Physician's Briefing Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

Weekly Coronavirus Roundup
Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

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Here is what the editors at Physician's Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of Sept. 13 to 17, 2021. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice.

FDA Advisory Panel to Hold Meeting Today on COVID-19 Booster Shots

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisors are meeting today to consider whether it is safe and effective for Americans to receive a third "booster" dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose Cuts Infection in Those 60 and Older

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Among Israeli adults aged 60 years and older, those receiving a third booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have rates of confirmed COVID-19 and severe illness that are substantially lower than the rates seen for individuals only receiving the two original vaccine doses, according to a study published online Sept. 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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MS Patients Show Robust T-Cell Response to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with multiple sclerosis receiving anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment can mount T-cell responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, according to a study published online Sept. 14 in Nature Medicine.

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Government Buys More Monoclonal Antibody Treatments to Ward Off Shortage

THURSDAY, Sept. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As severe cases of COVID-19 rise and demand surges for monoclonal antibody treatments, the U.S. government is ordering more from two key suppliers.

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NIH Spending Nearly $470 Million on 'Long-Haul COVID' Study

THURSDAY, Sept. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health is spending nearly $470 million to study the long-term effects of COVID-19, the agency announced Wednesday.

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Hospitalizing the Unvaccinated Has Cost U.S. Nearly $6 Billion

THURSDAY, Sept. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The cost of providing hospital care for unvaccinated Americans has reached $5.7 billion in just three months, CBS News reported.

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Pandemic Caused Many Women to Abandon Plans for More Children

THURSDAY, Sept. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of mothers report they halted plans to have additional children because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Sept. 15 in JAMA Network Open.

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COVID-19 Vaccines Prevent Hospitalizations in High-Risk Populations

THURSDAY, Sept. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 vaccines are effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection requiring hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and emergency department or urgent care clinic visits, even in populations disproportionately affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters Discussed

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Although providing COVID-19 vaccine boosters could be appropriate for some individuals and may ultimately be needed, the current evidence suggests that vaccine efficacy is high against severe disease, with no evidence of declining protection, according to a viewpoint article published online Sept. 13 in The Lancet.

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COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Under 12 Could Come This Fall: Fauci

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents hoping for COVID-19 vaccines for their children younger than 12 years may get their wish this fall, according to Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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WHO Says Africa Will Get 30 Percent of COVID-19 Vaccines It Needs by February

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In Africa, only 4 percent of people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

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Vaccine Effectiveness High for Preventing COVID-19 Hospitalization

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Vaccine effectiveness is high for preventing COVID-19-associated hospitalization, even during predominance of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 delta strain, according to two studies published in the Sept. 10 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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COVID-19 School Closures Take Toll on Mental Health of Older Children

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Older children, Black and Hispanic children, and children from families with lower income who attended school remotely during the pandemic in 2020 experienced disproportionate mental health difficulties, according to a study published online ­Sept. 3 in JAMA Network Open.

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BNT162b2 Elicits Lower Antibody Levels Than mRNA-1273 Vaccine

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- BNT162b2 elicits relatively lower antibody levels to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike receptor binding domain than mRNA-1273, and lower antibody levels are observed with BNT162b2 in older versus younger adults, according to a research letter published online Sept. 2 in JAMA Network Open.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Changing With Delta Predominance

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- With increasing prevalence of the delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, there was a decline in vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, while protection remained stronger against hospitalization and death, according to research published in the Sept. 10 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Israeli Data on Booster Shots to Be Published This Week in Major Journal

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) – New data out of Israel, to be published this week, could bolster the notion that a third booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine significantly lowers a recipient's odds for severe illness.

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Health Care-Associated Infection Up During COVID-19 Pandemic

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In 2020, there were increases in the incidence of health care-associated infection, according to a study published online Sept. 2 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

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U.K. Approves COVID-19 Vaccine for Children 12+

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- While in the United States preteens and teens aged 12 to 15 years have been eligible for COVID-19 vaccines since the spring, the vaccines are only now becoming available for that age group in the United Kingdom.

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Estimated Population Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2 62.0 Percent

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In the United States, population immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection was estimated at 62.0 percent as of July 15, 2021, according to a study published online Sept. 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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Risk Factors ID'd for Severe COVID-19 in Children With Cancer

TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Almost one-fifth of children with cancer and COVID-19 have severe and critical illness and 3.8 percent die, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in The Lancet Oncology.

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COVAX Cuts Global COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Estimates by a Quarter

MONDAY, Sept. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses than expected will be available through the global COVAX program, affecting many less-affluent nations waiting on these doses.

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Appeals Court Backs Florida Ban on School Mask Mandates

MONDAY, Sept. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The law on whether or not students in Florida schools will be required to wear masks has changed again. On Friday, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee reinstated the state's ban on school mask mandates, CBS News reported.

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Frequency of Long-Term Symptoms Up With Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test

MONDAY, Sept. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The frequency of long-term symptoms associated with COVID-19 is higher among individuals who self-reported ever receiving a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test, according to research published in the Sept. 10 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Healthy, Plant-Based Diet Tied to Lower COVID-19 Risk

MONDAY, Sept. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A healthy, plant-based diet is associated with lower risk and severity of COVID-19, according to a study published online Sept. 6 in Gut.

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High Viral Load in Lungs Linked to COVID-19 Mortality

MONDAY, Sept. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Increased severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 abundance and low anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response are associated with COVID-19 mortality, while hospital-acquired respiratory pathogen acquisition is not associated with fatal outcomes, according to a study published online Aug. 31 in Nature Microbiology.

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