Health Advisories

[jo]

Early signs of spring...

springtime also for the world, as the vaccination programs are starting to roll out ( but the not-so-rich countries are unable to source enough vaccines - the COVAX donations is a lifeline and early messengers of spring to a world sick with a virus and with worry).

[jo]

Specific guidelines from the CDC of continuing health protocols --

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/mask-fit-and-filtration.html


Re purchase of masks --


www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/international-respirator-purchase.html

[jo]

A Spanish tweet gave this graphic portrait of literary classics --




Hopefully, these are still the kind of stuff they read in school...

or material to catch up on...

during the pandemic


Btw, I just watched the "Staged Version of Les Miserables" with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball. Lol - I made a scene by scene comparison ( especially about the singing styles and the acting performances...and occasionally with the book itself). Michael gave a speech about how the original musical came to light in London 34 years ago ( and he admitted he was the young Marius then...but since he got older, he now performed the role of Javert). I was watching it with my sister and she said -- "Wow, the dramatic impact of this story and the music stays on!"

That is how much a classic story stays with us!

Those books are part of the literary legacy... as well as of the many-sided portraits of humankind!

Do you have a favorite among these literary masterpieces? Whether in its original literature...or adaptations via film or stage?




Jo

[jo]

NYTimes report on reactions to vaccination. Study mainly on effect of Moderna/Pfizer vaccines.

Women Report Worse Side Effects After a Covid Vaccine

Men and women tend to respond differently to many kinds of vaccines. That’s probably because of a mix of factors, including hormones, genes and the dosing of the shots.

C.D.C. researchers analyzed safety data from 13.7 million Covid-19 vaccinations, finding 79.1 percent of reported side effects came from women, though only 61.2 percent of the vaccines had been administered to women.
C.D.C. researchers analyzed safety data from 13.7 million Covid-19 vaccinations, finding 79.1 percent of reported side effects came from women, though only 61.2 percent of the vaccines had been administered to women.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times




By Melinda Wenner Moyer

March 8, 2021

On the morning that Shelly Kendeffy received her second dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, she felt fine. By afternoon, she noticed a sore arm and body aches, and by evening, it felt like the flu.

“My teeth were chattering, but I was sweating — like soaked, but frozen,” said Ms. Kendeffy, 44, a medical technician in State College, Pa.

The next day, she went to work and surveyed her colleagues — eight men and seven women — about their vaccine experiences. Six of the women had body aches, chills and fatigue. The one woman who didn’t have flu symptoms was up much of the night vomiting.

The eight men gave drastically different reports. One had mild arm pain, a headache and body aches. Two described mild fatigue and a bit of achiness. One got a headache. And four had no symptoms at all.



“I work with some very tough women,” Ms. Kendeffy said. But “clearly, us women suffered a severity of the side effects.” She felt better after 24 hours, and is thrilled she got the vaccine. “I wouldn’t change a thing, because it sure beats the alternative,” she said. “But I also didn’t know what to expect.”

The differences Ms. Kendeffy observed among her co-workers are playing out across the country. In a study published last month, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed safety data from the first 13.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses given to Americans. Among the side effects reported to the agency, 79.1 percent came from women, even though only 61.2 percent of the vaccines had been administered to women.

Nearly all of the rare anaphylactic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines have occurred among women, too. C.D.C. researchers reported that all 19 of the individuals who had experienced such a reaction to the Moderna vaccine have been female, and that women made up 44 of the 47 who have had anaphylactic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine.

“I am not at all surprised,” said Sabra Klein, a microbiologist and immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “This sex difference is completely consistent with past reports of other vaccines.”

In a 2013 study, scientists with the C.D.C. and other institutions found that four times as many women as men between the ages of 20 and 59 reported allergic reactions after receiving the 2009 pandemic flu vaccine, even though more men than women got those shots. Another study found that between 1990 and 2016, women accounted for 80 percent of all adult anaphylactic reactions to vaccines.



In general, women “have more reactions to a variety of vaccines,” said Julianne Gee, a medical officer in the C.D.C.’s Immunization Safety Office. That includes influenza vaccines given to adults, as well as some given in infancy, such as the hepatitis B and measles, mumps and rubella (M.M.R.) vaccines.

The news isn’t all bad for women, though. Side effects are usually mild and short-lived. And these physical reactions are a sign that a vaccine is working — that “you are mounting a very robust immune response, and you will likely be protected as a result,” Dr. Klein said.




