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xtruss · 9 months

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A detail view of a face mask on September 24, 2021, in Kohler, Wisconsin. Donald Trump and conservatives across social media are heightening awareness to potential mask mandates due to new cases stemming from coronavirus variants. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

United States: Mask Mandate Comeback Sparks 'We Will Not Comply' Movement

— By Nick Mordowanec | August 31, 2023

will not comply' movement is slowly formulating across social media, spurred by Donald Trump's renewed focus on mask mandates and COVID-affiliated lockdowns that he initiated at the pandemic's inception.

Trump, in a video posted Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, vowed to reject any "fearmongering" of new coronavirus variants and if elected president pledged to cut federal funding for entities like schools and airlines that follow such protocols.

Trump was the individual who set the original mandates and lockdowns in motion, however, when coronavirus cases escalated exponentially starting in March 2020. At the time, he urged individuals to avoid bars, restaurants and other areas where 10 or more people were gathered in the hope that the virus would dissipate by that summer.

"'Do not comply' means your [sic] not going to go to work if your employer requires a mask as part of the 'mandate' not law; your [sic] not going to wear one at the Dr, Dentist, restaurant or stores," wrote one Facebook user. "Imagine if everyone did not comply how that would hurt our government or economy.

"If every American did not go to work or buy anything at all for one or two days things would get real. We are all slaves to our Government until we stop conforming to the demands and dollar."

New coronavirus variants now emerging with case spikes in certain parts of the United States include EG.5 and BA.2.86. Major companies like Pfizer and Moderna who were highly involved in the swift rollout of vaccines at the height of the pandemic are scheduled to release a new vaccine in mid-September to combat the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, pending approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A CDC spokesperson told Newsweek on Thursday via email that the center's advice for individual and community actions around COVID-19 is tied to hospital admission levels, which are currently low for more than 97 percent of the country.

"CDC continues to recommend that all people are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines and take steps to themselves and others," the spokesperson said. "Anyone may choose to wear a mask at any time."

Time may tell whether the discussion around mandates and lockdowns is alarmist considering that very few places in the country have COVID-related measures currently in place.

One, for example, is Morris Brown College, a small Atlanta-based historically Black college, which told students to adhere to mask-wearing for a two-week period due to an influx of COVID-related cases.

"Dear Atlanta College, Regarding your precautionary mask mandate... I have a precautionary Foot I'd like to shove up you're a**!" wrote comedian and former Saturday Night Live actor Rob Schneider on X, in response to the Morris Brown mandate. "But don't worry, it's just for the next 14 days! For your own protection! Ps. Students WAKE UP, SHEEPLE! SAY NO!"

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin released a video on X of her literally shaking her head when confronted with hypothetical mandates, even burning some masks outdoors.

Libs of Tik Tok, which has 2.4 million followers on X, is encouraging individuals to ignore all mandates and pledges to support impacted businesses—and even pay any fines for noncompliance.

One X user posted that she would ignore mandates instituted by Trump, President Joe Biden or anyone else.

"I won't mask again," the user wrote. "I don't care what Trump or Fauci or Birx or Biden or any other governmental agency try and push again. I won't deal with the anxiety mask wearing brings me again. Not going to cover my daughter's beautiful face or force her to deal with the frequent painful breakouts again. Nope. For my child, I say, never again."

#United States 🇺🇸#Mask Mandate #'We Will Not Comply' Movement #Nick Mordowanec | Newsweek #Donald Trump #COVID-19 #Fearmongering #New Coronavirus Variants #EG.5 and BA.2.86 #Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.5 #Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)#Food and Drug Administration (FDA)#Morris Brown College | Atlanta Georgia | Blacks’ College #Rob Schneider #Former | Alaska Governor | Sarah Palin #Tik Tok #Donald J. Trump | President Joe Biden #Trump | Fauci | Birx | Biden

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mariacallous · 9 months

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Updated vaccines against Covid-19 are coming, just as hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus are steadily ticking up again.

