U.S. FDA advisers back COVID vaccines for children as young as 6 months https://t.co/EMSxbC09Rz pic.twitter.com/Yt2QsXPjzm
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 15, 2022
Apparently it *is* going to be tricky for parents…
… “I think what we’ve heard from a lot of the committee members … is the emphasis on a choice,” said Ofer Levy, director of the precision vaccines program at Boston Children’s Hospital and a member of the advisory panel. “A choice for families. They can partner with their pediatricians, [and] make the decision.”
Before families can start to avail themselves of the vaccines, though, an advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs to recommend the shots, too, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must accept the recommendation. The group meets Friday and Saturday, when the votes will be held…
One big factor for many of the panelists was that they felt the risk of Covid to children is larger than many people realize. During the pandemic, the panelists heard, there have been 442 deaths of children aged 0 to 4 from Covid. Interpretation of this figure differed though, with some experts pointing out this means that Covid is a leading cause of death in children; pediatrician Cody Meissner, on the other hand, noted a similar number are struck by lightning in a year.
An authorization of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will represent a new challenge for public health officials, because the vaccines appear to be different from one another. One big difference is dose: The Moderna series appears to provide protection after two doses, while the Pfizer one appears to require three, with the third dose given eight weeks after the second…
Paul Offit, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, noted that previously the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appeared very similar, but this was not true for younger children. Several experts said that this might be because Pfizer and BioNTech chose a lower dose for children. In his presentation, William Gruber, a top Pfizer executive, said that the company thought that a vaccine that caused many side effects, such as fevers, would not be accepted by parents.
In fact, the Pfizer shot appears to cause less fever and fatigue than the Moderna one, although direct comparisons are not available. But it also didn’t show strong efficacy against the now prevalent Omicron variant in the youngest children. This led Pfizer to add a third dose to its study, but many children in the study had not yet received a third dose. That meant that the number of cases of Covid on which to judge the vaccine’s efficacy was small, leading some experts to say they were not confident in the figure.
Overall, though, based on the vaccine’s ability to generate antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the track record of the vaccines, panelists unanimously agreed that it would be effective.
Explainer: What to know about COVID vaccines for young children https://t.co/OHCFoaZe5b pic.twitter.com/uF24p9uJC1
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 16, 2022
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After five weeks of declining coronavirus deaths, the number of fatalities reported globally increased by 4% last week, according to the World Health Organization. While cases continued to fall globally, WHO said there were spikes in some regions. https://t.co/zKLAfoElUi
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 16, 2022
No news stories from China, but the expats are restless:
Of course, ‘intestinal symptoms’ are also an indicator for Omicron infections, but in this case it may just be North Korea taking advantage of the pandemic to deal with prior, unconfessed infections…
… An official at South Korea’s Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said the government is monitoring the outbreak, suspected to be cholera or typhoid.
The reported outbreak comes as the North tackles its first outbreak of COVID-19 infections. It declared a state of emergency last month, amid concerns over a lack of vaccines and medical supplies.
South Korea’s spy agency earlier told lawmakers that waterborne diseases, such as typhoid, were already widespread in North Korea before it announced the coronavirus outbreak…
South Korea is willing to cooperate with the North to tackle the disease outbreak, but Pyongyang remains unresponsive to any offers for dialogue, including Seoul’s earlier proposal to provide COVID vaccines, said another official at the unification ministry…
Pyongyang has been daily announcing the number of fever patients without specifying them as COVID patients, apparently due to a lack of testing kits. Experts also suspect underreporting in the figures released through government-controlled media.
North Korea reported 26,010 more people with fever symptoms on Thursday, with the total number of fever patients recorded across the country since late April nearing 4.56 million. The death toll linked to the outbreak is at 73.
The North has said the COVID wave has shown signs of subsiding, but the World Health Organization cast doubts on Pyongyang’s claims earlier this month, saying it believes the situation is getting worse.
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Note “severe” —
#LongCovid: An international team of scientists has reached consensus on core LongCovid symptoms that are recommended for study in future research. Improving the understanding of #LongCovid improves clinical practice. Delphi consensus study https://t.co/W7fDUCcYkk pic.twitter.com/JU7Uw8GuD0
— delthia ricks (@DelthiaRicks) June 15, 2022
… As part of the steering committee for the RECOVER Initiative, an NIH-sponsored collaboration of more than 100 researchers, Kleinman has been focused on research in pediatric long COVID cases. He noted that the pediatric side of the initiative is moving slowly, as they are still working on enrollment for the first phase of a large-scale, multi-clinic, observational cohort study.