But why do these sex differences happen? Part of the answer could be behavioral. It’s possible that women are more likely than men to report side effects even when their symptoms are the same, said Rosemary Morgan, an international health researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. There’s no vaccine-specific research to support this claim, but men are less likely than women to see doctors when they are sick, so they may also be less likely to report side effects, she said.

Still, there’s no question that biology plays an important role. “The female immune response is distinct, in many ways, from the male immune response,” said Eleanor Fish, an immunologist at the University of Toronto.

Research has shown that, compared with their male counterparts, women and girls produce more — sometimes twice as many — infection-fighting antibodies in response to the vaccines for influenza, M.M.R., yellow fever, rabies, and hepatitis A and B. They often mount stronger responses from immune fighters called T cells, too, Ms. Gee noted. These differences are often most robust among younger adults, which “suggests a biological effect, possibly associated with reproductive hormones,” she said.

Sex hormones including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone can bind to the surface of immune cells and influence how they work. Exposure to estrogen causes immune cells to produce more antibodies in response to the flu vaccine, for example.



And testosterone, Dr. Klein said, “is kind of beautifully immunosuppressive.” The flu vaccine tends to be less protective in men with lots of testosterone compared with men with less of the sex hormone. Among other things, testosterone suppresses the body’s production of immune chemicals known as cytokines.

Genetic differences between men and women may also influence immunity. Many immune-related genes are on the X chromosome, of which women have two copies and men have only one. Historically, immunologists believed that only one X chromosome in women was turned on, and that the other was inactivated. But research now shows that 15 percent of genes escape this inactivation and are more highly expressed in women.

These robust immune responses help to explain why 80 percent of autoimmune diseases afflict women. “Women have greater immunity, whether it’s to ourselves, whether it’s to a vaccine antigen, whether it’s to a virus,” Dr. Klein said.

The size of a vaccine dose may also be important. Studies have shown that women absorb and metabolize drugs differently than men do, often needing lower doses for the same effect. But until the 1990s, drug and vaccine clinical trials largely excluded women. “The drug dosages that are recommended are historically based on clinical trials that involve male participants,” Dr. Morgan said.

Clinical trials today do include women. But in the trials for the new Covid vaccines, side effects were not sufficiently separated and analyzed by sex, Dr. Klein said. And they did not test whether lower doses might be just as effective for women but cause fewer side effects.

Until they do, Dr. Klein said, health care providers should talk to women about vaccine side effects so they are not scared by them. “I think that there is value to preparing women that they may experience more adverse reactions,” she said. “That is normal, and likely reflective of their immune system working.”

[jo]

Not strictly a Health Advisory...

but a Primer from the NY Times on the Relief Bill to be signed by the US President addressing the economic issues primarily traced to the pandemic.

In case you're interested --


www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/06/business/stimulus-check-plan-details#what-student-loan-changes-are-included-in-the-bill


VERY LONG

F.A.Q. on Stimulus, Unemployment and Tax Rebates
Last Updated
March 10, 2021, 3:47 p.m. ET32 minutes ago
32 minutes ago

By Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard

The House of Representatives passed the nearly $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on Wednesday, clearing the way for President Biden to sign the pandemic relief package into law.




Here’s what you need to know:
How big are the stimulus payments in the bill, and who is eligible?
When will my payment arrive?
How does the stimulus bill affect unemployment payments?
What does the relief bill do about health insurance?
What does the bill change about the child and dependent care tax credit?
How does the bill change the child tax credit?
Will the bill increase the earned-income tax credit?
What does the bill do to help people with housing?
What student loan changes are included in the bill?

STIMULUS CHECKS

How big are the stimulus payments in the bill, and who is eligible?
The stimulus payments will be $1,400 for most recipients. Those who are eligible will also receive an identical payment for each of their children.

To qualify for the full $1,400, a single person must have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or below. For heads of household, adjusted gross income must be $112,500 or below, and for married couples filing jointly that number has to be $150,000 or below.

To be eligible for a payment, a person must have a Social Security number.

Is there a partial payment for higher earners?
Yes. But payments phase out quickly as adjusted gross income rises.

For single filers, the checks decrease to zero at $80,000. For heads of household, the cutoff is $120,000. And for joint filers, the checks stop at $160,000.

Payments for children decrease in the same way.

Do college students count as eligible dependents?
College students whom qualifying taxpayers claim as dependents are eligible. (They weren’t for past payments.) The payment goes to the parent taxpayer, not the child.

Do older relatives who live with us count as eligible dependents?
Good news here, too. If claimed as dependents, these relatives are also eligible this time. The payment goes to the qualifying taxpayer, not the dependent adult.

