@Kyle C. Barker are you going to get the flu shot as well?
COVID-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus)
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Neo. The Only. The One.
THE ONE
MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
We finally get back to a decent world with Covid calming down.... 
Then We're hit with inflation and price gouging.
Then We're hit with inflation and price gouging.
King_Kamala61
TheColi's Favorite Artist
Im on a 2 yr streak of not getting infected....i stay n95 up
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DamienWayne
Superstar
Damn this shyt byke for real , my boss in icu from this
Is it? They are keeping it quiet, as if it's a non-factor. I am getting my booster and flu shot tomorrow from cvs.
DamienWayne
Superstar
People have to be falling out in the street for them to ever shut shyt down again
BC 007 Pipeline
The goal of Berlin Cures is to make BC 007 available on the market as fast as ever possible for LCS-patients and, in parallel, to successfully complete its ongoing clinical studies in relation to heart failure.
www.berlincures.com
Depending on the source, it is assumed that about 10 to 30% of all patients infected with Corona virus suffer from Long Covid Syndrome (LCS) in varying degrees. Wallukat (Wallukat G et al., 2021) demonstrated that more than 90% of patients with LCS have autoantibodies against G protein-coupled receptors.
In four patients treated with BC 007 under compassionate use conditions at the University of Erlangen with the intention to neutralize these autoantibodies, an enormous remission of LCS could be achieved in a short time, so that one could speak of a cure.
This astounding result triggered an enormous international media response. In fact, BC 007 appears to be the only drug worldwide that may help cure LCS.
At the moment, Berlin Cures is – with utmost efforts – in the process of preparing a two-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial (RCT) to demonstrate the efficacy of BC 007 in a large number of patients with LCS.
Updated COVID-19 booster shots are now available. Here's what you need to know
The reformulated vaccines are specifically tailored to combat the two most prevalent omicron subvariants: BA.4 and BA.5.
www.pbs.org
Updated COVID-19 booster shots are now available. Here’s what you need to know
Sep 6, 2022 4:50 PM EDT
On Sept. 1, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the use of updated COVID-19 booster shots that are specifically tailored to combat the two most prevalent omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. The decision comes just a day after the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization of the shots. The CDC’s backing will enable a full roll-out of the reformulated vaccines to begin within days.
The new booster shots – one by Moderna and another from Pfizer-BioNTech – come as more than 450 people are still dying of COVID-19 every day in the U.S.
WATCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses approval of updated COVID booster shots that target omicron
As of Aug. 31, 2022, only 48.5% of booster-eligible people in the U.S. have received their first booster shot, and just under 34% of those eligible have received their second. These low numbers may in part be influenced by people waiting for the newer versions of the vaccines to provide better protection. But booster shots have proven to be an essential layer of protection against COVID-19.
Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti are immunologists who study infectious disorders and how vaccines trigger different aspects of the immune system to fight infection. They weigh in on how the updated booster shots train the immune system and how protective they might be against COVID-19.
What is different about the updated booster shots?
The newly authorized shots are the first updates to the original COVID-19 vaccines that were introduced in late 2020. They use the same mRNA technology as the original vaccines. The key difference between the original COVID-19 shots and the new “bivalent” version is that the latter consists of a mixture of mRNA that encodes the spike proteins of both the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the more recent omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5.As of late August 2022, the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants are dominant worldwide. In the U.S., currently 89% of COVID-19 infections are caused by BA.5 and 11% are caused by BA.4.
The inability of the original vaccine strains to prevent reinfection and to trigger long-term protective immunity prompted the need for the reformulated vaccines.
How does a bivalent vaccine trigger an immune response?
In an actual COVID-19 infection, the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses its protruding spike protein to latch onto human cells and gain entry into cells. The spike protein triggers the production of so-called neutralizing antibodies, which bind to the spike protein and prevent the virus from invading other cells.But when the virus mutates, as we know that it does, the antibodies that were previously produced in response to the virus can no longer effectively bind to the newly mutated spike protein. In this respect, the SARS-CoV-2 virus acts like a chameleon – a master of disguise – by changing its body configuration and escaping recognition by the immune system.
The ongoing viral mutations are why antibodies produced in response to the original vaccine strains have over time become less effective at fending off infections by new variants.
