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Ron DeSantis’ administration is once again advising against the mRNA vaccines: this time in the most vulnerable residents. In updated guidance for health care providers released Thursday, the Florida Health Department and state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo questioned the safety and effectiveness of the mRNA Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, including for older adults and people with underlying health problems. Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said the Florida surgeon general's guidance is unnecessarily alarming people about the Covid vaccines. "The mRNA vaccines are remarkably safe," he added. The CDC currently recommends everyone ages 6 months and older get an updated Covid vaccine this fall from any of the three options.

Persons: Ron DeSantis ’, Joseph Ladapo, Nature Cardiovascular Research , Paul Offit, Offit, They’re, Isaac Bogoch, ”, Boguch, Ladapo Organizations: Florida Health Department, Pfizer, Moderna, Nature Cardiovascular Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Food and Drug Administration, United States, University of Toronto, CDC, Emergency Locations: Florida, U.S

☆ Why replacing alcohol with weed is a growing trend in the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The use of weed to replace alcohol is a growing trend in the United States. “We know that moderate alcohol consumption has health risks, and risk increases as alcohol consumption increases,” Boyd said in an email. “Cannabis smoke contains toxins, carcinogens, and particulate matter that have been linked to cancer, lung damage, and cardiovascular disease,” Cohen said in an email. Research on edibles, such as baked goods, candies and beverages, and other methods of using cannabis is in its infancy. “In and of itself, it’s not good that more people are using cannabis,” Grinspoon said.

Persons: CNN —, “, —, ”, “ I’ve, Carol Boyd, ” Boyd, Weed, Peter Grinspoon, ” “, ” Grinspoon, Beth Cohen, ” Cohen, I’m, Boyd, ” Robert Page II, Grinspoon, ideation, it’s Organizations: CNN, National Survey, Center, Drugs, University of Michigan, US Centers for Disease Control, Massachusetts General Hospital, Marijuana, University of California, University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug, Food and Drug Administration, National Poison Center, FDA, Lifeline Locations: United States, Washington, Ann Arbor, Boston, San Francisco, Aurora, Georgia

☆ Here’s what marijuana researchers have to say about 420 or ‘weed day’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —It’s 420 or “weed day,” and people around the world will be paying homage to their favorite guilty pleasure: marijuana. “I worry when people are in an enclosed space because new data is beginning to show that secondhand marijuana smoke may be just as dangerous as the primary smoke,” Page said. “Approximately 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana use disorder,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, some parents told doctors they believed vaping marijuana was safer than tobacco, Boyd told CNN earlier via email. A cloud of marijuana smoke rises as a clock hits 4:20 p.m. during the Mile High 420 Festival in Denver on "weed day" in 2022.

Persons: CNN —, Dr, Beth Cohen, Cohen, “, ”, Robert Page II, ” Page, Weed, It’s, ’ ” Carol Boyd, Ann Arbor, Peter Grinspoon, ” Young, Sam Wang, Boyd, Grinspoon, Patrick T, Fallon, Nixon, ” Boyd, ” Grinspoon, ’ ”, Page Organizations: CNN, District of Columbia, University of California, University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Center, Drugs, University of Michigan, US Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Massachusetts General Hospital, Marijuana, Children’s Hospital, Yale Medicine, Drug, University of Colorado’s, Getty, University of Mississippi, US Drug, Administration Locations: United States, San Francisco, Colorado, Aurora, Ann, Boston, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver, AFP

☆ How to restart exercise after Covid-19, RSV or influenza
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Melanie Radzicki Mcmanus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But Covid, RSV and influenza are more serious maladies that require a thoughtful approach to resuming exercise. Turner recommended calculating your maximum heart rate and keeping it below 70% to start, which is considered light exercise. To determine your maximum heart rate, first subtract your age from 220, then calculate 70% of that. For example, a 40-year-old would have a maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute (220 minus 40). Since 70% of 180 is 126, a 40-year-old’s heart rate should initially stay below 126 beats per minute.

