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Here’s what you need to know about the state of COVID-19 as kids go back to school

New backpacks, new pencils, new clothes — and new cases of COVID-19. Here’s how to keep your kid healthy as they go back to school.
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Here’s what you need to know about the state of COVID-19 as kids go back to school​

We look at the state of COVID today, the latest vaccine advice and what to do if your child gets sick
Updated 2 hrs ago
Sept. 3, 2024
4 min read
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As hundreds of thousands of Toronto students go back to school, COVID-19 is still a concern.
Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

By Mark ColleyStaff Reporter, and Kevin JiangStaff Reporter

Back to school means new backpacks, new pencils, new clothes — and new cases of COVID.

Contributors
Opinion

Ontario can’t make COVID-19 disappear by pretending it doesn’t exist​

Being in the midst of a pandemic isn’t when governments should be cutting funding to trackers, advisory boards and surveillance systems. Fatigue,

Experts are urging parents to keep kids up to date on their vaccinations, COVID or otherwise, ahead of another expected spike in infections with the start of the school year.
“I’m sure there is going to be a lot of COVID circulating in school once the kids go back,” Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto, told the Star. “But most people have some degree of immunity, whether it’s through vaccine or natural immunity — so we don’t see the catastrophic rates that we used to see.”
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The back-to-school COVID surge​

There’s a reason why respiratory viruses tend to surge with the start of school, Banerji said.
“In the summertime, (kids) don’t have as much exposure and they’re outdoors. But when they go back to school, you’re going to have a lot of people who have travelled to many different places coming together in a closed space — and that allows the viruses to circulate more.”
That goes for other illnesses, such as the flu and common cold, as well — a reason why Banerji urges kids keep up with seasonal flu shots, too.
“There’s so much COVID out there, a lot of times we won’t know it’s COVID or people may not be testing for COVID,” she said.
If your kid has “any kind of respiratory illness, especially with a fever, they should be home.”

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Does my kid need another COVID shot?​


Canada

Here’s what you need to know about getting this fall’s COVID-19 jab​

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has released its recommendations for this fall, well ahead of a surge in infections predicted for

Banerji recommends getting your kids vaccinated with the updated COVID shots as soon as they are available — but not before.
Health Canada hasn’t yet revealed when the updated shots will be available. Historically, new shots are approved in mid-fall, said Dr. Fahad Razak, Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto.
“The recommendation is to wait until the fall, when we have an updated version of the vaccine,” he explained.
The current vaccine in Canada, introduced last fall, targets the XBB. 1.5 variant. But today, Canada’s cases are dominated by offshoots of the JN.1 variant, which began circulating late last year.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved updated vaccines targeting the KP.2 strain, a descendent of the JN.1 lineage. Canada is expected to follow soon.

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COVID vaccines are available at select Ontario pharmacies.

The state of COVID today​


Canada

A new COVID-19 subvariant is dominant in Canada. Here’s why that might be a good thing​

A preliminary study found it is “significantly” less infectious than its predecessor.

“Right now, in Ontario and across Canada, we’re having an uptick in COVID activity,” Razak said. “We’re seeing moderate levels of COVID spread (in Ontario) … but in other parts of Canada, the degree spread is actually quite high,” like in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
While Ontario halted its own COVID wastewater surveillance program earlier this summer, national wastewater indicators have shown a rise in viral activity as of early August.
Meanwhile, public Health Ontario is reporting a “moderate” 14.1 per cent COVID positivity rate as of the week of Aug. 11.
Across the border, the U.S. Center for Disease Control is reporting “very high” levels of viral activity in the wastewater of 29 states. The country’s COVID positivity rate spiked above 18 per cent in recent weeks, according to the CDC — the highest it’s been in more than two years.

What are schools doing about COVID this fall?​

School boards are required to keep ventilation systems optimized, including “using the highest-grade filters possible” and allocating funds to “meet minimum ventilation guidelines,” a spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Health told the Star in an email.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW


They said the government has provided more than $600 million to boards to support ventilation improvement measures in schools, including the installation or upgrading of HVAC systems and HEPA filter units.
Banerji recommended classrooms keep their windows open as much as possible to boost air circulation. “We know when we have kids together in a closed classroom, or if they’re going from classroom to classroom, it allows the infection to spread.”
Otherwise, Toronto Public Health has the same advice it did earlier on in the pandemic: get vaccinated, stay home if sick and mask up in crowded, unventilated spaces.