Which year of income determines eligibility?
The most recent year on record at the Internal Revenue Service. If you’ve already filed your taxes this year, it would be 2020. If not, it would be 2019.

Keep up with the new Washington — get live updates on politics.

When will my payment arrive?
During the last round of payments, the I.R.S. got the first payments out within a few days. As before, you should be able to track the status of your payment via the I.R.S.’s Get My Payment tool. Be aware that the volume of users sometimes overwhelms the site.

What should I do if I still haven’t gotten a payment from a past round of stimulus?
If you were in fact eligible to receive it, you can try to recover it through the so-called Recovery Rebate Credit when filing your 2020 return. Make your claim on Line 30 of Form 1040 or 1040-SR.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

How does the stimulus bill affect unemployment payments?

Unemployment payments through multiple federal programs would be extended.
Unemployment payments through multiple federal programs would be extended.Credit...Alex Hecht for The New York Times
If you’re already receiving unemployment benefits, payments will generally be extended for another 25 weeks, until Sept. 6. The weekly supplemental benefit, which is provided on top of your regular benefit, will remain $300 but run through Sept. 6.

Although unemployment benefits are taxable, the bill makes the first $10,200 of benefits tax-free for people with incomes of less than $150,000. This applies to 2020 only.

If I already filed my 2020 taxes, how do I claim that new tax break?
It’s not yet clear, but you may have to file an amended return, according to a Senate aide. The Internal Revenue Service has not issued formal guidance yet. (But here’s hoping they figure out a way to make it happen automatically.)

How do the benefit extensions work?
The extended payments will continue to be delivered through different federal programs, largely based on the type of work you did and for whom.

Benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which covers the self-employed, gig workers, part-timers and others who are typically ineligible for regular unemployment benefits, will be available for a total of 79 weeks, up from 50, and run through Sept. 6.

And benefits through the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which essentially extends benefits for people who exhaust their regular state benefits, will be available for a total of 53 weeks, up from 24, also lasting through Sept. 6.

What happens to the supplemental payments?
If you qualify for any benefits, you will also receive the full $300 supplemental payment for weeks ending after March 14 and through Sept. 6. Known as F.P.U.C., it’s called the federal pandemic unemployment compensation.

The bill also extends an extra $100 weekly payment, called the mixed-earner supplement, through Sept. 6. This payment helps people who have a mix of income from both self-employment and wages paid by other employers, because they are often stuck with a lower state-issued benefit based on their (lower) wages.

The bill also clarifies that the $300 federal supplement will not be counted when calculating eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The mixed earner supplement, however, will be counted.

Will payments be uninterrupted?
Experts said there may be a gap for beneficiaries in many states because it usually takes a couple of weeks for agencies to program any benefit extensions.

HEALTH INSURANCE

What does the relief bill do about health insurance?
Buying insurance through the program known as COBRA becomes a lot cheaper, but only temporarily.

COBRA, for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, generally lets someone who loses a job buy coverage via the former employer. But it’s expensive: Under normal circumstances, a person may have to pay at least 102 percent of the cost of the premium.

But under the relief bill, the government would pay the entire COBRA premium from April 1 through Sept. 30 for people who have lost a job or had their hours cut.

A person who qualified for new, employer-based health insurance someplace else before Sept. 30 loses their eligibility for the no-cost coverage. And someone who left a job voluntarily is not eligible, either.

Will the cost of health insurance I buy through an exchange be affected?
The bill lowers the cost of health insurance in many instances for people who bought their own coverage via a government exchange. And the premiums for those plans will cost no more than 8.5 percent of your modified adjusted gross income.

These changes will last through the end of 2022 and do not require people to re-enroll to access the lower prices.

How do I sign up for health insurance?
If you don’t already have health insurance but would want it if the price was right, an open enrollment period is already in effect through May 15. You can also switch plans to try to lower the price you’re paying already or get more generous coverage. The Kaiser Family Foundation maintains a calculator that estimates your premiums based on your income and any available government subsidies, and it will be updated once the bill passes.

Are there any changes to health care flexible spending accounts?
None this time, though there were some in the last stimulus bill.

TAXES

What does the bill change about the child and dependent care tax credit?
This credit, which helps working families offset the cost of care for children under 13 and other dependents, will be significantly expanded for a single year. More people are eligible, and many recipients will get a bigger break.

The bill also makes the credit fully refundable, which means you can collect the money as a refund even if your tax bill is zero.

“That will be helpful to people at the lower end” of the income scale, said Mark Luscombe, principal federal tax analyst at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.

