Cases are still high when it comes to the coronavirus. And children, for now, remain mostly unvaccinated against COVID-19.
So this is a recipe for a dangerous winter if more people don’t get the vaccine, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We are now heading in the right direction ... but with cases still high, we must remain vigilant heading into the colder, drier winter months,” she said Wednesday, per CNN.
How COVID-19 may change your life this winter
Doctors have warned that there might be a “twindemic” this winter season, as COVID-19 and the flu mix together for the first time. Social distancing guidelines and mask rules are limited this winter compared to 2020, so there’s a chance more sicknesses will spread throughout the country.
“This year, however, we are heading into the flu season with more relaxed restrictions and the situation will allow for increased chance of respiratory illness transmissions,” Dr. TingTing Wong, an infectious disease specialist in New York, told Fox News. “We saw a similar uptick of ‘summer colds’ caused by other viruses (for example RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, and rhino viruses, etc.) this summer as restrictions relaxed and the fear is a similar uptick of flu cases this fall/winter season.”
“Bottom line, please get the flu vaccine early!” Wong said.
I got the call two days before Christmas 2020, and a couple of weeks before my 37th birthday.
“Ms. Hughes, your biopsy came back positive and your diagnosis is invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).”
The cancer has spread to surrounding breast tissues. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 180,000 women in the United States find out they have invasive breast cancer each year.
I was blindsided. Breast cancer was not prevalent in my familyand my doctor had always encouraged annual mammograms starting at the age of 40. If it had not been for the tiny, mosquito-sized bump on my outer left breast, I would have gone undetected and can’t imagine the outcome.
Fast forward to the start of the new year. I underwent multiple tests to uncover if cancer cells had spread beyond my left breast and if I had the hereditary BRCA genes. My test results came back negative, but I still had some very tough decisions to make about next steps.
My breast surgeon presented me with two options: lumpectomy (removal of cancerous tissue in part of the breast) or mastectomy(removal of the entire breast). I quickly came to the realization that the choice would be my own based on varying factors and treatment considerations.
The right decision is different for each woman and every situation is different. For example, in my case, proceeding with a lumpectomy would require radiation after surgery. My doctor also made it clear to me prior to surgery that treatment could also include chemotherapy and/or hormone therapy depending on post-surgery results.
In the few short weeks of contemplating this life-altering decision things seemed to go in slow motion. It was a surreal time met with a rollercoaster of emotions, yet my faith remained high. I delved through as much data and research that I could find and sought out real-life stories from survivors and thrivers. To my surprise, examples of women who look like me were few and far between which was disappointing, especially after uncovering the breast cancer disparities for Black women. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer incidence rates are higher among blacks than whites for women under age 45 (Black women are 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than white women).
On the Feb. 23, I chose to have a skin-sparing mastectomy of my left breast with reconstruction set for a later date. I had an expander placed inside my chest at the same time as my mastectomy, and two drains that had to be monitored and managed over a two-week period before being removed.
What I did not know at the time of surgery is that I would lose range of motion in my left arm due to having a group of lymph nodes removed from underneath my arm. As a result, I underwent six weeks of physical therapy to get my range of motion back. Simultaneously, I had bi-weekly appointments with my reconstruction surgeon to expand the expander to the size of my normal breast. In early May, I had the expander removed and an implant placed while my right breast underwent a lift for better reconstruction results. This was a two-month process with more surgeries on the horizon to achieve symmetry. During this time period, I underwent fertility preservation as a result of being placed on hormone therapy to prevent reoccurrence. In my case, I did not have to undergo radiation nor chemotherapy once my tumor was tested post-surgery.
My body needed a beak and mentally I was maxed out. I took the next four months to heal.
On October 7, at the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I underwent a fat grafting procedure (i.e., fat transfer from one area of the body to another) and it went well.
The journey over this one year time frame has been long, but when I look at my scars I am reminded that I am strong and courageous. To anyone reading this with a tough decision weighing on your heart, know that you are strong enough to do the hard things.
Article From & Read More ( SUNDAY ‘NOIRE: Breast Cancer Survivor Talks About The Hard Choice Between Lumpectomy And Mastectomy - Yahoo Lifestyle )
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Inaugurated in 2020 by First Lady Samina Alvi, it offers a safe space for women who need information on breast cancer.
