白宫：拜登将在周四公布遏制德尔塔变种病毒新战略
文 / 陈慧璋
9/08/2021
（早报讯）美国总统拜登将在周四（9日）宣布一项六管齐下的抗击冠病疫情战略，以遏制高度传染性的德尔塔变种病毒和提升美国的冠病疫苗接种速度。
路透社报道，美国白宫新闻秘书普萨基周二向跟随拜登乘坐空军一号到纽约和新泽西两州视察飓风灾区的记者说，拜登将制定公共和私营部门的合作对策，以继续防堵病毒传播。
当被问及拜登是否会公布新的强制接种规定时，普萨基表示，白宫将在较迟时间公布该计划的更多细节，并承认联邦政府不能对接种疫苗实施广泛性的强制规定。
普萨基也补充说：“我们必须继续采取更多措施，确保学区及全国各地社区都为防疫做好应对准备。”
拜登定周三与白宫冠病疫情顾问小组举行会议。
美国至今累计冠病死亡病例约达65万起，累计冠病确诊病例也在上周破了4000万起。
路透社的数据显示，过去两周美国有超过2万零800人死于冠病，与前两周相比增加了大约67%。
住院病例数也有所增加。进入9月以来，阿拉斯加、佐治亚、夏威夷、爱达荷、肯塔基、田纳西和华盛顿七州的住院病例均创新高。
Child COVID-19 cases accounted for 22.4% of weekly U.S. cases as kids return to school
BY CAITLIN O’KANE
9/02/2021
As the school year starts for districts across the United States, child COVID-19 cases are up, with about 204,000 cases added last week. For the week ending August 26, children accounted for 22.4% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases, according to the American Academy of Pediactrics.
While child COVID-19 cases declined in early summer, they have “increased exponentially,” with more than a five-fold increase the past month, according to the academy. The U.S. saw child cases go from about 38,000 the week ending July 22 to more than 200,000 the past week.
The rate of child COVID-19 cases last week was well above the average throughout the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, children represented 14.8% of total cumulated cases. In total, 4.8 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, and new variants are posting a higher risk for children, most of whom are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines.
The academy collected COVID-19 data from 49 states, New York City, Puerto Rico and Guam. Overall, the rate of child COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of August 26 was 6,374 cases per 100,000 children in the population, according to the group.
Twenty states reported more than 8,000 cases per 100,000. Tennessee, South Carolina, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Arkansas and Mississippi had the highest rates of child cases per 100,000 kids, according to the data.
Cases are increasing across the country again, which means there is also an increase in hospitalizations of all age demographics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a news briefing last week.
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“But, because the absolute number of cases is so high, the absolute number of children who are coming into the hospital is high. It’s also the case that we are currently within a surge of RSV cases as well, respiratory syncytial virus cases,” Walensky said. “We’re seeing RSV rates similar to what we generally see in the winter months.”
Due to the “highly contagious Delta variant,” the CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools – regardless of vaccination status.
“I can tell you that most of the places where we’re seeing surges and outbreaks are in places that are not implementing our current guidance,” Walensky said, adding that it’s not hospitalizations that are spiking, but number of cases.
Because children under 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine, the CDC recommends schools utilize several prevention strategies and continue to implement social distancing, testing and routine hand washing in addition to masking.
Several school districts are also requiring staff to get vaccinated – including New York City, Chicago and all of California – as experts say a way to keep kids safe is for the adults around them to be vaccinated.
But some states are resisting preventative measures. The governors of Texas and Florida threatened backlash for districts that implement mask mandates in schools, but many districts are defying their orders.
The U.S. Department of Education is also investigating five Republican-led states – Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah – due to concerns that their mask mandate bans could leave students with disabilities and underlying health conditions more vulnerable to COVID-19, Reuters reports.
“Masks save lives and reduces the transmission of COVID-19,” said Dr. Leslie Diaz, an infectious disease specialist at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, Wednesday on CBSN.
“The science is there, masks work and we should utilize them,” Diaz said. “Especially in the school district and in the schools that are inundated now with all of the kids coming back and not doing virtual learning.”
The science proves masks work in preventing the spread of COVID-19, she said.
“We are in a crisis. Whether you know you really want to acknowledge it or not, the reality is there every day of my life. I can’t dismiss it,” she said. “Wearing masks has become very relaxed behavior around here, and around the United States. It shouldn’t be.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said when children are eligible for vaccines, schools should mandate them. “I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea,” Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday. “We’ve done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis [vaccinations.]”
Fauci also said this week that there is a chance vaccines will be available to kids by the holiday season, Reuters reports.
While severe illness due to COVID-19 is still uncommon among children, “there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects,” the academy says.
FDA Evaluation of Safety and Effectiveness Data for Approval for 16 Years of Age and Older
The first EUA, issued Dec. 11, for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older was based on safety and effectiveness data from a randomized, controlled, blinded ongoing clinical trial of thousands of individuals.
To support the FDA’s approval decision today, the FDA reviewed updated data from the clinical trial which supported the EUA and included a longer duration of follow-up in a larger clinical trial population.
Specifically, in the FDA’s review for approval, the agency analyzed effectiveness data from approximately 20,000 vaccine and 20,000 placebo recipients ages 16 and older who did not have evidence of the COVID-19 virus infection within a week of receiving the second dose. The safety of Comirnaty was evaluated in approximately 22,000 people who received the vaccine and 22,000 people who received a placebo 16 years of age and older.
Based on results from the clinical trial, the vaccine was 91% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease.
More than half of the clinical trial participants were followed for safety outcomes for at least four months after the second dose. Overall, approximately 12,000 recipients have been followed for at least 6 months.
The most commonly reported side effects by those clinical trial participants who received Comirnaty were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills, and fever. The vaccine is effective in preventing COVID-19 and potentially serious outcomes including hospitalization and death.
Additionally, the FDA conducted a rigorous evaluation of the post-authorization safety surveillance data pertaining to myocarditis and pericarditis following administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and has determined that the data demonstrate increased risks, particularly within the seven days following the second dose. The observed risk is higher among males under 40 years of age compared to females and older males. The observed risk is highest in males 12 through 17 years of age. Available data from short-term follow-up suggest that most individuals have had resolution of symptoms. However, some individuals required intensive care support. Information is not yet available about potential long-term health outcomes. The Comirnaty Prescribing Information includes a warning about these risks.
Ongoing Safety Monitoring
The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have monitoring systems in place to ensure that any safety concerns continue to be identified and evaluated in a timely manner. In addition, the FDA is requiring the company to conduct postmarketing studies to further assess the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination with Comirnaty. These studies will include an evaluation of long-term outcomes among individuals who develop myocarditis following vaccination with Comirnaty. In addition, although not FDA requirements, the company has committed to additional post-marketing safety studies, including conducting a pregnancy registry study to evaluate pregnancy and infant outcomes after receipt of Comirnaty during pregnancy.
The FDA granted this application Priority Review. The approval was granted to BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH.
Nearly 100 Positive COVID-19 Tests Linked to Illinois Summer Camp
6/29/2021
QUINCY, Ill. (WGEM/CNN) – Nearly 100 teenagers and staff tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a church camp in rural Illinois.
‘The Crossing Camp’ was held in mid-June in Rushville. While majority of the campers and staff were eligible for the vaccine, Illinois Department of Health officials said few had been inoculated.
The health department said the camp did not require masks indoor. At least one young adult was hospitalized as a result of the outbreak.
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