Gta

The pandemic hurt the youngest learners the hardest. Here’s how one Toronto school board is helping them catch up​

A program at the Toronto Catholic District School Board builds reading and math skills for students who have just completed Grade 1.

Remember to wash or sanitize your hands often, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, and cover your cough or sneeze with your elbow or a tissue, the organization said.

My kid got COVID. Now what?​

Don’t panic. “In general, a healthy youth tolerates (COVID) better than a healthy older adult,” Banerji explains. “For most COVID cases, unless they have an underlying illness, it self-resolves in a few days.


“So, fluids, Advil, Tylenol — and just rest,” she continued. “If a child has underlying conditions, they should see their primary health provider, who may be able to prescribe medications for them.”
If possible, your kid should stay home until their fever resolves and their symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours, Razak explained. The same applies for all other respiratory illnesses.
“Keeping kids at home is something that (can be) very difficult if you’re working, if you don’t have child care,” he said. “For many parents, it’s a very difficult decision.”
According to the province, sick individuals should wear a mask in public and avoid visiting anyone at higher risk of illness for 10 days after their symptoms begin. That includes visits to hospitals and long-term-care homes.

Should my kid take a COVID test?​

Ontario no longer recommends testing for most people.
Instead, if they have COVID symptoms — including a fever, cough, shortness of breath or decreased taste or smell — assume they may have the virus and inform your close contacts.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW


You can also use the province’s self-assessment tool to check your symptoms.
Some people are still eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing, including those who are 60 or older, are at a higher risk of severe COVID or who work in high-risk settings. A full list of eligible groups is available on the province’s website, as is a list of testing locations.
 

Arizona life expectancy dropped after COVID-19 pandemic​

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Life expectancy at birth in 2021​

U.S. overall 76.4 years
Years



Data: CDC; Map: Axios Visuals
Arizona experienced one of the country's greatest decreases in life expectancy at birth from 2020 to 2021, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis — declining from 76.3 to 75 years.

Why it matters: Arizona's significant decline showed how dramatically COVID-19 and drug overdoses hit the state in 2020.
  • The national life expectancy dropped from 77 to 76.4 years during the same time.
Between the lines: Women are expected to live longer than men nationwide.

  • In Arizona, the gender gap in 2021 was 6.3 years.
Zoom out: Hawaii (79.9 years), Massachusetts (79.6) and Connecticut (79.2) had the longest life expectancy at birth as of 2021, per the CDC analysis.

  • Mississippi (70.9 years), West Virginia (71.0) and Alabama (72.0) had the shortest.
Zoom in: Arizona experienced the highest adjusted death rate in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis published in The Lancet last year.

  • Meanwhile, Arizona's drug overdose rate went from 35.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 to 38.7 in 2021, per the CDC.
The intrigue: The Lancet analysis found that states with mandates encouraging mask use, mobility restriction and vaccination — and mandates kept in place longer — experienced lower infection rates.

  • Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble, who was critical of former Gov. Doug Ducey's pandemic response, told Axios the state's decision to preempt local governments and businesses from being able to enforce mask and vaccine requirements led to unnecessary deaths during the pandemic.

Yes, but: Arizona's COVID policies didn't just result in more coronavirus deaths, Humble said. They also contributed to an uptick in deaths caused by other infections, diseases and conditions that went untreated because Arizona hospital beds were full.

  • "Those are the forgotten victims of Arizona's COVID pandemic," Humble said.
What we're watching: With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, life expectancy will likely improve in future reports — as earlier preliminary data suggests.

  • Still, both COVID and drug overdoses remain serious public health challenges.
 
www.wsls.com

Centra reports surge in COVID-19 cases as kids return to school

As your kids head back to school, the possibility of them getting sick increases, especially since Centra has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases.
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Centra reports surge in COVID-19 cases as kids return to school​

Understanding the Symptoms: How to differentiate between COVID-19, the flu and RSV​



Centra reports surge in COVID-19 cases as kids return to school

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LYNCHBURG, Va. – As your kids head back to school, the possibility of them getting sick increases, especially since Centra has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases.

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“We have seen an uptick. About one in five of those are positive. That’s been high. That’s been going on since about June. It corresponds with summer vacations and people getting together again,” said Dr. James Bryant Vice President for Emergency Services.

