(2020-12-02). The Heat: U.S. battles COVID-19. america.cgtn.com 
A CDC panel meets to discuss who will be first in line for a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.
(2020-12-02). Communist teacher turned health minister leads pandemic fight in India. peoplesworld.org 
"How Communist Physics Teacher Flattens COVID-19 Curve in Southern India," a headline in the online Science News, caught my eye. That was a contrast to the tragic number of pandemic deaths in the rest of India, or for that matter, in the United States. But I wasn't surprised. I had attended a math teachers conference …
(2020-12-02). Spain unveils festive travel ban & Covid curfews, but allows groups of 10 to gather for Christmas and New Year. rt.com 
Spaniards celebrating Christmas and New Year can meet in groups of 10, but will be banned from moving between regions over the festive period in order to keep a lid on coronavirus infections, the country's health minister said. | The current six-person limit for people gathering outside their household will be extended to 10 on December 24, 25, 31 and January 1, Minister Salvador Illa revealed on Wednesday. | He also announced curfews will be extended to 1: 30am on December 24 and 31, but said that it is "strongly recommended" that people do not mix together from more than two 'bubbles.' | A ban on travel betwe…
(2020-12-02). Vaccine 90% effective at pushing Tory coronyism from the headlines. thecanary.co 
Image descriptionA scientist in a lab coat and holding a clipboard is illustrated next to a poster featuring the words "Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine" and the image of a syringe with two vaccine vials. The scientist is saying "The vaccine has been proven to be 90% effective at pushing Tory cronyism and incompetence out of the headlines! It will also be vital in fighting the virus…". | By
(2020-12-02). Britain's Pfizer vaccine announcement gives anti-vaxxers an unlikely boost blamed on Russia without any evidence. rt.com 
The UK's approval of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine was heralded by the government as a breakthrough for "humanity." However, its announcement was met with a surge of vaccine skepticism online. | Britain became the first nation in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use on Wednesday. The announcement was delivered in pompous style by the government, with business secretary Alok Sharma celebrating how "the UK led humanity's charge against this disease," and Health Secretary Matt Hancock volunteering to take the jab on live television with ITV's Piers Morgan. | Also on rt.com…
(2020-12-02). Healthcare Innovations: Going Too Far or Not Far Enough? dissidentvoice.org 
Image Source: Pexels Technological innovations have reshaped the world drastically in only a matter of decades, giving us life-changing devices like smartphones that allow us to tap into worlds of information instantly. The healthcare sector, however, for all its developments, is not quite catching up to the rates of innovation seen in other industries. Introducing …
(2020-12-02). International values for haemoglobin distributions in healthy pregnant women. thelancet.com We have generated International, gestational age-specific, smoothed centiles for maternal haemoglobin concentration compatible with better pregnancy outcomes, as well as adequate neonatal and early childhood morbidity, growth and development up to 2 years of age.
(2020-12-02). Hundreds of Nursing Home Workers Are on Strike. truthout.org Around 700 workers in 11 nursing homes run by Infinity Healthcare Management are entering their second week on strike. The workers, who are part of SEIU Healthcare, are demanding higher wages, hazard pay and better staffing. They are also demanding PPE, which is in short supply and could mean life or death for the elderly as well as for the workers. Many of whom are women, and they are overwhelmingly people of color. These sectors are disproportionately represented among essential workers, and are also disproportionately…
(2020-12-02). Aerially Sprayed Pesticide Contains the PFAS "Forever Chemicals". Impacts on Human Health. globalresearch.ca State efforts to control mosquito-borne illnesses may be creating a new health problem. The insecticide Massachusetts and numerous other states use for mosquito control, both applied aerially and sprayed from trucks along roads, contains per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to …
(2020-12-02). COVID-19's impact on wages is only just getting started, ILO warns. news.un.org Global pressure on wages from COVID-19 will not stop with the arrival of a vaccine, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned on Wednesday, coinciding with a major report showing how the pandemic had slowed or reversed a trend of rising wages across the world, hitting women workers and the low-paid hardest.
(2020-12-02). Book Review of The Inner Level. zcomm.org As this book both documents and generously discusses, rising income inequality leads to a plague of ills: higher rates of people in prison, higher teenage birth rates, higher rates of mental illness, more child neglect and bullying…
(2020-12-02). Warp Speed Ahead: COVID-19 Vaccines Pave the Way for a New Frontier in Surveillance. globalresearch.ca " Like it or …
(2020-12-02). Covid-19, Schools and the Digital Divide. strategic-culture.org When the Covid-19 pandemic is finally contained, a day of reckoning over the various failures of the American social system will likely come. The call for a Medicare for All plan may well gain political support in the face of the failure of the private insurance model tied to one's employment.
