Pfizer's antiviral pill—Paxlovid—becomes the 1st US-authorized at-home Covid treatment. The medication, which heads off the infection's worst effects, was approved by the FDA Wednesday. This milestone comes as US cases, hospitalizations & deaths are rising https://t.co/1MiyuY8bRw
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) December 22, 2021
This is great news! Unfortunately, my inner Eeyore has some side concerns…
1) Idiots will use it as an excuse not to get vaccinated / boosted, because Hey, if I get sick, I’ll just take a pill!
2) Overstrained medical facilities will be besieged by sufferers demanding The Magic Pill, many of them well past the effectiveness window, and some of whom won’t actually have covid.
3) Too many patients will stop taking the 30-pills-over-5 days too soon, because they feel so much better on Day Three, or they don’t like the side effects… and that will lead to further mutated strains of the virus.
Large holiday gatherings in U.S. not safe even if boosted, Fauci says https://t.co/ed0FAXouLF pic.twitter.com/Js49Dx3mmC
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
… “There are many of these parties that have 30, 40, 50 people in which you do not know the vaccination status of individuals. Those are the kind of functions in the context of Omicron that you do not want to go to,” Fauci said at a White House briefing.
Early evidence indicates Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant, said Fauci, citing studies from South Africa and Scotland, but warned Americans must remain cautious.
“This is good news. However, we must wait to see what happens in our own population which has its own demographic considerations,” he said…
The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the United States rose 25% from the previous week to about 149,300 cases per day, said U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, with average daily deaths up 3.5% at 1,200.
Omicron represents approximately 73% of cases across the country, said Walensky, and as high as 90% of cases in some areas, such as the eastern Atlantic states, parts of the Midwest, South, and northern Pacific states…
The U.S. government will have 265,000 treatment courses of Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 anti-viral treatment available by January and 10 million by late summer, said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients…
The government will provide any resources Pfizer needs for production and will distribute treatments to states and localities at no charge as soon as they are delivered, he said.
A monster new case wave is in the making. which will exceed last December/January. We're dependent on our immunity wall (vaccines and prior Covid) to defend against Omicron's impact. Well over 2,000 deaths today were from Delta infections. https://t.co/dP8rzvdFPY
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 23, 2021
1/ How well do the rapid antigen tests pick up on Omicron? with @PBS @NewsHour's @TheStephSy: pic.twitter.com/vbqeCAoxZQ
— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA (@celinegounder) December 22, 2021
Not everybody tests, but just about everybody… uses the sewer system:
wastewater testing highest level in US covid cases since beginning of pandemic pic.twitter.com/q2k3xkn2Tj
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) December 22, 2021
======
Omicron vs Delta
Scotland: 60% less hospitalizations
England: 40-45% less hospitalizations
South Africa: ~70% less hospitalizations
All adjusted, all point estimates
But that's all very good.https://t.co/VXraBQwJ1v
by @BoothWilliam pic.twitter.com/j5XajGKRjb— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 22, 2021
A northern Chinese city of 13 million is on lockdown after a spike of just over 200 COVID-19 cases, weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics. It’s the tightest restrictions since China locked down 11 million in Wuhan in 2020.https://t.co/ex4EtBS1sj
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 23, 2021
Japan rules out changes to COVID-19 curbs despite Omicron https://t.co/GqPqt6Lvsz pic.twitter.com/EyCvaB18j0
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
Australia's COVID-19 testing facilities were severely stretched amid a record surge in cases and as tens of thousands of domestic travelers thronged the centers to get test results necessary to travel interstate for Christmas https://t.co/RCBh4mTgS7 pic.twitter.com/GnYRST48kd
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
Moscow has reported a 60% rise in coronavirus cases in the city over the last 24 hourshttps://t.co/62Z4pDOghz
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) December 23, 2021
Wearing masks adorned with puppies, flowers or superheros, French children 5 to 11 line up to get their vaccine shots on the first day they were eligible, all to help ward off the omicron variant. https://t.co/nsB2UtklDB
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) December 22, 2021
Booster cabs: In Greece, health services are using taxi companies in a race to get older people fully inoculated against COVID-19 amid the rise of the omicron variant. @SrdjanTV joined a team of health visitors in Athens.