So, doctors have a warning for you: “Wash your hands, cover your cough, cover your sneeze. Masks can be helpful in some situations, but a lot of these diseases are spread by touch. So again, washing those hands and keeping a safe distance from people who are sick. So, if you’re sick, we want you to stay home,” said Bryant.

Bryant said COVID-19, the flu and RSV all have pretty similar symptoms. So, you’ll want to know the differences to protect yourself and your kids.

“Typically, COVID doesn’t have GI symptoms―no vomiting or diarrhea with COVID. You can as you get more illness, but typically, it’s more respiratory related. RSV is pretty much all respiratory, and it can be very severe, and it can come on very suddenly. COVID typically comes on a little slower,” said Bryant.

He said you’ll really need to come in and get tested to determine the difference. Bryant also said it’s important to know when to go to the doctor.

“It’s when you’re not getting better. If you’re getting worse or you have any concerns that your child or yourself are just not getting better the way that you normally would from a virus, then that’s time to give us a call or see your doctor or the emergency department,” said Bryant.

Doctors also recommend that you get your COVID-19 booster and flu shots.

Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Health reports there has also been an uptick in other illnesses in Southwest Virginia as well.

One illness the Virginia Department of Health has seen an increase in is Parvovirus also known as B19. Southwest Regional Epidemiologist Dr. Paige Bordwine said it comes in two phases. The first one consists of a fever and body aches that last for about 2 to 5 days. Then, during the second phase, people—especially children—can get a rash. Bordwine said Parvovirus is often called ‘slap cheek.’

Bordwine said they are always monitoring Gastrointestinal Illnesses, also known as GI. She said there has been a slight uptick in the summer months. Some of the symptoms include bloody diarrhea and fever. She said it’s important to cook things properly.

She said they are also monitoring for tick and mosquito-borne illnesses.

“Summer is the time when we see an increase of that,” said Bordwine.

So far this year, there have been 259 cases of lime disease.

Bordwine said to watch out for rashes.

“The most important thing is to dress appropriately if you’re gonna be in an area that you’re at risk for tick bites. Do tick checks after you’ve come in for the day and use Veet or another preventative medication, and also consider your pets as well,” said Bordwine.
 

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Coronavirus vaccines, once free, are now pricey for uninsured people​

The elimination of the Bridge Access Program means some low-income Americans must pay up to $200 for an updated shot.​


8 min
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Adrianna Ruiz and their girlfriend, Calliope Stout, hug Ruiz's roommate, Sam, at their apartment Aug. 31 in Atlanta before embarking on a road trip to California. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
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By Fenit Nirappil
Updated September 3, 2024 at 8:35 a.m. EDT|Published September 3, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
Nirappil interviewed 11 uninsured Americans about their difficulties getting coronavirus vaccines for this article.
This article is free to access.Why?



As updated coronavirus vaccines hit U.S. pharmacy shelves, adults without health insurance are discovering the shots are no longer free, instead costing up to $200.
The federal Bridge Access Program covering the cost of coronavirus vaccines for uninsured and underinsured people ran out of funding. Now, Americans with low incomes are weighing whether they can afford to shore up immunity against an unpredictable virus that is no longer a public health emergency but continues to cause long-term complications and hospitalizations and kill tens of thousands of people a year.




The program’s elimination marks the latest tear in a safety net that once ensured people could protect themselves against the coronavirus regardless of their financial situation. Health experts worry that the paltry 22 percent rate of adults staying up-to-date on vaccines will erode further. And they fear that the roughly 25 million people without health insurance in the nation will be especially vulnerable to covid because they tend to be in poorer health and avoid medical care when sick.
Nicole Savant, a 33-year-old part-time paralegal and dog walker, lost her Medicaid benefits last year when her income rose. She wants the latest shot because she knows people who died of covid before the vaccines became available and because she faces a higher risk of severe disease being overweight.
Ashley Hayward's receipt bears witness to the more than $400 she and her boyfriend had to pay Aug. 28 for updated coronavirus shots at a Nashville drugstore. (Ashley Hayward)
She was floored when she was quoted $201.99 at an appointment to receive the vaccine at a St. Louis-area CVS. She wasn’t sure if she even had that much money in her bank account.
“I have so little money, and I have other needs as well, like monthly medications,” said Savant, who doubts she will get the vaccine if she has to pay out of pocket. “I would hope for the best, which I really don’t want to do.”
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At least 34 million doses of last year’s vaccine were administered to adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 1.5 million were funded through the Bridge Access Program, which was originally set to end this December, allowing vaccinations ahead of the usual winter wave.