It isn't easy for women to talk about breast cancer in Pakistan. The disease is steeped in social stigma, which is especially concerning given that Pakistan has the highest prevalence of breast cancer in Asia. The hesitancy to talk about breast cancer, to open up if you or your loved ones suffer from it, hinders an individual's chances of getting proper treatment. Many lives are lost simply because the disease isn't caught on time. This is where the national breast cancer helpline aims to step in — a telephone service that helps women open up about breast cancer, despite the taboos, and get access to quality healthcare.
The national breast cancer helpline is run by a digital health company called DoctHERs that established the service in collaboration with First Lady Samina Alvi. According to the team at DoctHERs, the first lady, a fierce advocate for breast cancer awareness, made it a priority to "inaugurate a national helpline that could provide timely access to information and resources about the disease".
"When we spoke to the first lady, there were a few points that both parties agreed would be key to establishing a trusted helpline," the team at DoctHERs said. "[The helpline should give] access to quality, anonymous and convenient care. [It should lead to] a safe space for women to call in and get information [that is] medically vetted and presented in a culturally sensitive way. It should [also] be run by an all-female team of nurses, doctors, mental health professionals, and pharmacists."
With all of this in mind, the national breast cancer helpline was inaugurated by First Lady Alvi in September 2020. A year down the line, the team has a good understanding of how people respond to breast cancer and use the helpline.
The inauguration of the breast cancer helpline
What kind of assistance does the helpline offer?
The helpline is open for both men and women. "Really anyone who may have questions about Breast Cancer [can call in]", the team said. It offers:
General information on breast health and breast cancer
Referrals to local and national resources like hospitals, clinics, and radiology centres for mammograms
Mental health support for patients, survivors, and their families
Assistance in setting up appointments with consultants
Material on how to conduct breast self-examinations
What happens once someone calls the helpline for assistance?
Once an individual calls in for help, the process is quite simple. "Calls are answered and triaged by care coordinators or nurses who understand the query first," the DoctHERs team shared. The caller then receives a call back from from a relevant health care provider, such as a female doctor or therapist.
"The triage process allows us to gather information and ensure that we are connecting the caller to the right resource in order to address their concern accurately," they shared.
What kind of calls has the helpline received since its inauguration?
It's been a year since the national breast cancer helpline has been active, and so far it has handled more than 4,000 calls on all sorts of topics when it comes to breast cancer. "We have had women call us after they've discovered a lump and now need support on what to do next," they said. "We have had [calls from] families looking for assistance in locating diagnostic centres for mammograms and ultrasounds. We have had families — and even doctors — call us, asking if they can be connected to patient assistance programmes that offer financial help."
The helpline has also provided emotional help to the friends and family of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. "Men and women contact us after finding out that someone close to them, such as a relative or friend, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. They call us for emotional support."
Fighting myths and misinformation
For the team behind the helpline, a huge part of what they do involves de-stigmatising breast cancer by separating facts and myths. "There are so many misconceptions about Breast Cancer," they said. "Misinformation about who is at risk and what it means when someone in a family is diagnosed. A lot of our time goes into briefing callers about facts versus myths."
According to Dr Komal Rizvi, the Mental Health Lead at DoctHERs, 48% of women in Pakistan do not have a say in matters of their own health and this number multiplies when it comes to women in rural areas, the vast majority of whom do not have access to quality healthcare or are unable to access healthcare on their own, often relying on male family members to support them.
"So many women we speak to have had lumps for years that went undiagnosed and untreated," the DoctHERs team said. "By the time they connect with our doctors, their disease has progressed and the odds are stacked against them."
The social issues often kick in after diagnosis. "We have been in touch with women who were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and required immediate surgery, but their families were reluctant to get them treated. There are concerns that if word gets out about a mother having breast cancer, that might affect the marriage prospects of her daughters.
"There is resistance around the topic and we need to create awareness in both women and men to address [the issue], just like any other medical condition."
