Tag: omicron

COVID-19 cases rise every day in Denmark, but the country is confident it can live without restrictions for now

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-13/denmark-has-taken-living-with-covid-to-a-whole-new-level/100812736

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Excerpt:

At the beginning of February, the Danish government decided COVID-19 was no longer a “socially critical disease” and it scrapped all restrictions.

Danes aren’t even legally required to quarantine.

Denmark was among the first countries in the world to implement a lockdown, in March 2020, amid the rapid spread of COVID-19.

It also invested heavily in genomic sequencing to track new variants like the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, which is now dominant in Denmark and even more transmissible than the original strain.

And when the Omicron variant began spreading rapidly last year, Denmark reimposed restrictions on workplaces, hospitality and schools in December.

But Tyra Grove Krause, the chief epidemiologist at Denmark’s State Serum Institute, said it also sparked a major rethink in the country’s approach to COVID-19.

Author(s): Nick Dole

Publication Date: 12 Feb 2022

Publication Site: ABC News Australia

COVID-19 and its Impact on Kidney Patients Utilizing U.S. Dialysis Centers

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.kidney.org/news/covid-19-and-its-impact-kidney-patients-utilizing-u-s-dialysis-centers

Excerpt:

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) stress the precarious position people with kidney failure, who are immunocompromised, face as the recent Omicron wave continues to spread among patients and staff at dialysis facilities. Cases of COVID-19 are causing serious illness, forcing shortened treatment times for patients, and exacerbating shortages in staff and supplies that impede access to this life-sustaining treatment. COVID-19’s impact on people with kidney diseases has resulted in the first decline in the number of patients on dialysis in the United States in the 50-year history of the Medicare ESRD Program.

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There are 783,000 individuals in the United States who have kidney failure, and just under 500,000 of these individuals require life-sustaining dialysis delivered in a dialysis center three times a week, four hours a day. During dialysis treatments, patients typically sit near other patients and staff in facilities that are not always well ventilated. Many of these patients are older, low-income, and from historically disadvantaged communities, and most have underlying conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Despite concerted efforts by dialysis organizations, nephrologists, and other clinicians to slow its spread, COVID-19 continues to run rampant through dialysis facilities. According to data from the US Renal Data System, 15.8% of all patients on dialysis in the United States had contracted COVID-19 as of the end of 2020. During the winter 2020 wave, weekly deaths due to COVID-19 peaked at nearly 20% and annual mortality during 2020 was 18% higher than in 2019.[1]

Despite these high rates of infection and mortality, dialysis patients were not prioritized for access to immunization when the vaccines became available a year ago even though evidence shows that the immune response to vaccination is blunted in dialysis patients. Furthermore, although antibody levels decline more rapidly in dialysis patients than in the general population[i], dialysis patients were not prioritized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when third doses of the vaccine were approved in August.[2] In addition, dialysis patients were also excluded from the groups eligible to receive prophylactic long-acting antibody therapy targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Lastly, the National Institutes of Health did not receive funding for COVID-19 research to help people with kidney diseases or failure in any of last year’s relief packages.

[1] https://adr.usrds.org/2021/supplements-covid-19-disparities/13-covid-19-supplement

Publication Date: 18 Jan 2022

Publication Site: National Kidney Foundation

Why Coney Island and Brighton Beach were hit so hard by omicron

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://gothamist.com/news/why-coney-island-and-brighton-beach-were-hit-so-hard-omicron

Excerpt:

The two zip codes encompassing this region — 11224 and 11235 — have experienced 75 deaths per 100,000 people over the last month, a fatality rate nearly three times the citywide average. The pair of zip codes ranked only behind East New York when it came to the pace of COVID deaths between December 24th and January 20th, while their hospitalization rates were also among the highest in the city.

These two zip codes in southern Brooklyn also have lower vaccination coverage than the city as a whole, a common thread between most of the places hit hardest this winter. The area is averaging 66% full vaccination, compared with 75% citywide. In adjacent Gravesend, fewer than two-thirds of residents are fully vaccinated, and meanwhile, some parts of the city are approaching universal coverage.

