.@WhipClyburn releases information from briefing with FDA’s Dr Peter Marks on #covid19 vaccines for kids <5: -advisory mtgs could be moved up if reviews are done sooner-FDA won’t wait for Pfizer to review Moderna-won’t hold to 50% VE vs symptoms if similar to adult efficacy pic.twitter.com/wGNE5ZNWyI — Meg Tirrell (@megtirrell) May 9, 2022
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday / Tuesday, May 9-10Post + Comments (101)
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China's tough zero-COVID measures remain essential to defeat the pandemic and buy time to improve vaccination rates and develop new treatments, senior health advisers wrote in recently published reports. https://t.co/3Nr5sb7Rby
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) May 10, 2022
Tesla stutters under Shanghai lockdown; Beijing keeps hunting COVID https://t.co/HYE9oLFn29 pic.twitter.com/Rxv9OyIxpv
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2022
After six weeks of strict lockdown, Shanghai officials are again tightening Covid restrictions amid a renewed push by the central government to eradicate the virus, sparking a new wave of frustration in the city of 25 million.@caocli @yifanxie @xinwenfanhttps://t.co/oPiUBOXF0x
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) May 9, 2022
Teams in white protective suits are going into the homes of coronavirus-infected people to spray disinfectant as China's Shanghai tries to root out an omicron outbreak. The last two subway lines that were still operating have been shut down. https://t.co/tQuDiZe69N
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 10, 2022
Taiwan is moving away from 'Zero Covid' but Beijing is doubling down. China & Taiwan were among the last places on earth to pursue “zero Covid.” Then came the highly transmissible Omicron variant & Taiwan has decided to cope w/ it https://t.co/j02LWEwNB7
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 10, 2022
Women who've lost spouses to COVID-19 in Africa say they've been denied homes, support and family while in traditional periods of mourning. The pandemic has increased an already sizeable population of widows, as men are more likely to die of the virus. https://t.co/D3ZGVGAm4E pic.twitter.com/Ttga60w6le
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 10, 2022
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In the lab: Scientists are settling a question every boosted person has asked: Does it matter in which arm you get your shot? Here are results from animal studies—booster shots in the same limb as the 1st shot yielded stronger adaptive immunity in mice https://t.co/yhY34HuA4x pic.twitter.com/0GDWNETCl0
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 9, 2022
Scientists around the world are investigating how a dwindling number of people have managed to dodge the coronavirus for more than two years, even after the highly transmissible omicron variant drove a record-shattering surge in cases this winter. https://t.co/v56knNTG6p
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 9, 2022
Health officials in some countries are questioning the merits of repeated, mass testing when it comes to containing COVID infections, considering the billions it costs https://t.co/MvZKa9KHq1 pic.twitter.com/yh5Q3y4m4P
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2022
Cancer diagnosis a year before infection not linked to worse outcomes; air travel carries COVID risks https://t.co/gQSVKGqJ62 pic.twitter.com/rzKlEFdgxJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2022
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Read the whole (not long! very good!) thing:
… Every time I got a new consult for the ICU, I would routinely check their vaccination status. Whenever I saw the red unvaccinated mark, I felt my disappointment growing. I started asking every patient the same question every time: Why did you not get the vaccine? There was no answer that would have satisfied me, but I continued to ask the question anyway. I was getting more frustrated as I tried to put myself in my patients’ shoes, but I struggled to understand them.
This sentiment was changed by an elderly African American woman who was hypoxic and required intubation. She started crying as soon as I questioned her about the vaccine and asked me whether it was too late to get it. She had heard of it but thought it was harmful because a distant friend had received it and died shortly afterward.
For the first time in a long time, I found myself disheartened by the response. Here she was, fighting for her life, when only a few weeks ago she had refused the vaccine that would have saved her. I looked at her and saw remorse and desperation as she tried to convince me that the vaccine had killed her friend as if my believing it would make it true. For the first time, I no longer felt anger; I felt empathy. I empathized with the patients who I thought I resented. I felt bad for them as I imagined them in the ICU, regretful with no other option but to have faith in the doctors and health care workers that they did not trust.
That day, I cried with my patient as she asked me what her chances were. I did not have to answer because I knew she could see it on my face. Like many of the unvaccinated patients who made it to the ICU, she was going to die. I knew she was oblivious of the fact that she had most likely infected at least five more people with her carelessness, but there was no reason to tell her that now. I held her hand as she made a video call to her family for the last time, and I promised them I would do my best to save her. My encounter with that patient helped me realize that my unconscious vaccine bias may not have affected my clinical work, but it robbed me of my compassion—and, as a doctor, compassion is vital. I wondered whether my insensitivity had contributed to the cycle of physician distrust and lack of medical care that these patients continued to suffer…