How much is the credit worth?
For this year only, the stimulus legislation makes the credit worth up to $4,000 for one qualifying individual or $8,000 for two or more. The credit will be calculated by taking up to 50 percent of the value of eligible expenses, up to certain limits, depending on your income. (The more you earn, the lower the percentage you can claim.)

Usually, the credit is generally worth between 20 and 35 percent of eligible expenses with a maximum value of $2,100 for two or more qualifying individuals.

The bill also significantly increases the income level at which the credit begins to be reduced. In past years, that started at an adjusted gross income of $15,000, but for this year the full value of the credit will be available to households making up to $125,000.

Previously, the credit was not further reduced below 20 percent, regardless of income, Mr. Luscombe said. But for this year, the bill will begin to reduce the credit below 20 percent for households with income of more than $400,000.

What about dependent care flexible spending accounts?
The bill makes one big change. For 2021 only, you can set aside $10,500 in a dependent care account instead of the normal $5,000. But employers have to allow the change: You can’t adjust the withholdings from your paycheck yourself if your employer declines to provide the option.



How does the bill change the child tax credit?
The credit is more generous for 2021, particularly for low- and middle-income people.

Usually, the credit is worth up to $2,000 per eligible child. This year, it will increase to as much as $3,000 per child ($3,600 for ages 5 and under). The age limit for qualifying children also rises to 17, from 16.

Does it change how the credit works?
Here’s where it gets interesting: You could receive some of the credit as an advance on your 2021 taxes. (You can also opt out of advance payments if you wish.)

The bill makes the credit fully refundable, which means you can receive money from it as a tax refund even if your tax bill is reduced to zero. And half of that money can be advanced to households over the next six months (based on their 2020 tax information, or 2019 if that was unavailable). It’s not clear how frequently payments would be made — perhaps monthly — but under the bill they should begin in July.

The changes are effective for 2021 only, though at least some Democrats would like to make it permanent.

Who is eligible?
Married couples who have modified adjusted gross income up to $150,000 (or heads of household up to $112,500 and single filers up to $75,000) receive the full value of the new benefit.

But after that, the extra amount above the original $2,000 credit — either $1,000 or $1,600 per child — is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 in modified adjusted gross income that exceeds those levels. (For joint filers with one child age 6 to 17, the extra amount will be phased out at about $170,000.)

At that point, the tax credit levels out at $2,000, and is subject to the usual income limits: It begins to phase out when married filers have adjusted gross income of $400,000 ($200,000 for singles).

How do the advance payments work?
The advance payments would total up to half the value of the credit the household is eligible to receive. (The other half would be claimed on its 2021 return.) But exactly how often the payments would be sent out depends on what the Treasury Department decides is feasible.

Here’s how it might work for a couple earning $150,000 or less: With two children, ages 7 and 9, they would be eligible for a $6,000 credit ($3,000 per child). If the payments were made monthly, the family would receive $500 per month starting in July and lasting through the end of the year. The remaining $3,000 would be claimed in 2021 on their tax return.



Could I end up having to pay any of it back?
Conceivably, yes.

A taxpayer may receive too much money from the advance payments in certain situations, such as a change in income or filing status, or if they no longer claim a child as a dependent. (Single parents may run into this situation if the other parent claims the child as a dependent in some tax years.)

This could cause you to owe money at tax time or reduce your refund.

But the bill mitigates the danger in a couple of ways. First, only half of the credit is paid in advance. And the law also says that if the wrong amount was paid because of changes in the number of qualifying children, up to $2,000 per child would not need to be paid back by taxpayers who fall below certain income thresholds: $40,000 for a single taxpayer, $50,000 for a head of household, and $60,000 for joint filers. People whose income is above those thresholds may receive partial protection, which phases out as they earn more, tax experts said.

The bill requires the establishment of an online portal to allow taxpayers to opt out of receiving advance payments and update information about their income, marital status and number of qualifying children.

Will the bill increase the earned-income tax credit?
For 2021 only, the bill will increase for childless households the size of the earned-income tax credit, which helps those at the lower end of the income scale, and make more taxpayers eligible.

The maximum credit amount for childless people increases to $1,502, from $543.

The bill also broadens the age range: People without children will be able to claim the credit beginning at age 19 instead of 25, with the exception of certain full-time students. The upper age limit, 65, will be eliminated.



How would separated spouses be affected?
Married but separated people can be treated as not married for the purpose of the credit if they don’t file a joint tax return.

