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Found 2,335 results
  1. News Article
    As surges of COVID-19 cases driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant recede, parts of the United States, Canada, and Europe are moving swiftly to lift constraints on a pandemic-fatigued public. Sweden, Denmark, and Norway have abolished nearly all ­COVID-19–related restrictions in recent weeks, and the United Kingdom announced it would do the same this month, dropping even the legal requirement that people quarantine after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. In the United States, despite persistently high numbers of COVID-19–related deaths and busy hospitals, 10 governors, many known for being cautious in their pandemic response, last week announced immediate or impending ends to their states’ indoor or school mask mandates. Some of those moves came with assertions that it’s time to “live with the disease” and treat the coronavirus as endemic—a stable, enduring figure in the panoply of human pathogens, alongside cold viruses and influenza. That suggestion troubles many scientists, who warn it is eroding governments’ commitment to tracking and responding to the pandemic—which could leave countries flying blind and unprepared for any new variant. “Endemic delusion is probably what captures it the best,” says Kristian Andersen, an infectious disease researcher at Scripps Research who has been especially critical of recent moves by his home country of Denmark, which include an announcement that as of this month COVID-19 would no longer be categorised as a “socially critical disease” even though related death and hospitalisation rates were still climbing there. In the United States, governors cited various metrics to justify recent decisions to lift or let expire indoor mask mandates. California Governor Gavin Newsom noted stable hospitalisation rates and a 65% reduction in cases since Omicron’s peak in announcing the state’s mandate would end this week. But leaders also face political and economic pressures. States’ moves may be driven largely by the public’s impatience with restrictions, says epidemiologist Dustin Duncan of Columbia University. “Even people who recognize the importance of masking, social distancing, all that stuff, may be more amenable to take more risk,” he says. “At the same time, to me, going maskless just seems egregious.” Read full story Source: Science, 15 February 2022
  2. News Article
    Two years of the pandemic have meant drops in essential screening and detection in Australia, while cancer patients undergo treatments alone and isolate to avoid Covid risks. When Claire Simpson turned 50 in early 2020, she received a letter telling her to get a mammogram. Then the pandemic hit, and Victoria went into lockdown. “Like many people, I put it off until we were coming out of that lockdown, but by then it was September and I couldn’t get an appointment until December,” she says. In February 2021 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. Tests showed she was positive for the aggressive HER2 receptor, so she began 12 weeks of chemotherapy as well as a treatment called Herceptin, which she received an IV infusion of every three weeks. Simpson says the delay in screening “really, really delayed diagnosis for me, by a good six months”. “I can’t help but feel that [an earlier screening] could have probably saved me from having to have chemotherapy and this Herceptin infusion therapy that I’m having,” she says. Her last Herceptin treatment was last Wednesday. She has been living in self-imposed lockdown, terrified as the Omicron wave built that she would have to isolate due to Covid and disrupt her treatment. That self-imposed isolation will continue until her final surgery, an elective operation scheduled for mid-year. Cancer screening dropped by 10% in Victoria alone in the first year of the pandemic. In 2021, referrals to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a leading treatment and research facility in Melbourne, were down 40%. “That is certainly going to bounce back at some point,” says Prof Sherene Loi, an oncologist and researcher at Peter MacCallum. “It is potentially going to be a real problem in a few years’ time. At the moment we have a lot of very young cancer diagnoses, a lot of breast cancer … we are just flat chat.” Read full Source: The Guardian, 13 February 2022
  3. News Article
    A lack of beds in Welsh hospitals meant it was "inevitable" Covid patients would come into contact with others, a doctor has said. "Seeing patients in bed at the time of admission is becoming a rarity," Dr Nicky Leopold said. Some patients, including those with Covid, have had to spend nights on chairs in A&E due to a lack of beds. The Welsh government said it aimed to deliver 12,000 more staff by 2024-25. Health Minister Eluned Morgan and the chief executive of the Welsh NHS are due to give evidence to the Senedd's health committee on winter pressures.. Dr Leopold, a consultant geriatrician, who is a member of the BMA union in Wales, said there had been recent improvements since the number of NHS staff testing positive for Covid fell, but the flow of patients through hospital was still a problem. She said: "So many patients are stranded in hospital and that's very difficult and frustrating. There just aren't the staff in the community to support the increased level of need." Outpatient appointments had also been affected by shortages, she added. A lot of patients were in "dire need" and staff were "desperately" trying to keep clinics running. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 February 2022
  4. News Article