Breast cancer is treatable if it is caught early
Women need to be encouraged to open up about any signs of breast cancer they notice, since diagnosis at the right time can potentially save many lives across Pakistan. "If [the disease] is detected early on. it is treatable and can have a good prognosis," DoctHERs shared. "It is absolutely heartbreaking that women [in Pakistan] are still dying of breast cancer in 2021, despite the disease being manageable if the signs are caught early on.
"One piece of advice for Pakistani women is get to know your bodies really well. Develop a relationship with your body and connect with it. Be aware of the things that cause [you to feel] ashamed of your bodies and loose touch with it. Our bodies are beautiful, we need to prioritise our health and learn to love and look after them."
The national breast cancer helpline number is 0213-873-7373.
Article From & Read More ( The national breast cancer helpline is battling a 'taboo' disease, one phone call at a time - DAWN.com )
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In medicine, the relationship between doctor and patient is predicated on that most basic of societal values: trust. The concept of this relationship — and the notion that it is dependent on both parties' participation — dates to the Greek enlightenment, around the 5th century B.C.E. Patients trust that their health care provider will make treatment recommendations based on what is in the best interest of a patient's health, while doctors trust that patients will report symptoms honestly and execute treatment plans faithfully.
As it turns out, trust is in short supply, largely thanks to COVID-19.
I was reminded of this on a recent family visit to my parents-in-law, who live in rural western Pennsylvania. All of us have been fully vaccinated, and to be careful, we all tested ourselves for COVID-19 the night before our arrival, and during our visit. My mother-in-law, who has lupus and is on immunosuppressive therapy, had recently received her 3rd COVID-19 vaccine, following the guidelines provided by the CDC.
This was no small feat. When she first tried to obtain a booster shot from a local CVS pharmacy, she was turned away and erroneously told that the shots were only available to people who had received a kidney transplant.
This is not true. So she went to another pharmacy and was erroneously told she could only receive another vaccine if her doctor's office called and verified that she had a compromised immune system.
This is also not true. Patients should only have to attest, and not prove, that they are immunosuppressed. But her doctor's office did call so she could be properly vaccinated.
This is also not an isolated anecdote. I specialize in leukemia, and have heard similar stories from multiple patients. I have had to call pharmacies near where I practice, in Miami, to verify my own patients' immunocompromised status.
In reality, based on emerging data from Israeland the CDC, immunity appears to wane over time (particularly among older adults), and it may be that the vaccine is not as effective against certain COVID-19 variants. This was the basis for the recommendation for a booster from the Biden administration. Yet until recently, the FDA, in an effort to be either careful and deliberate, or to dig in its heels and demonstrate that it will not be strong-armed by the president, delayed recommending a booster vaccine to a broader population than just those who have compromised immune systems. That added to the mixed messaging — and further eroded public trust in medical institutions.
But to do so, at the time, he would have to lie, and claim that he was actually getting his first dose. Sitting in his screened-in porch, we tried to prepare him for his trip to the pharmacy by play-acting the interaction he would have, to ensure he would say the right thing. I pretended to be the pharmacist:
"Good morning sir," I said. "How can I help you today?
"I'm here for my third vaccine dose," he answered quickly.
My wife and mother-in-law shook their heads in dismay.
"No, pappy," my wife said. "You have to say it's your first vaccine dose."
"I don't wanna lie," he answered. "I've never lied to my doctor."
"You have to," she insisted. "Otherwise the pharmacy won't give the vaccine to you." He muttered an "okay" and we started over.
"How can I help you?" I repeated.
"I'm here for a shot," he said.
"What kind of shot?" I asked, knowing that flu shots were also available.
"Oh, I'll have a whiskey!" he joked, to the consternation of my wife and mother-in-law. It was funny but not funny – we were asking him to betray the contract of trust between himself and a healthcare provider, for the good of his own health, and he was consciously or subconsciously rebelling.
Trust in medicine has taken a hit over the past year-and-a-half as we've reacted in real time to what we've defined as truth in a quickly moving pandemic, and in an era in which information is disseminated quickly.
At first, masks were de-emphasized, and cleaning of surfaces was stressed as being more protective of viral transmission, when in fact the opposite was true. The virus was not thought to be aerosolized; now we know that it is. At many hospitals, recommendations for appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) were minimized –- not based on sound epidemiologic advice or concern for the safety of healthcare workers, but due to lack of supplies, and perhaps even to save PPE for nonessential elective surgeries, which are revenue generators. Thus, despite messaging that coming to hospitals was safe for patients, healthcare workers (many of whom are still not vaccinated) likely did infect patients with COVID-19.
