20220111
www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/south...
South African studies suggest Omicron has higher 'asymptomatic carriage'
Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Preliminary findings from two South African clinical trials suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant has a much higher rate of "asymptomatic carriage" than earlier variants, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly across the globe.
The studies - one of which was carried out when Omicron infections were surging in South Africa last month and another which resampled participants around the same time - found a far greater number of people tested positive for the coronavirus but were not showing symptoms compared to previous trials.
In the Ubuntu study evaluating the efficacy of Moderna's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV, 31% of 230 participants undergoing screening tested positive, with all 56 samples available for sequencing analysis verified to be Omicron.
"This is in stark contrast to the positivity rate pre-Omicron, which ranged from less than 1% to 2.4%," the researchers said in a statement.
In a subgroup of the Sisonke trial evaluating the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine, the mean asymptomatic carriage rate rose to 16% during the Omicron period from 2.6% during the Beta and Delta outbreaks.
"The Sisonke study included 577 subjects previously vaccinated, ... with results suggesting a high carriage rate even in those known to be vaccinated," the researchers said.
They added that the "higher asymptomatic carriage rate is likely a major factor in the rapid and widespread dissemination of the variant, even among populations with high prior rates of coronavirus infection".
South Africa experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections from late November, around the time its scientists alerted the world to Omicron. But new cases have since fallen back and early indications are that the wave has been marked by less serious disease than earlier ones.
www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-variant-coronavirus-n...
Canadian province of Quebec says it will impose a "significant" fine on those who remain unvaccinated
The Canadian province of Quebec announced Tuesday that residents who have so far refused a Covid-19 vaccine will have to pay a fine in the coming weeks as a way for them to contribute to the overburdened public health care system.
The fine would not apply to those with a medical exemption, and no details have been announced, although the premier said the amount to be levied would be “significant.”
The Quebec government says that while nearly 90% of eligible Quebecers have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the unvaccinated remain a burden on the province’s public health system.
Nearly a quarter of all Canadians live in Quebec, and while the province was one of the first in the country to introduce a vaccine passport, public health officials say the vast majority of patients in Quebec hospitals remain unvaccinated. Officials did not give a specific percentage of how many hospitalized Covid patients were unvaccinated.
Last week, Quebec announced that residents would now have to be vaccinated to buy alcohol or cannabis, and the health minister claimed on social media that vaccine appointments spiked as a result.
“In just a few days, appointments for the 1st dose went from 1.5K per day to over 6K yesterday. Thank you to everyone who decided to get vaccinated. It is not too late to get your 1st dose. Protect yourself,” Christian Dubé, Quebec’s health minister, posted on Twitter after retweeting a newspaper story about the uptick in vaccination appointments.
Quebec already requires proof of vaccination to eat in restaurants, go to the gym or attend sporting events and has had some of the most restrictive public health measures in North America, including a nighttime curfew that was reimposed for a second time during the pandemic last month.
CDC preparing to update its Covid-19 mask information
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to update its website to best reflect the mask options available to people and the different levels of protection they provide, a CDC official told CNN.
The agency continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask, the official said. The update is expected later this week, according to the official.
The agency has not indicated if the updated masks page will say that if people can tolerate wearing a KN95 or N95 mask all day, they should. The Washington Post reported Monday that the agency is considering such an update.
What the guidance says now: The current guidance, last updated in October 2021, does not favor N95 or KN95 masks, which require a proper fit and may feel harder to breathe through than a cloth mask, according to the CDC. While the CDC still recommends three-ply cloth masks, many experts say they aren't adequate, especially given how easily the Omicron variant.
