美药企存天花病毒？美疾控中心证实事件：正调查
文章来源: 澎湃国际
11/18/2021
近日，美国一知名药企实验室发现疑似存有天花病毒小瓶，据美国福克斯新闻网11月17日报道，美国疾控中心证实说，这些标注着“天花”和“牛痘”字样的小瓶是一名实验室工作人员在清理冷柜时偶然发现的。美国疾控中心将把这些可疑小瓶送往另一处设施进行检测。
据悉，这15个可疑小瓶是在宾夕法尼亚州费城附近美国默克制药公司的一个实验室被发现的，这处实验室主要从事疫苗研究。15个小瓶中的5个瓶身标注“天花”字样，另外10个瓶身标注“牛痘”字样。报道说，小瓶看起来完好无损，发现这些小瓶的工作人员当时戴着口罩和手套，没有迹象显示有人接触到小瓶中的物质。目前，这些可疑小瓶已经被美国疾控中心接收保管，相关调查正在进行中。
天花是一种烈性传染病毒，致死率高。世卫组织在1980年宣布彻底消灭天花，自然界已无天花病毒藏身。不过，按照有关国际协议，全球有两个实验室还有少量天花病毒样本存放，分别是美国疾控中心位于亚特兰大的一个实验室，以及位于西伯利亚的俄罗斯国家病毒学和生物技术研究中心。
德尔塔“后代”凶猛：AY.4.2给科学界敲响警钟
文章来源: 澎湃新闻
11/17/2021
新冠变异病毒德尔塔毒株已基本成为全球疫情传播中占据主导的流行毒株。尽管目前已有的疫苗对付德尔塔毒株仍然有效，但科学家们仍然没有就此放松警惕。随着德尔塔的亚变异株AY.4.2在多国传播开来，全球疫情防控依旧面临着不断出现的新挑战。
据路透社11月15日报道，AY.4.2正在英国迅速传播，大约已占到英国目前所有测序病例的10%。与原有的德尔塔毒株相比，AY.4.2用于感染人体细胞的刺突蛋白发生了两种突变，科学家们目前还在研究该变异的特性。英国卫生安全局表示他们正在密切关注AY.4.2的传播情况，尽管目前不能断言该亚变异株是否会降低疫苗有效性，但有迹象表明AY.4.2的传染性会更强。世界卫生组织的数据显示，全球已有包括美国在内的42个国家报告了AY.4.2的感染病例。
自2020年12月首次出现在印度以来，德尔塔毒株一直是最让人心神不宁的新冠病毒变体。美国疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）研究表明，比起其他的变异株，德尔塔的传染性明显增强，几乎增加了一倍。德尔塔毒株的潜伏期也比其他变体缩短了两到三天，此外，德尔塔毒株感染者的首次检出病毒载量比原始版本新冠毒株感染者高出1200倍以上。世界卫生组织已经将其列为“受关注的对象”（variant of concern），这意味着德尔塔毒株传染性还会增强，导致更多重症病例，而且还有可能降低疫苗的有效性。
考虑到德尔塔毒株的主导地位，许多专家担心，将来的新冠病毒变体都将会是德尔塔的“后代”。此次AY.4.2的出现和传播已经给科学界敲响了警钟，病毒领域的专家们正在密切关注着德尔塔的变化，以防出现更加难以对付的变异毒株。同时，新冠疫苗的研发也面临着变异毒株的考验，现有的疫苗虽然能够有效预防重症和死亡病例，但不能完全阻断病毒的传播。美国医院妙佑医疗国际（Mayo Clinic）的一名疫苗研发专家Gregory Poland认为，这应该成为下一代新冠疫苗研发的努力方向，只有彻底阻断病毒的传播，全球疫情防控才能游刃有余。
台湾首例AY.4.2 (Delta Plus) 早打满2剂BNT 专家: AY.4.2更易突破感染
聯合報
10/29/2021
台首例Delta亚系变异株「AY.4.2 」个案，为案16479，是一位50多岁的英国籍男性，打过2剂BNT疫苗，属突破性感染。长庚大学新兴病毒感染研究中心教授施信如指出，AY.4.2承袭Delta变异株的特性，就是与其他变异株相比，更容易发生突破性感染，在流行病学统计上，AY.4.2传染力比Delta更胜一筹，多一成至一成五，但死亡率跟重症率无明显增高。
施信如表示，AY.4.2主要现踪英国，台湾虽然发现首例，但属于境外移入案例，台湾所有的境外个案都有入境筛检以及检疫期满后的解隔前筛检，隔离期间如果有症状也要采检。大幅帮助案例可以阻绝在境外，不进入到社区。只是未来台湾势必要要开放边境，加上近期还有春节返乡潮，社区仍藏隐忧。
中国医感染管制中心副院长黄高彬表示，现有疫苗对Delta变异株防感染能力下降，但防重症及死亡率仍有九成，要观察感染Delta变异株者，对于「AY4.2 」是否有抗体交叉保护力，较不容易发病，威胁性就少。但台湾疫苗施打进度较各国起步慢，还有三成长者位接种，加上春节返乡在即，忧心成为下一次破口。
交通部长王国材透露，卫福部已研议返乡旅客可10天住防疫旅馆、4天居家检疫，初步会增加3000多间防疫旅馆量能。指挥中心副指挥官陈宗彦表示，目前边境严管仍以居家检疫14天、7天自主健康管理为主，会综合评估各方意见。
黄高彬提出三点疑虑，春节返乡国人千里迢迢回国目的是为了团圆，在旅馆关十天未必能满足亲情需求，加上春节天气变冷，长辈潜在疾病多，若在防疫旅馆发生猝死、身体不适未必能即时发现，最后是短时间要加开旅馆量能，许多设备不足、动线规划、人员训练时间不够，有安全风险。
他直指，「防疫旅馆这跟医疗规划有关，怎么会找交通部来谈？」认为与其作缩短检疫作半套，以为把人员丢进旅馆就万无一失，反倒成为最危险之处。不如针对返乡民众进行好配套措施，让他能在家中安心检疫。