In addition to RECOVER, other groups have been studying long COVID in children, including the CLoCK Consortium in England and the PreVAIL kids team. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is also planning to publish consensus guidance on diagnosing and treating long COVID in kids as part of their post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) series…
At the Kennedy Krieger Institute, which treats children and young adults ages 2 to 21 years, Morrow works with a multidisciplinary team that includes a neurologist, a physical therapist, a behavioral psychologist, and a social worker, with a neuro-psychology team and education specialists available to work with kids who are struggling in school. Currently, the clinic has a month-long waitlist for new patients.
Patients at the clinic were previously healthy, with very few experiencing medical issues until their COVID-19 infections, which were mostly mild in nature, Morrow noted. Now, they are all suffering from lingering symptoms, such as fatigue, cognitive difficulties, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, and difficulty with physical activity. Some are dealing with mood-related symptoms, though she cautioned that these symptoms could be related to the patient’s circumstances rather than the infection directly…
Kleinman noted that the concerns around long COVID in children extend beyond school performance and daily life.
“We also don’t know — and this is particularly salient for kids who are going to live a long time — what is beneath the surface,” he said. “When you think about the iceberg, the prototypical iceberg, the symptoms are above the surface, maybe the laboratory tests that you can look at are at the surface or just immediately below the surface. And then there’s stuff that’s going to portend for the future that is deeper below the surface.”
While research efforts are underway, it will take time to understand long COVID in children, he added. In the meantime, it is important for the medical community to know that COVID-19 and long COVID are very real concerns for children, he urged.
“Folks should not be comfortable in the idea that children aren’t an important part of this pandemic, because they clearly are, have been, and continue to be,” he said.
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On The Road – Munira – Morning Haiku Walk
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
NYSDOH says 92 new cases yesterday(PCR tests only).
I got an order of the “duck bill” N95 masks from Kimberly Clark. They’re flimsy and actually more stuffy than the KN95 Powecom or Air Queen masks I have.
New Deal democrat
Nationwide cases declined slightly to 102,400. Hospitalizations continued to increase slowly, to 31,400. Deaths declined to 294. If anything, there has been a slight decreasing trend in cases in the past 3.5 weeks.
Regionally cases have continued to decline in the Northeast, Midatlantic, and upper Midwest, in many cases by half of their increase since March. By contrast, in the southern half of the country from coast to coast, plus the northern Rockies, cases have continued to increase. Generally these two contrary trends dovetail with whether, relatively speaking, the dominant strain is Ba.2.12.1 or Ba.4/5.
Based on death demographics, COVID truly has become just like the flu for people under age 50. By contrast, for seniors, especially older seniors, it remains a powerful threat.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece: yesterday I speculated on whether a doubling of the new-case number from the same day last week might be due to a lack of reporting from the day before, due to a bank holiday.
I was wrong.
Wednesday’s numbers: 9,288 new cases versus 4,496 on June 8. 16 dead. 103 ICU patients on ventilators.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1186796/new-covid-19-cases-continue-to-rise/
So … yeah. Looks like a sharp increase from last week, if not a full-blown spike.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 2,320 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,532,632 cases. It also reported five deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,725 deaths – 0.79% of the cumulative reported total, 0.79% of resolved cases.
There were 23,886 active cases yesterday, 925 more than the day before. 990 were in hospital. 38 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 22 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 1,390 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,473,021 patients recovered – 98.7% of the cumulative reported total.
2,316 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. Four new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 7,496 doses of vaccine on 15th June: 356 first doses, 5,901 second doses, and 1,239 booster doses. The cumulative total is 71,082,737 doses administered: 28,013,739 first doses, 27,160,903 second doses, and 16,122,774 booster doses. 85.8% of the population have received their first dose, 83.2% their second dose, and 49.4% their booster dose.
YY_Sima Qian
On 6/15 Mainland China reported 42 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic), 38 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
At Guangdong Province there currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Fangchenggang in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Dongxing. 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 33 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
At Tianjin Municipality the last domestic asymptomatic case recovered.
At Weihai in Shandong Province there currently are 9 active asymptomatic cases remaining.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 13 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 21 domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 312 active domestic confirmed & 274 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
At Jiuquan in Gansu Province there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases, both at Langfang, both traced close contacts of domestic positive cases in Beijing & under centralized quarantine. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 5 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Liaoning Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 3 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Dandong) case. 4 domestic confirmed & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 24 active domestic confirmed & 55 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 2 residential compounds at Dandong are currently at Medium Risk.
Jilin Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 6 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. As the province does not consistently break down recoveries by confirmed & asymptomatic cases or by jurisdictions, I can no longer track the count of active case counts in the different jurisdictions.
Beijing Municipality reported 14 new domestic confirmed (13 mild & 1 moderate) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, all connected to the night club outbreak. 16 domestic confirmed & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 9 new domestic confirmed & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 14 of the positive cases were already under centralized quarantine & 2 via community screening (at Hongkou & Yangpu Districts). There were 0 new deaths. 28 domestic confirmed & 170 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 137 active domestic confirmed (6 serious & 8 critical) in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 36 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
At Jiangsu Province 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in each administrative division, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
At Fujian Province there currently are 8 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Zhangzhou & 3 at Fuzhou) cases remaining.