At least 1 in 5 eligible people in the US remain unvaccinated against Covid-19, according to CDC data
Here’s the latest data on vaccination efforts in the United States, published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
■ Fully vaccinated: 62.6% of the total US population (all ages), about 208 million people
■ About two-thirds (66.6%) of the eligible population (age 5+) is fully vaccinated
■ Not vaccinated: At least 20.8% of the eligible population (age 5+) has not received any dose of Covid-19 vaccine, at least 65 million people
■ Current pace of vaccinations (seven-day average): 1,213,113 doses are being administered each day
■ Most doses being administered – about 678,000 – are booster doses
■ Only about 339,000 people are initiating vaccination each day
■ About 76.4 million people have received a booster dose
■ About 23% of the total US population is now fully vaccinated and boosted
Remember: CDC data on Covid-19 vaccinations are estimates. The agency notes that data on people who are fully vaccinated and those with a booster dose may be underestimated, while data on people with at least one dose may be overestimated.
Chicago health department distributing 1.9 million KN95 masks this week
The Chicago Department of Public Health is distributing 1.9 million KN95 masks into communities this week.
According to the department's commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, they have more than 100 community-based organizations, such as churches and libraries, helping to distribute the masks, which are an upgrade from many of the cloth masks out there.
Arwady said they made sure Chicago Public Schools had some for staff right when they returned.
Rapid tests aren't going toward total case count in the US, CDC head says. Here's why they're still useful.
Although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not including positive rapid tests in its total Covid-19 case counts, the tests are still important for making individual decisions about behavior, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.
“We have been using the PCR test — not the rapid test — the lab tests, the molecular tests, to really capture our case counts and really get a good view of where we are in terms of the epidemiology, anticipating what was going to be coming into the hospitals,” Walensky said in a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.
Walensky said those who feel sick and test positive should talk to a physician, but those who are asymptomatic can use a positive rapid test to figure out whether they need to isolate and how much contact they should have with other people.
“I think that it's less about the absolute case count of understanding whether you have asymptomatic infection or a runny nose and your rapid test is positive than it is really about empowering you to do the right thing and not be forward-transmitting,” she said.
Walensky said other countries, like the UK, are including rapid tests in their case count, “but they too, while they capture more than we have tried to, they also agree that they're missing some as well.”
20220111
www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/south...
South African studies suggest Omicron has higher 'asymptomatic carriage'
Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Preliminary findings from two South African clinical trials suggest the Omicron coronavirus variant has a much higher rate of "asymptomatic carriage" than earlier variants, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly across the globe.
The studies - one of which was carried out when Omicron infections were surging in South Africa last month and another which resampled participants around the same time - found a far greater number of people tested positive for the coronavirus but were not showing symptoms compared to previous trials.
In the Ubuntu study evaluating the efficacy of Moderna's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV, 31% of 230 participants undergoing screening tested positive, with all 56 samples available for sequencing analysis verified to be Omicron.
"This is in stark contrast to the positivity rate pre-Omicron, which ranged from less than 1% to 2.4%," the researchers said in a statement.
In a subgroup of the Sisonke trial evaluating the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine, the mean asymptomatic carriage rate rose to 16% during the Omicron period from 2.6% during the Beta and Delta outbreaks.
"The Sisonke study included 577 subjects previously vaccinated, ... with results suggesting a high carriage rate even in those known to be vaccinated," the researchers said.
They added that the "higher asymptomatic carriage rate is likely a major factor in the rapid and widespread dissemination of the variant, even among populations with high prior rates of coronavirus infection".
South Africa experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections from late November, around the time its scientists alerted the world to Omicron. But new cases have since fallen back and early indications are that the wave has been marked by less serious disease than earlier ones.
www.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-variant-coronavirus-n...
Canadian province of Quebec says it will impose a "significant" fine on those who remain unvaccinated
The Canadian province of Quebec announced Tuesday that residents who have so far refused a Covid-19 vaccine will have to pay a fine in the coming weeks as a way for them to contribute to the overburdened public health care system.
The fine would not apply to those with a medical exemption, and no details have been announced, although the premier said the amount to be levied would be “significant.”
The Quebec government says that while nearly 90% of eligible Quebecers have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the unvaccinated remain a burden on the province’s public health system.