Persons: CNN — You’re, Covid, R.J, Turner, UTHealth, ” Turner, ”, Villano, you’re, don’t, “, you’ll, Melanie Radzicki McManus Organizations: CNN, UTHealth Houston, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, American College of Cardiology, ACC, ” Locations: Hampton Bays , New York

The updated shots are part of a push by public health officials to align the next COVID vaccines more closely with the actual circulating variant of the virus, similar to the way annual flu shots are designed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday authorized updated COVID vaccines made by Pfizer (PFE.N) and its German partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) as well as by Moderna (MRNA.O). CDC Director Mandy Cohen is expected to approve the recommendations issued by the advisers, allowing Americans to get the updated vaccines. The first COVID vaccines in 2020 were monovalent, or single-target vaccines, aimed at the original strain of the virus. They were followed by bivalent COVID vaccine booster shots that targeted both the original and the Omicron strains.

Persons: Emily Elconin, BioNTech, Caitlin Rivers, Mandy Cohen, Rivers, bivalent, Daniel Kuritzkes, Eris, Kuritzkes, Novavax, Bhanvi, Julie Steenhuysen, Will Dunham, Caroline Humer Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Pfizer, Moderna, FDA, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, CDC, Omicron, Brigham, Women's Hospital, Vaccine, EG, Thomson Locations: Waterford , Michigan, U.S, United States, Baltimore, Europe, Asia, Boston, Moderna, Bengaluru, Chicago

☆ How Covid Affects the Heart
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Dana G. Smith | More About Dana G. Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Others may develop because Covid is also associated with the onset of risk factors for heart disease, most notably hypertension. How vaccines reduce the riskResearch has shown that people who are vaccinated are roughly 40 to 60 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke following a Covid infection than those who are unvaccinated. This may be because vaccinated people are less likely to develop severe Covid, which in turn lowers the risk of many of these heart-related issues. There is a small risk of developing myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) in the weeks after getting an mRNA Covid vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. For males 30 and older, the risk of myocarditis was 28 times higher from Covid than from the vaccine.

Persons: ”, Helene Glassberg, who’ve, Laffin, myocarditis Organizations: University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Pfizer, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention

☆ Fact Check-No evidence of RT article linking Prigozhin death to pilot myocarditis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There is no evidence that Russia Today (RT) published an article linking a plane crash, in which Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed to have been killed, to the pilot having suffered from myocarditis caused by a COVID-19 vaccine. However, there is no evidence of such a headline published by RT. The screenshot is a fake and no such article was published on RT, a spokesperson for the Russian media outlet said in an email. Another article with the identical date and timestamp on the RT website reports on Prigozhin’s presumed death. Reuters found no evidence that Russia Today published the headline referring to Prigozhin plane’s pilot.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s, “ Wagner, Prigozhin, Read Organizations: RT, Mastodon, Reuters Locations: Russia, Russian

☆ Fact Check-WHO did not link mother’s COVID shots to newborn heart problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The World Health Organization has not released any statement saying that vaccination against COVID is linked to babies being born with heart problems, contrary to social media posts claiming the WHO “admitted” that the vaccine leads to “severe heart defects” in neonates. Some social media accounts are sharing the claim by screenshotting an article headline, which reads: “WHO admits that fully jabbed moms are giving birth to babies with severe heart defects” here and here . The actual WHO and UKHSA reports cited - (here) and (here) - make no reference to COVID vaccines, nor does the article itself offer any evidence of a link between pregnant women being vaccinated and heart defects in their newborns, as suggested in its headline. “I can confirm that WHO has not said that fully vaccinated women give ‘birth to babies with severe heart defects’,” a WHO spokesperson told Reuters via email. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not said that fully vaccinated women give “birth to babies with severe heart defects”.

