Vaccinations

Discussing the difficulties of sending the right message about the omicron variant.

Fri, 2021-12-03 19:21 — mike kraft

With the first case of omicron confirmed in California and more cases expected across the U.S., public health officials who know the difference between good and bad crisis communication say they can't afford to be quiet and wait until scientists know how risky the new variant is before they speak out.

"We don't want to just be silent on the matter, because then that can cause fear and then that can allow for misinformation to creep in," says Elya Franciscus, the epidemiology operations manager for COVID-19 in Harris County, Texas.

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U.S. sending sending 9 million Covid vaccine doses to Africa and 2 more million to countries elsewhere

Fri, 2021-12-03 19:04 — mike kraft

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Friday that it is sending 9 million Covid vaccine doses to Africa amid growing concerns about the omicron variant.

The new shipment brings the total U.S. donations to Africa to 100 million vaccines, the White House said. An additional two million vaccines will be sent elsewhere in the world.

The shipment is part of President Joe Biden's pledge on Thursday to send more than 200 million vaccines abroad in 100 days. ...

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White House shifts strategy to emphasize more testing to counter COVID spread

Fri, 2021-12-03 13:02 — mike kraft

WASHINGTON — President Biden, confronting a worrisome new coronavirus variant and a potential winter surge, laid out a pandemic strategy on Thursday that includes hundreds of vaccination sites, boosters for all adults, new testing requirements for international travelers and free at-home tests.

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WHO says measures used against delta should work for omicron

Fri, 2021-12-03 10:51 — mike kraft

WHO says measures used against delta should work for omicron | AP News MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Measures used to counter the delta variant should remain the foundation for fighting the coronavirus pandemic , even in the face of the new omicron version of the virus, World Health Organization officials said Friday, while acknowledging that the travel restrictions imposed by some countries may buy time. AP NEWS

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Amid focus on omicron, delta variant overwhelms parts of U.S.

Fri, 2021-12-03 10:42 — mike kraft

As world focuses on omicron, delta variant overwhelms parts of U.S. Public health experts are urging Americans not to lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the nation’s coronavirus cases are caused by the highly transmissible delta variant. Over the past six months delta has been responsible for some of the worst spikes of the entire pandemic. Washington Post

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Omicron overview: Biden tightens travel rules amid new Omicron cases

Fri, 2021-12-03 10:33 — mike kraft

Omicron: Biden tightens travel rules amid new Omicron cases The US winter plan includes millions of free tests and stricter rules for international passengers. BBC News

President Joe Biden has unveiled stricter Covid-19 travel rules as the US confirmed a handful of cases of the Omicron variant from coast to coast.

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Biden outlines multi-pronged plan to counter evolving pandemic and variants

Thu, 2021-12-02 16:21 — mike kraft

Biden lays out multi-pronged plan to deal with evolving pandemic President Biden on Thursday laid out a multi-pronged plan to confront the delta and emerging omicron variants of the coronavirus that includes an expansion of at-home diagnostic tests, stricter Morgan Chalfant TheHill

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Many public health experts were opposed to a boosters-for-all approach. The new variant is changing some minds.

Thu, 2021-12-02 11:36 — mike kraft

As recently as last week, many public health experts were fiercely opposed to the Biden administration’s campaign to roll out booster shots of the coronavirus vaccines to all American adults. There was little scientific evidence to support extra doses for most people, the researchers said.

The Omicron variant has changed all that.

Scientists do not yet know with any certainty whether the virus is easier to spread or less vulnerable to the body’s immune response. But with dozens of new mutations, the variant seems likely to evade the protection from vaccines to some significant degree.

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