Two-dose COVID vaccine efficacy durable against severe Omicron but drops in elderly

Overall two-dose vaccine effectiveness (VE) against Omicron variant-related hospitalization or death remained above 70% for at least 6 months among adults in Hong Kong but dropped to below 62% in those aged 80 and older, necessitating a third dose, finds a case-control study published today in JAMA Network Open.

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Healthy lifestyle may mean lower risk of long Covid, study says

NYC ending COVID-19 vaccination mandate for city employees

California won’t require COVID vaccine to attend schools

Family caregivers of people with long COVID bear an extra burden

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With unpredictable symptoms that can wax and wane mysteriously, long COVID also requires exceptionally good record-keeping, in order to provide doctors with new clues. But because the disease often causes fatigue and brain fog, some patients can't keep track for themselves. They rely on friends or family for help.

"The family caregiver becomes the care manager, advocating and managing the system," the late John Schall, former CEO of the Caregiver Action Network, an education and advocacy nonprofit, told us last year. "And you're doing it by guesswork. Nobody tells you what to look for."

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I felt powerless': Black Americans suffering from long COVID say they have trouble accessing care

Throughout the pandemic, Black Americans have made up a disproportionate share of cases, hospitalizations and deaths compared to any other racial or ethnic group.

Now, doctors and advocates are warning the Black community is facing another barrier: access to long COVID care.

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Huge earthquake hits Turkey and Syria, kills about 1,700, many trapped

...The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit before sunrise in bitter winter weather, was the worst to strike Turkey this century. It was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake of magnitude 7.7.

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Early COVID-19 variants remain in deer populations

While COVID-19 variants Alpha, Gamma and Delta are no longer circulating among humans, they continue to spread in white-tailed deer.

The animals are the most abundant large mammal in North America. Scientists aren't sure whether the deer could act as long-term reservoirs for these obsolete variants.

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Getting Government To Work For Public Health

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The strength of public health is derived from the deep connections developed with communities. When the workforce can reflect the diversity of these communities, health agencies are uniquely positioned to understand and respond to community needs.

To meet the public health challenges facing our nation, the public health system needs to operate at a high level of effectiveness. Unfortunately, in many places, it is impossible to recruit and retain a robust workforce to accomplish key goals. Within many states, the public and policymakers alike underappreciate the need for a high-quality workforce and efficiency in local governmental functions—manifest by underfunding, excessively bureaucratic structures, and inadequate administrative supportcreates a self-fulfilling prophecy of government underperformance and inefficiency.

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African countries lack 'immediate access' to cholera vaccine NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa’s public health agency says countries with deadly cholera outbreaks on the continent have no “immediate access” to vaccines amid a global supply shortage. AP NEWS

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The acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell, told journalists on Thursday that the agency is working with the World Health Organization and the vaccine alliance GAVI on ways to obtain more doses.

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House Republicans float one spending cut in a debt ceiling bill: unspent Covid money There’s no Republican plan to resolve the debt ceiling problem. But some GOP lawmakers are considering using unspent Covid relief funds to reduce spending. YahooNews

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Draft WHO pandemic deal pushes for equity to avoid COVID 'failure' repeat Governments may have to reserve drugs and vaccines for the World Health Organization to distribute in poorer countries to avoid a repeat of the "catastrophic failure" during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an early draft of a global pandemic agreement. Jennifer Rigby,Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Reuters

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