By Dr. Stuart Weiss, Intelligent Crowd Solutions – Rapid Test Center of NY

Rapid Test Center of New York
Dr. Stuart Weiss, FACEP, FAAP, CBCP

March 11, 2021

CoViD-19 News and Information you can trust. Welcome new readers from the Rapid Test Center.

Topics: A BBQ with the family on July 4th

A BBQ with my family on July 4th Wow, what a nice image the President invoked tonight. Its one year since the WHO declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a pandemic and what a year it has been. Who could have imagined that our entire society would be shut down for so long and that so many Americans would needlessly die. For those of you who have been following my nightly newsletter since March (I haven’t missed a single weekday night since then), you will remember the scary times in New York City that I wrote about in the early days and then how the city slowly began to return to a more normal existence in June. I remember writing about the outbreaks in the meat packing plants across the US and how I stockpiled food in a spare closet. I still have cans of things that I will never eat and will donate to the local food bank when this is over. Its been a long year and we are not out of the woods yet but the mental image of a BBQ on July 4th is a nice one. This independence day might be a celebration of the birth of our nation back in 1776 and the rebirth of our nation after CoViD-19. In tonight’s speech, President Biden announced that his administration would direct all states to make every American regardless of age, occupation or health status eligible to sign up for a vaccine. In addition, the Federal Government would be developing a new website to help direct people to the nearest vaccination site. To increase vaccination rates, the government would be opening up hundreds of vaccination centers across the US. It is important to remember that even though everyone will be eligible to sign up for a vaccine, it will still take time to get those shots into peoples’ arms. It will still be the third quarter before most Americans are vaccinated. In an interview tonight, Dr. Fauci said that soon, the CDC will come out with guidance updates on travel, events and church gatherings. He reiterated that the US is taking a leadership role in getting the world vaccinated. We are part of the United Nations COVAX program and will support it with $4 billion in funding. We will also help other countries with vaccines should we have a surplus and even help some countries develop vaccine manufacturing capabilities so they can make their own vaccine. When asked about the future of the virus, Dr. Fauci spoke about the three outcomes in infectious diseases. You can eradicate a disease, you can eliminate a disease or you can control a disease. It is unlikely that we will be able to completely eradicate SARS-CoV-2 since there is such widespread infection across the planet. The only disease we have been able to eradicate from the planet has been smallpox. We may be able to eliminate the disease from our society by having effective vaccines. We would have to develop a more universal vaccine that can handle the changes caused by mutations. The goal there is to develop a vaccine that targets part of the virus that doesn’t mutate very often or make a vaccine that is broad enough to handle mutations. Alternatively, we will have to get yearly booster shots to keep up with the variants. Interestingly, Pfizer announced today that data out of Israel shows that the Pfizer vaccine prevents asymptomatic illness which would go a long way in eliminating disease. If we can’t do those things, then we can control the disease which means reduce the incidence of a disease by public health measures. We’ve been trying to do that all year long. Time will tell which outcome we end up with. In other interesting news, a small study out Mount Sinai Hospital in New York looked at vaccine response in people who have already had CoViD-19. They found that people who already had CoViD-19 and survived had a robust antibody response to the first Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and had similar or even higher antibody levels than people who never had CoViD-19 and got two shots. This opens up some interesting possibilities in the future. If this proves to be right in a larger study and the antibody response maintains itself, then we might be able to measure antibody levels in someone and determine if they need one shot or two. Lastly, folks are still not receiving monoclonal antibody treatments and now a fourth version is up for approval. Early on in a CoViD-19 infection in people who are a high risk for severe CoViD-19 (i.e. people with underlying medical conditions), these treatments are 85% effective in preventing severe disease and death. The key is getting the infusion early. If you wait until someone is in the hospital, the infusion is not helpful. It must be given early. So if you know someone who has underlying medical problems that puts them at high risk of disease and they test positive for CoViD-19, get them to an infusion center quickly. When you are eligible, get your self vaccinated so we can get through this together. . Dr. Stu Weiss