This applies only if the taxpayer lived with a qualifying child for more than half of the taxable year and didn’t have the same principal home as the spouse at least six months of the year. A separation decree or agreement would also suffice, as long as the individual didn’t live with the spouse by the end of the taxable year.

This change will be permanent.

Are there any other changes?
For the purposes of calculating the credit in the 2021 tax year, taxpayers could choose to use their 2019 income if it was higher than 2021, according to a Senate aide.

People who otherwise would be eligible but whose children do not have Social Security numbers will be permitted to claim the version of the credit available to childless households. This change is permanent.

Taxpayers won’t be disqualified for the credit in 2021 until they have investment income of $10,000, up from $3,650. This change will be permanent, with the $10,000 threshold indexed to inflation.

HOUSING

What does the bill do to help people with housing?

The bill would provide assistance to people in danger of being evicted and to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
The bill would provide assistance to people in danger of being evicted and to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.Credit...Anna Watts for The New York Times
The bill provides billions of dollars in rental and utility assistance to people who are struggling and in danger of being evicted from their homes.

Nearly $22 billion will go toward emergency rental assistance. The vast majority of it replenishes the so-called Coronavirus Relief Fund, created by the CARES Act and distributed through state, local and tribal governments, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That’s on top of the $25 billion in assistance provided by the relief package passed in December.

To receive financial assistance — which could be used for rent, utilities and other housing expenses — households have to meet several conditions. Household income cannot exceed 80 percent of the area median income, at least one household member must be at risk of homelessness or housing instability, and individuals have to qualify for unemployment benefits or have experienced financial hardship (directly or indirectly) because of the pandemic.

Lower-income families that have been unemployed for three months or more will be given priority for assistance.

Is there anything for homeowners?
The bill provides nearly $10 billion to help homeowners struggling with mortgage payments, utility bills and other housing costs.

Roughly $100 million will be dedicated to housing counseling, which will help both homeowners and renters remain in their homes.

How about homeless people?
About $5 billion will be allocated to help the homeless, including the conversion of properties like motels into shelters.

Another $5 billion will be used for emergency housing vouchers to help several groups of people — from the homeless to people at risk of homelessness, including survivors of domestic violence — find stable housing.

STUDENT LOANS

What student loan changes are included in the bill?
There is a big one for people who already have debt.

You wouldn’t have to pay income taxes on forgiven debt if you qualify for loan forgiveness or cancellation — for example, if you’ve been in an income-driven repayment plan for the requisite number of years, if your school defrauded you or if Congress or the president wipes away $10,000 of debt for large numbers of people.

This will be the case for debt forgiven between Jan. 1, 2021, and the end of 2025.

[mamaleh]

Mar 5, 2021 8:56:15 GMT -5 jo said:

A Spanish tweet gave this graphic portrait of literary classics --




Hopefully, these are still the kind of stuff they read in school...

or material to catch up on...

during the pandemic


Btw, I just watched the "Staged Version of Les Miserables" with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball. Lol - I made a scene by scene comparison ( especially about the singing styles and the acting performances...and occasionally with the book itself). Michael gave a speech about how the original musical came to light in London 34 years ago ( and he admitted he was the young Marius then...but since he got older, he now performed the role of Javert). I was watching it with my sister and she said -- "Wow, the dramatic impact of this story and the music stays on!"

That is how much a classic story stays with us!

Those books are part of the literary legacy... as well as of the many-sided portraits of humankind!

Do you have a favorite among these literary masterpieces? Whether in its original literature...or adaptations via film or stage?




Jo

Of those titles,years ago I enjoyed 100 Years of Solitude and was very impressed as a teen by the moving The Diary of Anne Frank. Of course the film adaptation of the musical Les Miz rates very highly with me—not surprising, hmmm?

Ellen

[jo]

The Anne Frank story is for the ages! There are also some famous titles hidden behind Spanish names : El Principito is Little Prince ( Exupery), El Senor de los Anillos ( Lord of the Rings), La Guerra y de la Paz (War and Peace), La Odisea ( Odyssey) & La Iliada (Iliad), etc.... I guess being translated into other languages is a hallmark of literature earning praise and winning readers.

Jo

[jo]

Re the Economic Relief Bill --


www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/money-for-colleges-libraries-and-clubs-10-things-you-might-not-know-are-in-biden-s-covid-19-relief-package/ar-BB1esMrf?ocid=msedgdhp

[jo]

Hugh has been steadfast in his support of the fight against the virus!