At Jiangxi Province there currently are 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Yichun & 1 at Shangrao) remaining.
At Henan Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Sichuan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Yunnan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Imported Cases
On 6/15, Mainland China reported 22 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 73 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 65 confirmed cases recovered (13 imported), 280 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (65 imported) & 7 were reclassified as confirmed cases (3 imported), & 7,072 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 948 active confirmed cases in the country (221 imported), 15 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 1,804 active asymptomatic cases (472 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 120,353 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 6/15, 3,391.955M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 867K doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 6/16 Hong Kong reported 1,179 new positive cases, 94 imported & 1,085 domestic (423 via RT-PCR & 662 from rapid antigen tests), 0 deaths.
On 6/16, Taiwan reported 63,221 new positive cases, 51 imported & 63,170 domestic (including 227 moderate & 165 serious). There were 168 new deaths (ages ranging from 10+ y.o. to 90+ y.o., actual dates of death range from 5/26 – 6/13, 159 having a range of underlying conditions, 55 fully vaccinated & boosted).
arrieve
@NeenerNeener: I’ve tried a lot of different masks at this point, and the KN95 Powecom just seem to balance comfort and breathability the best. I don’t love wearing them, but I don’t hate it either. Life in 2022.
MrKite
Regarding the pediatrician who suggested similar numbers of children are killed by lightening as the 442 (children 0-4) killed in the last 2.5 years by Covid, the data I found from the National Weather Service indicated that the 10 y average of people killed annually by lightening is 25 for all ages, and 0 for children 0-4. So not the same, at all. I’m surprised this obvious and dismissive disinformation was added as a serious counterpoint in the excerpt.
YY_Sima Qian
On 6/16 Mainland China reported 23 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic), 41 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
At Guangdong Province there currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Fangchenggang in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Dongxing. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 33 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
At Weihai in Shandong Province there currently are 9 active asymptomatic cases remaining.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 6 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 13 domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 314 active domestic confirmed & 284 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
At Jiuquan in Gansu Province there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
Hebei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Langfang, a traced close contact of domestic positive cases in Beijing & under centralized quarantine. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 6 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Liaoning Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 5 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Dandong) case. 2 domestic confirmed & 12 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 26 active domestic confirmed & 48 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 2 residential compounds at Dandong are currently at Medium Risk.
Jilin Province reported 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. As the province does not consistently break down recoveries by confirmed & asymptomatic cases or by jurisdictions, I can no longer track the count of active case counts in the different jurisdictions.
Beijing Municipality reported 11 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 11 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, all but 1 connected to the night club outbreak. 9 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all persons under centralized quarantine. There were 0 new deaths. 21 domestic confirmed & 143 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 118 active domestic confirmed (4 serious & 5 critical) in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 35 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
At Jiangsu Province there currently are 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in each administrative division, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
At Fujian Province there currently are 8 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Zhangzhou & 3 at Fuzhou) cases remaining.
At Jiangxi Province there currently are 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Yichun & 1 at Shangrao) remaining.
At Henan Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Leshan, a person coming from elsewhere & under at home health monitoring. 3 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Luoping County in Qujing, a recent arrival coming from elsewhere & under at home health monitoring. There currently are 17 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Imported Cases
On 6/16, Mainland China reported 31 new imported confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 63 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 51 confirmed cases recovered (16 imported), 251 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (68 imported) & 4 were reclassified as confirmed cases (2 imported), & 16,033 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 951 active confirmed cases in the country (236 imported), 10 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 1,652 active asymptomatic cases (464 imported), 0 suspect cases. 108,407 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 6/16, 3,393.119M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 1.164M doses in the past 24 hrs. 1,292.344M individuals have taken at least 1 shot (91.66% of the overall population), 1,259.184M individuals are fully vaccinated (89.31% of the overall population), & 785.696M individuals have been boosted (55.54% of the overall population). For the > 60 y.o. cohort, 231.449M individuals have taken at least one shot (87.66% of the cohort), 219.389M individuals are fully vaccinated (83.09%), & 171.217M individuals are boosted (64.85%).
On 6/17 Hong Kong reported 1,145 new positive cases, 131 imported & 1,014 domestic (379 via RT-PCR & 635 from rapid antigen tests), 1 death (58 y.o., unvaccinated).
On 6/17, Taiwan reported 55,261 new positive cases, 74 imported & 55,187 domestic (including 446 moderate or serious). There were 154 new deaths (ages ranging from 40+ y.o. to 90+ y.o., actual dates of death range from 5/11 – 6/15, 144 having a range of underlying conditions, 58 fully vaccinated & boosted).