Nearly a quarter of all Canadians live in Quebec, and while the province was one of the first in the country to introduce a vaccine passport, public health officials say the vast majority of patients in Quebec hospitals remain unvaccinated. Officials did not give a specific percentage of how many hospitalized Covid patients were unvaccinated.
Last week, Quebec announced that residents would now have to be vaccinated to buy alcohol or cannabis, and the health minister claimed on social media that vaccine appointments spiked as a result.
“In just a few days, appointments for the 1st dose went from 1.5K per day to over 6K yesterday. Thank you to everyone who decided to get vaccinated. It is not too late to get your 1st dose. Protect yourself,” Christian Dubé, Quebec’s health minister, posted on Twitter after retweeting a newspaper story about the uptick in vaccination appointments.
Quebec already requires proof of vaccination to eat in restaurants, go to the gym or attend sporting events and has had some of the most restrictive public health measures in North America, including a nighttime curfew that was reimposed for a second time during the pandemic last month.
CDC preparing to update its Covid-19 mask information
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to update its website to best reflect the mask options available to people and the different levels of protection they provide, a CDC official told CNN.
The agency continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask, the official said. The update is expected later this week, according to the official.
The agency has not indicated if the updated masks page will say that if people can tolerate wearing a KN95 or N95 mask all day, they should. The Washington Post reported Monday that the agency is considering such an update.
What the guidance says now: The current guidance, last updated in October 2021, does not favor N95 or KN95 masks, which require a proper fit and may feel harder to breathe through than a cloth mask, according to the CDC. While the CDC still recommends three-ply cloth masks, many experts say they aren't adequate, especially given how easily the Omicron variant.
At least 1 in 5 eligible people in the US remain unvaccinated against Covid-19, according to CDC data
Here’s the latest data on vaccination efforts in the United States, published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
■ Fully vaccinated: 62.6% of the total US population (all ages), about 208 million people
■ About two-thirds (66.6%) of the eligible population (age 5+) is fully vaccinated
■ Not vaccinated: At least 20.8% of the eligible population (age 5+) has not received any dose of Covid-19 vaccine, at least 65 million people
■ Current pace of vaccinations (seven-day average): 1,213,113 doses are being administered each day
■ Most doses being administered – about 678,000 – are booster doses
■ Only about 339,000 people are initiating vaccination each day
■ About 76.4 million people have received a booster dose
■ About 23% of the total US population is now fully vaccinated and boosted
Remember: CDC data on Covid-19 vaccinations are estimates. The agency notes that data on people who are fully vaccinated and those with a booster dose may be underestimated, while data on people with at least one dose may be overestimated.
Chicago health department distributing 1.9 million KN95 masks this week
The Chicago Department of Public Health is distributing 1.9 million KN95 masks into communities this week.
According to the department's commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, they have more than 100 community-based organizations, such as churches and libraries, helping to distribute the masks, which are an upgrade from many of the cloth masks out there.
Arwady said they made sure Chicago Public Schools had some for staff right when they returned.
Rapid tests aren't going toward total case count in the US, CDC head says. Here's why they're still useful.
Although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not including positive rapid tests in its total Covid-19 case counts, the tests are still important for making individual decisions about behavior, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.
“We have been using the PCR test — not the rapid test — the lab tests, the molecular tests, to really capture our case counts and really get a good view of where we are in terms of the epidemiology, anticipating what was going to be coming into the hospitals,” Walensky said in a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.
Walensky said those who feel sick and test positive should talk to a physician, but those who are asymptomatic can use a positive rapid test to figure out whether they need to isolate and how much contact they should have with other people.
“I think that it's less about the absolute case count of understanding whether you have asymptomatic infection or a runny nose and your rapid test is positive than it is really about empowering you to do the right thing and not be forward-transmitting,” she said.
Walensky said other countries, like the UK, are including rapid tests in their case count, “but they too, while they capture more than we have tried to, they also agree that they're missing some as well.”