    The government plans to end all remaining covid restrictions in England—including the legal obligation to self-isolate—ahead of schedule later this month, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has said. The current restrictions, including the requirement that anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 must self-isolate for at least five days, are due to expire on 24 March. But Johnson, addressing MPs during prime minister’s questions on 9 February, said that the remaining rules could end early if recent trends in the data continued. In response to the prime minister’s statement healthcare leaders said that they understood the importance of wanting to return to normal but called for a cautious approach. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said, “It is important to remember that Covid-19 has not gone away. Though cases have fallen significantly in recent weeks and the NHS’s very successful booster campaign has made a massive difference to the numbers of seriously ill patients, the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 remains high by previous standards." “Any steps to de-escalate our precautionary approach—including ending requirements for self-isolation for positive tests—must be proportionate to the risks.” Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said, “Around 40% of NHS staff absences are due to covid currently, and so removing the self-isolation requirements could bolster capacity significantly at a time when the service is committed to tackling its waiting lists—but we have to be mindful that it could also lead to higher rates of transmission, which could then lead to more admissions into hospital alongside more ill health in the community." “The government must take a cautious approach as we move onto the endemic stage of covid, be guided by the evidence, engage the NHS appropriately, and be prepared to review its decision if new threats emerge.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 9 February 2022
  5. News Article
    People with dementia, particularly care home residents early in the pandemic, were “disproportionately” vulnerable to fatal Covid infections, according to a new report. The analysis, commissioned by the Scottish Government, also found that excess deaths involving dementia during 2020 were “almost wholly” attributable to Covid. Of the 2,154 deaths where both dementia and Covid were listed on the death certificate, 95 per cent had Covid as the main underlying cause. This contradicts previous suggestions that a rise in dementia deaths early in the pandemic may have been linked indirectly to the virus as a result of “lockdown distress” or an increased use of potentially harmful sedation in elderly people confused by restrictions. The report also found that 73% (1,577) of those who died with both Covid and dementia mentioned on their death certificates had passed away in care homes. Henry Simmons, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Scotland, said their loved ones had been “torn apart by grief and loss” and that the report “raises many more questions as to why so many people with dementia living in care homes quickly became victims of Covid-19”. Read full story Source: The Herald, 10 February 2022
  6. News Article
    A formal complaint accuses the British Government of facilitating ‘the largest single health and safety disaster to befall the United Kingdom workforce since the introduction of asbestos products’. An expert letter to the UK Government’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) from one of its own advisors accuses the agency of failing to use its statutory authority to correct “seriously flawed” guidance on infection protection and control (IPC), imperilling “the health and safety of healthcare workers by failing to provide for suitable respiratory protection”. The continued failure to protect healthcare workers by ensuring they are wearing the appropriate form of PPE (personal protective equipment) to minimise the risk of infection from COVID-19 airborne transmission, the letter says, has led to thousands of avoidable deaths. The failures amount both to “gross negligence” and serious “criminal offences”, claims the letter seen by Byline Times. The letter addressed to HSE chief executive Sarah Albon is authored by 27-year chartered health and safety consultant David Osborn, who is a ‘consultee member’ of the HSE’s COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Essentials Working Group, where he has helped HSE to prepare guidance for employers and employees. Written in his own personal capacity, the letter is a formal complaint accusing the members of the Government’s “IPC Cell” – a group of experts behind official guidance on infection protection and control – along with other senior Government officials of committing a “criminal offence… ultimately punishable by fine and/or imprisonment” by breaching Section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The letter argues that a police investigation is needed. The guidance, Osborn writes in his letter, has failed to ensure that healthcare workers understand that they should wear and have access to respiratory protection equipment (RPE) designed to protect from COVID-19 airborne transmission. “There is sufficient prima-facie evidence to suggest that the offence has led to the potentially avoidable deaths of hundreds of healthcare workers and the debilitating disease known as Long COVID in thousands of other healthcare workers,” the letter says. “I firmly believe that the primary source of infection was the inhalation of aerosols whilst caring for infected patients at close quarter,” says Osborn in his letter. Read full story Source: Byline Times, 10 February 2022
  7. News Article
