(2020-12-14). Vaccine Equity: Why Communities of Color & Incarcerated People Should Get Early Access to Shots. democracynow.org 
As the first shipments of a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine arrive across the United States, healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes will receive the first shipments, and epidemiologist Camara Phyllis Jones says communities of color with high rates of COVID-19 should also get consideration for early access. "I think that CDC got it right partially in terms of those overexposed because of their work or their living conditions, but they did not include our brothers and sisters in prisons, jails, detention centers, and they did not include those of us who are more exposed and less protected in our work…
(2020-12-14). How to Cure America's Vaccine Paranoia. counterpunch.org 
The end is in sight, we are told. The cavalry has arrived in the form of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 on the verge of approval and being manufactured for widespread distribution. The stock market has surged in response to every pharmaceutical company's press release of its latest successful clinical trial. Americans are expecting
(2020-12-14). John Pilger: The Most Lethal Virus Is Not COVID. It Is War. mintpressnews.com 
In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Britain has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defense spending.
(2020-12-14). Pandemic Failure, Vaccine Success Indict American Monopoly Capitalism. commondreams.org This vaccine victory is bittersweet. We have lost so many Americans to the virus, who didn't have to die. Many of them died because of stubbornly pro-capitalist public policy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-14). Avert 'dire consequences', UN women's health agency appeals to global community. news.un.org The UN agency dedicated to improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide (UNFPA) appealed on Monday for $2.5 billion by 2030 to help avert potential "dire consequences" surrounding pregnancies and maternal deaths,…
(2020-12-14). CNN: 'Don't be Alarmed' if People Start Dying After Taking the Vaccine. globalresearch.ca In an article on the COVID vaccine rollout, CNN says that Americans shouldn't be alarmed if people start dying after taking the vaccine because "deaths may occur that won't necessarily have anything to do with the vaccine." | The advisory appeared …
(2020-12-14). The discussion about Corona. indybay.org Corona can only become a kairos if we gain the theoretical capacity of recovery and create the conditions for a transformation. Taking the healthcare system away from the markets and obliging large companies to be oriented in the common good would be steps to infrastructure socialism.
(2020-12-14). Americans Are Drowning in Debt. Let's Forgive All of It. zcomm.org In the age of Covid-19, it's time to end our debt epidemic once and for all…
(2020-12-14). Pandemic Lessons for the Rest of Us. zcomm.org Or Vaccine Thinking Applied to All of American Life…
(2020-12-14). Vaccine Thinking Applied to All of American Life. scheerpost.com Marco Verch Professional Photographer / CC BY 2.0] By Liz Theoharis / TomDispatch Martin Luther King, Jr., offered this all-too-relevant comment on his moment in his 1967 speech "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?": "The contemporary tendency in our society is to base our distribution on scarcity, which has vanished, and to compress our abundance into the overfed mouths of the upper… |
(2020-12-14). London to move into Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions. thecanary.co London will move into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from Wednesday as a result of soaring case rates. | Health secretary Matt Hancock will set out the move, which is also expected to apply to parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, in a Commons statement. | MPs briefed on the plans said a sharp rise in cases meant Hancock was unable to wait until the scheduled review of England's tiers on Wednesday. | One MP said they were told that cases are doubling every seven days in the capital. | Hancock is expected to use his statement to outline the financial support available to the Tier 3 areas. | It follows wa…
(2020-12-14). "Digital Vaccine Passports": Yes, Bill Gates Said That. Here's the Proof. globalresearch.ca Gates and his minions insist the billionaire never said we'd need digital vaccine passports. But in a June 2020 TED Talk, Gates said exactly that. Someone edited out the statement, but CHD tracked down the original. | *** | Some chiseler altered…
(2020-12-14). NJ Lawmaker Wants Mandatory Corona Shot for All Kids Without Exemption. globalresearch.ca A State Senator in New Jersey wants the coronavirus vaccine made mandatory for all school age children, despite them being the least at risk group. | Middlesex Democrat Senator Joseph Vitale also wants to eliminate exemptions that have been used in …
(2020-12-14). Coronavirus Fact-Check #9: Is the Vaccine Safe? globalresearch.ca There are
(2020-12-14). Cautionary Tale: This COVID Vaccine Could Heighten HIV Risk for Some, Scientists Warn. globalresearch.ca In a The researchers — from the Fred Hutchinson …
(2020-12-14). Thousands are facing famine in Yemen due to continuing war and lack of foreign aid. thecanary.co Thousands of people in Yemen are on the brink of According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 13.5m people in Yemen are facing high food insecurity. From analysis during October to December, the IPC found that about 16,500 people are facing a "catastrophe" level of food insecurity. | The IPC projected this to increase in 2021, leading to around 47,000 people enduring the highest level of food insecurity by June.