Persons: WHO “, ”, screenshotting, enteroviral myocarditis, Victoria Male, Read Organizations: World Health Organization, COVID, WHO, UK Health Security Agency, Reuters, Imperial College London Locations: neonates

HAMBURG, June 11 (Reuters) - BioNTech (22UAy.DE) will go to court on Monday to defend itself against a lawsuit from a German woman who is seeking damages for alleged side effects of its COVID-19 vaccine, the first of potentially hundreds of cases in the country. The plaintiff claims she suffered upper-body pain, swollen extremities, fatigue and sleeping disorder due to the vaccine. Tobias Ulbrich, a lawyer at Rogert & Ulbrich, told Reuters he aimed to challenge in court the assessment made by European Union regulators and German vaccine assessment bodies that the BioNTech shot has a positive risk-benefit profile. Almost 768 million vaccine doses have been administered in the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Rogert & Ulbrich says it has filed about 250 cases for clients seeking damages for alleged side-effects of COVID-19 vaccines.

Persons: Tobias Ulbrich, Caesar, Preller, Ludwig Burger, Patricia Weiss, Emilio Parodi, Natalie Grover, Sam Tobin, Josephine Mason, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters, European Union, Pfizer, European Medicines Agency, EMA, Economic, BioNTech, United, Thomson Locations: HAMBURG, Hamburg, Germany, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, United States, Italy, Milan, London

☆ Fact Check-False claim of COVID vaccine link to AIDS-related illnesses recirculates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Expose article says that its central claim is based on a “cherry-picked” list of conditions associated with AIDS and HIV infection. Any increase in the incidence of the listed conditions “would not necessarily be proof that the COVID-19 vaccines cause weakened immune systems,” Mimiaga noted. The claim that COVID vaccines can cause “vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome” or “VAIDS” has been shared since 2021. Similar claims that COVID vaccines cause HIV infections, AIDS or AIDS-like immune weakening have also been debunked (here), (here). The posts stem from a story that uses unreliable data to falsely suggest a link between COVID vaccines and AIDS-associated diseases and cancers, according to independent health experts.

Persons: ”, VAERS, Matthew Mimiaga, Mimiaga, Thomas Russo, ” Mimiaga, ” Russo, Read Organizations: Reuters, U.S, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Facebook, Food and Drug Administration, University of California, Fielding School of Public Health, ”, myocarditis, University, Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, Biomedical Sciences Locations: United States, Los Angeles, COVID

☆ Kathleen Folbigg: Mother who served 20 years for killing her four babies pardoned
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Folbigg was jailed in 2003 on three counts of murder and one of manslaughter following the deaths of her four babies over a decade from 1989. As recently as 2019, an inquiry into her convictions found there was no reasonable doubt she had committed the crimes. But another inquiry began last year after new scientific evidence emerged that provided a genetic explanation for the children’s deaths. Examination of the babies’ remains failed to find any physical evidence they’d been suffocated, but without another plausible reasons to explain their deaths, suspicion focused on Folbigg. During Folbigg’s 2003 trial, the prosecution used “coincidence and tendency” evidence to allege that Folbigg had also killed Caleb.

Persons: Australia CNN —, General Michael Daley, Kathleen Folbigg, Daley, ” Daley, Folbigg, Sophie Callan, Folbigg’s, ” Patrick, Craig Folbigg, she’d, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah, Laura, Graham Barr, Barr, ”, Laura Folbigg, Shutterstock, ’, Tom Bathurst, Laura – Bathurst, “, Bathurst, “ We’ve, We’ve, You’d Organizations: Australia CNN, New South Wales, South, South Wales Supreme, New South, New South Wales Supreme Locations: Brisbane, Australia, NSW, South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, New

☆ Fact Check-UK COVID vaccine offer for vulnerable young children not mandatory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The offer of COVID vaccination for very young children is voluntary and specifically targeted to children who are most at risk from COVID, according to the government’s April announcement of the new policy. After Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that young children in clinical risk groups should be offered COVID vaccination, some social media users responded with outrage. JCVI ADVICEThe UK advice does not include all young children. In fact, the prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccination for clinically vulnerable children explains higher mortality rates seen during the pandemic among vaccinated children as compared with unvaccinated children (here and here). There is no evidence the vaccine is unsafe for infants and young children, according to experts and health regulators.