Today, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new mRNA booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer, and a panel of outside experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend the shots to everyone in the United States ages 6 months and older. Once Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Mandy Cohen signs off on the recommendations and the vaccines are shipped, people can start getting the boosters.

The recommendation is projected to prevent about 400,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths over the next two years, according to data presented at the meeting by CDC epidemiologist Megan Wallace.

This year’s mRNA vaccines are different from the 2022 booster in a key way. Last year’s shot was a bivalent vaccine, meaning it covered two variants: the original one that emerged in China in 2019, plus the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which was circulating during much of 2022. This fall’s booster drops the original variant, which is no longer circulating and is unlikely to return. It targets just the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which was dominant throughout much of 2023.

Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines work by introducing a tiny piece of genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA, that carries instructions for making SARS-CoV-2’s characteristic spike protein. Once it is injected, cells in the body use those instructions to temporarily make the spike protein. The immune system recognizes the protein as foreign and generates antibodies against it. Those antibodies stick around so that if they encounter that foreign invader again, they will mount a response against it.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the virus has acquired new mutations in its spike protein and elsewhere. These mutations result in new variants and subvariants that diverge from the original virus. When enough mutations accumulate, these new versions can more easily evade the antibodies created by previous vaccine doses or infections.

The constantly evolving nature of the virus is the reason health regulators decided last year to update the original mRNA vaccines, which were designed against the version of the virus that first appeared in 2019. This year, once again, the virus has changed enough to warrant an updated booster.

In June, an advisory committee to the FDA recommended that this fall’s booster be a monovalent vaccine—targeting only the then-dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant.

At that meeting, committee members reviewed evidence suggesting that the inclusion of the original variant may hamper the booster’s effectiveness against newer offshoots. “The previous bivalent vaccine contained the ancestral spike and thus skewed immune responses to the old spike,” says David Ho, a professor of microbiology at Columbia University whose research, which is not yet peer-reviewed, was among the evidence the FDA panel reviewed. “This is what we call immunological imprinting, and it results in lack of immune responses to the new spike.” He thinks taking out the old variant should optimize the immune response.

But over the past few months, even newer Omicron offshoots have arrived. Currently, EG.5.1, or Eris, is the dominant one in the United States, United Kingdom, and China. Meanwhile, a variant called BA.2.86, or Pirola, has been detected in several countries. Pirola has raised alarm bells because it has more than 30 new mutations compared to XBB.1.5.

Even though the new boosters were formulated against XBB.1.5, they’re still expected to provide protection against these new variants. “The reason is, while antibodies are important in protection against mild disease, the critical part of the immune response that’s important for protecting against severe disease is T cells,” says Paul Offit, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Pennsylvania and member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee.

These cells are a different part of the immune response. Unlike antibodies, which neutralize a pathogen by preventing it from infecting cells, T cells work by eliminating the cells that have already been invaded and boosting creation of more antibodies. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccines produce long-lasting T cells in addition to antibodies.

It’s why, Offit says, when the Omicron wave hit in late 2021 and peaked in January 2022, the US didn’t see a dramatic increase in hospitalizations and deaths even as cases rose significantly: People’s T cells kicked into gear, even when their antibodies didn’t recognize the Omicron variant.

“In some ways,” says Offit, when it comes to vaccine booster development, “it almost doesn’t matter what we pick to target” because the coronavirus has yet to evolve away from T cell recognition. “Everything works.”

Scientists think T cells are able to protect against severe Covid because they’re recognizing parts of the virus that have remained unchanged throughout the pandemic. “I suspect that as we continue to vaccinate, there are some conserved regions [of the virus],” says Jacqueline Miller, Moderna’s head of infectious diseases. “So even with the accumulation of mutations, we’re still building on previous immunity.”

