Pandemic Report
The major CDC stats remain unchanged from last week's update. The regional trends remain the same from last week, the Southwest to California, and the upper central Midwest through the upper Northeast.
The Sick Times reports the following stats:
Other relevant COVID news items:
- "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering adding the strongest safety warning available to COVID-19 vaccines...People familiar with the plan told CNN the FDA is weighing whether to place a black box warning on COVID vaccines. These warnings appear at the top of drug labels and are typically reserved for interventions linked to serious or life-threatening risks...A boxed warning is the FDA’s most serious alert. These warnings appear on drugs like opioids, which carry addiction and overdose risks, and on some vaccines used for rare diseases that can cause serious side effects...The plan is still under review and has not been finalized, officials said. It’s also unclear whether the warning would apply to all COVID vaccines, only mRNA shots, or to certain age groups...The move has alarmed many outside health experts, who say there is no scientific basis for the warning."
- "Study finds that despite broad COVID vaccine availability, COVID still deadlier than flu in hospitalized patients"
- "Good health news for babies, kids and adults regarding the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination kept coming in December."
- "AAP Issues Policy Statement on COVID-19 Vaccination Recommendations in Children. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in protecting individuals and populations against serious outcomes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, including postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children."
- "CDC outlines who should get the 2025 COVID-19 booster. The updated guidance prioritizes older adults, high-risk individuals, and those who have never been vaccinated."
- "AI-designed nasal antiviral platform targets broad protection against COVID-19, flu, other respiratory viruses"
- "Invivyd Earns Fast Track Designation for VYD2311, a Vaccine-Alternative Antibody to Prevent COVID"
- "Temporary visitor restrictions in place at area hospitals amid increase in respiratory illness"
- "Fresh pandemic fears as first major WHO warning issued since Covid. The World Health Organisation has issued a stark warning as 19 MERS coronavirus cases, including 4 deaths, were reported. The alert comes as researchers discover a new bat-borne coronavirus in Brazil with concerning similarities to the deadly MERS virus."
- Prosecution of COVID relief fraud ang other crimes continues:
- "Utah woman sentenced to prison for COVID-19 loan fraud."
- Legal/political developments:
- "Federal government sues Advocate Aurora Health over COVID-19 vaccine policy. Lawsuit claims health system discriminated against employee based on their religion./"
- "China’s lawsuit makes Missouri’s $25 billion COVID judgment even harder to collect. Missouri was already unlikely to ever collect a dime, legal experts agree, and the countersuit could expose U.S. assets to retaliation."
- "Lawmakers Considering New COVID-19 Business Reporting Requirements"
- "State Supreme Court rejects provider immunity in COVID-adjacent nursing home death"
- "California Church Appeals to SCOTUS Over $1.2M in COVID-19 Fines"
Other Notes
The blog is still picking up a dubiously high number of weekly pageviews. We/re trending to about 434 posts for the year and about 44 posts this month, my highest for the year; this will be my lowest yearly total since 2018. in large part because I was offline this spring for over a month for health reasons. I probably tweeted less over the holdays and my followers are oscillating around the 200 level