    Scientists and politicians “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging the reputation of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to an Oxford scientist who worked on the jab. Prof John Bell said: “They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world.” “I think bad behaviour from scientists and from politicians has probably killed hundreds of thousands of people – and that they cannot be proud of that,” he told a BBC Two documentary When the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was rolled out in the UK government advisers recommended under-40s should be offered an alternative due to a link to very rare blood clots. Fears over the links to blood clots also led other countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland and Thailand, to pause their use of the vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine has also not played a significant role in the booster programme. The BBC reported it accounted for only 48,000 of the more than 37m booster doses given in the UK. Read full story Source: Guardian, 7 February 2022
  8. News Article
    The Nightingale surge hubs cost more than £10.6 million to set up but have admitted roughly seven patients, it has emerged. Eight temporary sites were built at hospitals across the country during the height of the omicron wave, with the capacity to house about 100 patients each. However, it has now been revealed that the hubs cost £10,672,088 to build and only one has admitted a handful of patients. Announcing the hubs in December, NHS England said they would be used if “the record number of Covid-19 infections leads to a surge in admissions and outstrips existing capacity”. However, as of Jan 30, there were 1,285 daily admissions, an eight per cent decrease on the previous week. The chief executive of the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, Kent – the location of one of the eight omicron hubs – has expressed concerns that the structure “may adversely impact” other services and never be used. The cost of the hubs was revealed in response to a written question submitted by Damian Green, the Conservative MP Mr Green said that the temporary sites were an “insurance policy” and added “it looks like they won’t be needed”. He called on ministers to assess if they could be repurposed to help clear the backlog of patients waiting for treatment. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 2 February 2022
  9. News Article
    It is one of many mysteries about Long Covid: Who is more prone to developing it? Are some people more likely than others to experience physical, neurological or cognitive symptoms that can emerge, or linger for, months after their coronavirus infections have cleared? Now, a team of researchers who followed more than 200 patients for two to three months after their Covid diagnoses report that they have identified biological factors that might help predict if a person will develop long Covid. The study, published by the journal Cell, found four factors that could be identified early in a person’s coronavirus infection that appeared to correlate with increased risk of having lasting symptoms weeks later: The level of coronavirus RNA in the blood early in the infection, an indicator of viral load. The presence of certain autoantibodies — antibodies that mistakenly attack tissues in the body as they do in conditions like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus, a virus that infects most people, often when they are young, and then usually becomes dormant. Having Type 2 diabetes, although the researchers and other experts said that in studies involving larger numbers of patients, it might turn out that diabetes is only one of several medical conditions that increase the risk of Long Covid. The researchers said they had found that there was an association between these factors and Long Covid whether the initial infection was serious or mild. They said that the findings might suggest ways to prevent or treat some cases of Long Covid, including the possibility of giving people antiviral medications soon after an infection has been diagnosed. “I think this research stresses the importance of doing measurements early in the disease course to figure out how to treat patients, even if we don’t really know how we’re going to use all that information yet,” said Jim Heath, the principal investigator of the study. However, the study authors and other experts cautioned that the findings were exploratory and would need to be verified by considerably more research. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The New York Times, 25 January 2022
  10. News Article
    Trust were tonight told to cease plans for dismissing unvaccinated staff, as the government announced it would consult on dropping its mandatory covid vaccine policy. An email to local NHS leaders said: “Today the Secretary of State has announced that [the vaccination as a condition of deployment policy] is being reconsidered. The government’s decision is subject to Parliamentary process and will require further consultation and a vote to be passed into legislation. “We are aware that, based on the guidance already issued to the service, you will have begun to prepare for formal meetings with staff on their deployment if they remain unvaccinated. This change in government policy means we request that employers do not serve notice of termination to employees affected by the [vaccination as a condition of deployment] regulations.” Previous guidance had required that, after 3 February – the deadline to have a first vaccination in order to have two vaccines by the 1 April legal cut-off – trusts begin formal meetings and issue dismissal warnings to unvaccinated patient-facing staff. Huge efforts have been put into encouraging staff to be vaccinated and to preparing for the next steps in recent weeks. However, tens of thousands across England are still believed to have had no vaccine, or to have an “unknown” vaccine status. The brief NHSE letter gave no further guidance on whether trusts should continue to press staff to be vaccinated by that date, or continue to have discussions about redeployment. Sajid Javid, who introduced the legal requirements last year, told the Commons: “I am announcing that we will launch a consultation on ending [VCOD] in health and all social care settings. “Subject to the responses – and the will of this House – the Government will revoke the regulations. I have always been clear that our rules must remain proportionate and balanced – and of course, should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be responsible to review this policy again.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 February 2022
