The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

[ap215]

Senate votes to end COVID-19 national emergency

The Senate on Wednesday passed a GOP-led resolution that would end the COVID-19 national emergency that’s been in place since 2020.

The measure passed the upper chamber 68-23.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3 ... emergency/

[Libertas]

Senate votes to end COVID-19 national emergency

The Senate on Wednesday passed a GOP-led resolution that would end the COVID-19 national emergency that’s been in place since 2020.

The measure passed the upper chamber 68-23.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3 ... emergency/

Mistake

[Motor City]

Ending the covid emergency is to cut off Medicaid health insurance from vulnerable people.

Biden intends to end Covid-19 and public health emergencies on May 11

(CNN) — President Joe Biden intends to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday.

The White House, in a statement of administration policy announcing opposition to two Republican measures to end the emergencies, said the national emergency and public health emergency authorities declared in response to the pandemic would each be extended one final time to May 11.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics ... mergencies

....Most notably, states will now be able to start processing Medicaid redeterminations and disenrolling residents who no longer qualify, starting April 1. They have 14 months to review the eligibility of their beneficiaries.

As part of a Covid-19 relief package passed in March 2020, states were barred from kicking people off Medicaid during the public health emergency in exchange for additional federal matching funds. Medicaid enrollment has skyrocketed to a record 90 million people since then, and millions are expected to lose coverage once states began culling the rolls.

A total of roughly 15 million people could be dropped from Medicaid when the continuous enrollment requirement ends, according to an analysis the Department of Health and Human Services released in August. About 8.2 million folks would no longer qualify, but 6.8 million people would be terminated even though they are still eligible, the department estimated.....

[ap215]

It wouldn't surprise me if those restrictions are back in place if Covid returns.

Novak Djokovic's US Open fate confirmed as Joe Biden to sign off on new policy

Novak Djokovic will officially be allowed to play the US Open later this year after the Senate voted to end Covid restrictions on May 11. President Joe Biden is now set to sign off on the bill, confirming that all remaining measures will be dropped. It comes after the Serb was banned from entering the country to play in Indian Wells and Miami earlier this month.

Djokovic has received the news he's been waiting for as he will officially be able to enter American unvaccinated later this year. America's remaining Covid emergency declarations were expected to be dropped on May 11 after being extended from April but the move needed to pass a Senate vote.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/ ... -Biden-ban

[ap215]

Stay safe just in case guys.

Biden ends COVID national emergency after Congress acts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency.

The national emergency allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country’s economic, health and welfare systems. Some of the emergency measures have already been successfully wound-down, while others are still being phased out. The public health emergency — it underpins tough immigration restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border — is set to expire on May 11.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-co ... 26c27b3b39

[bradman]

Fortune
https://news.yahoo.com/finance/news/arc ... 16935.html
‘Arcturus,’ a highly transmissible COVID variant eyed by the WHO, appears to have a new symptom. Here’s what you need to know

XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is fueling a new surge of cases in India, at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest of the world. The country’s health ministry is holding mock drills to ensure that hospitals are prepared for rising COVID cases, the BBC reported Monday, noting that some states have again made mask-wearing in public mandatory.

But XBB.1.16 may not be just another run-of-the-mill Omicron. Dr. Vipin Vashishtha—a pediatrician in India and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunization—tweeted Thursday that pediatric cases of COVID are on the increase for the first time in six months, and that “an infantile phenotype seems emerging.”

The symptoms he’s now seeing among children:

High fever

Cough

“Itchy” conjunctivitis—or pink eye—without pus, but with “sticky eyes”

The latter symptom hasn’t been seen in earlier COVID waves, he noted.

[Libertas]

shit

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKCk87lvaxo

Millions at risk of losing Medicaid coverage as pandemic-era program ends

[Libertas]

GOP will end Medicaid everywhere they can, they want to kill millions of us.

[ap215]

New (Itchy) COVID Symptom Reported as ‘Arcturus' Fuels NY Area Spread

Thought COVID was done with the surprises? Not yet, apparently.

Those itchy, red eyes you have that you assumed were just the start of allergy season? It could very well be something called "Arcturus" instead.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/n ... a/4241301/

[ZoWie]

Sure, it's almost summer, time for another national outbreak. Interesting that it was discovered in India a couple of weeks back, and already it's in the US. That says something about premature dropping of common sense precautions.

People don't learn.

[Number6]

FDA authorizes 2nd dose of updated Covid booster for older adults

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a second dose of the updated Covid booster for older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Those 65 and older can get a second dose of the updated versions of Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s Covid booster at least four months after their last dose, the FDA said in a statement. Most people who are immunocompromised can get an additional dose at least two months after their last dose, according to the agency.

