A small town in Iowa is trying to figure out where their time capsule is buried, but it’s clearly under a layer of concrete.
In today’s healthcare, the Food and Drug Administration has approved updated booster shots, but how many people will be motivated to get them?
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FDA clears updated vaccine ahead of fall campaign
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the latest COVID-19 booster shot specifically targeting a subvariant of omicron.
- The move comes ahead of a fall campaign to give Americans a booster shot, which is expected to begin in the coming days.
- This step marks the first time the vaccine has been updated since the first shot was cleared at the end of 2020, and the updated shot is designed to keep up with the evolution of the virus.
- Attacks from Pfizer and Moderna target not only the original virus, but also Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
Next steps for tomorrow: Once the final stage of the process, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Commission, has cleared them, the shots can begin to weaponize. This is expected to happen on Thursday.
big question: Given the slow spread of existing booster shots, how many people actually need new shots?
- Only about half of those who received the first two injections received the first booster dose.
To keep up with the evolving virus, the FDA didn’t wait for the time-consuming process of conducting a full clinical trial of this fine-tuned vaccine.
But he said he was very confident the vaccine would be safe and effective. I pointed out data from another version, as well as preliminary data on this vaccine.
Please check this out for details.
COVID Helps U.S. Life Expectancy Decline Significantly
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released Wednesday said life expectancy in the United States fell for the second year in a row, fueled by COVID-19.
It decreased by 2.7 years between 2019 and 2021, and the two-year decline was steep. Life expectancy at birth increased from 77 years in 2020 and 78.8 years in 2019 to 76.1 years in 2021.
According to the CDC, this is the first time since 1961-1963 that life expectancy has fallen by two years.
Life expectancy in the United States is now back to 1996 levels.
biggest factor: COVID-19 accounted for about half the change. Other factors included overdose death and heart disease.
“Overall, the United States has reversed 26 years of health progress, with life expectancy at levels not seen since 1996,” said Tom Bolikey, director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. I’m depressed,” he tweeted.
racial disparity:
- Especially for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, the two-year decline was as high as 6.6 years.
- The decline was about 4 years for Hispanics and blacks compared to 2.4 years for whites.
Please check this out for details.
More telehealth use linked to reduced overdose risk: study
Greater use of telemedicine services during the coronavirus pandemic was associated with a lower risk of opioid overdose, according to a study released Wednesday.
Researchers from multiple federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), examined data from more than 170,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
In this study, we divided the observed beneficiaries into two groups. One began care for opioid use disorder (OUD) before the pandemic and the other after the outbreak began.
Survey results:
- Researchers found that beneficiaries of the COVID-19 pandemic group were more likely to receive OUD-related telemedicine and were more likely to receive corresponding medication.
- People who received OUD-related telemedicine were more likely to continue treatment for their symptoms and had a lower risk of experiencing a treatment overdose.
Despite these benefits, the study noted some irregularities in who received telemedicine. became less sexual.
Please check this out for details.
UN panel urges US to address impact of Dobbs decision
A United Nations commission on Tuesday called on the United States to take steps to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in sexual and reproductive health care after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The United Nations Commission on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination announced that the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June nullified federal abortion protection.
- The Committee expressed concern that such groups have high maternal mortality rates, are at high risk of unwanted pregnancies, and lack the means to overcome socioeconomic barriers to access to safe abortion.
- The committee said the decision could particularly affect low-income earners.
Concerns were also raised about the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers against racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, and the “continued impunity for abuses” by police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. . He also said the United States needs to review its federal and state laws on the use of force to ensure they are in line with international standards and laws.
Please check this out for details.
California bill requires big tech to account for children’s mental health
The California legislature has passed a law requiring social media companies to consider the physical and mental health of minors using their platforms.
Senate bill AB 2273 was passed by a vote of 75-0 on the state Senate floor on Tuesday. The proposed bill is headed for the desk of California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, but it’s unclear if Newsom will sign the bill into law, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Effect of bill:
- First introduced by state representatives Buffy Wicks (Republican), Jordan Cunningham (Republican), and Scotty Petrie Norris (Democrat), California’s age-appropriate design code law states that “online services, products, or functionality that children are likely to access in order to comply with the requirements set forth in the
- These requirements include configuring all default privacy settings provided by the social media platform. unless the platform can indicate why its settings are child-friendly and provide all information about privacy information, terms of use, policies and community standards using clear child-friendly language. . Age of children likely to access the platform.
- The proposed bill would also prohibit social media platforms from using child users’ information for purposes other than those intended, and would ban platforms that use children’s information that could be harmful to children’s health. increase.
Counter-arguments from the industry: “We support the spirit of this bill and protecting children online remains a priority. But it must be done responsibly and effectively. However, we remain concerned about the unintended consequences in California and across the country,” Dylan Hoffman, executive director of California and the Southwest at TechNet, a technology industry trade group, told The Hill. said in a statement to
Please check this out for details.
what we are reading
- What happened to the new patent-free COVID vaccine touted as a global game changer? (NPR)
- WHO: New COVID cases, deaths continue to fall almost everywhere (AP)
- Pain, fear and stigma: What monkeypox survivors want you to know (The New York Times)
by state
- Illinois reports first death from West Nile virus this year (Chicago Tribune)
- Electoral Commission stalled on abortion rights ballot proposal, court battle expected (The Detroit News)
- Lujan Grisham pledges $10 million to a reproductive health clinic in Doña Ana County (Santa Fe New Mexican).
hill editorial
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