例如返乡者要打满两剂疫苗，且同住家人接要满二剂接种，才能居家检疫，除此之外，家中若是透天，需要一人住一层，若是公寓则要有两套以上卫浴设备，才符合居检资格，「至少家中是熟悉的地方，可以互相照应，也享有团圆之情，同时避免感染可能。」
《柳叶刀》论文：阻止Delta变体 新冠疫苗无效？
来源：FX168财经报社
10/28/2021
周四(10月28日)彭博社报道，根据一项新的研究表明，接种了Covid-19的人将病毒的Delta变体传播给家庭中的接触者的可能性与未接种过疫苗的人一样。
根据周四发表在《柳叶刀传染病》医学杂志上的一篇论文，在对英国621名轻度Covid-19患者进行的为期一年的研究中，科学家们发现，无论接种状态如何，他们的峰值病毒载量都是相似的。分析还发现，25%的接种过疫苗的家庭接触者仍然从指示病例中感染了这种疾病，而38%没有接种过疫苗的人被感染。
结果在某种程度上解释了为什麽即使在成功推出疫苗的国家中，Delta变体也具有如此大的传染性，以及为什麽未接种疫苗的人不能因为其他人已经接种过疫苗，假设他们受到保护。但是，接种疫苗的人清除病毒的速度更快，病情较轻，而未接种疫苗的家庭成员更容易患上严重疾病和住院治疗。
这项研究的共同负责人伦敦帝国理工学院传染病学教授阿吉特·拉瓦尼( Ajit Lalvani)说，“我们的研究结果表明，仅靠接种疫苗不足以防止人们感染Delta变体并将阻止其在家庭环境中传播。我们在接种疫苗的人之间看到的持续传播使得未接种疫苗的人必须接种疫苗以保护自己。”
研究发现接种疫苗可将alpha变体的家庭传播减少40%至50%，并且被感染的接种者的上呼吸道病毒载量低于未接种者的上呼吸道病毒载量。然而，一段时间以来，Delta变体一直是全球的主要菌株，该变异于2020年底首次在英国发现。
研究还表明，完全接种疫苗的人免疫力在短短三个月内就减弱了。作者说，没有足够的数据来建议这是否会导致英国的加强针政策发生变化，目前英国正在向第二次注射六个月后的老年人和更脆弱的人提供第三剂加强针。
研究发现接种疫苗可将alpha变体的家庭传播减少40%至50%，并且被感染的接种者的上呼吸道病毒载量低于未接种者的上呼吸道病毒载量。然而，一段时间以来，Delta变体一直是全球的主要菌株，该变异于2020年底首次在英国发现。
研究还表明，完全接种疫苗的人免疫力在短短三个月内就减弱了。作者说，没有足够的数据来建议这是否会导致英国的加强针政策发生变化，目前英国正在向第二次注射六个月后的老年人和更脆弱的人提供第三剂加强针。
伦敦帝国理工学院的流行病学家、该研究的调查员尼尔弗格森(Neil Ferguson)在周四的新闻发布会上表示，根据以色列提供的关于加强针有效性的早期数据，六个月是一个任意选择的时间段，但没有理由相信如果更早给予它们的效果会降低。
拉瓦尼说，加强计划可以帮助阻止病毒，因为额外的注射或反複感染往往会导致更长的免疫记忆，可能保护人们长达一年。但他同时说，证实这一点需要更多数据。
作者没有根据人们接种的疫苗类型来分析感染。英国卫生安全局流感和呼吸道病毒学负责人玛丽亚讚邦(Maria Zambon)指出，仍有300多种疫苗正在开发中，并表示未来几代疫苗可能会更好地预防传播。
Vaccinated people can also spread the Delta variant, a yearlong U.K. study shows
BY SUZI RING AND BLOOMBERG
10/28/2021
People inoculated against COVID-19 are just as likely to spread the Delta variant of the virus to contacts in their household as those who haven’t had shots, according to new research.
In a yearlong study of 621 people in the U.K. with mild COVID-19, scientists found that their peak viral load was similar regardless of vaccination status, according to a paper published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. The analysis also found that 25% of vaccinated household contacts still contracted the disease from an index case, while 38% of those who hadn’t had shots became infected.