  11. News Article
    More than 1 in 10 school entry-age children in England are at risk of measles because they have not had their vaccine jabs, data reveals. Coverage for the two doses of MMR that helps protect five-year-olds against measles, mumps and rubella is currently at 85.5%. That is the lowest for a decade, and well below the 95% target recommended to stop a resurgence of measles. Measles is highly contagious, more than Covid, and can cause serious illness. Nine in every 10 people can catch it if they are unjabbed and exposed. As well as a distinctive rash, measles can lead to severe complications, such as pneumonia and brain inflammation, and sometimes can be fatal. Vaccination can remove almost all of these risks. Two doses of the MMR vaccine give 99% protection against measles and rubella and about 88% protection against mumps. When a high percentage of the population is protected through vaccination, it becomes harder for the disease to pass between people. But since the start of the Covid pandemic, there has been a concerning drop in the number of children receiving these vaccines on time. Experts say some parents may not have realised doctors were still offering appointments, or did not want to burden the NHS. Coverage of the first dose of the MMR vaccine in two-year-olds has now fallen below 90%. This means that more than one in 10 children under the age of five are not fully protected from measles and are at risk of catching it. Among all five-year-olds in England, 93.7% have had one dose and 85.5% have had the recommended two doses. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 February 2022
  12. News Article
    The question of whether to impose a policy requiring mandatory vaccination for NHS staff has raised countless ethical and practical considerations, but with many healthcare workers still unvaccinated and the Government set for a U-turn over mandatory Covid jabs for NHS staff in England, has enough thought been given to the perspective of patients? Various legal experts and health groups have argued that while doctors and nurses can reject the offer of vaccination, patients should also have the right to refuse treatment from a healthcare worker who is not jabbed, instead requesting that their care is placed in the hands of someone who is protected. With the February deadline pushed back, could patients start to grow weary of staff who have not been vaccinated? Will they feel as though the chance for refuseniks to get jabbed has come and gone, and that it is therefore justified that they are stripped of their right to deliver treatment? “Patients have a right to safe care, so it’s reasonable for patients to expect any health or social care professional caring for them to have had a Covid-19 vaccine,” says Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association. Most patients may not be overly concerned about the vaccination status of those caring for them, but in a world in which we’re expected to live alongside the threat posed by Covid, there are undoubtedly certain groups who will be more invested in these matters. “A person who is ‘vulnerable’ by way of disability or chronic illness (eg immunocompromised) may well have an argument under the Equality Act that the NHS failing to provide vaccinated staff to them constitutes disability-based discrimination,” says one barrister who specialises in mental health capacity law. After all, these individuals are most at risk from COVID-19 – and will be for years to come. Clinically vulnerable people who do find themselves in hospital for whatever reason will know that a Sars-CoV-2 infection could further exacerbate their condition, or endanger their lives. Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 January 2022
  13. News Article
    Downing Street appears likely to drop its policy of dismissing frontline NHS and care staff in England who refuse Covid vaccinations, a minister has strongly indicated, after nursing and care organisations called for this to happen. A decision would be made “in the course of the next few days”, according to Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury. He said the lower severity of the Omicron variant of Covid did “open a space” for the policy to be reversed. The apparent imminent U-turn came as the Royal College of Nursing argued that both the change in severity from Omicron and the number of NHS vacancies meant the mandatory vaccination policy should be dropped. The National Care Association said it would also welcome a change of policy, while warning that many unvaccinated care staff had already lost their jobs in the run-up to the 1 April deadline. Asked about reports of a change to the policy, Clarke told Sky News that ministers had hoped to find “the right balance between having the maximum impact for measures that support public safety in the face of the virus, but also have the minimum impact in terms of our wider freedoms as a society”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 31 January 2022