The FDA also authorized using the bivalent formula in all Covid vaccines moving forward, not just for booster shots. That means people who haven't been vaccinated yet would get the updated vaccines.

The FDA’s decision will now be handed off to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has scheduled a meeting with its panel of outside advisers for Wednesday. If the panel votes in favor of the additional boosters, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, immunizations could begin immediately.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... e0a9&ei=47

[Libertas]

Yes, new vax, I will be scheduling thursday if CVS will let me.

[ap215]

Be careful & stay safe.

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it's no longer emergency

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed at least 7 million people worldwide.

WHO first declared COVID-19 to be an emergency more than three years ago. The U.N. health agency's officials said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn't come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

https://news.yahoo.com/downgrades-covid ... 47693.html

[gounion]

My wife and I will be lined up for another dose of the vax.

[Glennfs]

My wife and I will be lined up for another dose of the vax.

Of course you will

[ZoWie]

I take that to mean you won't.

That's your choice, but people who choose that in a situation where immunity is what's turning the corner make the problem worse. Therefore we won't be breaking our appointments to get the vax. As long as the reactionary kneejerk anti-vax is kept going by the ignorant, covid remains a threat and we'll be getting our shots.

You do your thing, I do my thing.

[Number6]

I take that to mean you won't.

That's your choice, but people who choose that in a situation where immunity is what's turning the corner make the problem worse. Therefore we won't be breaking our appointments to get the vax. As long as the reactionary kneejerk anti-vax is kept going by the ignorant, covid remains a threat and we'll be getting our shots.

You do your thing, I do my thing.

I received my bivalent booster in October and if the CDC recommends another shot I'll get it. If some people don't want to be pro-active in their healthcare then if they get ill it's on them.

[gounion]

Of course you will

Yep. Sure will. I'm enjoying my retirement, and don't wish to endanger my health with the virus. It's a smart price to pay.

[Drak]

Perfect example of no principles. Conservatives used to believe in vaccines. Now they don’t, because their leaders and media propagandists tell them not to, since the party was taken over by QAnon MAGA.. So they just follow along.

[gounion]

My doctor recommends the vax, and I trust my doctor for medical advice far more than I trust Glenn or any damned right-winger. Let's remember that all of the Fox News hosts got vaccinated, even as they were telling their viewers not to.

As we know, the right holds their followers in contempt.

[Drak]

My doctor recommends the vax, and I trust my doctor for medical advice far more than I trust Glenn or any damned right-winger. Let's remember that all of the Fox News hosts got vaccinated, even as they were telling their viewers not to.

As we know, the right holds their followers in contempt.

Yep. I’d say most of the GOP congress was vaccinated as well, save the odd nutball. Then they tell their base not to.

[Libertas]

My doctor recommends the vax, and I trust my doctor for medical advice far more than I trust Glenn or any damned right-winger. Let's remember that all of the Fox News hosts got vaccinated, even as they were telling their viewers not to.

As we know, the right holds their followers in contempt.

As you know I dont read what the cons say, unless they mention my board name and then only to make sure they arent doing anything dangerous.

Surely these cons arent STILL questioning the vaccine? Can they give back the smallpox, rubella, polio, flu and many others vaccines they have been given? Surely they also do not work, so I assume if we could take those away from them using a time machine they would be OK? Might be dead, actually.

These assholes claim to be adults, but ALL OF A SUDDEN they are anti vaccine and why? Because of something uttered by the PROVEN dumbest human being alive. It is almost unbelievable.

[ap215]

There's going to be Covid 19 type variants anywhere & everywhere it's here for life.

Covid-19 experts say they warned White House about chance of an Omicron-level event within the next two years

(CNN) — In March, the White House reached out to about a dozen Covid-19 experts who are closely following the evolution of the coronavirus to ask a simple question: What did they think were the chances of the world seeing a highly mutated variant, akin to Omicron, within the next two years?

The experts came up with a surprisingly narrow range of probabilities, between 5% and 30%, according to Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. He said the data was shared with him on the phone after he gave his own estimate of 15% to 20%.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/05/health/c ... index.html

[Glennfs]

My doctor recommends the vax, and I trust my doctor for medical advice far more than I trust Glenn or any damned right-winger. Let's remember that all of the Fox News hosts got vaccinated, even as they were telling their viewers not to.

As we know, the right holds their followers in contempt.

You are the guy who says he would have opposed thalidomide.
Getting vaccine after vaccine for covid doesn't seem right.
I received the first two shots and unless something specific comes along I will stop at two.