The notion that powerful forces control the world in part with the careful deployment of body doubles is a long-standing conspiracy theory. As a medical team worked on him, anti-vaccine activists flooded social media sites with unfounded claims that a vaccine was somehow to blame. Hamlin’s injury came during a surge in anti-vaccine misinformation that attributes any recent death, without evidence, to vaccines. Much of the misinformation came from a handful of serial misinformers, including longtime anti-vaccine activists, conspiracy theorists and podcasters. While still recovering, Hamlin has tweeted a photo of himself in front of a mural painted in his honor., seemingly winking at the conspiracy theory.

☆ Fact Check-Small study of teens is not evidence of long-term heart damage after COVID shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Social media users have been misinterpreting a small study of nine teenagers in Turkey, and wrongly saying it proves that there is a risk of long-term heart damage after COVID vaccinations. But the author of the study said the results may not represent what happens in all teens with post-vaccine heart inflammation, much less all teens who get vaccinated. Some social media posts misleadingly suggesting the study showed that all vaccine-related myocarditis causes long-term heart damage can be seen (here and here). “There is no exact causality between these cases and vaccination.”The case study also did not include pre-vaccination MRIs, so it is not known if any individuals had pre-existing heart damage. Moreover, the study does not suggest what proportion of teens in the general population experience heart inflammation following vaccination, Ozen told Reuters.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are significant contributing factor to UK’s 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Millions of people have viewed a BBC News interview with a British cardiologist who used the broadcast to spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Malhotra cites the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for reporting 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths “during the pandemic or since the pandemic”. A BHF spokesperson told Reuters that there were indeed 30,000 excess deaths involving ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in England between March 2020 and August 2022. Reuters has addressed similar claims linking COVID-19 vaccines with excess mortality (here, here and here), cardiac arrests (here, here and here), and other heart issues. Experts say the 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths reported since the beginning of the pandemic are due to COVID-19 infection and issues with healthcare services.

☆ Fact Check-Florida woman who lost her legs had COVID-19 complications and heart condition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Despite wide reporting on the challenges faced by Claire Bridges, a 21-year-old Florida woman whose legs were amputated in 2021 after battling COVID-19 complications and a congenital heart condition, some social media posts are blaming the loss of her limbs on COVID-19 vaccines. After contracting COVID-19, Bridges wrote in her Jan. 16 post that she developed a condition called rhabdomyolysis, which she described as a “side effect” or a “complication” of COVID-19. The condition can also cause compartment syndrome, directly blocking blood flow to muscles which kills still more muscle tissue (here). Claire Bridges lost both of her legs after battling with complications of COVID-19. She was also born with a heart condition that contributed to the complications.

RSV, which produces symptoms similar to a cold but can be fatal for young children and older adults, causes about 14,000 deaths annually in adults ages 65 and older. Moderna, Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and GSK Plc (GSK.L) are racing to get their RSV vaccines to market first. Pfizer's RSV vaccine was found to be 66.7% effective against two or more symptoms in late-stage trials. "It's very exciting to see progress in RSV vaccines in older adults, and I think both of those vaccines have shown pretty remarkable results as well," Hoge said. The RSV vaccine market could be worth more than $10 billion globally, half of which would come from the United States, according to Cowen analyst Tyler Van Buren.

☆ Hamlin’s collapse spurs new wave of vaccine misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

While the Bills have not said whether Hamlin was vaccinated, about 95% of NFL players have received a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the league. The blog proves no relationship between the incidents and Covid-19 vaccines; it also includes in its count reported deaths from cancer and emergencies of unknown causes. It' snot surprising that misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines surged following Hamlin's cardia arrest, given how much vaccine misinformation has spread since the pandemic began, said Jeanine Guidry, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who researches health misinformation and vaccine hesitancy. High-profile public events like Hamlin’s collapse often create new waves of misinformation as people grasp for explanations. For people concerned about vaccine safety, Hamlin’s sudden collapse served to affirm and justify their beliefs, Guidry said.

