Groups Declare National Emergency in Children’s Mental Health + More
AACAP, AAP, CHA Declare National Emergency in Children’s Mental Health
Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) together representing more than 77,000 physician members and more than 200 children’s hospitals, declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health and are calling on policymakers to join them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on children’s mental health as young people continue to face physical isolation, ongoing uncertainty, fear and grief. Even before the pandemic, mental health challenges facing children were of great concern, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated them.
“Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government — we must treat this mental health crisis like the emergency it is.”
Politics Is Derailing a Crucial Debate Over the Immunity You Get From Recovering From COVID
Washington — Among scientists, there’s little debate: People who get sick with COVID-19 develop at least some protection against being infected in the future.
But exactly how much protection they have, and how long it lasts, are the subjects of the country’s latest COVID-19 controversy. For the past month, university employees, professional athletes, and conservative lawmakers across the country have argued they should be exempted from increasingly strict vaccine mandates because, scientifically speaking, they don’t need them: They’re already protected by their body’s own immune response.
COVID Breakthrough: New Oxford Vaccine Tipped ‘to Bring an End’ to Delta Variant
Another coronavirus breakthrough is set to be made in the UK as a new and modified version of the Oxford vaccine is being developed to target the Delta variant.
Research is being carried out by members of Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s team at the University of Oxford — the same scientists behind the AstraZeneca jab. It is being reported that the vaccine could be designed with the aim of “having something on the shelf ready to scale up”. Experts have argued there is a case for specific jabs for current and future variants.
Some Countries Begin Giving Single COVID Vaccine Dose to Kids After Rare Myocarditis Cases
A new strategy to prevent adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine is gaining momentum overseas.
Some experts say the risk of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, particularly among teens after getting vaccinated, could be avoided by giving them only one dose.
The consensus among health agencies is still to give kids both shots. What they didn’t anticipate was 80+ kids reporting the condition, and in some instances, showing up at the hospital just days after getting a second dose.
Colorado’s Vaccine Sweepstakes Didn’t Boost Rates
Colorado spent $5 million in COVID-19 relief money on a much-hyped sweepstakes that failed to boost the state’s vaccination rates, a new study finds.
What they found: The study revealed there was essentially “zero difference” in the vaccination rates of states that held lotteries and those that didn’t.
Fetal Sex a Factor in COVID Immune Response
In pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, male placentas showed increased immune activation compared with female placentas, according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine.
Moreover, pregnant women with COVID-19 transferred significantly less immunity to the virus to male fetuses than to female fetuses, which could affect an infant’s risk for becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. “The sex of the fetus influenced both the mom’s ability to generate antibodies to COVID-19 and to transfer them to her baby,” says Edlow.
This is the first study to look at sex differences in the transfer of a mother’s antibodies from COVID infection to her fetus, and the first to examine sex differences in the placental response to maternal infection.
Minnesota Hospital Shuts Down ER and Urgent Care Amid Nurse Strike
For a year and a half, nurses at the Allina Health’s WestHealth emergency room in Plymouth have battled on the front lines of the pandemic; but behind the scenes they’ve been fighting for better pay too.
Now around 50 nurses say enough is enough, and they will go on strike from Sunday through Tuesday. In response, the WestHealth Emergency Room and Urgent Care has decided to close its doors, shutting down for the time being. The city of Plymouth released a list of nearby locations for emergency services and urgent care needs here.
U.S. Expected to Authorize Mix-and-Match COVID Booster Shots
Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week in an effort to provide flexibility for those seeking to maintain protection against the coronavirus.
The upcoming announcement by the Food and Drug Administration is likely to come along with authorization for boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots and follows the authorization of a third dose for the Pfizer vaccine for many Americans last month.
The move was previewed Tuesday by a U.S. health official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement.
WHO-Led Program Aims to Buy Antiviral COVID Pills for $10
A World Health Organization-led programme to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments aims to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, a draft document seen by Reuters says.
Merck & Co’s (MRK.N) experimental pill molnupiravir is likely to be one of the drugs, and other drugs to treat mild patients are being developed.
Atea Plunges After COVID Treatment Fails to Help Patients in Study
Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc’s (AVIR.O)experimental COVID-19 antiviral pill, being developed with Roche (ROG.S), failed to help patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 in a small study of mostly low-risk patients, driving the U.S. drugmaker’s shares down more than 65% on Tuesday.
The trial results puts Atea and Roche far behind U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) in the race to a pill to treat COVID-19.
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