Women Vaccinators Protect Pakistan’s Children From Polio

UNICEF-supported polio vaccinators go door-to-door in Pakistan, protecting children from deadly disease. (and are sometimes murdered for their work by fundamentalists)

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UNICEF-supported polio vaccinators go door-to-door in Pakistan, protecting children from deadly disease.

7-Year-old Liza Scott Sells Lemonade to Fund Her Own Brain Surgery

So often, a story like this will make the rounds on social media: a vulnerable American (bonus points if they are very old or very young, two groups easy to sympathize with) who is down on their luck, does something extraordinary to change their situation. Rarely mentioned is the reason they find themselves in hardship: the lack of any social safety net, the dissolution of the welfare state, and the cruel calculations of our healthcare system. Source: 7-Year-old Liza Scott Sells Lemonade to Fund Her Own Brain Surgery

US experts warn new Covid variants and states reopening may lead to fourth wave | Coronavirus | The Guardian

At the same time, a series of reports from the CDC this week highlighted the ongoing dangers of Covid-19. One CDC report tracked the travel of one of the first patients diagnosed with the B117 variants in the US – and the variant’s ability to spread even with restrictions in place.

The patient in question traveled to the UK for the holidays, encountered a sick relative at a family gathering on Christmas Eve, and developed mild Covid-like symptoms immediately before taking a transatlantic flight back to Dallas, Texas. A few days before the flight, the patient tested negative for Covid-19, but used a low-specificity antigen test.

Once the patient arrived in Dallas, they drove eight hours across the state; stopped five times for food, gas and groceries; they arrived home with worse symptoms, and eventually tested positive for the B117 variant of Covid-19.

In another report issued by the CDC this week, the agency found the rate of Covid-19 among children in Mississippi was probably 10 times worse than the number of reported cases, and had infected perhaps as many as one in six children by last September.

third report highlighted the association between restaurant dining, mask mandates and Covid-19 transmission. The agency found mask mandates drove down transmission and death rates, while any on-premises restaurant dining tended to drive up transmission and death rates.

To stop the spread of Covid-19 entirely, a nuanced concept called “herd immunity”, scientists believe the US would need to vaccinate the vast majority of adults. Even if vaccine manufacturers are able to produce enough doses to reach all American adults by the end of May, as Biden has promised, vaccine hesitancy, poor distribution and logistical barriers could still derail the immunization campaign.

Source: US experts warn new Covid variants and states reopening may lead to fourth wave | Coronavirus | The Guardian

CDC study finds easing mask mandates, restaurant restrictions led to higher Covid cases and deaths

A new CDC study published on Friday found that local mask requirements and limited dining at restaurants can help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

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A new CDC study published on Friday found that local mask requirements and limited dining at restaurants can help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

States that allowed indoor dining saw 3% rise in COVID-19 deaths, CDC finds

States that lifted restrictions on indoor dining in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic last year saw 2% to 3% increases in daily death rates related to the virus 60 to 100 days after doing so, according a CDC analysis. States-that-allowed-indoor-dining-saw-3- States that lifted restrictions on indoor dining in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic last year saw 2% to 3% increases in daily death rates related to the virus 60 to 100 days after doing so, according a CDC analysis.

FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Ineligible Imported Raw Frozen New Orleans – Roasted Chicken Wings from the Peoples Republic of China | Food Safety Inspection Service (New enforcement-publication must have kicked in – 86 FSIS findings published today… usually a low number)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for raw frozen New Orleans -Roasted Chicken Wings products imported and labeled with a false USDA mark of inspection. A recall was not requested because the known affected product is no longer available in commerce for consumers to purchase.

Di-Da Di-Da USA Corp., a Saratoga, Calif., establishment received, and distributed ineligible imported frozen chicken wings products from The Peoples Republic of China to U.S. commerce for retail sale.

The following product is subject to the public health alert

  • 600-gram bags of “Chicken Arrived, Organic Chicken, NEW ORLEANS – ROASTED CHICKEN WINGS.”

The products were shipped to one retail location and then further distributed to 20 different retail locations in California, Oregon, and Washington. The frozen chicken wings products are labeled with a false USDA mark of inspection bearing “P-40478,” an establishment number that does not exist.

Source: FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Ineligible Imported Raw Frozen New Orleans – Roasted Chicken Wings from the Peoples Republic of China | Food Safety Inspection Service

Why Italy’s Australian vaccine ban matters even if we’re making our own

News of the blockage of a shipment of 250,000 COVID-19 vaccines from Europe to Australia has caused concern and outrage. But to avoid these types of shortfalls in future, it’s important to address the underlying problems, writes Deborah Gleeson.

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News of the blockage of a shipment of 250,000 COVID-19 vaccines from Europe to Australia has caused concern and outrage. But to avoid these types of shortfalls in future, it’s important to address the underlying problems, writes Deborah Gleeson.

Seth Meyers to Democrats: ‘Stop behaving like your own opposition party’

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Late-night hosts discussed the Democrats struggling to get two major bills passed and Biden’s Fox News-enraging ‘Neanderthal’ comment

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host took time to remind his viewers that Donald Trump was “bad at pretty much everything when it came to politics” despite him claiming the opposite.

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Anti-virus mogul John McAfee charged with fraud over crypto promotion

McAfee indicted in Manhattan federal court over schemes that promoted cryptocurrency offerings on social media

John McAfee, creator of the eponymous anti-virus software, has been indicted in Manhattan federal court on fraud and money laundering conspiracy crimes, stemming from two schemes concerning the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies.

McAfee and his bodyguard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr were charged for a scheme to exploit McAfee’s large Twitter following by publicly touting cryptocurrency offerings and digital tokens that they later sold once prices rose on the promotions, according to the US Department of Justice and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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McAfee indicted in Manhattan federal court over schemes that promoted cryptocurrency offerings on social media

John McAfee, creator of the eponymous anti-virus software, has been indicted in Manhattan federal court on fraud and money laundering conspiracy crimes, stemming from two schemes concerning the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies.

McAfee and his bodyguard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr were charged for a scheme to exploit McAfee’s large Twitter following by publicly touting cryptocurrency offerings and digital tokens that they later sold once prices rose on the promotions, according to the US Department of Justice and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Continue reading…