Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Valley legislators hail state climate bill for raising bar – Northampton, Massachusetts

NORTHAMPTON — State lawmakers have passed an ambitious climate bill that codifies the statewide greenhouse gas limit for 2050 at “net zero” emissions, enacts a schedule for raising the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, and puts environmental justice into state law, among many other provisions.

“It makes solid advances in the fight against climate change,” said state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton.

Source: Valley legislators hail state climate bill for raising bar

First responders to get vaccinated at county sites – Northampton, Massachusetts

Three sites in Hampshire County will begin administering COVID-19 vaccine doses to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other first responders through scheduled appointments on Jan. 11.

An online reservation system will be set up this week for the vaccinations at the Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz St.; the Bangs Community Center in Amherst, 30 Boltwood Walk; and the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts, 1 Campus Center Way, according to state officials. Similar sites are being set up around the state.

Source: First responders to get vaccinated at county sites

Lebanon’s inoculation drive to start with only 60,000 vaccines | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s coronavirus inoculation program is set for a slow start in February, with a first shipment of only around 60,000 vaccines arriving in the first half of the month as 12 vaccination centers are established across the country.

The deal between Pfizer-BioNTech and the government for a total of 2.1 million vaccines was expected to be signed last week but negotiations over the responsibility for potential side-effects of the vaccine has caused delays.

Assem Araji MP, head of Parliament’s health committee, told The Daily Star: “Pfizer do not want to take responsibility; this is why we are still negotiating.” However, he assured that the Lebanese government would agree to take responsibility, and that the deal should be signed “by the end of the week.”

Dr. Abdul Rahman Bizri, head of the government’s emergency health commission, revealed to The Daily Star that the country’s vaccination program would include an initial 12 coronavirus vaccinations centers, established specifically for administering the vaccine.

Source: Lebanon’s inoculation drive to start with only 60,000 vaccines | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR

Kazakhstan ready to procure Covid-19 vaccines from India after dialogues, says envoy

“Kazakhstan is producing three vaccines, which are in 2nd and 3rd phase, there’s been no official dialogue with India, but we know India has two vaccines, which is good. We are ready to talk for ordering India’s vaccine after the approval of both countries,” Source: Kazakhstan ready to procure Covid-19 vaccines from India after dialogues, says envoy

More vaccines on the way to Texas as the COVID-19 situation worsens | The Texas Tribune

“The problem is unrealistic expectations based on the reality on the ground,” said Marshall Cothran, CEO of the Travis County Medical Society, which received 700 doses through a local partnership and had them all scheduled within 48 hours for physicians and staff who are not affiliated with hospitals or other care organizations.

With the new shipments this week, the state has been allotted a total of 1.5 million doses through the first four weeks of distribution, officials said Monday. Providers in 214 of the state’s 254 counties will have received shipments by the end of the week, health officials said.

Source: More vaccines on the way to Texas as the COVID-19 situation worsens | The Texas Tribune

FDA Warns Health Officials Not To Mess With COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Schedule : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning health care workers that any changes to the authorized dosing schedules of COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered significantly place public health at risk and undermine “the historic vaccination effort to protect the population” from the coronavirus pandemic. The first and second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are approved to be delivered within a 21-day window, while the Moderna injections should be spread over 28 days. When given at those intervals, both vaccines are about 95% effective, according to the respective drugmakers.

Source: FDA Warns Health Officials Not To Mess With COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Schedule : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

Jammed LA County hospitals get assistance with overtaxed oxygen-delivery systems – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, Jan. 4, that the state has convened an oxygen task force and devised a five-part strategy for addressing the higher-than-usual demand for oxygen and related equipment.

Among these strategies was the deployment of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel to area hospitals to evaluate not only their oxygen delivery systems but their ability to add more beds in the event of an increase in patient load, said Mike Petersen, chief of public affairs for the Army Corps’ South Pacific division.

Source: Jammed LA County hospitals get assistance with overtaxed oxygen-delivery systems – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Scientists Debate New Covid-19 Vaccination Tactics as Rollout Falters – The New York Times

“We have an issue with distribution, not the number of doses,” said Saad Omer, a vaccine expert at Yale University. “Doubling the number of doses doesn’t double your capacity to give doses.”

Federal health officials said last week that some 14 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines had been shipped out across the country. But as of Saturday morning, just 4.2 million people in the United States had gotten their first shots.

That number is most likely an underestimate because of lags in reporting. Still, the figure falls far short of the goal that federal health officials set as recently as last month to give 20 million people their first shots by the end of 2020.

Many of these rollout woes are caused by logistical issues — against the backdrop of a strained health care system and skepticism around vaccines. Freeing up more doses for first injections won’t solve problems like those, some researchers argue.

Shweta Bansal, a mathematical biologist at Georgetown University, and others also raised concerns about the social and psychological impacts of delaying second doses.