Dr Stephen Wright’s widow considering legal action against AstraZeneca and government
A doctor died from a rare reaction to the AstraZeneca Covid jab in one of the first rounds of vaccinations, a coroner has ruled.
Dr Stephen Wright, 32, an NHS clinical psychologist and frontline health worker, suffered from a combination of a brainstem infarction, bleed on the brain and vaccine-induced thrombosis, an inquest at London’s Southwark coroner’s court heard.
Continue reading...A Sydney woman in her 80s died earlier this month from tetanus, acquired from a minor leg wound
NSW Health is urging people to get vaccinated for tetanus after three recent cases in NSW, including the first death in 30 years.
The director of communicable diseases, Dr Christine Selvey, said older Australians in particular should ensure they are up to date with their tetanus jab.
Continue reading...Eligible children between six months and four years old will be offered jab from June
Children aged between six months and four years old who are deemed clinically vulnerable will be offered two doses of a Covid vaccine, public health bodies in the UK have announced.
The move, revealed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) after approval by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), comes after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved for children of this age by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in December. Children who are not clinically vulnerable are not included in the UK-wide offer.
Continue reading...‘Fueling vaccine hesitancy undermines effort’ to protect lives, warns letter to Dr Joseph Ladapo sent by FDA and CDC
US health agencies have sent a letter to the surgeon general of Florida, warning that his claims about Covid-19 vaccine risks are harmful to the public.
The letter was sent to Joseph Ladapo on Friday by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was a response to a letter Ladapo wrote to the agencies last month, expressing concerns about what he described as adverse effects from Covid vaccines.
Continue reading...Omicron-specific dose will be available for over-18s who have not had a booster or a confirmed coronavirus case in past six months
A fifth Covid vaccine dose will be made available to Australian adults from later this month.
The health minister, Mark Butler, has announced all adults who have not had a booster or a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the past six months will be eligible for another dose from 20 February, after the government accepted the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi).
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Continue reading...The move to end the declarations comes as House Republicans are set to pass a resolution to demand their immediate scrapping
Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing Covid-19 on 11 May, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared.
The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ normal authorities.
Continue reading...The FDA asked its scientific advisers on Thursday to help chalk out plan to move to a flu shot-like schedule for coronavirus
The US is poised to make Covid-19 vaccinations more like a yearly flu shot, a major shift in strategy despite a long list of questions about how to best protect against a still rapidly mutating virus.
The Food and Drug Administration asked its scientific advisers on Thursday to help lay the groundwork for switching to once-a-year boosters for most Americans – and how and when to periodically update the shots’ recipe.
Continue reading...A study found that repeat infections increases the possibility of hospitalization or death, but some experts refute those findings
A recent study states that Covid-19 reinfections could pose additional risks to people’s long-term health – as compared to only getting Covid once – however some infectious disease experts in the US disagree that there is evidence showing repeat infections are more dangerous.
The issue of the impact of repeated infections is becoming a crucial one in the United States as the Covid-19 pandemic is now tailing off amid a widespread relaxation of any social distancing or restrictions, which has seen many people catch the virus two or more times.
Continue reading...Travel packages also advertised in Macau as interest grows in mRNA vaccines unavailable on mainland
Private services offering Chinese travellers access to mRNA vaccines are attracting droves of mainlanders to Hong Kong and Macau seeking a booster shot that their government has refused to approve.
As part of its dismantling of the country’s zero-Covid policy last month, China’s government also lifted quarantine and other border restrictions. It prompted a wave of interest in overseas travel, particularly for the upcoming lunar new year holiday later this month. However, there also appears to be a large contingent chasing the mRNA bivalent vaccines.
Continue reading...Senior politicians from both major parties to travel to Vanuatu, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Palau this week. This blog is now closed
The Bureau of Meteorology expects scattered showers expected over South Australia.
Meanwhile the heatwave that has settled across northern Australia is expected to ease.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Vaccine recommendations should also consider effects of long Covid on the health system and workforce, Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah says
Labor MP and infectious disease specialist Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah has criticised Australia’s immunisation experts for keeping “overly restrictive” rules on access to coronavirus vaccines, urging the government to expand eligibility for children and young people in a bid to address long Covid.
The Melbourne doctor called on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) to provide more transparency on its decision to not recommend fourth shots for people under 30 and to not allow under-fives to receive Covid vaccines. She said many parents were “desperate” to have their children vaccinated.