(2020-12-02). 2020 may be third hottest year on record, world could hit climate change milestone by 2024. news.un.org Global pressure on wages from COVID-19 will not stop with the arrival of a vaccine, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned on Wednesday, coinciding with a major report showing how the pandemic had slowed or reversed a trend of rising wages across the world, hitting women workers and the low-paid hardest.
(2020-12-02). Health Officials Face Death Threats From Coronavirus Deniers. zcomm.org As people across the country refuse mask mandates, public health officials are fighting an uphill battle with little government support…
(2020-12-02). How Hospital Monopolies Broke the Health Care System. thenation.com How Hospital Monopolies Broke the Health Care System…
(2020-12-02). hCG Found in WHO Tetanus Vaccine in Kenya Raises Concern in the Developing World. globalresearch.ca Of relevance to the current debate on vaccines, originally published in 2017 | Abstract | In 1993, WHO announced a "birth-control vaccine" for "family planning". Published research shows that by 1976 WHO researchers had conjugated tetanus toxoid (TT) with human chorionic gonadotropin …
(2020-12-02). Q&A: Cold chains, COVID-19 vaccines and reaching low-income countries. imperial.ac.uk Many low-income countries lack the infrastructure to deliver vaccines effectively, so how can we ensure COVID-19 vaccines are accessible for all?>
(2020-12-02). Tuesday 12/15: Equity in Health Care: The Awful Truth About Race, Economic Status & U.S. Health Care. indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-12-02). The Davos "Great Reset" 2021 Agenda of the World Economic Forum. A New Phase of Economic and Social Destruction? globalresearch.ca On June 3, 2020, as a consequence of the "global health crisis", the World Economic Forum WEF in Geneva announced a "unique twin summit" for January 2021 in Davos, Switzerland.(1) The theme should be "The Great Reset". The WEF defines …
(2020-12-01). Vaccine Ethics: Doctor Warns Against Paying People to Get COVID Vaccine as U.S. Preps Distribution. democracynow.org 
As distribution of coronavirus vaccines draws near, a recent poll suggests that 42% of Americans are reluctant to take the vaccine. In response, some, including former Maryland congressmember and presidential candidate John Delaney, are pushing to pay people to get vaccinated, a move being discouraged by many, including Dr. Monica Peek, a physician, associate professor of medicine and health disparities researcher at the University of Chicago. She says there are major concerns about how to ensure at-risk groups get vaccinated while overcoming public doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, but paying…
(2020-12-01). Beijing is ready to enter dialogue with NATO but urges West to take the correct view of China. rt.com 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned NATO to take a rational view of China's rise and foreign policy, but said it is willing to engage in dialogue with the alliance on the basis of mutual respect. | Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told the gathered press on Tuesday that Beijing was prepared to cooperate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). | Her remarks come on the same day as NATO is set to publish a report which purportedly outlines the growing threat posed by the Chinese state. | Hua said China has always had a purely defensive national defense policy and hoped that N…
(2020-12-01). "I spoke to impoverished families in 1975 and little has changed since then" dissidentvoice.org 
A British family from the film Smashing Kids, 1975. Photograph: John Garrett John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it's revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty …
(2020-12-01). World AIDS Day Is Grim Reminder of an Ongoing Epidemic, with 700,000 Dead from HIV/AIDS in 2019. democracynow.org 
December 1 is World AIDS Day, and as the world waits on an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we look at the ongoing AIDS epidemic and how the coronavirus has threatened treatment for those living with HIV. Author and journalism professor Steven Thrasher says the coronavirus has amplified racial, class and other disparities, just as AIDS has done for decades, and that treatments must have an antiracist and anti-capitalist foundation in order to be successful. "HIV/AIDS has continued to kill way too many people. Almost 700,000 people died last year," says Thrasher. "The problem is not just the drugs. It's the conditi…
(2020-12-01). Vaccine Ethics: Doctor Warns Against Paying People to Get COVID Vaccine as U.S. Preps Distribution. democracynow.org As distribution of coronavirus vaccines draws near, a recent poll suggests that 42% of Americans are reluctant to take the vaccine. In response, some, including former Maryland congressmember and presidential candidate John Delaney, are pushing to pay people to get vaccinated, a move being discouraged by many, including Dr. Monica Peek, a physician, associate professor of medicine and health disparities researcher at the University of Chicago. She says there are major concerns about how to ensure at-risk groups get vaccinated while overcoming public doubts about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, but paying…
(2020-12-01). "Part of the Solution": Meet the Black Doctor Who Joined a Vaccine Trial After Her Dad Died of COVID. democracynow.org 