(2020-12-13). Covid-19: Bahrain approves vaccine from Chinese drug giant Sinopharm. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Bahrain approves vaccine from Chinese drug giant Sinopharm | Gulf country launches online registration scheme for all residents over 18 to receive the vaccine for free | Sun, 12/13/2020 – 17: 23 | China has four vaccines in development, three of which – including Sinopharm – use an inactivated form of the novel coronavirus to boost immunity (AFP) | Bahrain said on Sunday that it…
(2020-12-13). Brazil's Bolsonaro Branded as 'Homicidally Negligent' Over COVID-19 Vaccine Planning, Reports Say. sputniknews.com Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly been accused of ignoring the experimental Chinese COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac for what many suspect are political reasons.
(2020-12-13). "There is no vaccine to save the planet" indybay.org In the Arctic, 2020 has seen exceptional warmth, with temperatures more than 3 degrees Celsius above average – and more than 5 degrees in northern Siberia. Arctic sea ice in October was the lowest on record – and now re-freezing has been the slowest on record. Greenland ice has continued its long-term decline, losing an average of 278 gigatons a year.
(2020-12-13). Inauguration of over 10,000 hospital beds in Iran exceptional. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 13 (MNA) — Iranian Health Minister said that more than 10,000 hospital beds inaugurated in Iran under the severe US sanctions and in the Covid-19 crisis which is exceptional in recent decades.
(2020-12-13). Science Magazine Report Praises China's COVID-19 Vaccine. popularresistance.org The Science magazine website has just published a report praising a Covid-19 vaccine China has developed and referred to its "outstanding efficacy data" as a relevant feature, compared to the other vaccines out in the market. The vaccine, developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (CNPG), had been under phase III trials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since June, involving 31,000 volunteers from 125 countries and regions. | The UAE announced on Wednesday the official registration of the Chinese company's COVID-19 vaccine. According to a statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, th…
(2020-12-13). AZ educators organize sickout amid highest rate of COVID-19. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – When the Chandler Unified School District governing board decided to stay with in-person instruction as Arizona continues to experience another spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths, some educators organized their resistance in the form of a sickout. Over 100 educators in CUSD called in sick on Friday, December 11 to express their opposition to the negligent board. The local union, Chandler Education Association (CEA) had issued a number of demands that include: educator representation on the district COVID committee, use of the more stringent county health metrics, and creating a COVID Task Force of ed…
(2020-12-13). President Luis Arce Travels to Brazil for Medical Check-up. telesurenglish.net Bolivian President Luis Arce departed on Sunday morning to Brazil for a routine appointment, temporarily leaving the presidency in the hands of Vice President David Choquehuanca until Tuesday. | RELATED: | "Today, I am absent from Bolivia until Tuesday, December 15, to carry out my routine health check-up. I thank the Bolivian people for the love and well wishes that they have sent me," Arce tweeted. | Before Arce's trip t…
(2020-12-12). [World Report] Humanitarian access deal for Tigray. thelancet.com Humanitarian groups will be allowed into Tigray, Ethiopia, where conflict has displaced thousands and strained health services. Sharmila Devi reports.