But it expired ahead of schedule because Congress rescinded $6.1 billion in coronavirus emergency spending authority as part of a deal to avert a government shutdown. Congress also declined to fund the Biden administration’s proposal for a Vaccines for Adults program that could provide routine immunizations, including for coronavirus, for free, similar to an existing Vaccines for Children program.
Private insurers, along with the Medicare and Medicaid government programs, are required to pay for coronavirus vaccines. The Bridge Access Program offered a backup option for people encountering insurance snags.
Ruiz and Stout review directions for coronavirus tests before leaving on their trip. They're being vigilant because they're taking belongings to a friend undergoing chemotherapy. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
Ruiz lost health insurance after getting laid off from a nonprofit job in July. They can't afford to pay out of pocket for a coronavirus vaccine. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
The CDC said it identified an additional $62 million to buy coronavirus vaccines targeting the latest variants for distribution through state and local health agencies — which local officials say is a sliver of the overall need. CDC spokeswoman Jasmine Reed said the partnership with state and local officials can provide shots to 1 million insured and underinsured Americans.
Raynard Washington, who leads the Mecklenburg County health department in North Carolina, said it’s difficult for financially strapped health agencies to tap their own funds for coronavirus vaccines. Under CDC contracts, health officials spend $78 a dose for the vaccine from the drug company Moderna and pay $100 for the version from Pfizer-BioNTech, compared with $15 to $20 for flu shots.
Washington, who also leads the Big Cities Health Coalition, an organization representing metropolitan health departments, said vaccine manufacturers should charge health departments less to help vaccinate more people without insurance.
In addition to testing for the coronavirus, Stout and Ruiz are packing lunches to eat on picnic blankets in parks. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
“What’s at stake is we are reverting back to a system where a person’s financial ability to be able to pay will determine their ability to be healthy,” Washington said.
Pfizer and Moderna said their vaccines would be available through patient assistance programs that offer free vaccines, but spokespeople did not offer details on the scope and eligibility of those programs. Moderna did not respond to questions about the rate it charges health officials, while Pfizer defended its pricing practices.
“Pfizer has priced the vaccine to ensure the price is consistent with the value delivered and with the goal of uninterrupted access for every American,” the company said in a statement provided by spokesman Kit Longley.
Community health centers that often provide low-cost care to uninsured people administered 24 million shots when the federal government provided them, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. Now, the facilities will have to scale back those programs and rely on local health officials for vaccines, some of whom would have little to share, said Luis Padilla, the association’s chief health officer.
“This country doesn’t provide enough for public health infrastructure and resources,” Padilla said.
The approval of updated coronavirus vaccines Aug. 22 sent some Americans dashing to get shots before the end of the month. The CDC webpage about the Bridge Access Program, until Friday, said it ended in August without making clear it funded only the previous vaccines, which could no longer be administered after the new shots were authorized.
Ruiz inspects N95 masks that the couple are taking on the cross-country trek. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
Ruiz looked up options to enroll in subsidized insurance plans during the road trip. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
Adrianna Ruiz, 32, and their girlfriend showed up Wednesday to a CVS appointment in Atlanta hoping to get vaccinated before a Labor Day weekend cross-country road trip to California to help a friend with cancer move their belongings.
Ruiz lost insurance after getting laid off from a nonprofit job in July but believed the vaccine would be free based on the CDC website. But a CVS employee confirmed the program was no longer in effect. Ruiz gets about $300 in weekly unemployment benefits.
“If I want to eat and pay bills, then I can’t afford to pay $200,” Ruiz said.
Instead of getting new shots, Ruiz looked up options to enroll in subsidized insurance plans during the road trip. And the precautions they are embracing on the journey, including taking a PCR test before embarking, wearing N95 respiratory masks at gas stations and packing lunches to eat on picnic blankets in parks, have become more urgent.
Ruiz takes a photo of their negative coronavirus test to send to a friend in California who has cancer. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)

