FDA set to authorize Pfizer boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds next week: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans on Monday to widen access to booster shots for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to include younger adolescents aged 12 to 15, the New York Times reports. Authorization had been anticipated this week but was delayed by the holidays. The Times also reports that regulators could shorten the minimum wait between a second vaccine shot and a booster from six months to five. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to follow suit by mid-week.
J&J booster raises protection against omicron: A new South African study found that a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID vaccine among health care workers in South Africa — where the fast-growing omicron variant was first identified — raised protection level from 63% to 85% and helped prevent serious illness and hospitalization. Another study from the U.S. found that the J&J booster helped stimulate a strong T-cell immune response, CNN reports. J&J said in a statement that the studies underscore the continuing effectiveness of its vaccine in preventing illness. “We believe that the protection could be due to the robust T-cell responses induced by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine,” said Mathai Mammen, the global head of Janssen R&D.
Case rates for Bay Area kids are soaring as omicron spreads. Here’s what pediatricians are seeing: COVID-19 is surging among children across the country, leading to a spike of hospitalizations in the Northeast, thanks largely to the highly infectious omicron variant. But even though pediatric cases are not climbing in Bay Area hospitals, experts say that’s likely to change. Read the full story here.
The Marina’s coronavirus case rate has surged above every other S.F. neighborhood: For most of San Francisco’s pandemic lifespan, coronavirus has most deeply impacted the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods — poorer communities with higher numbers of essential workers, and the most Black and Latino people. But December’s Omicron surge has turned this trend on its head, infecting whiter, relatively young and more affluent neighborhoods at far higher rates. Read the full story here.
S.F. Fire Department hit with COVID surge of 40 cases: The coronavirus surge taking hold of the Bay Area — spurred on by the highly contagious omicron variant — has reached the ranks of the San Francisco Fire Department, exacerbating existing staffing shortages as infected employees isolate. Read the full story here.
Omicron throws Bay Area gyms, fitness centers a final curveball after tumultuous year: The fast spreading omicron variant is poised to throw the fitness industry yet another curveball going into what should be one of their busiest parts of the year, when people are drawing up lists of New Year’s resolutions and committing to hit the gym more regularly. Read the full story here.
A ray of sunshine on pandemic prospects from a surprising source: UCSF department of medicine chair Dr. Bob Wachter, who has been a consistent source of calm caution throughout the pandemic, published an unusually upbeat Twitter thread on Wednesday in which he shared his thoughts on “why we could be in good shape — and maybe even great shape — in 6-8 weeks.” Among the highlights of the 24-tweet screed: the current state of affairs is “awful” but signs are increasing that the highly infectious omicron variant may indeed be less virulent than earlier strains. Vaccines aren’t as effective at preventing mild cases but are staving off hospitalizations except among the unvaccinated, who are “sitting ducks.” Key therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals, hold great hope for immunocompromised people and others at risk of serious illness. By early February, Wachter concludes, “we could be in a place where COVID is, in fact, ‘like the flu’ — with the vast majority of the U.S. protected through vaccines or recent infections, folks at higher risk having ready access to an oral treatment that markedly lowers their risk, and a health care system no longer stressed to the point of perilousness.”
Holiday gatherings now account for 40% of new COVID cases in Sonoma County: Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said today that among cases with a known source of infection, four in 10 have been traced to holiday gatherings. “Throughout the pandemic, we have seen cases spike around holidays as people gather to celebrate with loved ones,” Mase said. His comments came as Sonoma joined other Bay Area counties in reversing an exemption to the indoor mask mandate that had allowed known groups of vaccinated people to remain maskless in settings such as offices and gyms. The county also issued a set of guidelines to help protect people during New Year’s gatherings, such as keeping gatherings small and well ventilated and wearing high-quality masks.
These Bay Area counties are again requiring masks in offices, gyms amid omicron surge: As COVID cases continued their sharp ascent due to the hugely contagious omicron variant, more Bay Area counties revoked mask mandate exemptions for fully vaccinated people in offices and gyms — so that now everyone must wear a mask indoors in non-household settings. Read the full story here.
A ray of sunshine on pandemic prospects from a surprising source: UCSF department of medicine chair Bob Wachter, who has been a consistent source of calm caution throughout the pandemic, published an unusually upbeat Twitter thread on Wednesday in which he shared his thoughts on “why we could be in good shape — and maybe even great shape — in 6-8 weeks.” Among the highlights of the 24-tweet screed: the current state of affairs is “awful” but signs are increasing that the highly infectious omicron variant may indeed be less virulent than earlier strains. Vaccines aren’t as effective at preventing mild cases but are staving off hospitalizations except among the unvaccinated, who are “sitting ducks.” Key therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals, hold great hope for immunocompromised people and others at risk of serious illness. By early February, Wachter concludes, “we could be in a place where COVID is, in fact, ‘like the flu’ — with the vast majority of the U.S. protected through vaccines or recent infections, folks at higher risk having ready access to an oral treatment that markedly lowers their risk, and a health care system no longer stressed to the point of perilousness.”
COVID forces Stanford men to postpone game vs. Cal. Bears to face ASU Sunday: Because of coronavirus issues within its men’s program, Stanford on Wednesday morning announced the postponement of Sunday’s scheduled Pac-12 opener against Cal at Maples Pavilion. Read the full story here.
FDA says rapid antigen tests may be less sensitive to omicron: Omicron may challenge the sensitivity of widely used but hard-to-find home test kits — meaning their ability to correctly identify positive cases early — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Michael Mina, a testing expert and former epidemiology professor at Harvard, explained in a Twitter thread that because omicron is more contagious compared to previous variants, its infectiousness levels will be higher for an amount of virus that may be too small to detect on the first try. Mina said the problem applied to PCR tests too. “It’s important for people to understand that ALL tests will falter on day 1. If you feel symptoms, regardless of the test type — ASSUME YOU ARE POSITIVE,” he wrote. Tests should work on subsequent days as viral loads increase — which is why it’s important for people to repeat the antigen tests, which come in packs of two, after at least one day’s interval.
California becomes first state to report 5 million coronavirus cases: The California Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard reported the new record on Tuesday after a holiday weekend delay, reports the AP. The first coronavirus case in California was confirmed Jan. 25, 2020. It took 292 days to get to 1 million infections on Nov. 11 of that year, and 44 days from then to top 2 million. The new record wasn’t unexpected in a state of 40 million people poised for a surge in new infections amid holiday parties and family gatherings forced indoors by winter storms. Still, California’s case total is well ahead of the 4.4 million cases reported in Texas and 3.9 million in Florida since the pandemic began.
San Francisco cancels New Year’s Eve fireworks show due to omicron surge: With concerns mounting as omicron sweeps San Francisco, Mayor London Breed and public health officials on Tuesday canceled the city’s annual New Year’s Eve fireworks show on the Embarcadero. Read the full story here.