[njr]

Got my first (Pfizer) shot yesterday. Just a sore arm. I go back Apr. 3rd for shot #2!
They are changing eligibility in my state (GA) on Mar. 15th: (they added teachers and school staff last Monday)
COVID-19 VACCINATION ELIGIBILITY EXPANDS MARCH 15
Starting March 15, adults 55+, adults with disabilities and individuals 16 and over with certain medical conditions are eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Nancy

[chessie]

I got my second Moderna vaccination on Wednesday. The side effects were manageable, and we followed the advice of the National Guard medics giving the shots to hydrate and take it easy for a couple of days. Aside from a bit of lingering fatigue, all I'm feeling now is a tremendous sense of relief that in two weeks a small measure of normalcy can begin to enter our lives. I hope everyone here will soon be able to experience the same positive outlook. It seems that there may indeed be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Carol

[jo]

Another XMan doing baking

[jo]

Which other XMen would you like to do their turns at baking during the pandemic?

Maybe James Marsden - his Cyclops laser vision would work wonders with the finishing touches to CREME BRULEE

[jo]

[jo]

Mark design contest open to US citizens by the Federal Government.


www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-biden-administration-launches-a-500-000-contest-to-improve-face-mask-designs/ar-BB1fiH2o?ocid=msedgdhp

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CNZ9QccDA_d

Hugh is an excellent poster boy for the worldwide campaign!

[jo]

His famous tweet has reached our shores!

As seen from outer space - a Japanese astronaut exclaims "Beautiful Philippine Islands"




Jo's Note : The second largest island in the south is not captured in the photo.

A more complete look --

www.nationsonline.org/maps/philippines-map.jpg

Supposedly around 7100 islands but it seems only about 50 are fully inhabited




In our part of the world - showing the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and other countries. You can also see part of India ( yellow) to the left.

To the north- part of a large orange block (only southern part) is China. Further north to the right would be North and South Korea and Japan.

On our right is the huge Pacific Ocean - which we share with the USA, Canada, Central and South America.


i.pinimg.com/originals/fc/b8/73/fcb87303a7c4238477462ab87695930c.jpg

[jo]

What Global Citizen movement is doing to help in the Recovery Plan --

including helping in soliciting in the redistribution of vaccines to the poorer countries.

Hugh Jackman is part of a group ( at around 2'38") that will help organize a 5-point plan of activities for the Recovery Plan.

[jo]

The hard and sad reality in the worldwide distribution of vaccines --


www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/who-chief-criticises-shocking-vaccine-inequality/ar-BB1fuRgm?ocid=msedgdhp

Excerpts --

The WHO has long called for fairer distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.


What did the WHO say?

"There remains a shocking imbalance in the global distribution of vaccines," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference on Friday.

"On average in high-income countries, almost one in four people have received a Covid-19 vaccine. In low-income countries, it's one in more than 500," he said.

'Some countries can't afford the Covid vaccine'




Will countries be left behind in the vaccine race?

The Covax scheme had been expected to distribute at least 100 million doses worldwide by the end of March, but only 38 million jabs have been delivered so far.


So how fair is the vaccine situation?

Vaccines produced in the UK, US, Europe, Russia and China are already being widely used, having been bought up and approved in countries around the world.

But doses have not been shared equally between countries.

High-income countries currently hold a confirmed 4.6 billion doses, while low-middle income nations hold 670 million, according to research by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

[jo]

The real crisis about vaccines --


www.msn.com/en-ph/news/opinion/the-real-vaccine-crisis-isn-t-about-j-j-or-astrazeneca/ar-BB1fOfx6?ocid=msedgdhp

TO JUDGE by the headlines, you’d think the most critical immunization issue facing the world is the safety and hesitancy concerns over the AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

That debate is genuinely important. Still, it shouldn’t distract from the biggest challenge the world will face over the coming months: the grossly unequal distribution of vaccines between rich and poor countries.

The development and ramp-up of preventive medicine for the coronavirus is a testament to the innovative power of the modern global economy. Counting only drugs that are already on the market, total manufacturing capacity this year should be sufficient to deliver 12 billion doses, according to a database compiled by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

In theory, that might be enough to bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end. With single-shot vaccines making up 1.5 billion of those doses, that could deliver enough shots to immunize about 88% of the world’s population.

It’s a less rosy picture when you look at how many injections have actually been booked. So far there have been orders for just 6.96 billion doses, enough to achieve about 53% coverage globally, according to the Duke database. Even those are grossly skewed toward rich countries: While there’s sufficient medicine in order to fully immunize the population of high-income nations nearly two times over, in the lower middle-income ones, where the largest slice of the world’s population lives, coverage falls to just 12%.