The concept of bivalent vaccines aimed at protecting against two different strains of a virus is not new. For instance, Cervarix is an FDA-approved bivalent vaccine that provides protection against two different types of human papillomaviruses that cause cancer.
How protective will the new shots be against infection?
There are as of yet no human studies on the efficacy of the new bivalent vaccine at preventing reinfections and providing long-term immune protection.However, in human clinical trials and laboratory studies, both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna found that their initial version of the bivalent vaccine, which was directed against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and an earlier omicron strain, BA.1, induced a strong immune response and longer protection against both the original strain and the BA.1 variant. In addition, the companies reported that the same early combination generated a significant antibody response against the newest omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, though this antibody response was lower than that seen against subvariant BA.1.
Based on those results, in spring 2022 the FDA rejected the BA.1 bivalent boosters because the agency felt the boosters may fall short of providing sufficient protection against the newest strains, BA.4 and BA.5, which were by then spreading quickly throughout the U.S. and the world. So the FDA asked Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to develop bivalent vaccines specifically targeting BA.4 and BA.5, instead of BA.1.
Because clinical trials are time-consuming, the FDA was willing to consider animal studies and other laboratory findings, such as the ability of antibodies to neutralize the virus, to decide whether to authorize the bivalent boosters.
This decision has stirred up controversy over whether it is appropriate for the FDA to approve a booster without direct human data to support it. However, the FDA has stated that millions of people have safely received the mRNA vaccines – which were originally tested in humans – and that the changes in the mRNA sequences in the vaccines do not affect vaccine safety. Thus, it concluded that the bivalent vaccines are safe and that there is no need to wait for human clinical trials.
It is also noteworthy that influenza vaccines are introduced each year based on prediction of the strain that is likely to be dominant, and such formulations do not undergo new clinical trials.
Based on available evidence from the previous COVID-19 vaccines, we believe it is very likely that the new boosters will continue to offer strong protection from severe COVID-19 leading to hospitalization and death.
But whether they will protect against reinfection and breakthrough infections remains to be seen.
Will it only be a booster shot?
The bivalent vaccines can only be used as a booster shot at least two months after the completion of the primary series – or initial required shots – or following a previous booster shot. The Moderna bivalent vaccine is authorized for use in people 18 years of age, while the Pfizer bivalent vaccine is authorized for those 12 years of age and older.Because of the superiority of the bivalent vaccines, the FDA has also removed the use authorization for the original monovalent Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for booster purposes in individuals 18 years of age and older and 12 years of age and older, respectively.
The new bivalent vaccines contain a lower dose of mRNA, and as such are meant to be used only as boosters and not in people who have never received a COVID-19 vaccination.
Will the new shots protect against future variants?
How well the bivalent vaccines will perform in the face of new variants that might arise will depend on the nature of future spike protein mutations.If it is a minor mutation or set of mutations when compared to the original strain or to omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, the new shots will provide good protection. However, if a hypothetical new strain were to possess highly unique mutations in its spike protein, then it’s likely that it could once again dodge immune protection.
On the flip side, the successful development of the updated vaccines demonstrates that the mRNA vaccine technology is nimble and innovative enough that – within a couple of months of the emergence of a new variant – it is now likely possible to develop and distribute new vaccines that are tailor-made to fight an emerging variant.
Nearly 8 million kids lost a parent or primary caregiver to the pandemic
September 6, 2022 4:09 PM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
Twin sisters Tripti and Pari, who lost both their parents to COVID-19, play at a relative's home in Bhopal, India on May 11, 2021. A new study estimates that 8 million kids lost a parent or primary caregiver to a pandemic-related cause.
Gagan Nayar/AFP via Getty Images
A new international study estimates that from January 1, 2020, to May, 1, 2022, nearly 8 million kids age 18 and under lost a parent or primary caregiver to a pandemic-related cause. When the researchers included the deaths of secondary caregivers like grandparents or other older relatives, the number of kids affected rose to 10.5 million.
That's a big jump from the prior estimate of 5.2 million children who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic until Oct 31, 2021.
The findings are "heartbreaking and disturbing," says Susan Hillis, the main author of the new study, and a co-chair of the Global Reference Group on Children Affected by COVID-19 and Crisis, an international team that's been tracking the indirect toll of the pandemic on children.
Some nations are beginning to address these catastrophic losses with new programs that offer support to the bereaved families – although the U.S. lags in this effort.
Why have estimates gone up?