The results go some way toward explaining why the Delta variant is so infectious even in nations with successful vaccine rollouts, and why the unvaccinated can’t assume they are protected because others have had shots. Those who were inoculated cleared the virus more quickly and had milder cases, while unvaccinated household members were more likely to suffer from severe disease and hospitalization.
“Our findings show that vaccination alone is not enough to prevent people from being infected with the Delta variant and spreading it in household settings,” said Ajit Lalvani, a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London who co-led the study. “The ongoing transmission we are seeing between vaccinated people makes it essential for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated to protect themselves.”
Vaccination was found to reduce household transmission of the alpha variant—first discovered in the U.K. in late 2020—by between 40% and 50%, and infected vaccinated individuals had a lower viral load in the upper respiratory tract than those who hadn’t had shots. The Delta variant has been the dominant strain globally for some time, however.
The research also showed that immunity from full vaccination waned in as little as three months. The authors said there wasn’t enough data to advise on whether this should lead to a change in the U.K.’s booster policy, where third doses are currently being offered to older and more vulnerable people six months after their second shot.
Six months was an arbitrary time period chosen following early data from Israel on the effectiveness of boosters, but there is no reason to believe they would be less effective if given earlier, said Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and investigator on the study, at a press briefing Thursday.
The booster program could help halt the virus, as extra shots or repeated infections tend to lead to longer immunological memory, potentially protecting people for up to a year, Lalvani said. More data are needed to confirm this, he said.
The authors didn’t analyze infections based on the type of vaccines people had received. Maria Zambon, head of influenza and respiratory virology at the U.K. Health Security Agency, noted that there are still more than 300 vaccines in development, and said it’s possible that future generations of shots may be better at preventing transmission.
