Month: January 2022

Omicron is the most infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2 to date, sending COVID-19 infection rates around the world to record-breaking heights and leaving many searching for supplemental ways to protect themselves. As to why omicron is so transmissible, science has yet to find a definitive answer aside from its ability to evade immunity. As Nature recently reported, the viral load— which is the amount of virus that builds up in someone's body — in people infected with delta appears to be slightly higher than those with omicron. Omicron's rapid spread could also be a result of Americans, particularly in states with few protective measures, going about their lives unmasked after testing positive with omicron. Common means of reducing transmission include social distancing, sanitization, and man...

The evidence about the protection from severe disease provided by booster shots is compelling, as outlined by the recent CDC study that showed they're 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations from omicron infections. And yet that data hasn't convinced even a majority of Americans to get boosted. Only 40% of the U.S. population has received the extra dose, considerably lower than the less-than-impressive 63% who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Even though President Joe Biden and health care experts continue to harp on the importance of booster doses as protection from the initial vaccinations wanes, the average number of boosters administered per day in the U.S. has dropped from a peak of 1 million in early December to about 490,000 as of last week. A new poll from The Associate...

NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 booster drive in the U.S. is losing steam, worrying health experts who have pleaded with Americans to get an extra shot to shore up their protection against the highly contagious omicron variant. Just 40% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the average number of booster shots dispensed per day in the U.S. has plummeted from a peak of 1 million in early December to about 490,000 as of last week. Also, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Americans are more likely to see the initial vaccinations — rather than a booster — as essential. “It’s clear that the booster effort is falling short,” said Jason Schwartz, a vaccine polic...

RT: Maria Van Kerkhove, Head a.i. Emerging Diseases and Zoonosis at the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference on the situation of the coronavirus at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 2020. Denis Balibouse | Reuters The next Covid-19 variant that will rise to world attention will be more contagious than omicron, but the real question scientists need to answer is whether or not it will be more deadly, World Health Organization officials said Tuesday. Roughly 21 million Covid cases were reported to the WHO over the last week, setting a new global record for weekly cases from the rapidly spreading omicron variant, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, said during a livestreamed Q&A across the group's so...

A Boston hospital says it won't consider performing a heart transplant on a patient who refuses to get vaccinated against COVID-19, CBS Boston reports. DJ Ferguson, 31, is fighting for his life at Brigham and Women's Hospital and in desperate need of a heart transplant. His father, David Ferguson, is speaking out passionately on behalf of his son who, he told CBS Boston, "has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he's been pushed to the limit." DJ's family says he was at the front of the line to receive a transplant but hospital policy stipulates that he's no longer eligible because he hasn't received the vaccination. And David Ferguson says his son simply won't. "It's kind of against his basic principles — he doesn't believe in it," David Ferguson says. "It's a polic...

US news DJ Ferguson, 31, had previously been prioritized for a transplant by Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston A Boston-area hospital said it will not perform a heart transplant on a patient who refuses to get a Covid-19 vaccination.DJ Ferguson, 31, was previously prioritized for a heart transplant at Brigham and Women’s hospital, but is no longer eligible as he refuses to get vaccinated, said Ferguson’s family, according to a report by CBS Boston.“It’s kind of against his basic principles – he doesn’t believe in it,” said David Ferguson, his father. “It’s a policy they are enforcing and so, because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list [for] a heart transplant.”‘It’s a war zone’: healthcare workers show signs of stress similar to combat veteransBrigham and Women’s expla...