People who have hybrid immunity—that is, have had a Covid infection and have also been vaccinated—seem to have the best immune responses to new variants, she says, which suggests that previous exposure shapes and improves immune responses to new variants. Preliminary studies show that antibodies generated by previous infections and vaccinations should be capable of neutralizing Pirola.

Earlier this month, Moderna issued a press release saying that clinical trial data showed that its updated booster generated a strong immune response against Pirola, as well as the more prevalent Eris variant.

In a statement to WIRED, Pfizer spokesperson Jerica Pitts said the company continues to closely monitor emerging variants and conduct tests of its updated monovalent booster against them. Data presented at Tuesday’s CDC meeting showed that Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated booster elicited a strong neutralizing antibody response against both Eris and Pirola.

The FDA expects that Covid-19 vaccines will continue to be updated on an annual basis, unless a completely new variant emerges that requires a different approach. “We will always be a little behind the virus,” says Ho. “In this instance, we won’t suffer too much, but that might not be the case going forward. Surveillance is imperative.”

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allthecanadianpolitics · 6 months

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Health Canada has authorized an adapted vaccine from Novavax to prevent COVID-19 in people age 12 and older.

Novavax's product — Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant COVID-19 vaccine — uses a more traditional approach to defend the body against severe infection, hospitalization and death.

It is also authorized as a booster for those 18 and older, according to Health Canada's webpage.

Novavax said it expects to have doses available across the country.

Novavax's first vaccine to protect against COVID-19, known as Nuvaxovid, was authorized for use in Canadians 18 and over by Health Canada in February 2022. [...]

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #healthcare #vaccinations #coronavirus #Health Canada

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ejacutastic · 9 months

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The new Covid shots, made by Pfizer and Moderna, target a subvariant of omicron, called XBB.1.5. More than 90% of the Covid viruses circulating now are closely related to that strain, the CDC said.

The recommendation from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was broad, suggesting that everyone ages 5 and older get one dose of the vaccine this fall. The group voted in favor of the recommendation 13 to 1.

[...]

For the first time, the cost of Covid vaccines will not be covered by the federal government, though most insurance plans, both private and public, will cover them. The list price will top $100 per shot.

Those who are uninsured will have access to the shots free of charge through community health centers, as well as a "bridge" program from the Biden administration through the end of next year.

But previous federal funds that went toward outreach, education and programs that assured vaccine access in vulnerable lower-income areas have dried up.

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wowbright · 7 months

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Because I keep seeing people mention how it's important to get COVID vaccination because it lessens the severity of infections, a reminder: it also prevents infections. Not 100% of them. But vaccination makes you less likely to get infected, particularly with the strain you were vaccinated for. So, when you get the newest COVID vaccination, it's really good at preventing infection with the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant, and almost as good at preventing infection with closely related strains. It becomes less effective at prevention the more a strain differs from XBB.1.5, but can still reduce the rate of infection, and it's still good at lessening the severity of disease.

So, if you get vaccinated, you are less likely to get infected with COVID-19. That's prevention!

#covid 19 #COVID-19 #I am really sick of well-intended post saying that the vaccine 'doesn't prevent infections but makes them less severe'#it prevents infections AND makes breakthrough infections less severe #like almost every other vaccine #I really wish accurate information about vaccination and immunology was a basic part of every public school health curriculum #except that a lot of teachers don't understand this stuff either so oh well #my other bugaboo is people thinking that the immune system requires regular exposure to pathogens to keep it strong #um no #the immune system is not like a muscle #muscles grow strong through periodic stress #that is not the case for the immune system and many pathogens in fact weaken the immune system #like measles for example can wipe your immune memory so that you can get reinfected by pathogens you were previously immune to

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allthebrazilianpolitics · 1 year

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Lula government ends daily COVID-19 tracking in Brazil

Facing the clear threat of a worsening pandemic in Brazil, driven by the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, the Workers Party (PT) government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signaled its intention to declare the pandemic over and get the Brazilian population used to “living” with the coronavirus.