Shannon Donnell, a critical care nurse in New York, plans to eat the out-of-pocket costs of an updated coronavirus vaccine. She works on contract without health benefits and said the plans she qualified for through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace were too costly with $500 monthly premiums and a $5,000 deductible.
She believes in the urgency of vaccines after watching covid patients die while she worked in Manhattan during the devastating surge in spring 2020 and later cared for unvaccinated patients struggling to breathe in a Texas covid intensive care unit right as the shots arrived. Coronavirus patients no longer flood the intensive care units where she now works, but when they arrive, they are often immunocompromised or unvaccinated.
“It feels like health-care workers are still being left to fend for ourselves in many ways,” Donnell, 48, said. “No one is stepping up to say, ‘Hey, I’ll cover that for you’ before you go into your shift of covering covid patients.”
The Bridge Access Program also extended an opportunity for free coronavirus vaccines to international visitors and undocumented immigrants, who have limited health insurance options.



Vasu, a 56-year-old undocumented and uninsured immigrant in Chicago, hoped to get vaccinated again after hearing about friends getting sick, including one in his 30s whose symptoms lasted for months, and after the outbreak at the Democratic National Convention. A friend offered to pay for her vaccine when Vasu lamented in a Facebook message that the end of the Bridge Access Program left her “screwed.”
“We are talking about a large group of people who are going to lose access or are too nervous about accessing vaccines,” said Vasu, who spoke on the condition she be identified only by a middle name to avoid the scrutiny of immigration authorities. “The government keeps saying it’s your responsibility to be vaccinated. But you are not making it easy.”
Stout wears masks while pumping gas as another precaution against the virus. (Kendrick Brinson for The Washington Post)
The changing landscape for the coronavirus vaccine stands in stark contrast to 2021 and 2022 when free shots were widely distributed. But the urgency of vaccination has subsided as the virus’s toll lessens now that nearly every American has built up immunity from previous infections or shots and hospitals are no longer overwhelmed. People 65 and older, who are at the highest risk of severe illness and death, qualify for free vaccines through Medicare.
Still, health officials recommend young and middle-aged adults receive updated coronavirus vaccines because most Americans have risk factors for complications and because the vaccine reduces the threat of the lingering debilitating symptoms of long covid.
Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said the success of the early distribution of coronavirus vaccines “showed us what can be done when you make vaccines accessible and easy to get.”
“But that shifted now,” she added. “We are back to the traditional health-care system we’ve had, and the struggles we’ve had in that health-care system.”
 
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medicalxpress.com

Study: Individuals with pre-existing disabilities had long COVID and much higher rates than peers

The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially hard on individuals with disabilities. New research from the University of Kansas shows that this population is also experiencing long COVID at significantly higher rates than the general population, which exacerbates existing barriers to accessing care.
medicalxpress.com medicalxpress.com

Study: Individuals with pre-existing disabilities had long COVID and much higher rates than peers​

by University of Kansas

covid patient
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially hard on individuals with disabilities. New research from the University of Kansas shows that this population is also experiencing long COVID at significantly higher rates than the general population, which exacerbates existing barriers to accessing care.


Researchers from KU's Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies at the KU Life Span Institute and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative published a study showing that more than 40% of individuals with pre-existing disabilities who had tested positive for COVID-19 experienced long COVID, defined as symptoms lasting three months or longer. This rate is more than twice the 18.9% of individuals without disabilities who contracted COVID and experienced long COVID symptoms.

Research has long documented that individuals with disabilities face barriers to health care access and experience poorer health outcomes than their nondisabled peers. However, many studies during the pandemic have only asked about disabilities present at the time of the survey rather than whether individuals had a disability prior to the start of the pandemic. The research team compared data from the 2022 National Survey on Health and Disability, conducted by the IHDPS, to the Household Pulse Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We know many people who experience long COVID go on to develop a disability, but we wanted to know more about how it affected those with disabilities before developing long COVID," said Noelle Kurth, research associate at KU's IHDPS.

The study was conducted by Jean Hall, director of KU's Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies at the KU Life Span Institute; Noelle Kurth and Kelsey Goddard, research associates at the institute; and Lisa McCorkell, co-founder of Patient-Led Research Collaborative, and was published in the American Journal of Public Health.


The survey examined the types of disabilities self-reported by participants and found that those with chronic illnesses or diseases were the most likely to also experience long COVID, with 60% of those testing positive for COVID developing long COVID. Mental illness/psychiatric disabilities were next at 45%, while those with sensory disabilities, such as blindness or deafness, had the lowest prevalence of long COVID among types of disability.