Asked why the numbers are far higher than previously thought, Hillis answers: "Part of the increases are because we just have more accurate death data on which to model our estimates. And of course, the other aspect of the increases is that deaths have continued."The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, also found that the greatest numbers of kids affected by these losses were in Africa and Southeast Asia. India has seen the most suffering, with 3.5 million children grieving the loss of a parent or primary/secondary caregiver. However, Bolivia and Peru have the highest rates of kids affected, with 1 out of every 50 children in both countries losing caregivers during the pandemic.
These children face potentially devastating consequences. The emotional toll may be what people think of first but the impact hits many areas of a child's life.
"This enormous bereavement is an economic loss," explains Lorraine Sherr, a psychologist at the University College London, and a member of the Global Reference Group, who wasn't involved in the latest estimates.
That's especially true when the parent or primary caregiver who died was the main breadwinner in the family. A family's loss of income can put kids at a higher risk of food and housing insecurity.
If a child moves to a new community or family because of the death of a parent, "it's a separation," she says. "And then there's disengagement at school and then disengagement with friendships, with things previously that made them happy or helped them learn. So you have this kind of huge cascade of losses."
Bereavement is one of the top predictors of poor outcomes at school, says psychologist Julie Kaplow, executive vice president of trauma and grief programs at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.
Studies also point to the lasting mental and physical health impacts from losing a parent or caregiver.
"It increases the risk of mental health problems, suicide, prolonged grief complications, sexual exploitation and abuse, even physical abuse of children," says Hillis.
Finding ways to help bereaved children
Many countries and organizations are finally recognizing the urgent need to help children and families deal with this loss, says Sherr."Some efforts are being put in place, especially in South Africa, in Eswatini and Kenya and Botswana," says Joel-Pascal Ntwali N'konzi, a co-author of the new study and a researcher at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kigali, Rwanda. In South Africa and Eswatini, 1 in 100 children have lost a parent or caregiver.
Sometimes the solution is in the form of cash aid.
Providing cash payments to such families can ensure that families can afford school fees in countries where education comes with a price tag. N'konzi and his co-authors are hopeful that other countries will join these efforts.
The World Bank is also looking into providing countries with funding for "cash plus care initiative," says Sherr.
"That means that you provide the family with a stipend or a small cash injection, but you twin that with care — some kind of social support services, linking to school and education."
These kinds of support programs would also connect bereaved families with grassroots organizations or nonprofits that can provide mental health care and psychological support to children and the surviving parent or caregivers.
Past research on children orphaned by the HIV-AIDS epidemic shows that such efforts can buffer the impact of the trauma on kids, says Sherr, who has done research on this topic.
"We looked at educational risk, things like missing school, dropping school year achievement," she explains. "We looked at emotional outcomes such as depression, stress, identity, anxiety, trauma. We also looked at positive outcomes like coping and resilience."
She says projects that included cash transfer plus connection to community-based supports and services improved these outcomes among grieving children.
However, there have been no federal efforts to address the crisis here in the United States, notes Rachel Kidman, a social epidemiologist who has studied the long-term impacts of the HIV-AIDS epidemic on children. The new study found that more than 250,000 American children had lost a parent or caregiver due to the pandemic as of May 1, 2022.
And yet, says Kidman, who was not involved in the new research: "I'm not seeing any concerted efforts or even a lead by the federal government" to address the needs of these children."
My luck ran out. Had to cancel my booster shot for Saturday as I now have COVID. Woke up today feeling like I did when I got my last booster shot. Low fever sore and lethargic. In addition I got a runny nose. No breathing issues or cough. I didn't think I had COVID because the symptoms were so off but the clinic test says I do.
About 85% back to normal today. Symptoms mostly lasted 3.5 days. I only ever had a fever, coughing, body aches, chills, runny nose, and congestion. Never had any breathing issues, sore throat, also never lost my taste or smell. Probably helped that I was fully vaccinated with a single booster. Still plan on getting that second booster but I'll wait until at least late December.
It's hard to believe this is the same virus that was killing people all over the place but I guess the version I got has mutated so much to spread that it's been significantly weakened. It really did seem like a mild version of the flu to me.
It's hard to believe this is the same virus that was killing people all over the place but I guess the version I got has mutated so much to spread that it's been significantly weakened. It really did seem like a mild version of the flu to me.