☆ DeSantis' latest anti-COVID-19 vaccine push puts him on a collision course with Trump over the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Ron DeSantis intensified his attacks on the COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, in a move that positions the Republican governor to contrast his pandemic record with that of former President Donald Trump. It's not clear whether Trump will lean into his success on the COVID-19 vaccine through his Operation Warp Speed program. Then-President Donald Trump with then-Florida governor candidate Ron DeSantis at a July 2018 “Make America Great Again” rally in Tampa, Florida. For instance, the FDA and CDC have cleared the bivalent booster for those as young as 6 months of age depending on what COVID-19 vaccine a person has previously had. The committee will issue guidance about COVID vaccines and other healthcare matters.

DeSantis has made Covid-19 vaccine skepticism his calling card ahead of a potential run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The announcements Tuesday came at a roundtable focused on vaccines that DeSantis led. The risk of heart inflammation is far greater from Covid-19 than from vaccination. DeSantis last year moved to block cruise lines departing from Florida from requiring their customers to be vaccinated, and to block municipalities from imposing vaccine mandates. In June, DeSantis touted Florida’s status as the only state not to preorder vaccines for children younger than 5.

☆ POTS, a debilitating heart condition, is linked to Covid and, to a lesser degree, vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Research published Monday has confirmed a link between a Covid infection and a debilitating heart condition called POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, that has been diagnosed in some patients with long Covid. POTS was also linked, to a lesser degree, to Covid vaccination with an mRNA vaccine, according to the new study. He also said that the link between POTS and Covid vaccination needs to be confirmed with further studies. Other vaccines have also been linked to POTS in early accounts, but further research did not establish a causal link. The link between an infection — including Covid — and POTS, however, is more well-established.

☆ Ashton Kutcher and twin Michael talk health, guilt and rift between them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —In a rare interview, twin brothers Ashton and Michael Kutcher talked about both their bond and their rift. “I go in the room and I’m like ‘Whoa,’” Ashton Kutcher said, fighting back tears. “He looked at me and he said, ‘Every time you feel sorry for me, you make me less,’” Ashton Kutcher said. Ashton Kutcher said during the interview that he was not aware that his brother had been keeping it a secret. Michael Kutcher is now an advocate for the disabled.

☆ Myocarditis after Covid vaccine low among teens and young adults, large study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis after Covid vaccination is low and most patients make a full recovery, a large international study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital found. The findings confirm earlier studies that found myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart, following Covid vaccination are rare. The review included more than 800 teens and young adults who developed myocarditis and pericarditis following Covid vaccination. The heart-related conditions usually occurred within four days after the second dose of a Covid vaccine, the study found. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, said he would still like to see estimates of myocarditis risk by age, gender, vaccine type and spacing between doses.

In October 2021, Da’Vion Miller was found unconscious in the bathroom of his home in Detroit a week after receiving his first dose of Pfizer's Covid vaccine. Courtesy Da’Vion MillerMiller is one of a very small group of people in the United States who have experienced myocarditis following vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna Covid vaccines based on mRNA technology. Video: CDC says waiting longer between Covid vaccine doses could reduce myocarditis risk. Cooper joined an expert advisory panel formed by Moderna to monitor its Covid vaccine safety. The Pfizer study will include people who were previously hospitalized with vaccine-associated myocarditis, and it will also follow those who were more recently diagnosed.

☆ FDA authorizes Novavax's Covid shots as mix-and-match booster to Pfizer or Moderna
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The authorization of Novavax's booster could significantly increase the role that its shot plays in U.S. vaccination efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has to give the final go ahead before pharmacies can start administering Novavax's booster. Only 35,300 people have received Novavax's shots so far in the U.S., according to data from the CDC. By comparison, some 372.5 million Pfizer shots, 235.8 million Moderna doses and 18.9 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been administered across the U.S. so far. People who received Novavax's vaccine as their primary series are also eligible for Pfizer and BioNTech's new omicron booster.

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