That’s a familiar problem. Every drug maker in the world (even generics manufacturers, often treated as tribunes of the global south) wants to sell to rich countries, where the profit margins are highest. In the 1990s and early 2000s, HIV was ravaging sub-Saharan Africa just as the newly formed World Trade Organization was hammering out global regulations on the treatment of intellectual property. The question of pharmaceutical companies’ obligation to distribute their products sparked major reforms.

In theory, the setup that resulted ought to ensure equal access to medicines around the world. Countries that fail to strike affordable licensing deals with global pharmaceutical companies can essentially annul their patents, in a process known as compulsory licensing, so that local generic drugmakers can produce their own versions. Those that lack the manufacturing capacity can even buy medicines from other countries, such as India.

In practice, the system isn’t working. Compulsory licensing is barely invoked for new drugs these days. When it is, many of the instances in recent years have involved relatively wealthy countries using the framework as a tool to bargain down drug prices, rather than lower-income nations facing an absolute shortage of affordable supply.

The parameters under which compulsory licensing operates are slow and cumbersome, requiring rounds of negotiations between governments and pharmaceutical companies, and matching licenses by importing and exporting governments. Since such licenses are typically issued in defiance of the original developer, they usually depend on the ability of generics manufacturers to reverse-engineer the medicines, often without access to essential trade secrets. That’s a challenge wherever cutting-edge technology is being used, especially given the short timescales involved and the need for rapid safety approvals.

The situation we’re left with is failing the world. A 2016 study found that it typically takes between four years and seven years for medicines to be approved in sub-Saharan Africa from the point when the first regulatory steps are taken in rich countries.

While COVID has inspired regulatory shortcuts, such as the COVAX program to speed access to vaccines in low-income countries, the slow pace of deliveries outside of the wealthiest nations is grossly inadequate. That’s especially the case as the center of gravity of infections moves from rich nations and large emerging economies to a host of smaller countries less able to scale up domestic drug manufacturing.

The best hope for a breakthrough comes from the WTO’s new Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former head of the United Nations-backed vaccine delivery partnership, who brought pharmaceutical companies, politicians, and public health officials together in Geneva last week to find a solution.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai promised at the conference to “learn from, and not repeat, the tragedies and mistakes of the past.” Those words must now be put into action. One immediate solution — still being blocked by the governments of rich countries, including the US — would be a temporary waiver of the so-called TRIPS rules that govern trade in intellectual property. Such a waiver could be limited to COVID treatments and for the duration of the current public health emergency.

Beyond that, though, we need to recognize that the aspiration of a global trading system that would balance intellectual property protection with the health needs of all humanity has fallen short.

The promise of the early 2000s has given way to a world in which life-saving treatments are again out of reach for the world’s poorest, especially as the nature of disease changes thanks to the successes of modern medicine. Cancer now kills more people in Africa than HIV, but two-thirds of countries in the region lack the most basic treatment facilities for the condition. If we’re to protect ourselves against the next health crisis, we first need to reform the rules of global trade.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

[njr]

France and Greece are opening up to vaccinated visitors. I hope the U.K. follows suit so I can go in August!

www.godsavethepoints.com/france-opens-usa-travel-2021/

[jo]

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-coronavirus-some-young-americans-are-hesitant-about-getting-a-covid-19-shot-here-s-why-that-s-an-issue-for-all-americans/ar-BB1gaLAs?ocid=msedgdhp

CNN
US coronavirus: Some young Americans are hesitant about getting a Covid-19 shot. Here's why that's an issue for all Americans

By Christina Maxouris, CNN 48 mins ago


Experts have made it clear: to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, America needs to get vaccinated.

a man and a woman sitting in a car: A pharmacy resident gives a Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April 25, 2021© Jenna Watson/IndyStar/USA Today Network A pharmacy resident gives a Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April 25, 2021
And that includes younger Americans, some of whom still are hesitant or may think they don't have as much to fear from the virus.


Everyone 16 and older is currently eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine. But a recent Quinnipiac University poll found 36% of adults under the age of 35 don't plan on getting one.

Here's why it matters that young groups also sign up for the shots: When Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned of a rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations earlier this month, that increase was predominantly among younger adults, most of whom were not vaccinated.