As the drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna seek emergency approval for their coronavirus vaccines, public health bodies and regulators are weighing how to distribute the vaccines and who will get access to them. The pandemic is disproportionately impacting African American, Latinx and Indigenous communities, exposing long-standing inequities and systemic racism in the U.S. healthcare system. These same communities are underrepresented in the clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, due in part to centuries of abusive treatment at the hands of medical researchers. We speak with Dr. Chris Pernell, a public health physician…
(2020-12-01). The more the merrier? Philippines orders Covid-19 vaccines from FOUR different countries. rt.com 
As nations around the world begin lining up for the roll-out of a range of coronavirus jabs, the Philippines has apparently decided to hedge its bets by purchasing four different vaccine brands. | The Southeast Asian country will procure Covid-19 vaccines developed by China's Sinovac, the US-German Pfizer-BioNTech partnership, the UK's AstraZeneca-Oxford University variant, as well as the jab created by Russia's Gamaleya Center, known as Sputnik V. | Read more | | The decision…
(2020-12-01). "Part of the Solution": Meet the Black Doctor Who Joined a Vaccine Trial After Her Dad Died of COVID. democracynow.org As the drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna seek emergency approval for their coronavirus vaccines, public health bodies and regulators are weighing how to distribute the vaccines and who will get access to them. The pandemic is disproportionately impacting African American, Latinx and Indigenous communities, exposing long-standing inequities and systemic racism in the U.S. healthcare system. These same communities are underrepresented in the clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines, due in part to centuries of abusive treatment at the hands of medical researchers. We speak with Dr. Chris Pernell, a public health physician…
(2020-12-01). After years of research, top Moscow health official reveals Russia may be close to unveiling prototype 'HIV vaccine'. rt.com 
Russia's research into the development of a HIV vaccine appears to be bearing fruit with progress reported in relation to a number of prototypes, the head of the country's health regulator said on Tuesday. | Anna Popova, the head of the federal health agency Rospotrebnadzor, explained that several formulas were under investigation by scientists who had worked in the area for "a sufficient number of years." | "We have our own prototypes, we have our own vaccines," she said. Popova added that Novosibirsk's Vector Research Center has a prototype, and "a number of other research organizations in Russia have their…
(2020-12-01). "I spoke to impoverished families in 1975 and little has changed since then" dissidentvoice.org A British family from the film Smashing Kids, 1975. Photograph: John Garrett John Pilger interviewed Irene Brunsden in Hackney, east London about only being able to feed her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes in 1975. Now he sees nervous women queueing at foodbanks with their children as it's revealed 600,000 more kids are in poverty …
(2020-12-01). COVID explodes inside prisons, but only guards to get first doses of vaccine. mronline.org 
Over the past week, 14,697 new cases of Coronavirus infection were reported inside of state and federal prisons—the highest level since the pandemic began.
(2020-12-01). What is Covid-19, SARS-2. How is it Tested? How is It Measured? The Fear Campaign Has No Scientific Basis. globalresearch.ca The data and concepts have been manipulated with a view to sustaining the fear campaign. The estimates are meaningless. The figures have been hyped to justify the closure of the national economy. Covid-19 is a public health concern but it is NOT a dangerous virus.
(2020-12-01). Mexico: Free Healthcare for People Without Social Security. telesurenglish.net Health services in Mexico are free of charge for all the population, including people without social security, according to a decree implemented on Tuesday by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. | RELATED: | The decree establishes that federal hospitals will determine consultation, medical procedures, or additional diagnostic studies in high specialty facilities and national institutes of health that re…
(2020-12-01). 'Protect Us': Colorado High School Students Post Video Pleading With Local Authorities to Ban Fracking. commondreams.org "We shouldn't be afraid for our health when we step outside our own houses," says one of the students in the video. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-12-01). Association of Meningococcus Group B Vaccine With Group B Invasive Meningococcal Disease Among Children. jamanetwork.com This case-control study uses national hospital and immunization records in Portugal to estimates the difference in incidence of invasive group B meningococcal disease among children and adolescents who were immunized vs not immunized with 4CMenB, a 4-component meningococcus group B vaccine licensed in 2013.
(2020-12-01). China Has Given COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate to Kim Jong-un, US Analysts Claim. sputniknews.com North Korea enhanced control over its border last week to keep the coronavirus pandemic from entering the country. Although the government claims there are no confirmed COVID-19 infections in North Korea, there have been media reports claiming that there are more than 8,000 "suspected" coronavirus cases in the Asian nation.