On February 16, the Health Ministry announced that it will start releasing COVID-19 data of cases, deaths and vaccination rates weekly and no longer daily, starting March 3. Trying to justify what in practice means a further departure from monitoring the pandemic in the country, the Health Ministry’s director of immunization, Eder Gatti, stated that only nine of the 27 Brazilian states update the data daily, which supposedly does not “allow an epidemiological analysis.” Still, he claimed,“We are not restricting data. ... What we want here is to facilitate the work with the data and send weekly data that is more accurate.”

This claim is patently false. If the Lula government had a genuine concern about the pandemic, the least it could do is coordinate a national effort and assist the states in implementing a system to monitor the pandemic on a daily basis, with a mass testing program, genetic sequencing of the variants in circulation, among other measures completely ignored by the “herd immunity” policy of the former fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro.

However, almost two months after taking office, the Lula government has not reversed the Bolsonaro government’s measures to prioritize corporate interests over human lives, including its ending of the National Public Health Emergency due to COVID-19 as early as April 2022. The Lula government has also failed to implement awareness campaigns about the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the importance of wearing quality masks and distributing them for free, as well as other basic public health measures that would have an almost immediate impact and could prevent cases and deaths.

#brazil #politics #brazilian politics #coronavirus #covid 19 #nisia trindade #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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ricisidro · 10 months

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Updated Covid boosters that is designed to target the XBB.1.5 subvariant could be authorized by end of August, Pfizer says.

#CovidVaccines #Pfizer #COVID19 #Omicron #XBB #XBB15

#Pfizer #covid19vaccine #Omicron #XBB #xbb.1.5 #Instagram

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thoughtportal · 1 year

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June 12 (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccines being developed and manufactured for the 2023-2024 campaign should target one of the currently dominant XBB variants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) staff reviewers said on Monday.

The comments were made in documents posted ahead of Thursday's meeting of a panel of FDA's independent experts, who are expected to make recommendations on what strain an updated COVID-19 booster should target.

An advisory group to the World Health Organization (WHO) in May recommended that COVID-19 booster shots for the year should be updated to target XBB subvariants.

Last year's COVID vaccine boosters in the United States featured both the original strain of the vaccine and Omicron in a so-called bivalent shot.

About 17% of people in the United States received a COVID booster shot in the 2022-2023 vaccination season, according to CDC data that was current through early May.

COVID-related deaths in the United States spiked in January, but have mostly fallen since then. They fell 14.3% in the past week.

Regulators say vaccines need to be updated to deal with the unpredictability of the virus.

"There is no indication that SARS-CoV-2 evolution is slowing down, though immunity appears to be mitigating severe clinical outcomes," the FDA's staff said.

The COVID vaccination campaign should feature a monovalent vaccine targeting either the XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, or XBB.2.3, the FDA's reviewers said.

XBB subvariants accounted for more than 95% of the circulating virus variants in the United States by early June 2023, they added.

COVID-19 vaccine makers like Pfizer/BioNtech (PFE.N), Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) are already developing versions of their respective vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 and other currently circulating strains.

Reporting by Manas Mishra and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva

#article #COVID shots should target XBB variants in 2023-24 campaign #US FDA staff say #covid 19 #COVID-19 #COVID #the pandemic

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tearsinthemist · 9 months

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Approval of new Covid shots likely coming within days

10September2023

A new round of Covid-19 vaccinations for the fall is expected to be approved by government bodies in the coming days, according to recent reporting. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to greenlight approval of a new Covid shot as early as next week, sources told NBC News. From there, the vaccines would have to be signed off on by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), something that is also likely to occur soon. The new shots are designed to target the latest Covid variants, including the XBB.1.5 omicron strain. The boosters are also expected to protect against various subvariants of omicron, drugmakers told NBC. [The Associated Press, NBC News]

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pandemic-info · 1 year

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Reports about XBB.1.5: terrible. Immune escape = your vaccine will not work. Please use N95s if you have access to them; protect yourselves and others.