Full story: https://t.co/RLHYrmlKSq pic.twitter.com/Fkj8lsjcQo
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) December 22, 2021
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is convening a special Cabinet meeting Thursday to pass a law that makes it mandatory to wear masks outdoors amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases. https://t.co/ytn1DVUOEn
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) December 22, 2021
UK reports more than 100,000 daily Covid cases for the first time since mass-testing began during the pandemic https://t.co/R52zFj81pb
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 22, 2021
Scotland reports fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations with Omicron https://t.co/D1tNqo7lnR pic.twitter.com/8DI6WMxaBh
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
Wales to introduce new Covid restrictions from 26 December including rule of six in hospitality, cinemas and theatres and table service in pubs and restaurantshttps://t.co/FImSTIRczo
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 22, 2021
COVID update:
New study from South Africa says patients infected with the #omicron variant are 80 percent less likely to require hospitalization than those with other strains.https://t.co/7ZcDZc7UB0— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) December 22, 2021
Nigeria destroys 1 million vaccine doses due to expiration dates. A top health official accused wealthy nations of hoarding vaccines, then waiting too late to donate them. https://t.co/q0g2AMCycN
— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) December 22, 2021
Canada expands pandemic relief programmes amid Omicron surge https://t.co/rg0OX4lRG5
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) December 23, 2021
=======
With #omicron, many vaccinated people will at some point test positive. Here are some pointers to keep in mind—breakthrough symptoms usually don’t resemble the severity of Covid that some unvaccinated people get. Usually symptoms are milder https://t.co/sq0Zn7g8J4
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) December 23, 2021
Eager to book an appointment to get an #Omicron booster? It's not clear that day will come, @US_FDA's Peter Marks told @NicholasFlorko. https://t.co/bl8tfGjKip
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) December 22, 2021
In the lab, immune cells put up a strong fight against Omicron, suggesting that vaccines will be able to prevent the worst outcomes of the virus variant. https://t.co/rN0HPAqUDf
— NYT Health (@NYTHealth) December 19, 2021
.@trvb uses a Covid "freaking out" scale to assess pandemic developments. The Delta wave was a 6. He's currently unsure where #Omicron falls, saying it's somewhere between a 3 and a (gulp) 8. https://t.co/gzrxm1ofb9
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) December 22, 2021
Do home-tests work against #Omicron ?
From @US_FDA :
"Preliminary laboratory studies with heat-inactivated omicron samples suggest that the Abbott BinaxNOW and Quidel QuickVue antigen tests are able to detect the omicron variant with similar performance as with other variants." pic.twitter.com/zOyQkDhrVb— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) December 22, 2021
A rapid innate immune response in children protects them from Covid, a new genetic study has found. Fundamental differences in immune responses & blood clotting in children & adults explains why kids may more frequently have a less serious outcome https://t.co/kwi3bLG096 pic.twitter.com/Wss1Yf3p2P
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) December 22, 2021
How deadly will future variants be? The sudden emergence of #Omicron, confirms that SARSCoV2 strains will continue to emerge. To make sense of the rapid evolution, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab scientists created a way to estimate the strength of future variants https://t.co/y3YbYdPcUY
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) December 22, 2021
=======
At least 140,790 covid deaths have been reported in U.S. nursing homes, according to the latest data from the @CDCgov. #KHNaging
?: @youngsamantha https://t.co/SfEDhbAWwT
— Kaiser Health News (@KHNews) December 19, 2021
This has happened so rapidly in NYC that everybody I know has a friend/co-workers/family member that is sick. For the fully vaxed the #Omicron "sick" is a really bad cold. The pace of its spread here is dizzying. https://t.co/KvPRW7i7rD
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) December 23, 2021
California's political divide is east (RED) vs west (BLUE). With each wave of #COVID19 that split reveals wider disparities in hospitalization and death rates on a per capita basis — especially devastating in the San Joaquin Valley eastern (GOP-heavy) area. https://t.co/WTRfLq1YFq
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) December 22, 2021
We face one immediate, fixable crisis: The vaccinated elites of the GOP succeeding in worsening the pandemic with anti-vax propaganda.
Imagine if the press addressed this with the laser seriousness they apply to inflation and a supply chain crisis that never happened.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) December 22, 2021
Speaking of ‘supply chain crises’…
oh no https://t.co/l2tzdhfPDg
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) December 23, 2021
… According to the lawsuit, the vaccine mandate will ultimately force the release of “dangerous ICE detainees being held at county jails across Ohio.”
“We have sheriffs that are going to lose a lot of talented deputies to this mandate, and they’ll ultimately give up their contracts to house ICE detainees rather than see that happen,” Yost said. “Forcing that kind of choice on people who dedicate their lives to keeping our communities safe creates a needless situation in which everyone loses.”
The coalition of attorneys general said the potential workforce loss poses a “significant threat to state economies, as it could exacerbate ongoing gaps in the supply chain.”..
Please for the love of god just read the room Sweden https://t.co/MB5fQDVPnW
— Tess Owen (@misstessowen) December 22, 2021
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, Dec. 22-23Post + Comments (70)