  14. News Article
    The self-isolation period for positive cases is being cut and the limit on visitors lifted from next week. Residents who test positive will have to self-isolate for up to 10 days, with a minimum isolation period of five full days followed by two sequential negative lateral flow tests – as is already the case for the rest of the population. Isolation periods for those having care after an emergency hospital visit will also be reduced to a maximum of 10 days, while a requirement for residents to test or self-isolate after normal visits out will be removed. Care homes will have to follow outbreak management rules for 14 rather than 28 days, and by 16 February care workers will need to use lateral flow tests before work rather than taking a weekly PCR test. The limit on visitors to care homes will be lifted. Visitors should still obtain a negative lateral flow test result earlier in the day of their visit, and guidance on the use by visitors of PPE such as face masks remains unchanged. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 January 2022
  15. News Article
    Over 30 trusts are now mandating FFP3 masks are used beyond settings stipulated in national rules, amid calls for system leaders to clarify the national position on the key staff and patient safety issue. Fresh Air NHS, a group of frontline staff who campaign for better protection against Covid-19, said it now knows of 32 trusts which have already introduced enhanced infection prevention control policies that mandate FFP3 use beyond national guidance. News that a growing number of trusts are mandating more stringent PPE use comes amid fresh confusion around the national guidance after small but potentially significant alterations were made last week. A new line has been added to guidance which says:: “FFP3 respirator or equivalent must be worn by staff when caring for patients with a suspected or confirmed infection spread by the airborne route.” David Tomlinson, consultant cardiologist and also a member of Fresh Air NHS, said NHS trusts were “in fear of going beyond the guidance and allowing non-ICU staff to wear FFP3 respirators”. “The guidance doesn’t mandate respirators for staff in highest risk of transmission areas, for example, medical wards housing symptomatic patients at a time in their disease when they are releasing greatest amounts of infectious aerosols,” Dr Tomlinson said. “Real world data has consistently shown far greater rates of SARS2 infection comparing non-ICU healthcare workers to those on ICU.” Alison Leary, chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London Southbank University, said: “Trusts choosing to implement evidence based safety interventions is a positive move towards workforce safety.” Read full story Source: HSJ, 27 January 2022
  16. News Article
    Small changes to periods can follow a Covid vaccine but they quickly return to normal, a leading UK menstruation expert has said. Dr Victoria Male, from Imperial College London, called studies from the US and Norway which tracked women's cycles "reassuring". And she blamed misinformation for fuelling concerns over infertility. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says there is no evidence Covid vaccines affect the ability to have children. The MHRA has received more than 37,000 reports of unexpected vaginal bleeding, heavier and delayed periods after a Covid jab. It has always said there is no evidence of a link to the vaccine, because women's cycles vary naturally - but scientists called for more research. Dr Male said: "Changes to the menstrual cycle do occur following vaccination - but they are small compared with natural variation and quickly reverse." Women's concerns arose "from misinformation that Covid-19 vaccines cause female infertility", she said. And more studies of pregnancy rates in couples trying to conceive were needed to make it clear they do not. A Covid infection, however, "may reduce sperm count and quality" - and understanding more about that would mean patients could be given the right advice. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 January 2022
  17. News Article
    An NHS England letter has warned of “significant variation” in the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine amongst pregnant women, and called on systems to enable more “spontaneous” antenatal vaccination. In the letter, sent to integrated care system vaccination programme leads, ICS maternity leads and other NHS clinical directors, NHS England said that while the rates of women who had received at least two doses of the vaccine before giving birth was on the rise, there was “significant variation in uptake between regions and systems and in every system, between women of different ethnicities, decile of deprivation in their local area, and age groups”. The letter asks that covid vaccines are made available within antenatal clinics “to maximise uptake” and that partially vaccinated women “are offered vaccine confidence conversations and advised antenatally on the nearest available walk-in vaccinations”. Vaccination programme and maternity service leads have also been told to make use of resources and funding available to drive uptake in at-risk groups. It said: “Vaccination and maternity leads should discuss how this resource could be used to provide in-reach clinics within every maternity service, without creating additional burden on midwifery staff.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 26 January 2022
  18. News Article