"Young & healthy" is not invincible. Way too many people saying they thought "it won't happen to me" and now "you don't want this, it's worse than death."

Via Akiko Iwasaki (who's been working on a nasal vaccine; interviewed for Knowable about long COVID):

A very important and informative thread about why the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant is now dominating in the Northeast US and is expected to spread. Please protect yourselves and others by wearing N95 masks. I am truly concerned about the #longCOVID wave that follows this infection.

Via Dr. David Berger / BioRxiv preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.23.517532v1

1/ HOW DIFFERENT IS XBB.1.5 AND HOW WORRYING IS IT? Very. This graphic from the linked paper shows it is as different from the Wuhan variant (now known as WT = Wild Type) of SARS-COV-2 as WT is from SARS-COV (the virus which caused SARS1 in 2003). ... 11/ In short, this is an emergency and we must shift immediately to both SUPPRESS TRANSMISSION and update vaccines as quickly as possible. We have known this for a long time. We know it even more now. We must act before it is too late.

#xbb.1.5 #covid #long covid #xbb #akiko iwasaki #research #data #graphic #article #twitter #david berger #winter 2023

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bighermie · 1 year

Link

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emptymanuscript · 1 year

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great -_-

#covid

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allthecanadianpolitics · 8 months

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Health Canada has given its stamp of approval to Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty’s new COVID-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant. The health department says it received Pfizer-BioNTech's submission on June 29, 2023 and decided to authorize the shot's use for individuals aged six months and older after “a thorough and independent review of the evidence.” Health Canada says the vaccine is authorized as a one-dose vaccine for individuals five years of age and older, regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination history.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#Covid19 #covid19 vaccine #cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #Healthcare

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popolitiko · 1 year

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youtube

New COVID subvariant spreads rapidly in Northeast, sparking concerns it evades vaccines

Three years into the pandemic and yet another new variant of the coronavirus has emerged. The omicron subvariant known as XBB.1.5 now accounts for more than 40% of new COVID infections in the U.S. and around 75% of cases in the Northeast. Dr. Jay Varma of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response joined William Brangham to discuss the concerns.

#Youtube

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nuadox · 1 year

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FAQ on COVID-19 subvariant XBB.1.5

- By Sameer Elsayed , Western University , The Conversation -

Despite intensive public health efforts to grind the COVID-19 pandemic to a halt, the recent emergence of the highly transmissible, extensively drug-resistant and profoundly immune system-evading XBB.1.5 SARS-CoV-2 subvariant is putting the global community on edge.

What is XBB.1.5?

In the naming convention for SARS-CoV-2 lineages, the prefix “X” denotes a pedigree that arose through genetic recombination between two or more subvariants.

The XBB lineage emerged following natural co-infection of a human host with two Omicron subvariants, namely BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. It was first identified by public health authorities in India during summer 2022. XBB.1.5 is a direct descendent, or more accurately, the “fifth grandchild” of the original XBB subvariant.

Genetic lineage of COVID-19 subvariant XBB.1.5. (Sameer Elsayed), Author provided

How does XBB.1.5 differ from Omicron?

XBB.1.5 is one of many Omicron subvariants of concern that have appeared on the global pandemic scene since the onset of the first Omicron wave in November 2021. In contrast to other descendants of the original Omicron variant (known as B.1.1.529), XBB.1.5 is a mosaic subvariant that traces its roots to two Omicron subvariant lineages.

XBB.1.5 is arguably the most genetically rich and most transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant yet.

Where is XBB.1.5 prevalent?

According to the World Health Organization, XBB.1.5 is circulating in at least 38 countries, with the highest prevalence in the United States, where it accounts for approximately 43 per cent of COVID-19 cases nationwide. Within the U.S., there is wide geographic variation in the proportion of cases caused by XBB.1.5, ranging from seven per cent in the Midwest to over 70 per cent in New England.