Former WSU football coach Nick Rolovich to sue university over firing after refusing vaccine
According to a press release sent by his attorney, Rolovich is accusing WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun of “discriminatory and vindictive behavior.”
By KREM Staff
10/20/2021
PULLMAN, Wash. — Former Washington State University football coach Nick Rolovich was fired Tuesday, Oct. 19 after refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and now he plans to sue the university.
According to his lawyer, Rolovich will be taking legal action against WSU and all parties responsible for his termination. The decision to terminate Rolovich came after his request for a religious exemption from the vaccine was denied by the WSU. According to his lawyer, WSU “indicated that even if the exemption had been granted, no accommodation would have been made.”
Rolovich is accusing WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun of “discriminatory and vindictive behavior,” according to the statement from his lawyer, Brian Fahling.
“Since at least early April, it became clear that Chun had already determined that Coach Rolovich would be fired,” Fahling says. “Chun’s animus towards Coach Rolovich’s sincerely held religious beliefs, and Chun’s dishonesty at the expense of Coach Rolovich during the past year is damning and will be thoroughly detailed in litigation.”
In the statement, Fahling says, “Chun’s discriminatory and vindictive behavior has caused immeasurable harm to Rolovich and his family. It is a tragic and damning commentary on our culture, and more specifically, on Chun, that Rolovich has been derided, demonized, and ultimately fired from his job, merely for being devout in his Catholic faith.”
Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, has encouraged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Here is the statement from Rolovich’s lawyer in full:
“The termination of Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich on Monday was unjust and unlawful.
It came after Coach Rolovich’s request for a religious exemption from the vaccine was denied by the University. The institution also indicated that even if the exemption had been granted, no accommodation would have been made. As a result, Coach Rolovich will be taking legal action against Washington State University, and all parties responsible for his illegal termination.
Immediately after terminating Coach Rolovich, WSU Athletic Director, Pat Chun, directed campus police to escort the coach to his car, he wasn’t allowed into his office, and he was not even allowed to speak to his team. Since at least early April, it became clear that Chun had already determined that Coach Rolovich would be fired. Chun’s animus towards Coach Rolovich’s sincerely held religious beliefs, and Chun’s dishonesty at the expense of Coach Rolovich during the past year is damning and will be thoroughly detailed in litigation.
Chun’s discriminatory and vindictive behavior has caused immeasurable harm to Coach Rolovich and his family. Furthermore, the University’s deceitfulness about being unable to accommodate Coach Rolovich even if his religious exemption request had been granted, is exemplified by Chun’s actions arranging a “secret” donor trip that he had Coach Rolovich attend at the height of the pandemic in July 2020.
During that excursion, Chun and other attendees contracted the disease, but Coach Rolovich did not. It is a tragic and damning commentary on our culture, and more specifically, on Chun, that Coach Rolovich has been derided, demonized, and ultimately fired from his job, merely for being devout in his Catholic faith.”
KREM has reached out to WSU for a statement but has not yet received a response.
