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Pfizer COVID Vaccine Flown Into U.S. Ahead of Planned Nationwide Rollout in December

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Planes carrying doses of a potential COVID vaccine are being flown into the United States, as regulators hope to give approval for a mass rollout imminently.

Chartered United Airlines flights reportedly began carrying doses of the vaccine to multiple areas around the country on Friday, with the first flight landing in Chicago that afternoon.

While there is no authorized vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, it is hoped the planes will help allow for quick distribution if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does approve the shots for use in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported.

Pfizer, which developed the shot with Germany company BioNTech, applied for emergency use authorization for its vaccine last Friday. An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet on December 10 to vote on whether to recommend the vaccine for approval. (Read more from “Pfizer COVID Vaccine Flown Into U.S. Ahead of Planned Nationwide Rollout in December” HERE)

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‘Perfect Storm’ for Suicide as Death Toll Surges Past COVID

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Some scientists warned early in the coronavirus pandemic that economic lockdowns could have serious mental health repercussions, and it turns out they were right.

A report by the Foundation for Economic Education said the forced isolation in pandemic quarantines and closures have created the “perfect storm” for suicide.

CBS News, for example, reported far more Japanese people “are dying of suicide, likely exacerbated by the economic and social repercussions of the pandemic, than of the COVID-19 disease itself.”

“While Japan has managed its coronavirus epidemic far better than many nations, keeping deaths below 2,000 nationwide, provisional statistics from the National Police Agency show suicides surged to 2,153 in October alone, marking the fourth straight month of increase.”

The suicide toll is about 600 higher than the same time a year earlier, the network reported. The surge followed an extended time in which suicide deaths had been declining. (Read more from “‘Perfect Storm’ for Suicide as Death Toll Surges Past COVID” HERE)

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Questions Grow Over Coronavirus Vax Trials

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The drugmaker AstraZeneca is pushing back after experts questioned the quality of the company’s coronavirus vaccine tests.

A company spokesperson said Thursday that their vaccine clinical trials were “conducted to the highest standards.” That included oversight by a data and safety monitoring board that found “the analysis … [showed] protection from COVID-19 occurring 14 days or more after receiving two doses of the vaccine.” . . .

Researchers have been raising concerns ever since AstraZeneca and its partner, the University of Oxford, announced Monday that their jab is approximately 70 percent effective. The news was especially welcome since this vaccine could be cheaper and easier to roll out to low and middle income countries than others, but left experts questioning the company’s findings.

The assessment issued Monday was based on data from two groups: One had nearly 9,000 people who received two full doses of the vaccine, which produced a 62 percent efficacy rate, while a smaller group of 2,741 received a half-dose followed by a full dose, which produced 90 percent efficacy. (Read more from “Questions Grow Over Coronavirus Vax Trials” HERE)

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Johns Hopkins Retracts Report Finding COVID Death Count ‘Not Alarming’

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A report of a senior Johns Hopkins lecturer’s analysis concluding that the coronavirus had no overall effect on the total number of deaths in the United States was retracted by the university on Thursday.

Essentially, Genevieve Briand, a longtime professor of economics and statistics, argued in a recent webinar that the virus is deadly primarily to older people with multiple underlying conditions who already were near death, meaning the overall death count has not been affected.

But an editor’s note posted Friday said an article about her presentation published by the student newsletter has been “used to support dangerous inaccuracies that minimize the impact of the pandemic.”

The article, the Johns Hopkins University News-Letter said, was retracted “to stop the spread of misinformation” but made available as a PDF because it’s “our responsibility as journalists to provide a historical record.

“The controversial report featured Briand’s webinar Nov. 11 titled “COVID-19 Deaths: A Look at U.S. Data,” which was hosted by the university’s Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, where she is assistant program director of the Applied Economics masters degree program. (Read more from “Johns Hopkins Retracts Report Finding COVID Death Count ‘Not Alarming'” HERE)

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UK Govt: Lockdown Likely to Last 12+ Months, ‘Hard Winter’ Coming, Repeated Vaccinations May Be Required

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Lockdowns won’t end until anticipated vaccines “come to our aid” in the future and the country can expect a “hard winter”, the Prime Minister has said, as the government’s science advisor warned it is quite possible the coronavirus will simply mutate to outperform vaccinations.

Speaking at the Downing Street press conference hours after the details of the new post-lockdown-lockdown were revealed to the country, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear to the nation that there was no reasonable hope of lockdown ending soon, saying merely that there was “reason to hope” that spring would see an end of “this era of restrictions”.

Given the United Kingdom’s regime of lockdowns began in March 2020, it stands to reason that the Prime Ministers remarks confirm that the nation’s lockdown will be in place with varying degrees of intensity for at least a full calendar year.

As England emerges from the so-called second lockdown running into early December and heads straight into tighter-than-before tiered regional lockdowns, the Prime Minister also teased that things stand to get worse before they improve. Johnson said: “to get there we must first navigate a hard winter, when the burden on our NHS is heaviest, and cold weather favours the virus… If we ease off now, we risk losing control all over again.” . . .

