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☆ FDA authorizes Covid omicron booster shots for kids as young as 5 years old
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Covid booster shots that target the omicron variant for preschoolers through elementary school students. Pfizer's new omicron boosters are now authorized for children ages 5 to 11 and Moderna's shots for kids ages 6 through 17. The new boosters target omicron BA.5 as well as the original strain of Covid that first emerged in Wuhan, China, in 2019. The first generation of Covid shots were developed in 2020 to target the original strain of Covid. More than 11 million Americans ages 12 and older have received the new booster shots so far, according to CDC data.

☆ U.S. authorizes updated COVID booster shots for children as young as 5
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators authorized the use of Omicron-tailored COVID-19 booster shots from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) in children as young as 5, a move that will expand the government's fall vaccination campaign. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday green-lighted Moderna's bivalent vaccine for those aged six and above, while Pfizer's updated shot was authorized in children aged five and above. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also backed the FDA's authorization, clearing the way for the shots to be administered in children. Overall, COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States have stayed low among kids, with nearly 40% of children aged 5-11 vaccinated with one dose of a vaccine so far. Around 11.5 million people received the updated shots over the first five weeks of the rollout last month, which represents just 5.4% of the people aged 12 or older who are eligible to receive them.

☆ Europe likely entering another COVID wave, says WHO and ECDC
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Another wave of COVID-19 infections may have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the region, the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday. "We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun." Public health experts have warned that vaccine fatigue and confusion over available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake in the region. read moreMillions of people across Europe remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, the WHO and ECDC noted. They urged European countries to administer both flu and COVID-19 vaccines ahead of an expected surge in cases of seasonal influenza.

☆ Pfizer or Moderna: Which new omicron-specific Covid booster should you get?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Americans have two options for a new omicron-specific Covid booster shot: Pfizer or Moderna. Pfizer's booster is cleared for anyone 12 and older, while Moderna's booster is for people 18 and older. "People ages 18 years and older may get a different product for a booster than they got for their primary series, as long as it is [Pfizer or Moderna,]" the CDC's website reads. "It's OK to mix and match Moderna and Pfizer," Dr. Ralph Gonzales, associate dean for clinical innovation at UC San Francisco, said at a campus town hall earlier this month. I definitely felt a stronger response with the Moderna — having had Pfizer before — but either combinations are fine."

☆ Truckers, lawmaker push for U.S. to drop foreign visitor vaccine requirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A passenger walks along terminal 2 at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California , U.S., September 3, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A group representing truck drivers in North America and a New York lawmaker on Monday asked the Biden administration to rescind a requirement for foreign visitors to be vaccinated. The United States in June rescinded its requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19 but has not lifted vaccination requirements for nearly all foreign visitors arriving by air or at land ports. Canada said Monday it will drop all COVID-19 restrictions for travelers starting Oct. 1, including vaccination and masking requirements for flights and trains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend travelers wear masks and get COVID-19 tests before and after international flights.

☆ What is rainbow fentanyl? Colorful pills drive new warnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

"Colored fentanyl pills have been around for a few years. At the time, the agency said that it and its law enforcement partners seized the brightly colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills across 18 states. While he and his colleagues are aware of rainbow fentanyl warnings, he hasn't heard any patients or parents mention it. When it comes to rainbow fentanyl, "the fentanyl itself is going to be the same issue as the counterfeit pharmaceutical fentanyl. The only difference between rainbow fentanyl and the fentanyl products of the past appears to be the coloring.

☆ Moderna asks FDA to authorize omicron Covid boosters for children as young as 6 years old
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Moderna has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its omicron booster shots for children, the company announced on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a document published Tuesday, said it expects children to become eligible for the omicron boosters by mid-October pending authorization by the FDA. Pfizer told the CDC advisory committee earlier this month that it expects to ask the FDA to authorize omicron boosters for children ages 5 to 11 in early October. U.S. health regulators cleared Moderna's omicron boosters for adults earlier this month. There is also concern that the original shots' effectiveness at preventing hospitalization and severe illness is starting to decline.

☆ Omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are 'only a matter of weeks away,' says FDA vaccine chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

New omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are "only a matter of weeks away," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief. Marks added that an authorization for the youngest age group — kids under 5 — is still "a few months away." The CDC expects Pfizer's redesigned booster to be for children ages 5 to 11, and Moderna's to be for children ages 6 to 17. Currently, children ages 5 to 11 are only eligible to receive Covid vaccines for their primary series, and a single monovalent booster dose from Pfizer. If the new bivalent boosters receive approval from the FDA and CDC, the monovalent boosters may no longer be authorized for the age group, according to the CDC's planning guide.

☆ 1 in 3 workers fear they'll catch Covid by returning to the office—here's how to keep yourself healthy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A recent Gallup poll found that one in three U.S. workers are "very" or "moderately" concerned about Covid exposure at work. Stay up-to-date on your Covid vaccinesStaying up-to-date on your vaccines is the best way to protect yourself from Covid. That means completing your primary series and receiving the booster shots you're eligible for. You'll need to be at least two months out from your last dose of any Covid shot, the CDC says. Have completed your primary series, but are immunocompromisedHave completed your primary series and are in an area with a substantial or high level spread of Covid.

The cruise ship is the biggest cluster of infected people outside China, with some 285 confirmed cases out of 3,500 passengers and crew. 6:00 pm: First coronavirus death confirmed in Europe, French health minister saysAn 80-year-old Chinese tourist has died of the new coronavirus in a hospital in France, French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Saturday, confirming the first fatality from the fast-spreading respiratory virus in Europe. watch nowThe cruise ship is the biggest cluster of infected people outside China, with some 285 confirmed cases out of 3,500 passengers and crew. — Feuer1:21 pm: CDC concerned with report of infected health workers in ChinaA U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said the notice from China's National Health Commission about 1,716 health workers infected with the coronavirus was "concerning." Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters during a press briefing that there are currently no U.S. health workers infected with the virus.

☆ WHO is investigating 1,716 health workers in China infected with coronavirus
▼ + stars: | 2020-02-14 | by ( Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

World health officials are working with Chinese authorities to determine when the 1,716 health workers in the country were infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus, World Health Organization officials said Friday. Earlier in the day, China's National Health Commission said that 1,716 health workers in the country had been infected with the coronavirus and six of them have died. It was the first time China published figures specifically relating to infected medical personnel. She said there are currently no health workers in the U.S. that have contracted the virus. World health officials have said the respiratory disease is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing and germs left on inanimate objects.

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