(2020-12-01). 'Housing is healthcare': Evictions have exacerbated Covid-19 pandemic, research shows. nationofchange.org "This is a time where it's not an overstatement to say that for many people, eviction can lead to death."
(2020-12-01). The Christmas Big Pharma Race in On: "Back to Normal" When We Get the Covid Vaccine? globalresearch.ca Ask anyone and they will say things will be back to 'normal' as soon as we all have the vaccine. Furthermore, if your only source of news is sponsored by
(2020-12-01). Appalachia's Hospital Closures Are a Slow-Motion Health Care Emergency. thenation.com Appalachia's Hospital Closures Are a Slow-Motion Health Care Emergency…
(2020-12-01). The Need for More and Better Testing for COVID-19. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint proposes criteria for more effective COVID-19 testing strategies to manage population transmission, including use of rapid antigen tests and self-administered nasal and salivary tests, emphasizing that more effective testing alone cannot control the pandemic without continued public health interventions, such as mask wearing, physical distancing, and avoidance of large gatherings.
(2020-12-01). Nurse Fired During Fight For PPE Now Facing Board Of Nursing Investigation. popularresistance.org Cliff Willmeng, the RN employed at Allina Health's United Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota, who was fired during workplace struggles for frontline safety and patient care, received notification that Allina Health reported him to the Minnesota Board of Nursing last week. The Board of Nursing, the state governmental body that issues and maintains licenses for registered nurses, can both censor nurses and revoke nurses' licenses. | Willlmeng has never been reported to any Board of Nursing during his 13-year nursing career, which spans three states and includes employment in emergency medicine, intensive care, and othe…
(2020-12-01). WHO Calls for 'Global Solidarity' on World AIDS Day to Beat HIV, COVID-19 Outbreaks. sputniknews.com Although Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was first detected more than 40 years ago, the illness continues to infect and kill millions of people around the globe. Its persistence serves as a grim reminder that epidemic illnesses aren't defeated overnight or without concerted effort.
(2020-12-01). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Chilean health care workers are protesting for more funding from the government to fight COVID-19 while teachers in Mexico and Peru struck and demonstrated over pay and budgetary support and Washington state health care workers demand adequate staffing and PPE.
(2020-12-01). World AIDS Day Is Grim Reminder of an Ongoing Epidemic Amid COVID-19. truthout.org December 1 is World AIDS Day, and as the world waits on an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we look at the ongoing AIDS epidemic and how the coronavirus has threatened treatment for those living with HIV. Author and journalism professor Steven Thrasher says the coronavirus has amplified racial, class and other disparities, just as AIDS has done for decades, and that treatments must have an antiracist and anti-capitalist foundation in order to be successful. "HIV/AIDS has continued to kill way too many pe…
(2020-12-01). Therapy for Early COVID-19—A Critical Need. jamanetwork.com In this Viewpoint, Fauci and NIAID colleagues review leading candidates for treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to prevent disease progression and longer-term complications, including emerging antiviral drugs, immune-modulating agents, and antibody-based therapies, and the challenges of developing randomized trials to rapidly evaluate the safety and efficacy of each.
(2020-12-01). Cannabidiol and Δ 9 -Tetrahydrocannabinol Effects on Driving Performance. jamanetwork.com This crossover randomized clinical trial evaluated driving test performance of healthy young adult volunteers after vaporized consumption of cannabis (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] and cannabidiol [CBD]) vs placebo.
(2020-12-01). Gov. Tim Walz Turns Blind Eye to Pipeline Construction: Health Professionals Warn This Could Spread COVID and Accelerate Dangerous Climate Change. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-12-01). Hospital-Acquired SARS-CoV-2 Infection. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint reviews the rare incidence of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection and discusses ways it can be minimized, including use of surgical masks, proper ventilation, physical distancing, eye protection, regular testing, and the availability of sick leave for health care workers.
(2020-12-01). Dispensing of Zolpidem and Low-Dose Trazodone Among Commercially Insured Adults in the US, 2011-2018. jamanetwork.com This study uses IBM MarketScan database data to describe trends in zolpidem and low-dose trazodone dispensing among adults with employer-sponsored insurance or Medicare supplemental plans between 2011 and 2018, before and after a 2017 clinical practice guideline discouraged trazodone use for insomnia.
(2020-12-01). New Partnership Aims to Intercept Illegal Drugs and Devices. jamanetwork.com The FDA has joined with US Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) to stop harmful products that threaten the public's health from entering the US through International Mail Facilities.