Some experts estimate that to suppress the spread of the virus, somewhere between 70% to 85% of the US population needs to be immune. So far, roughly 43% of the country has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and about 29.5% is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

The more people are vaccinated, the fewer opportunities the virus has to not only transmit but to further mutate. And we already know what those mutations could mean. One coronavirus variant, for example, which became the dominant strain in the US, helped fuel recent Covid-19 spikes in several states, including Michigan. That strain, the B.1.1.7 variant, is more contagious and hit younger people particularly hard.



And there's another major reason young people shouldn't turn away from the shot: long-term consequences of Covid-19.

"One critical way to prevent long Covid is to prevent Covid itself," National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.

"Even for young people who consider their risk of severe Covid to be low, the long-term consequences can be quite serious," he added. "So long Covid represents one more reason to encourage everyone age 16 and over to get vaccinated as quickly as possible."

And those long-lasting symptoms can develop even in people who have mild cases of Covid-19. Americans have reported dozens of persistent symptoms that last months after their infection, including fatigue, headaches, memory loss, gastrointestinal problems, muscle aches, heart palpitations and loss of smell or taste.

'How many people are going to have to die?'
In a bid to encourage young people to get vaccinated, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has said the state will offer a $100 savings bond to each person between 16 and 35 years old who gets the vaccine.

"West Virginians from 16 to 35 years of age are transmitting this thing faster than anyone," the governor said. "How many people are we going to have to put in body bags? How many people are going to have to die?"

The governor said roughly 52% of the state's eligible population has received at least a dose of vaccine and his goal is to get to more than 70% of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

That he said, will mean "we'll be able to get rid of the masks and get life back to normal."

"Our young people have had to stand up a lot of times over the years in West Virginia," the governor said. "Most of the time they were standing up to go to war. I'm not asking for you to go to war. I'm asking you to do something that could very well save your life, or save the life of your mom, your dad, your grandparents, and all your loved ones."




Governors offer road maps to normalcy
Other governors across the US have opted to incentivize vaccinations by offering a timeline for a return to normal.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday that the state will remove most of its pandemic-related restrictions on commercial activities once 60% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.

State officials say that could be as early as the end of June.

"I believe that New Mexico, by some time in June, will have fully vaccinated enough of our state that we can shed these restrictions and frameworks and instead move closer to a simpler new phase, from fighting to ultimately monitoring the pandemic," the governor said in a statement.

"We are close and getting closer. But that all depends on New Mexicans continuing to get their shots when it's their turn," she added.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper lifted the outdoor mask mandate and said the state hopes to lift the indoor mask mandate once two-thirds of adults are vaccinated with at least one vaccine dose.

About half of the state's adults currently have gotten at least one shot, he said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also lifted the state's outdoor mask mandate and said he expects to take "additional actions" in the coming weeks as more people get vaccinated and the Covid-19 metrics improve.

"The fastest way to put this pandemic behind us once and for all is for every single eligible Marylander to get vaccinated as soon as possible," Hogan said.

The governors' announcements follow new guidance issued by the CDC this week on outdoor mask use for fully vaccinated Americans. The agency said fully vaccinated people can unmask at small outdoor gatherings or when dining outside with friends from multiple households -- activities the CDC said unvaccinated people still need to wear a mask for.




CDC and government officials continue to highlight the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines.

The Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines were found in the real world to be 94% effective against Covid-19 hospitalization among fully vaccinated adults ages 65 and older in the US, according to a new CDC study.

That study also found the vaccines were 64% effective among those older adults who were partially vaccinated, meaning they had only received one dose of the vaccines so far.

The findings are consistent with the vaccines' clinical trial results, which showed an efficacy of about 94% to 95%, researchers from the CDC and several other institutions noted.

"COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective and these real-world findings confirm the benefits seen in clinical trials, preventing hospitalizations among those most vulnerable," Walensky said in a news release on Wednesday.

"The results are promising for our communities and hospitals. As our vaccination efforts continue to expand, COVID-19 patients will not overwhelm health care systems -- leaving hospital staff, beds, and services available for people who need them for other medical conditions," she added.

[njr]

^ Sent that to my daughter to get her husband to read! He doesn’t want to get vaccinated (she has) and they have a 7 month old baby! 😡

[jo]

Will New York lead the way for a major return to normalcy?


www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/ny-opens-all-mass-vaccine-sites-to-walk-ins-for-age-16-city-halfway-to-shot-goal/3026315/

[jo]

Reverend Matty (feat. Ludacris)
liked your reply

Exactly!

I have been saying the same thing to those who are hesitant. First I would ask them if they got vaccine shots when they were young - at school or a pediatric clinic. Any problem then that they can remember. Most everyone will say "None"

So, what is the hesitance now?


Jo