320万年薪傲视全州公务员 华盛顿州立大学教练拒打疫苗遭开除
10/20/2021
华盛顿州立大学(Washington State University，WSU)足球队总教练罗洛维奇(Nick Rolovich)年薪320万元，在领取州政府薪水的公务员收入排行榜称霸。但因罗洛维奇拒绝遵守华州要求公务员必须接种新冠疫苗的规定，本周稍早已被开除。华盛顿邮报报导，罗洛维奇堪称到目前为止，最为引人注目的公职人员拒打疫苗而丢饭碗案例。
华盛顿州立大学18日宣布已经解聘罗洛维奇。华盛顿州立大学美洲狮队(Washington State Cougars)体育主任秦派特(Pat Chun，音译)指出，罗洛维奇拒绝配合疫苗接种规定，已经失去获得校方聘用的资格。
秦派特在声明中说，这起事件让学校足球队感到沮丧。
42岁的罗洛维奇出身于夏威夷大学(University of Hawaii)足球队，2019年曾获西部山区联盟(Mountain West Conference)最佳教练。罗洛维奇年薪320万元，是领取华州州政府薪水的公务员当中排行最高者。
罗洛维奇今年暑假已经表明坚决不打疫苗，太平洋十二校联盟(Pacific-12 Conference)在洛杉矶举办媒体宣传，由于规定全体出席者必须打疫苗，罗洛维奇便因此缺席。
秦派特指出，校方与罗洛维奇协商长达数月，但罗洛维奇态度坚定，「他有权做出选择，他的决定就是不配合规定」。
华盛顿州立大学校长薛尔兹(Kirk Schulz)则在声明中说，虽然少数人士拒打疫苗而引发轩然大波，但学校接近90%雇员及97%学生则都打了疫苗。
薛尔兹说：「人们可以做选择，而且有好几个月的时间可以决定。这并不是突然发生的。」
除了罗洛维奇之外，华盛顿州立大学美洲狮队另外四名助理教练罗戈(Ricky Logo)、理查森(John Richardson)、史特兹曼(Craig Stutzmann)、韦伯(Mark Weber)，同样因为拒打疫苗，一并遭到开除。
美国ESPN知名体育记者拒打疫苗被开除
本文源自: 金融界网
10/20/2021
迪士尼旗下娱乐与体育节目电视网（ESPN）的知名记者艾莉森-威廉姆斯（Allison Williams）周一表示，她因为拒绝接种新冠病毒疫苗而被解雇，下周将是她在这里工作的的最后日子。
这位明星记者最出名的是她对美国大学橄榄球和篮球比赛的报道，她在社交媒体上的一段视频中说，她要求豁免不接种疫苗的请求被拒绝了。
威廉姆斯从2011年3月开始为ESPN工作。上个月，她在推特上发表声明称，在咨询了医生后，她拒绝接种疫苗，因为她和她的丈夫正试图生第二个孩子，接种疫苗“不符合我的最佳利益”。
ESPN的母公司迪士尼是众多要求员工接种疫苗的企业之一。该公司在一份声明中说，不会对威廉姆斯的个案置评。迪士尼表示，公司正在按照其法律义务，处理员工提出的豁免要求。
ESPN’s Allison Williams explains why she’s giving up her job over a vaccine mandate
By ANDREA HSU
10/20/2021
Lance King/Getty Images
ESPN college basketball and football reporter Allison Williams has joined a small minority of workers who have quit or been fired from their jobs over a vaccine mandate.
“I have been denied my request for accommodation by ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, and effective next week, I will be separated from the company,” she said in a video posted to Instagram on Friday.
ESPN’s parent company, Disney, had announced a vaccine mandate over the summer with a deadline of this Friday, Oct. 22.
In early September, Williams shared on Twitter that she’d decided not to get a COVID-19 vaccine while she and her husband were trying to have a second child.
“Taking the vaccine at this time is not in my interest,” she wrote.
The CDC has urged people who are pregnant or might become pregnant to get vaccinated, saying there is currently no evidence showing COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems and no data pointing to an increased risk of miscarriage among people who received an mRNA vaccine during pregnancy.
In the Instagram video, Williams spoke of her medical apprehensions about receiving the vaccine and added, “I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this.”
“Ultimately, I cannot put a paycheck over principle, and I will not sacrifice something that I believe and hold so strongly to maintain a career,” she said in the video. “I’m going to pray things get better and that I can see you on the television set in some capacity in some stadium, covering some game soon.”
Williams, who had reported for ESPN since 2011, acknowledged she’s not the only one walking away from a career or a profession they love.
Hundreds of hospital workers have quit rather than get vaccinated, but they represent only a tiny fraction of employees overall. For example, Duke Health in North Carolina reported it had fired just 20 people out of a workforce of 23,000.
Meanwhile, United Airlines said it is terminating a couple of hundred of its 67,000 employees who did not comply with the airline’s vaccine mandate. Other employers that have imposed vaccine mandates are also reporting compliance rates topping 90%.
