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An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday raised doubts about shifting toward a yearly Covid booster for most adults and children, saying too many questions about the virus still remain unanswered. The FDA convened its Vaccine and Related Biology Products Advisory Committee to discuss how the Covid vaccines may change moving forward. On Monday, the agency published briefing documents proposing annual Covid shots that target the latest variants of the virus — an approach similar to the yearly flu shot. Some committee members said they would prefer to make multiple yearly meetings on the Covid vaccines the norm. In a unanimous vote, the committee recommended using the bivalent formula in all Covid vaccines moving forward, not just for booster shots.

☆ Inflation struggles, China's Covid: What to watch for in the economy in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

But economists and CEOs warn the economy will remain on shaky ground in 2023, which could mean another turbulent year for consumers. After months of strict lockdowns that caused rolling disruptions to supply chains and greatly stifled demand from Chinese consumers, China began lifting its Covid restrictions in recent weeks. “The most important thing for 2023 is by far China’s Covid policy,” Dan Klein, the head of energy pathways at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Covid infections have continued to shut down factories around the world, aggravated by China’s loosening of Covid restrictions. In the meantime, with demand outstripping supply, car prices are up by nearly 24% over the past two years.

☆ As child vaccine rates slip, local health officials fight misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Sausser | Kaiser Health News | Lauren Sausser Covers Health Across The South As Part Of Khn'S Southern Bureau. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

So the Health Department conducted something called an online “sentiment search,” which gauges how certain words are perceived on social media. An analysis conducted by KHN and The Associated Press found local health department spending dropped by 18% per capita from 2010 to 2020. To that end, the health department has partnered with local leaders and groups to encourage vaccinations. — Phil Maytubby, Oklahoma city County health departmentThe more than 3,000 public health departments nationwide stand to benefit from a unified message, he said. In late 2020, the foundation, working with other public health groups, established the Public Health Communications Collaborative to amplify easy-to-understand information about vaccines.

They promoted and delivered vaccines, developed prevention strategies, monitored data and did a million other unheralded things to help weave a stronger public health safety net. Meanwhile, top health officials are warning that persistent vaccine misinformation remains a serious public health threat. Particularly in vulnerable communities where access to vaccines, therapeutics and good information are lacking, there is much work to be done. And this common-sense principle is still true: When you enact and maintain good policies, good things happen. In the past two weeks, deaths from Covid are up 63%, a possible harbinger of things to come in 2023.

☆ Does Zero Covid’s End Mean China Is Running Out of Money?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Simone Gao | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Whether or not it chooses to admit it, the Chinese Communist Party clearly has terminated its zero-Covid policy. The foundation of China’s zero-Covid policy has been ubiquitous nucleic-acid testing. Before Dec. 7, a 48-hour negative test certificate was required to access most public places throughout China. That costly policy wasn’t conducive to the long duration of this pandemic. Signs of financial wear began to show on May 26, when the National Medical Insurance Administration announced that from that point on local governments would be responsible for the cost of testing.

☆ China’s Economy Struggled in Zero Covid’s Final Month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Jason Douglas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s economy took a big hit from Covid-19 restrictions in November, in what economists hope will be the last big squeeze on growth from a zero-tolerance strategy toward Covid-19 that Beijing has since abandoned. Retail sales tumbled as locked-down consumers cut back on spending, while industrial production lost momentum as factories grappled with tight Covid restrictions and slowing overseas demand for their products. Unemployment rose and investment into buildings, machinery and other fixed assets slowed.

☆ Blackstone gets a slap from efficient markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private markets seemed, for a while, the perfect antidote to the weirdness of public markets. Those models typically move much more slowly than the rapidly changing prices served up by public markets. These charms became much more potent during the stresses of Covid-19, when it became clear that public markets are not always a ruthlessly efficient price-discovery mechanism. RESILIENCE OR INTRANSIGENCECovid briefly scrambled the world, but bigger changes are coming that may scramble the calculus for private markets. During Covid, public markets seemed backward-looking, overreacting to the present moment while private markets were able to focus on the future.

Easing Covid measures means accepting a rise in cases that is likely to get worse as winter approaches. Residents buy medications at a pharmacy in Shijiazhuang, China, last week. “There will always be complaints.”Though many people in China still support “zero-Covid,” the strict measures have also stoked growing resentment. China is thus now facing a dual challenge, said Donald Low, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “You’re going to see the Hong Kong story played out on a much larger scale” in mainland China, Low said.

☆ What Covid taught scientists and the public about the flu
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Caroline Hopkins | Nbc News Contributor Caroline Hopkins Is A Health | Science Journalist Who Covers Cancer Treatment For Precision Oncology News. She Is A Graduate Of The Columbia University Graduate School Of Journalism. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Flu transmission can be stoppedThe 2020-2021 flu season — the first full flu season of the Covid pandemic — defied Tedros’ message. ‘Nonpharmaceutical interventions’ workBefore Covid, experts put limited stock in so-called nonpharmaceutical — that is, nonvaccination — strategies for preventing flu transmission. Although the airline case study taught the research community about airborne flu transmission, she said the general public’s appreciation for these risks has increased because of Covid. In that study, the researchers compared mild Covid infections with mild flu infections in mice and humans and found that the brain effects were similar around seven days post-infection. Asymptomatic flu infections may be underappreciatedThe Covid pandemic put a spotlight on the extent and risk of asymptomatic infections.

☆ Covid’s Drag on the Workforce Proves Persistent. ‘It Sets Us Back.’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Gwynn Guilford | Lauren Weber | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two-and-a-half years after Covid-19 emerged, reported infections are way down, pandemic restrictions are practically gone and life in many respects is approaching normal. The labor force, however, is not. Researchers say the virus is having a persistent effect, keeping millions out of work and reducing the productivity and hours of millions more, disrupting business operations and raising costs.

☆ Covid will be a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely, whether or not the pandemic is 'over'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Aria Bendix | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

But disease experts said debating whether the pandemic is over overshadows a more important concern: the reality that Covid will remain a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely. Since April, Covid deaths have stayed relatively flat, at a weekly average of around 300 to 500 per day. Predicting Covid's future death tollThe Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, a research organization at the University of Washington that regularly models Covid deaths, predicts a decline in Covid deaths over the next two months. Covid death numbers could also fall if hospitals stop routinely testing people for the virus. Murray estimated that half of annual Covid deaths may fall into that category.

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