    Nearly half of patients with blood cancer are insufficiently protected against the Omicron variant after three vaccine doses, according to a new study. Experts from the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said their research highlights the need for a fourth jab among these vulnerable people. As part of the ongoing Capture study, scientists have been monitoring the antibody response of hundreds of patients with different types of cancer, after one, two and three vaccine doses. Specifically, the researchers measured levels of neutralising antibodies which identify, attack and block the Omicron variant from infecting the body’s cells. Patients with solid tumours appeared to generate antibody responses similar to people without cancer. But among patients with blood cancer who had three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, only 56 per cent generated neutralising antibodies, according to the study, which has been published as a research letter in The Lancet. This means that 44% of patients with blood cancer did not generate a sufficient antibody response. The study supports the need for four jabs among these immunocompromised groups of people. “We found that a third vaccine dose boosted the neutralising response against Omicron in patients with cancer, but the effect was blunted in patients with blood cancer compared to those with solid cancer,” the authors wrote. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 January 2022
  19. News Article
    A US hospital has rejected a patient for a heart transplant at least in part because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. DJ Ferguson, 31, is in dire need of a new heart, but Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston took him off their list, said his father, David. He said the Covid vaccine goes against his son's "basic principles, he doesn't believe in it". The hospital said it was following policy. Brigham and Women's Hospital told the BBC in a statement: "Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival." A spokesman said the hospital requires "the Covid-19 vaccine, and lifestyle behaviours for transplant candidates to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimise the patient's survival after transplantation, given that their immune system is drastically suppressed". The hospital's carefully worded statement may suggest other factors lie beyond the patient's unvaccinated status for his ineligibility, but it refused to discuss specifics, citing patient privacy. Dr Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told CBS News that after any organ transplant a patient's immune system is all but shut down and even a common cold can prove fatal. "The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving," said Dr Caplan. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 January 2022
  20. News Article
    Over-50s and younger adults with underlying health conditions are being urged to participate in a study of life-saving treatments for COVID-19. The study is open to those who test positive for Covid and had symptoms develop in the previous five days. Volunteers will be given pills to take at home. The study will help decide how antiviral drugs will be used, Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said. Health Secretary Sajid Javid asked everyone eligible to "step forward" and "help us to learn more about medicines which could save thousands of lives". Antivirals were "part of our approach as we learn to live with Covid, by preventing the most vulnerable from being hospitalised", he said. The UK regulator has licensed both for treating Covid, with molnupiravir the first to be given the green light, in November. Both have completed clinical trials and shown promising results at reducing the risk of serious illness or death. Launched in December, it already has 4,500 people signed up but needs 6,000 more as soon as possible. You can sign up at the study website now or your GP may contact you to ask you to participate if you test positive for Covid. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 January 2022
  21. News Article
    New data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that unvaccinated adults infected with Covid-19 who are 65 and older are 49 times more likely to need hospitalisation compared to those who have received booster doses. The CDC also found that in December, unvaccinated adults in that same age group experienced a rate of Covid-related hospitalisation 17 times higher than those who are fully vaccinated. For unvaccinated adults between 50 and 64, they are 44 times more likely to require hospitalisation compared with those who are immunised. In that same age group, unvaccinated adults were also 17 times more likely to experience Covid-related hospitalisation. According to the CDC, adults who are 65 and older and have received both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine showed a 94% reduced risk of Covid-related hospitalisations. “Getting very sick means that older adults with Covid-19 might need hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they might even die. The risk increases for people in their 50s and increases in 60s, 70s, and 80s. People 85 and older are the most likely to get very sick,” the CDC said on its website. “Get vaccinated as soon as possible,” the agency added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 January 2022
  22. News Article