Yet subsequent comments by the science experts flanking the Prime Minister at Thursday’s conference made clear that the arrival of a vaccine would not necessarily herald the end of Covid-19 as repeat vaccinations may, in the eyes of the government, be required in return for allowing society to re-establish itself. (Read more from “UK Govt: Lockdown Likely to Last 12+ Months, ‘Hard Winter’ Coming, Repeated Vaccinations May Be Required” HERE)

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WATCH: Dem Governor Tells People to Call Cops on Neighbors if They Have More Than 6 for Thanksgiving

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Possession of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other lethal drugs is no longer a crime in Oregon, but inviting too many loved ones to Thanksgiving dinner could result in up to 30 days in jail.

And Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown is urging state residents to call the cops if they find out that their neighbors have more than six people sitting around the turkey.

“This is no different than what happens if there’s a party down the street and it’s keeping everyone awake,” Brown said in an interview Friday with KGW-TV in Portland. “What do neighbors do? They call law enforcement because it’s too noisy. This is just like that. It’s like a violation of a noise ordinance.”

The governor’s two-week order, restricting both indoor and outdoor gatherings to six people, also stipulates that people from no more than two households be in a home at one time.

(Read more from “WATCH: Dem Governor Tells People to Call Cops on Neighbors if They Have More Than 6 for Thanksgiving” HERE)

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New COVID Vaccine Has Horrible Side Effects

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As the world inches closer to effective COVID-19 vaccines becoming available, public health experts are warning that people should be prepared for the possibility that they could experience severe, but ultimately unharmful, side effects after being given the vaccines.

Vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, both given in two doses approximately one month apart, could soon be approved for public use after data released from clinical trials showed that they may be up to 95 percent effective in providing immunity against the virus. While neither vaccine is believed to come with significant life-threatening side effects, experts are warning that those who receive the vaccines should be ready for unpleasant but temporary reactions. . .

In the Moderna vaccine trials, the only common “severe” side effect seen after the first dose was pain at the injection site, occurring in 2.7 percent of patients. After the second dose, the most common severe side effect was fatigue, which was seen in 9.7 percent of participants. Muscle aches or pains were experienced by 8.9 percent, while 5.2 had joint pain. Another 4.5 percent had headaches and 4.1 percent experienced pain at the injection site.

Luke Hutchison, a 43-year-old computational biologist who participated in the Moderna trials, told Science magazine that he endured an “unbearable” 102 degree fever after getting an injection of what he assumes was the vaccine, although he can’t be certain because participants do not know whether they received a placebo instead. (Read more from “New COVID Vaccine Has Horrible Side Effects” HERE)

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Chinese President Pushes for Global Tracking System

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is pushing for a global tracking system using QR codes to monitor people and any potential exposure to the coronavirus, which originated in China.

“China mandated the widespread use of QR-based health certificates earlier this year. The system, which uses an electronic barcode to store a person’s travel and health history, has been credited with helping to curb the spread of the virus,” CNN reported. “The code issues users with a color code based on their potential exposure to the novel coronavirus. The colors are like traffic lights — green is safest, then amber and finally red.”

Xi, who has religious minorities locked up in concentration camps, made the remarks at the virtual G20 leaders’ meeting on Saturday, saying [emphasis added]:

While containing the virus, we need to restore the secure and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains. We need to reduce tariffs and barriers, and explore the liberalization of trade of key medical supplies. We need to further harmonize policies and standards and establish “fast tracks” to facilitate the orderly flow of personnel. China has proposed a global mechanism on the mutual recognition of health certificates based on nucleic acid test results in the form of internationally accepted QR codes. We hope more countries will join this mechanism. We also support the G20 in carrying out institutionalized cooperation and building global cooperation networks to facilitate the flow of personnel and goods.

(Read more from “Chinese President Pushes for Global Tracking System” HERE)

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WATCH: Cuomo Accepts Emmy for Pandemic Press Conferences

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) accepted the International Emmy Founders Award for his pandemic press conferences Monday morning, as the coronavirus surged across his state.

After the Emmys presented a video of celebrities praising Cuomo, the governor gave an acceptance speech saying his press conferences have offered “authentic truth and stability.”

“I’m proud of New Yorkers who had the courage to tell the truth and the strength to stand together. That’s what ‘New York tough’ really means,” Cuomo said.

(Read more from “WATCH: Cuomo Accepts Emmy for Pandemic Press Conferences” HERE)

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CDC: First 20M COVID Vaccines Should Go to Healthcare Workers

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said Monday that the first 20 million people to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in the United States should be healthcare workers.

The group stated in a new paper in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that “Published frameworks for COVID-19 allocation and ACIP discussions indicate a clear consensus that the first allocation of COVID-19 vaccine supplies should be directed to health care personnel.”

ACIP, which is working to decide how the coronavirus vaccine should be allocated, says that there are four groups that should be considered first for the vaccine: healthcare personnel, other essential workers, adults with high-risk health conditions, and adults aged 65 and older, including those in long-term care facilities. (Read more from “CDC: First 20M COVID Vaccines Should Go to Healthcare Workers” HERE)

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