XBB.1.5 has also been officially reported by governmental agencies in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Kuwait, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Real-time surveillance data reveals that XBB.1.5 is rapidly spreading across the globe and will likely become the next dominant subvariant.

XBB.1.5 has also been detected in municipal wastewater systems in the United States, Europe and other places.

How likely is XBB.1.5 to cause serious illness?

There is limited data about the ability of XBB.1.5 to cause serious illness. According to the World Health Organization, XBB.1.5 does not have any specific mutations that make it any more dangerous than its ancestral subvariants.

Nonetheless, XBB.1.5 is perceived as being equally capable of causing serious illness in elderly and immunocompromised persons compared to previous Omicron subvariants of concern.

Are current mRNA vaccines effective against XBB.1.5?

XBB.1.5 and XBB.1 are the Omicron subvariants with the greatest immune-evasive properties. Therefore, one of the most contentious issues surrounding XBB.1.5 relates to the degree of protection afforded by currently available mRNA vaccines, including the latest bivalent booster formulations.

Researchers from the University of Texas determined that first-generation and bivalent mRNA booster vaccines containing BA.5 result in lacklustre neutralizing antibody responses against XBB.1.5. A report (yet to be peer reviewed) from investigators at the Cleveland Clinic found that bivalent vaccines demonstrate only modest (30 per cent) effectiveness in otherwise healthy non-elderly people when the variants in the vaccine match those circulating in the community.

Furthermore, some experts believe the administration of bivalent boosters for the prevention of COVID-19 illness in otherwise healthy young individuals is not medically justified nor cost-effective.

In contrast, public health experts from Atlanta, Ga. and Stanford, Calif. reported that although the neutralizing antibody activity of bivalent booster vaccines against XBB.1.5 is 12 to 26 times less than antibody activity against the wild-type (original) SARS-CoV-2 virus, bivalent vaccines still perform better than monovalent vaccines against XBB.1.5.

However, investigators from Columbia University in New York found that neutralizing antibody levels following bivalent boosting were up to 155–fold lower against XBB.1.5 compared to levels against the wild-type virus following monovalent boosting.

This suggests that neither monovalent nor bivalent booster vaccines can be relied upon to provide adequate protection against XBB.1.5.

How can you protect yourself against XBB.1.5?

The rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a challenge for the management of COVID-19 illness using available preventive and therapeutic agents. Of note, all currently available monoclonal antibodies targeting the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are deemed to be ineffective against XBB.1.5.

Antiviral medicines such as remdesivir and Paxlovid may be considered for the treatment of eligible infected patients at high risk of progressing to severe disease.

Standard infection control precautions including indoor masking, social distancing and frequent handwashing are effective measures that can be employed for personal and population protection against XBB.1.5 and other subvariants of concern.

Although bivalent boosters may be considered for elderly, immunocompromised and other risk-averse individuals, their effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 illness due to XBB.1.5 remains uncertain.

Why is XBB.1.5 nicknamed ‘Kraken’?

Some scientists have coined unofficially-recognized nicknames for XBB.1.5 and other SARS-CoV-2 subvariants of concern, arguing that they are easier to remember than generic alphanumeric designations.

The ‘Kraken’ label for XBB.1.5 is currently in vogue on social media sites and news outlets, and the nicknames ‘Gryphon’ and ‘Hippogryph’ have been used to denote the ancestral subvariants XBB and XBB.1, respectively. Kraken refers to a mythological Scandinavian sea monster or giant squid, Gryphon (or Griffin) refers to a legendary creature that is a hybrid of an eagle and a lion, while Hippogryph (or Hippogriff) is a fictitious animal hybrid of a Gryphon and a horse.

Notwithstanding their potential utility as memory aids, the use of nicknames or acronyms in formal scientific discussions should be avoided.

Sameer Elsayed, Professor of Medicine, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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