北美法律公益讲座安排
时间：周二到周五 晚间
5:30-7:00(西部)
8:30-9:30(东部)
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Veteran police officer resigns over vaccine mandate in chronically understaffed department
The department has chronically been understaffed and more officers could resign over the mandate
By Emma Colton | Fox News
9/21/2021
A nearly 30-year police veteran in California resigned over San Jose’s vaccine mandate as the police force continues struggling with chronic understaffing.
“First of all, it’s my religious belief. I also believe I’ve been given a choice about what to do with my body,” Sgt. David Gutierrez said after he resigned from the San Jose Police Department this weekend, KPIX reported.
Gutierrez spent 23 years with the San Jose Police Department working as a homicide detective, internal affairs investigator and patrol supervisor, before retiring in 2019. He then returned to the force as a reserve officer.
Gutierrez worked his last shift at the department on Saturday, and said he sent a letter to the city manager on Monday denouncing the city’s vaccine mandate, which requires city employees to show proof of vaccination or get a medical exemption. Those who don’t comply face disciplinary action, such as termination.
“Disciplinary action is when you have done something wrong,” Gutierrez said, according to NBC Bay Area. “I have done nothing wrong – by making a choice not to be vaccinated why would you be disciplined?”
Gutierrez added that he is not anti-vaccine and would be open to the city testing him on a weekly basis instead of enforcing the vaccine or getting a medical exemption.
“I’m not anti-vaccine. I don’t tell people, ‘You shouldn’t get it.’ But when it comes to my body, it’s my choice about what I want to put in my body,” Gutierrez said.
He sent his resignation letter ahead of the city’s Sept. 30 deadline for employees to get the vaccine, and said more officers could also walk off the job amid the department already facing understaffing issues.
“We are already understaffed and can’t afford to lose more,” Gutierrez said.
“If they let go police officers who’ve been here five years, 10 years, 15 years, you can hire somebody else, but you’re not going to hire that experience though,” he added.
A recent audit examining the last 10 years of the police department found the force has heavily relied on overtime as it struggles with understaffing.
About 200 officers in the department have so far asked for exemptions, many of which are for religious purposes. But the Democratic mayor, Sam Liccardo, says the vaccine mandate is overall working and doesn’t anticipate an exodus from the force.
“This is certainly for the protection of the individual members of our city team. But it’s also, critically, for the safety of our entire community because we know, obviously, first responders are out there interacting [with the public] every day,” Liccardo said, according to KPIX.
Northern NY hospital to stop delivering babies after resignations over Covid-19 vaccine
BY Christine Vendel
9/12/2021
A hospital in New York plans to stop delivering babies later this month because too many maternity workers resigned rather than get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Lewis County Health System Chief Executive Officer Gerald R. Cayer announced at a news conference Friday afternoon that the maternity department would be closed on Sept. 25 until they can find enough vaccinated nurses to safely reopen it.
Cayer told reporters in Lowville, is the North Country of New York state, that seven of the 30 people who have resigned from the hospital worked in the maternity department, according to the news site NNY360.
Seven additional maternity workers have not said whether or not they will get their first vaccine shot by Sept. 27, which is the deadline set by the state for healthcare workers to get at least one shot, according to the news site.
The health system has a higher than average percentage of its staff vaccinated, Cayer told reporters, with 464 employees vaccinated out of 650, or 73 percent.
But there are still 165 employees who have not yet shared their decision with hospital management, WWNY television news reported.
Medical services in five other departments may have to be cut back as well if more staff members resign because they refuse to be vaccinated
“It just is a crazy time,” Mr. Cayer said, according to NNY360, “It’s not just LCHS-centric. Rural hospitals everywhere are really trying to figure out how we’re going to make it work.”
“If you don’t have staff, how do you deliver the service? That’s what I’m going to be talking about,” Cayer said.
The Health System is one of only two county-owned hospitals left in the state and is the largest employer in the county.