(2020-12-12). Go Vote Yourself a Raise, Georgia—You've Long Earned It. commondreams.org Candidates should be pushed to say if they stand with the super-rich profiteering, callous Big Business tycoons or with the people who work for pitiful wages, on the rugged frontlines, and keep our society running. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-12). Russian health watchdog says Covid-19 triggers process of 'natural selection' as deaths among elderly and infirm peak. rt.com 
An official in charge of protecting the rights of Russian hospital patients has bemoaned that Russia, like the rest of Europe, has chosen "miserable quarantine" as a solution to the coronavirus pandemic. | Maxim Starodubtsev, head of the 'Health Care' public protection watchdog, told journalists on Saturday that the healthcare system was struggling to deal with the rise in cases. "In such a situation, natural selection is turned on. That is, patients die – the elderly, those who, in principle, are susceptible to the most severe course of Covid, and chronic patients [with other conditions] who cannot receive ef…
(2020-12-12). [Correspondence] Cardiovascular preventive strategies are not conflicting. thelancet.com We agree with Michael Brainin and Karen Sliwa1 about the urgent need to improve the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease but would like to correct some other points they raise. Brainin and Sliwa suggest that we2 promoted high-risk approaches over population-based approaches; however, we stated that "Too often debate about prevention of cardiovascular disease is polarised between opposing evangelists for the high-risk and population-wide approaches. An agnostic approach based on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is preferable.
(2020-12-12). With the Trump circus finally ending, can America ever get back to useful politics?>. salon.com Americans are overworked, plagued with debt and imprisoned by inequality. Real politics must be about changing that…
(2020-12-12). British Government And Other Warnings Re Pfizer Covid Vaccine. indybay.org Warnings from UK health officials, CNN, NPR and other | sources re the covid vaccine.
(2020-12-12). [Obituary] Valerie Curtis. thelancet.com Engineer turned hygiene scientist and public health advocate. She was born in Seascale, UK, on Sept 20, 1958, and died of vaginal cancer in Haywards Heath, UK, on Oct 19, 2020, aged 62 years.
(2020-12-12). [World Report] Experts call to include prisons in COVID-19 vaccine plans. thelancet.com As some countries begin vaccination, experts are questioning the allocation and prioritisation lists. Nayanah Siva reports.
(2020-12-12). COVID-19 death toll continues climbing in the Pacific. wsws.org The ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases across the Pacific is amplifying the existing public health crisis.
(2020-12-12). As FDA Gives Pfizer and BioNTech the Green Light, Global Calls Continue to Mount for a #PeoplesVaccine. commondreams.org Campaigners are warning that nine out of 10 people in poor countries are set to miss out on Covid-19 vaccine in 2021. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-12). [Correspondence] One Health or Planetary Health for pandemic prevention? thelancet.com It is a well accepted narrative that the disruption of forests, rapid urbanisation, and population growth are driving zoonotic events simply by increasing close contact between people and animals.1 However, these predictor variables (eg, urbanisation, land usage, human population density) only explain about 30% of the total variation in zoonotic potential.2 With advancing technologies, it has been shown that vertebrate RNA viruses, despite transmitting between species, have co-evolved with their hosts for millions of years, which only strengthens the theory that zoonotic diseases caused by RNA virus spillover, su…
(2020-12-12). Warehouse Workers on the Front Lines of the Covid Crisis Are Worried They'll Be Passed Over for the Vaccine. commondreams.org Low-wage warehouse workers, many of whom are temporary, are demanding access to the vaccine. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-12). [Correspondence] Association of SARS-CoV-2 renal tropism with acute kidney injury. thelancet.com In their report on the association of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) renal tropism with acute kidney injury, Fabian Braun and colleagues1 do not appear to have provided evidence for acute kidney injury as defined in the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) clinical practice guidelines—that is, an increase in serum creatinine (SCr) by 26 ∑5 Œºmol/L or more within 48 h; an increase in SCr to 1 ∑5 times or more from baseline, which is known or presumed to have occurred within the previous 7 days; or a urine volume of less than 0 ∑5 ml/kg per h f…
(2020-12-12). Wednesday 12/16: NAACP Town Hall: Slowing Pandemic Spread, #COVID19 Vaccine, & Health of Black Community. indybay.org Online town hall…
(2020-12-12). [World Report] Bolivia's new health minister promises universal health care. thelancet.com Once implemented, the system will guarantee free health care to Bolivians, but critics say more funding is needed. Amy Booth reports.