Continue reading...New Zealand parents say they will focus on supporting their son, now in the guardianship of his doctors, through life-saving operation
The family of a baby who has been placed in his doctors’ care because his parents refused to consent to a transfusion of “vaccinated blood” in a life-saving operation have said they will prioritise time with their son before the surgery.
The parents’ lawyer, Sue Grey, said in a Facebook post on Thursday morning that the family would be prioritising “a peaceful time with their baby until the operation, and to support him through the operation”.
Continue reading...Backing down from existing policies remains a political problem of the first order
China’s government looks to be starting to roll back its zero-Covid policy. But after three years of saying the resource-intensive, economically damaging elimination strategy is the only way to go, experts say it will be a medical and political challenge to end it.
Much of China’s exit strategy is riding on vaccinations, but this is where Beijing has great challenges. China’s elderly population is disproportionately unvaccinated, leaving tens of millions of vulnerable people at far greater risk from the ravages of Covid-19. About 90% of China’s population is vaccinated, but among those over 60 only about 69% have had at least three doses. Above 80 years of age, the figure drops to about 40%.
Continue reading...Wave of illness caused by RSV, influenza and other infections has seen more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds full
When his son was born seven weeks early, weighing only 2.5lbs, RH watched as the little boy stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for 37 days.
When they finally left the hospital, RH, who asked to use his initials for health privacy, breathed a sigh of relief. The baby, despite his difficult start, was perfectly healthy. But only a few months later, the child landed back in the hospital with a dangerous virus, RSV.
Continue reading...New Zealand’s health services go to court over guardianship of four-month-old boy whose parents have not let heart operation go ahead
New Zealand’s health service has made a court application over the guardianship of a four-month-old baby whose parents are refusing to allow his life-saving heart surgery to go ahead unless non-vaccinated blood is used.
The parents of the baby discussed their son’s health situation and their medical preferences in an interview with an anti-vaccination campaigner.
Continue reading...Authorities flood streets with police as top security body urges action against ‘hostile forces’
China has sent university students home and flooded streets with police in an attempt to disperse the most widespread anti-government protests in decades, as the country’s top security body called for a crackdown on “hostile forces”.
In an apparent effort to tackle anger at the zero-Covid policies that originally sparked the protests, authorities also announced plans to step up vaccination of older people.
Continue reading...The latest booster shots provide better protection than original vaccines, CDC data shows ahead of health official’s retirement
In his last appearance at the White House podium, Anthony Fauci urged Americans to get the latest Covid shot as a new study showed that the latest boosters offer better protection against new variants than previous shots.
Fauci appeared ahead of his retirement next month as America’s top public health official. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci became a household name as the public face of the US government’s response to the pandemic.
Continue reading...The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said allowing pharmacies to prescribe vaccinations and other medications would mean better access to healthcare
New South Wales residents will soon be able to get vaccinations and some treatments prescribed at their local chemist, in a move a doctors’ group has slammed as “madness”.
It mirrors a similar trial under way in Queensland, and practices in other countries such as the UK and Canada.
Continue reading...Federal government paying contractor $900,000 for review of naval shipbuilding
The federal government is paying a contractor $900,000 to carry out a new review of naval shipbuilding issues with the findings due by January.
Australia has the expertise and capability. What we don’t have yet is the scale to deliver the graduates and skills in the quantities required …
I’m here to tell you today is that whatever submarine design ends up being chosen, we won’t be able to build and operate it locally unless we address the fundamental issue of Australia’s workforce capability gap.
Nuclear science should clearly be the first cab off the rank for this program, but this approach will also be necessary across the broader advanced capabilities of Aukus including in cyber and computing, engineering, space and quantum physics.
An Aukus pathways program, jointly developed with Defence, could feature a portfolio of tailored degree programs providing a pathway for students to gain qualifications in an Aukus-related field and then progress to a position in Defence working on Aukus programs.
Continue reading...With Australia consistently reporting more than 30,000 Covid cases a week, how does our vaccination rollout compare to similar countries?
Government health officials are warning of a new wave of Covid cases, predicting transmission will increase in coming weeks.
So what does the latest data show for the rollout of vaccinations in Australia, and how do we compare with other countries?
Continue reading...