans to change the US pandemic response

‘President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris say they will move the US Covid-19 pandemic response in a dramatically different direction... Here are five ways Biden says the US coronavirus response will change when he's President. (1) Increased testing and contact tracing. (2) Additional investment in vaccines and treatments. (3) Mandatory masks and more PPE. (4) A push for 'clear, consistent, evidence-based guidance'. (5) Rejoining WHO and searching for future threats.

‘There were dauntingly high new case numbers last week, and by the time Biden takes office January 20, the influential University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation model projects there will be more than 372,000 Covid-19 deaths -- that's 135,000 more than the current total...’

Read here (CNN, Nov 9, 2020)

Taiwan just went 200 days without a locally transmitted Covid-19 case. Here's how they did it

‘As much of the world struggles to contain new waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, Taiwan just marked its 200th consecutive day without a locally transmitted case of the disease. Taipei's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the world's most effective. The island of 23 million people last reported a locally transmitted case on April 12, which was Easter Sunday. As of Thursday, it had confirmed 553 cases -- only 55 of which were local transmissions. Seven deaths have been recorded.’

Read here (CNN, Oct 30, 2020)

Trump team just announced its surrender to the pandemic: Jeffrey Sachs

‘The Trump administration has announced its unconditional surrender to the Covid-19 pandemic. "We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas," White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday. Donald Trump has surrendered without ever joining the battle. I have no doubt he will be remembered as the greatest presidential failure in American history...

‘Trump surrounded himself with fools and knaves who echoed his false belief that the choice was Covid versus the economy. This includes three types of advisers who led Trump to his likely imminent political demise and to our nation's mass suffering... The first group were the evangelical preachers who were more interested in packing their pews than in saving their parishioners who caught the disease in their megachurches... The second group was the Murdoch media empire with the "thought leadership" ― if one can call it that ― of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, and the nihilism of Fox News... The third group was those who would stand up and oppose the overwhelming scientific consensus on NPI's, thereby bolstering Trump in his conviction to do nothing.’

Read here (CNN, Oct 26, 2020) 

Countries should meet these five criteria before easing lockdowns, study says. Many aren't even close

‘Countries should not ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions until they meet five criteria -- and many nations are not even close, according to a new analysis published in The Lancet medical journal. The research, published Thursday, said that the prerequisites for easing Covid-19 measures are: knowledge of infection status, community engagement, adequate public health capacity, adequate health system capacity and border controls.

‘The authors looked at nine high-income countries and territories that have started to relax restrictions -- Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Norway, Spain and the UK. They found that many governments had failed to meet the criteria necessary to avoid new waves of infection, as seen in Spain, Germany and the UK.’

Read here (CNN, Sept 25, 2020)

UK mulling vaccine trials that deliberately expose volunteers to Covid-19

‘The British government is exploring the possibility of clinical trials in which volunteers are deliberately exposed to coronavirus to test the effectiveness of vaccine candidates, the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) revealed Wednesday in a statement... In so-called "challenge trials," researchers give study subjects an experimental vaccine and then intentionally expose them to coronavirus to see if the vaccine works. Such trials were used in early research with smallpox, yellow fever and malaria.’

Read here (CNN, Sept 23, 2020)

We have different attitudes toward social distancing, and it's straining relationships

‘The coronavirus isn't just threatening our health, it's threatening our relationships as we try to navigate how a socially distanced world should look -- something never done before. And now that states have replaced stay-at-home orders with various guidelines on reopening, there's more room for differing views on social distancing. These conflicts can be an opportunity for growth if we try to understand each other's mindset, according to psychologist Holly Parker, but that depends on both parties' willingness to embrace vulnerability.’

Read here (CNN, May 29, 2020)

WHO temporarily pauses hydroxychloroquine study due to safety concerns

‘The World Health Organization has temporarily halted studying hydroxychloroquine as a potential Covid-19 treatment due to safety concerns, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing in Geneva on Monday.

‘The decision was made after an observational study published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet described how seriously ill Covid-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were more likely to die. Tedros said that an independent executive group is now reviewing the use of hydroxychloroquine in WHO's Solidarity Trial. The executive group represents 10 of the participating countries in the trial.’

Read here (CNN, May 25, 2020)

Trump threatens to permanently pull funding from WHO and 'reconsider' US membership

‘President Donald Trump is escalating his threats against the World Health Organization, telling the agency he will permanently pull US funding if it does not "commit to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days."

‘Trump's letter -- in which he included a false description of when information about the virus was published in The Lancet, prompting the prestigious medical journal to publicly dispute his claims on Tuesday -- is the latest action he's taken against the WHO following his decision last month to temporarily halt US funding to the group.’

Read here (CNN, May 19, 2020)

Read response by The Lancet here (Twitter, May 19, 2020)

CDC publishes flowcharts to help communities and businesses weighing whether to reopen

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published six "decision trees" Thursday aimed at helping businesses, communities, schools, camps, daycares and mass transit decide whether it's safe to re-open. The one-page decision trees are much shorter than a much-anticipated, lengthy and detailed document that has been delayed at least once.

Read here (CNN, May 15, 2020)

• For workplace, download here
• For schools, download here
• For restaurants, download here
• For mass transit, download here
• For camps, download here
• For daycare, download here

Expect more cases of strange coronavirus syndrome in kids, doctors warn

‘Parents, hospitals and clinics should expect to see more cases of a mystifying condition that seems to be affecting children after a bout with Covid-19, doctors said Wednesday. The condition, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, appears to be a post-viral syndrome, said Dr. Jeffrey Burns, a critical care specialist at Boston Children's Hospital who has been coordinating a global group of doctors who compare notes on the condition. Doctors are investigating cases in at least 150 children, most of them in New York. But a CNN survey finds hospitals and clinics in at least 18 states and Washington, DC are checking into suspected cases. "This multisystem inflammatory syndrome is not directly caused by the virus," Burns told CNN. "The leading hypothesis is that it is due to the immune response of the patient."

Read here (CNN, May 14, 2020)