    The NHS could be forced to dismiss almost 2,000 midwives by the government’s mandatory vaccination policy, amid warnings from a former chief nurse of England that mothers and babies will be put at risk. Well-placed senior sources have told HSJ around 1,700 midwives remain unvaccinated nationally, according to the latest data from trusts. Based on official headcount data that would amount to between 6.5-8% of the workforce, depending on whether it counts full time equivalent or total staff numbers. However, they are mostly in London, with the latest estimate in the city said to be about 680 (representing between 12 and 14% of the workforce), several well placed sources told HSJ, meaning its maternity services could be seriously destabilised. A former chief nurse of England, Sarah Mullally, who now sits in the House of Lords as the Bishop of London, said she believed about 12.5% of London’s midwives were unvaccinated, and called on the government to delay the mandatory health worker vaccination policy. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, she warned mothers and babies would be put at risk, “in order to implement a policy that has been superseded by the evolution of the virus”. She added: “I would strongly encourage everyone, including NHS staff and health care workers, to get fully vaccinated. However, having heard from midwives myself this week, I can see the anxiety that the requirement for mandatory vaccination is causing, as well as the potential risks to the heath service and its patients. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 January 2022
  23. News Article
    Leading charities have spoken out against the government’s scrapping of COVID-19 measures warning that clinically vulnerable people have been made “collateral damage for political considerations.” Those representing thousands of clinically vulnerable people have warned the government’s decisions to scrap COVID-19 restrictions leaves people “marginalised” and warned there was a risk to 5-11 year old vulnerable children who are yet to be vaccinated. The removal of COVID-19 restrictions next week will mean masks are no longer mandatory and the government will no longer ask people to work from home. Blood Cancer UK has called for the government to do more to support immunocompromised people such as giving them priority testing. Alzheimer's Society has said it is too early to drop basic measures, such as mask wearing, which help protect vulnerable members of society. Charlotte Augst, chief executive for the charity National Voices said clinically vulnerable people had now become “collateral damage in political considerations.” She said: “The pandemic has obviously been difficult for everyone, but it’s been the most difficult for people who are vulnerable to the virus, and some of these people have never really come out of 22 months of lockdowns. “There are obviously infection control measures that are harmful to society and lockdown is one of them - it causes harm. But there are some infection control measures which are not and which enable people to get on with their lives - wearing masks, improving ventilation. “Why would we not do this? When we understood that dirty water caused illness, we cleaned up the water. It cannot be a political statement to say we should clean up the air this is just fact-based decision making, but the situation] has now become all about politics. Read full story Source: The Independent. 21 January 2022
  24. News Article
    Ministers have been issued with a stark warning over mandatory Covid vaccines for NHS workers in England, with a leaked document saying growing evidence on the Omicron variant casts doubts over the new law’s “rationality” and “proportionality”. Two jabs will become compulsory for frontline NHS staff from 1 April after MPs voted on the legislation last month. But the document, drawn up by Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) officials and seen by the Guardian, said the evidence base on which MPs voted “has changed”, creating a higher chance of objections and judicial review. The effectiveness of only two vaccine doses against Omicron, and the lower likelihood of hospitalisations from the milder variant, are cited. More than 70,000 NHS staff – 4.9% – could remain unvaccinated by 1 April, the document says. NHS trusts in England are preparing to start sending dismissal letters from 3 February to any member of staff who has not had their first dose by then. Amid significant pressures on the NHS, last week groups including the Royal College of Nursing urged Sajid Javid, the health secretary, to delay the legislation, known as “vaccination as a condition of deployment” (VCOD2). On Tuesday the Royal College of Nursing said the leaked memo should prompt ministers to call a halt to the imposition of compulsory jabs, which it called “reckless”. “The government should now instigate a major rethink”, said Patricia Marquis, the RCN’s England director. “Mandation is not the answer and sacking valued nursing staff during a workforce crisis is reckless.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2022
  25. News Article
    Giving repeated booster doses of existing CovidD-19 vaccines in developed countries is not a sustainable global strategy for tackling the pandemic, the World Health Organization has said. Instead, WHO argues that the focus should shift towards producing new vaccines that work better against transmission of emerging variants. In a statement, published on 11 January, the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition said, “A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable.” The expert group, which is assessing the performance of Covid-19 vaccines, said that to deal with emerging variants such as omicron, new vaccines needed to be developed that not only protect people against serious illness but against infection. “Covid-19 vaccines that have high impact on prevention of infection and transmission, in addition to the prevention of severe disease and death, are needed and should be developed,” the group said. Vaccines also need to be more effective at protection against infection, “thus lowering community transmission and the need for stringent and broad reaching public health and social measures,” the group said. Read full story Source: BMJ, 17 January 2022
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