"We knew from previous research during the pandemic that people with pre-existing disabilities were having more difficulties getting the vaccines and were more likely to be exposed," Hall said. "So, we knew there were risk factors for COVID-19, but now we also know this demographic is more likely to experience long COVID. They not only have higher rates of long COVID, but they also have greater barriers to care, whether it's transportation, costs or other challenges. That's something we really want people to know."

The findings suggest that public health policy should pay closer attention to the prevalence of long COVID and prioritize the needs of individuals with disabilities to create equitable policies and responses. The authors argue that the risks for long COVID among people with disabilities must be better understood, as those people are more likely to face treatment refusals, develop severe symptoms, be hospitalized or experience long COVID. Further, the public, health care system and policymakers alike should acknowledge that the pandemic is not over and continues to pose greater risks to this already at-risk demographic.

"We read comments from survey participants with pre-existing disabilities who are afraid to go out in their communities because the people they need to interact with, including health providers, aren't masking, and the public in general acts like the pandemic is over," Goddard said, and "re-contracting COVID can exacerbate their long COVID symptoms."

McCorkell, co-founder of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, and a person with long COVID and a disability herself, emphasized the need for policies that address current inequities and consider how future pandemics may affect people with disabilities.

"The pandemic is not over, and COVID is still spreading. Policy should be adjusted so that if we're truly aiming for an equitable response, we implement masking in public places and health care facilities to protect people with disabilities," McCorkell said. "With low rates of providers taking precautions and knowing how to support people with disabilities, along with the access challenges anyone faces with long COVID, it's tough out there. Moving forward, we need to focus services and support to people who need them the most."
 
petermcculloughmd.substack.com

Vaccination Fails to Reduce Long-COVID

Shots Numerically Increase Post-Acute Sequelae Encounters Despite Heavily Biased Mayo Study
petermcculloughmd.substack.com petermcculloughmd.substack.com

Vaccination Fails to Reduce Long-COVID​

Shots Numerically Increase Post-Acute Sequelae Encounters Despite Heavily Biased Mayo Study​


Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Sep 03, 2024
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By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) claims that COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of long-COVID syndrome despite the absence of large-scale randomized, placebo-controlled trials or valid observational studies. Mechanistically, it is impossible for the vaccines to lessen long-COVID because they load the body with progressively greater amounts of the pathogenic Spike protein—the cause of the syndrome.

First covered by TrialSite News, Swift et al, published a large (n=41,652) cohort study from a large midwest health system (presumably Mayo) where post-acute sequelae was defined as ICD codes for medically attended symptoms between 30 days and 6 months after infection. Those with only one mRNA shot were excluded. If the vaccine failed and there was a second infection within 30 days patients were excluded. Vaccination after infection was excluded. This left a very biased sample with 17,402/41,652 (41.8%) fully vaccinated compared to USA Facts that reports the State of Minnesota is 72% fully vaccinated. In effect this reduced the number of vaccinated who developed long-COVID. Despite this bias, vaccination not only failed to reduce long-COVID, but the crude data showed higher cases counts and proportions among the vaccinated.

Melanie D Swift, Laura E Breeher, Ross Dierkhising, Joel Hickman, Matthew G Johnson, Daniel L Roellinger, Abinash Virk, Association of COVID-19 Vaccination with Risk of Medically-Attended Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 During the Ancestral, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron Variant Eras, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 2024;, ofae495, https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofae495​
Because there was little or no opportunity to be fully vaccinated before 2/1/2021, the ancestral strain long-COVID cases should be properly removed because the exposures were not the same. When this is done, the rates of long COVID-19 are 1319/19,877 (6.6%) and 1213/17,372 (6.9%), p-value=0.1847, for unvaccinated and vaccinated, respectively.
Hopefully this will end the ridiculous false narrative that somehow COVID-19 vaccination by loading more Spike protein in the body reduces Spikopathy or long-COVID syndrome. Future analysis combine long-COVID and long-vaccine syndromes together among the vaccinated to account for mRNA exposure and tell us the real story of how the vaccine is causing chronic symptoms in large populations.
Please subscribe to Courageous Discourse as a paying ($5 monthly) or founder member so we can continue to bring you the truth.
Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
 

U.S. may be facing highest summer surge of COVID-19 in two years, research shows​


 

Rise in COVID-19, whooping cough cases has P.E.I.'s top doctor 'concerned'​

Dr. Heather Morrison says new influenza, COVID vaccines could be on the Island before end of September​

nicola-bio-photo.jpg

Nicola MacLeod · CBC News · Posted: Sep 04, 2024 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
A photo of someone receiving a vaccination.

