COVID-19

Natural Immunity’ From Covid Is Not Safer Than a Vaccine

Mon, 2020-12-07 10:40 — mike kraft

On the heels of last month’s news of stunning results from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s experimental Covid-19 vaccines, Senator Rand Paul tweeted a provocative comparison.

The new vaccines were 90 percent and 94.5 percent effective, Mr. Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said. But “naturally acquired” Covid-19 was even better, at 99.9982 percent effective, he claimed.

Mr. Paul is one of many people who, weary of lockdowns and economic losses, have extolled the benefits of contracting the coronavirus. The senator was diagnosed with the disease this year and has argued that surviving a bout of Covid-19 confers greater protection than getting vaccinated.

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As UK prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccines, scepticism remains

Mon, 2020-12-07 10:10 — mike kraft

As UK prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccines, scepticism remains A sizeable minority of people believe conspiracy theories about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines, some experts have warned, just as countries prepare to launch mass inoculations to get the pandemic under control. Britain begins its vaccine programme this week and others are likely to follow soon, so governments are seeking to reassure people of vaccines' safety and efficacy in order to get a critical mass to take them.

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Biden picks Xavier Becerra to lead HHS, coronavirus response, names other team leaders

Mon, 2020-12-07 09:06 — mike kraft

Biden picks Xavier Becerra to lead HHS, coronavirus response WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, putting a defender of the Affordable Care Act in a leading role to... AP NEWS

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Europe battles surge in coronavirus deaths in nursing homes

Sun, 2020-12-06 11:07 — mike kraft

Europe battles surge in coronavirus deaths in nursing homes MADRID (AP) — As the two mortuary workers pushed a stretcher with a bagged corpse out of the room, the elderly man in the adjacent bed briefly awakened from his dementia. “Is he dead?” he... AP NEWS

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U.S. and Europe head in opposite coronavirus directions

Sun, 2020-12-06 10:51 — mike kraft

U.S. sets new coronavirus records while Europe bends the curve Europe's surge is subsiding. America's is getting worse. Dave Lawler Axios

While the U.S. continues to set records for new coronavirus cases, European countries have managed to turn their own terrifying spikes around.

The big picture: As some states in the U.S. crack down to head off the worst, the debate in countries like the U.K. and France has shifted to whether and how to lighten their own restrictions before the holidays.

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States instead of feds become worker safety watchdogs as pandemic worsens

Sun, 2020-12-06 10:31 — mike kraft

States become worker safety watchdogs as pandemic worsens Labor leaders and other advocates for tougher rules say the hands-off approach taken by the Trump administration has forced the states to step in. POLITICO

States are increasingly bypassing the federal government and imposing their own rules to protect workers from the coronavirus, creating a patchwork of regulations that could serve as a blueprint for new national standards promised by President-elect Joe Biden.

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1 million new coronavirus cases have been added to the US total -- in only 5 days

Sun, 2020-12-06 10:11 — mike kraft

1 million new coronavirus cases have been added to the US total -- in only 5 days It took almost 100 days to reach 1 million confirmed Covid-19 cases after the virus was first reported in the United States in January. Now, the country has added more than 1 million cases to its grim total in just five days. Madeline Holcombe, CNN CNN

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UK gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world

Sun, 2020-12-06 10:00 — mike kraft

UK gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world LONDON (AP) — The coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech was being sent to hospitals across the U.K. in super-cold containers on Sunday, two days ahead... AP NEWS

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U.S. Vaccine rollout smaller than pledged, states scramble amid surprise squeezee

Sun, 2020-12-06 09:40 — mike kraft

Trump’s Operation Warp Speed promised a flood of covid vaccines. Instead, states are expecting a trickle. Lower-than-anticipated allocations have spawned widespread confusion and concern in states, which are beginning to grasp the level of vaccine scarcity they will confront in the early going of the massive vaccination campaign. Christopher Rowland, Lena H. Sun, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Carolyn Y. Johnson Washington Post

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ANALYSIS: The Swiss Cheese Model of Pandemic Defense

Sat, 2020-12-05 20:11 — mike kraft

Lately, in the ongoing conversation about how to defeat the coronavirus, experts have made reference to the “Swiss cheese model” of pandemic defense.

The metaphor is easy enough to grasp: Multiple layers of protection, imagined as cheese slices, block the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. No one layer is perfect; each has holes, and when the holes align, the risk of infection increases. But several layers combined — social distancing, plus masks, plus hand-washing, plus testing and tracing, plus ventilation, plus government messaging — significantly reduce the overall risk. Vaccination will add one more protective layer.

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