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COVID-19 HEADLINES FOR TODAY Coronavirus update for March 11, 2021 World Wide Updates European regulator does not recommend suspending AstraZeneca vaccine use Brazil study identifies two cases of simultaneous infection with two different coronavirus variants Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pay tribute to teachers as kids go back to school Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and husband test positive for Covid Pfizer CEO urges people to get whatever vaccine is offered first UN secretary general urges vaccinations for all people on one-year Covid anniversary UK becomes 5th country to top 125,000 Covid-19 deaths  Jordan reports its highest number of daily coronavirus cases European Commission approves Johnson & Johnson vaccine Iraq recorded over 5,100 cases of coronavirus Thursday England is investigating a new coronavirus variant linked to travel from Antigua  Africa has recorded nearly 4 million Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, WHO says Iceland and Norway suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine pending investigation with reports of blood clots in some patients Brazil reports record high Covid-19 deaths for second consecutive day pushing hospitals and ICUs toward collapse  At least 19 African countries have now started vaccination campaigns and through Covax and more than 518,000 doses have been administered India has the highest cases in Asia and the second highest cases in the world, Turkey and Iran are the only countries in the Middle East to make the list of the top 20 countries with the highest cases in the world Spain has not reported any cases of blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine, health minister says Pfizer vaccine prevents asymptomatic Covid-19 and death, data from Israel shows Germany changes priority vaccination strategy to target borders UK regulator tells Brits to get their AstraZeneca vaccines despite European concerns Swiss-Italian company confirms deal to produce Sputnik V vaccine AstraZeneca says “patient safety is the highest priority” Denmark suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine as a ‘precautionary measure’ Canada will honor lives lost from Covid-19 in a national day of observance Portugal to ease lockdown rules and extend state of emergency Algeria records cases of UK variant  Total Cases Worldwide: 119,045,435 Total Deaths Worldwide: 2,639,736 Total Recovered: 94,542,861 US Updates 1 in 10 people in the US now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to new CDC data White House announces “Help is Here Tour” to promote Covid relief plan Stimulus checks will begin hitting bank accounts this weekend, White House says Moderna expects early efficacy data on Covid-19 vaccine booster by May Public health measures are key to declines in Covid-19 cases, Dr. Sanjay Gupta says 9 people in Virginia who were mistakenly given empty syringes have now received Covid-19 vaccines Oklahoma drops mask mandate and all restrictions on events Early Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine trial data shows antibody response after 8 days  People flying into New York from other US states will no longer have to quarantine starting April 1 YouTube says it has removed more than 30,000 videos with Covid-19 vaccine misinformation 2020 marks deadliest year for US in more than a century, early CDC data indicate Covid-19 incidence was lower in NYC public schools than in the wider community, study says Epidemiologist says he’s concerned Covid-19 variants in US may “beat us at the vaccination game” Yesterday was the busiest Wednesday at US airports since the holidays, TSA data shows Biden will mark Covid-19 anniversary in first prime-time presidential address CVS is now providing Covid-19 shots through federal program in 29 states and Puerto Rico Austin mayor tells Texas attorney general he won’t rescind the city’s mask mandate Covid relief funding to be used for federal cybersecurity efforts Travel guidance won’t come until more people are vaccinated, CDC says  Analysis of more than 100 studies suggests schools can safely reopen Biden signs historic $1.9T COVID relief bill in first major legislative victory as president NYC to honor more than 29,00 New Yorkers who died of COVID Four former presidents and first ladies — but not the Trumps — appear in ads encouraging Americans to get COVID-19 vaccine Maskless woman banned from Lyft and Uber after caught on camera assaulting driver Total US cases: 29,909,515 Total US deaths: 543,305 Total Recovered: 20,700,266 Total Tested in US: 367,420,841 Total cases in CA: 3,611,810 Total deaths in CA: 54,888 Total cases in TX: 2,716,245 Total deaths in TX: 46,218 Total cases in FL: 1,962,651 Total deaths in FL: 32,079 Total cases in NY: 1,757,835 Total deaths in NY: 48,945 Total cases in IL: 1,204,409 Total deaths in IL: 23,122 Total cases in GA: 1,030,146 Total death in GA: 18,117 Total Vaccines Administered in US: 98,203,893

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