P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office says vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19, pertussis and influenza. (Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press)

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Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says she is "concerned" about the upcoming respiratory illness season given what's already circulating in P.E.I.

The province is currently experiencing an outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, and Morrison said COVID-19 has been more active across the province this summer than it was last year.

"This summer has been steady activity with some ... peaks and valleys, but no significant drops or extended periods of low activity," Morrison told CBC News.

"I think this is likely due to waning immunity and the circulation of [new COVID] variants that have greater transmissibility and immune evasion."

Dr. Morrison sits against the backdrop of a window and lamp wearing a multi-coloured top.

Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.'s chief public health officer, says the amount of illnesses like COVID-19 and pertussis that are already circulating may be cause for concern heading into this year's flu season. (CBC/Zoom)
P.E.I. saw 116 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the latest two-week reporting period, July 28 to Aug. 24, and another 142 in the two weeks before that. Test positivity rates through July and August hovered just shy of 17 per cent.

"What we're seeing in the community now is similar to what we've been seeing all summer," Morrison said.

"We know COVID is circulating."

No confirmed date for new vaccines​

Although immunity might be waning, Morrison suggests that Islanders who are due for a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should actually wait a few weeks.

"There's not a COVID vaccine available right now that covers the circulating strains in the province," she said. "People have to wait for that new vaccine to come, which will give them much better coverage."

Health Canada has said it hopes to review the updated COVID-19 vaccines that target the subvariants currently circulating by "early autumn." Those vaccines have already been approved in the U.S.

"We are hoping certainly by the end of the month that we'll see both influenza vaccine as well as COVID vaccine arrive in the province," Morrison said.

"We don't have a confirmed date, but as soon as we do, that distribution will happen to pharmacies, to our providers, to Public Health Nursing and to our health-care facilities."

Morrison said it's recommended in some cases that Islanders get their COVID and influenza vaccines together so they're immunized against both as early as possible.

Closeup of a hand holding a positive COVID 19 test in March 2024.

Dr. Heather Morrison says COVID-19 hasn't fallen in to a seasonal pattern like the flu, but she considers it to be reaching an endemic stage. (Carolyn Ryan/CBC)
"I think with the combination of all the circulating respiratory illnesses, I am concerned about what may lie ahead for the respiratory season in the fall and winter," she said.

"We know influenza season comes every single year, and what we can do to protect ourselves is to make sure that we get vaccinated."

In the meantime, Morrison said public health guidance remains the same: handwashing, taking precautions around people with compromised immune systems, and masking in crowded places if you wish.

"I actually think we have moved to a more endemic state," she said. "Although there's not a seasonality to it, I think we are all learning to live with the fact that COVID does circulate."

Record number of pertussis cases​

Another concern on the Chief Public Health Office's radar is the provincewide outbreak of whooping cough. Morrison said there have been 31 cases of pertussis since the end of July, coupled with 134 from an earlier outbreak in the spring for a total of 165 cases.

An electron microscope image of the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough.

An electron microscope image of the bordetella pertussis bacteria, which causes whooping cough. P.E.I. has seen at least 165 infections so far this year. (U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
The previous record of confirmed cases of whooping cough in the province was 46 in 2017. An average year in P.E.I. brings fewer than three cases.

Morrison said Islanders who suspect they have whooping cough should see a health-care provider. Parents should also ensure their children are up to date with their routine immunizations, which include a pertussis vaccine.

"Because there will be a variety of respiratory illnesses circulating in our community this fall and winter, individuals who are sick with [a] fever should stay home for at least 24 hours after their fever resolves," Morrison said.

Last week, New Brunswick's largest health authority said it would require medical-grade masks in patient-facing areas of hospitals because of rising rates of respiratory illnesses in that province.

Health P.E.I. told CBC News that it does not plan to follow suit.

"We have not implemented mandatory masking in Health P.E.I. facilities, and there are no immediate plans to implement it," agency officials said in an email.

"However, we know that respiratory illnesses are circulating and can seriously affect both the health of individuals and the functioning of our health-care system. We encourage people to wear a mask in hospitals or health centres if they have any respiratory symptoms, and to ensure their vaccinations are up to date."
 
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