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Hospital leaders said undervaccination is having an outsized effect on these oceanside communities because the area’s demographics make residents prone to severe illness from COVID-19. In Brighton Beach and Coney Island, 26% of residents are over the age of 65, compared with about 14% in the borough as a whole. Many of those elderly residents also have underlying health conditions.

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Citywide, 89% of New Yorkers between ages 65 to 74 are fully vaccinated, but the rate drops to 63% for people older than 85. Municipal data also show coverage varies by region and by other demographics. For instance, just 62% of white seniors in the Bronx are fully vaccinated, and only 65% of Black seniors in Brooklyn.

Author(s): Caroline Lewis

Publication Date: 7 Feb 2022

Publication Site: Gothamist

Early data on Omicron show surging cases but milder symptoms

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/12/11/early-data-on-omicron-show-surging-cases-but-milder-symptoms?utm_campaign=the-economist-today&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2021-12-09&utm_content=article-link-1&etear=nl_today_1

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Two weeks after the Omicron variant was identified, hospitals are bracing for a covid-19 tsunami. In South Africa, where it has displaced Delta, cases are rising faster than in earlier waves. Each person with Omicron may infect 3-3.5 others. Delta’s most recent rate in the country was 0.8.

Publication Date: 11 dec 2021

Publication Site: The Economist

COVID cases and deaths are on the rise

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.axios.com/covid-cases-deaths-vaccines-omicron-0623380c-e665-435d-a144-4996e74ef5ff.html?mc_cid=0b15989f29&mc_eid=983bcf5922

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Where it stands: The U.S. is now averaging roughly 120,000 new COVID cases per day, a 26% increase over the past two weeks.

Average cases briefly dipped below 100,000 as the summer’s Delta wave receded, but the virus has rebounded quickly. New infections were climbing even before Thanksgiving, and holiday travel likely is accelerating the virus’ spread even further.

Deaths are also on the rise, after tapering off in the fall.

The virus is now killing about 1,300 Americans per day, on average. That’s a 14% increase over the past two weeks.

At this rate, the U.S. will pass 800,000 total deaths — roughly equivalent to the population of the Charleston, South Carolina, metro area — before Christmas.

Author(s): Sam Baker, Kavya Beheraj

Publication Date: 9 Dec 2021

Publication Site: Axios

Omicron Wave Sees South Africa’s Weekly Excess Deaths Almost Double

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-08/s-african-weekly-excess-deaths-almost-double-amid-omicron-wave

Excerpt:

South African excess deaths, a measure of mortality above a historical average, almost doubled in the week ending Nov. 28 from the preceding seven-day period as a new coronavirus variant spread across the country.

During the period 2,076 more people died than would normally be expected, the South African Medical Research Council said in a report on Wednesday. That compares with 1,091 the week earlier.

The rise, while only reflecting a week of data, contrasts with hospitalization numbers that show that most admissions have mild forms of the coronavirus, spurring hope that the omicron variant is more benign than earlier strains.

Author(s):Antony Sguazzin

Publication Date: 8 Dec 2021

Publication Site: Bloomberg

Study suggests Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine may only partially protect against Omicron

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-partially-protective-against-omicron-bloomberg-news-2021-12-07/?fbclid=IwAR0rKPM8dNsMnI_iQ0Hbph-KLY0HiI-PzeLmdYGWWoeFdYKsU07SuDjnuNg

Excerpt:

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus can partially evade the protection from two doses of Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and partner BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said on Tuesday.

Still, the study showed that blood from people who had received two doses of the vaccine and had a prior infection were mostly able to neutralize the variant, suggesting that booster doses of the vaccine could help to fend off infection.

Author(s): Michael Erman

Publication Date: 8 Dec 2021

Publication Site: Reuters

Omicron is starting to spread around the world

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/11/29/omicron-is-starting-to-spread-around-the-world

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Excerpt:

Days after a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in southern Africa, countries around the world are confirming that they have found cases of it too. The new strain of the virus, B.1.1.529, was first detected in genetic samples from Botswana and South Africa. (Nearly 150 cases have been confirmed in southern Africa since, although the true number is thought to be higher.) On November 24th South Africa’s health authorities told the World Health Organisation, which quickly labelled it a “variant of concern” and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron. Just how long—and where—it has been circulating is not yet clear.

Publication Date: 29 Nov 2021

Publication Site: The Economist