(2020-12-12). [Articles] Genome-edited, donor-derived allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells in paediatric and adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: results of two phase 1 studies. thelancet.com These two studies show, for the first time, the feasibility of using allogeneic, genome-edited CAR T cells to treat patients with aggressive leukaemia. UCART19 exhibited in-vivo expansion and antileukaemic activity with a manageable safety profile in heavily pretreated paediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The results this study are an encouraging step forward for the field of allogeneic CAR T cells, and UCART19 offers the opportunity to treat patients with rapidly progressive disease and where autologous CAR-T-cell therapy is unavailable.
(2020-12-12). [Seminar] Primary biliary cholangitis. thelancet.com Primary biliary cholangitis is an autoimmune liver disease that predominantly affects women. It is characterised by a chronic and destructive, small bile duct, granulomatous lymphocytic cholangitis, with typical seroreactivity for antimitochondrial antibodies. Patients have variable risks of progressive ductopenia, cholestasis, and biliary fibrosis. Considerations for the cause of this disease emphasise an interaction of chronic immune damage with biliary epithelial cell responses and encompass complex, poorly understood genetic risks and environmental triggers.
(2020-12-12). Predicting hyperprogressive disease in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with anti-programmed cell death 1 therapy. thelancet.com We identified three clinical variables as risk factors for HPD, providing an opportunity to aid the pre-treatment evaluation of the risk of HPD in patients treated with immunotherapy.
(2020-12-11). Cuba's medical brigades fight the pandemic. workers.org 
Socialist Cuba embodies the spirit of international solidarity by its constant medical aid to countries around the world, especially those impacted by imperialism. This is not just an empty phrase. The true meaning of solidarity is shown every day by teams of Cuban health care workers — the doctors and . . . |
(2020-12-08). Long-acting Cabotegravir Shot Prevents HIV Among Women. jamanetwork.com For the first time, a long-acting shot has been shown to prevent HIV among women in a large-scale trial, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in a statement. The institute announced interim phase 3 trial results for an injectable form of cabotegravir, an investigational HIV drug.
(2020-12-08). Four COVID-19 Lessons for Achieving Health Equity. jamanetwork.com The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has underscored the deep inequities in our health care system. The disproportionately high levels of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths among non-White racial groups reflect poorer underlying health, housing, and job conditions among these minority groups, as well as an inequitable distribution of health resources and persistent gaps in insurance coverage.
(2020-12-08). Pulmonary Fungal Infections Affect Patients With COVID-19. jamanetwork.com Investigators in Spain and the United States have added 20 new case reports to mounting evidence that patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are vulnerable to developing pulmonary aspergillosis. Authors of the case series noted that increased physician awareness in recent years of an association between severe influenza and the fungal infection may have led to more rapid recognition of coronavirus disease—associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA).
(2020-12-08). Data Inaccuracies in Text and Tables. jamanetwork.com In the Research Letter titled "Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Health Care Personnel in the New York City Area," published online first on August 6, 2020, and in the September 1, 2020, issue of JAMA, there were inaccuracies that resulted from a coding error. The errors, once corrected, affect the relative risks and 95% CIs for the associations reported in the tables. Working in direct patient care (but not intensive care) is now significant in bivariable but not multivariable analysis, and several demographic variables (including increasing age and non-White race or ethnicity) that were previously reported…
(2020-12-08). Older Adults and the Mental Health Effects of COVID-19. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint summarizes evidence suggesting that, counter to expectation, older adults as a group may be more resilient to the anxiety, depression, and stress-related mental health disorders characteristic of younger populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.