Is it any wonder that some vaccine hesitancy can be attributed to suspicion of information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines — information provided by the same healthcare authorities who first insisted that masks weren't important?
My wife took my father-in-law to the Rite-Aid near their home, and he did receive his third vaccine dose. And while we all feel comforted knowing he has a bit more protection against COVID-19, I wonder if we've damaged his relationship with his doctor in the future.
As we enter future phases of the pandemic, perhaps finally reaching the point at which enough people have been vaccinated adequately or have developed immunity to protect them from COVID-19, we in healthcare will have yet more work to do.
We need to repair our relationships with our patients, so they will trust us again.
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NEW YORK >> Health officials today offered more evidence that vaccinations offer better protection against COVID-19 than immunity from a prior infection.
Unvaccinated people who had been infected months earlier were 5 times more likely to get COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who didn’t have a prior infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in a new study.
“These data show, pretty strongly, that the vaccines are more protective against symptomatic COVID,” said Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who was not involved in the study.
The study looked at data from nearly 190 hospitals in nine states. The researchers counted about 7,000 adult patients who were hospitalized this year with respiratory illnesses or symptoms similar to those of COVID-19.
About 6,000 of them had been fully vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines three to six months before they wound up in a hospitals. The other 1,000 were unvaccinated but had been infected with COVID-19 three to six months earlier.
About 5% of the vaccinated patients tested positive for the coronavirus vs. about 9% of the unvaccinated group. The researchers factored in other data points, including age and how much virus was circulating in different areas, to calculate that the unvaccinated group was at even higher risk.
The study echoes some earlier research, including studies that found higher levels of infection-fighting antibodies in vaccinated patients.
Saag called the research well done and convincing. He also said it is important information for parents at a time that the government is gearing up to expand its vaccination campaign to more children.
“There have been many people who have advocated, ‘Well, let’s just let the kids get infected.’ I think these data support the notion that the vaccines work better in general, and likely work better for 5- to 11-year-olds,” Saag said.
There was not enough data to reach any conclusion on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the authors said.
Article From & Read More ( COVID vaccines were rolled out 10 months ago in Washington state. Where do we stand now? - The Seattle Times )
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Toronto-based fashion designer Chizoba Udeh-Martin is going viral thanks to the stunning couture gown she crafted using toilet paper as a way to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Via Cashmere Bathroom Tissue’s Vote Couture for the Cure initiative, 16 leading Canadian designers — including Udeh-Martin — transformed the brand’s toilet paper into unbelievably striking and fashionable gowns. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite dress daily — and for every vote, the toilet paper brand has pledged to donate $1 (CAD) to The Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
Nicknamed “Zoba,” the designer’s eponymous fashion label creates everything from couture ready-to-wear clothing to bridal gowns. For this year, the toilet paper brand’s initiative — dubbed “The NEW Belle Époque Cashmere Collection” — Udeh-Martin was tasked with creating a gown “inspired by the innovative, boundary-pushing turn-of-20th Century France.”
“This dress was designed in honor of my aunt Nneka who battled breast cancer before passing on, she had the most beautiful smile,” Udeh-Martin said in an Instagram post on Oct. 1. “The lines across the chest represent the scars from mastectomy and the crystals poured into the vulva area represent the shine, strength and beauty in femininity. I also love hair braiding so the braided strands are my way of weaving both skills together for the first time,”
“Taking this moment to honour everyone that passed on as a result of breast cancer, admiring the survivors and encouraging us to remember to feel for lumps 🎀✨,” she mentioned at the end of her caption.
In a TikTok, she recently shared showcasing her laborious process of handcrafting the garment, Udeh-Martin highlighted the delicate “softness” of the bathroom tissue she used.
In the clip, viewers can see her sewing, pinning, pleating, braiding and going in on every detail of her design as she brought it to life. At the end of the video, the designer says, “Oh my God,” as she records herself reacting to a separate clip of a fashion show attendee saying, “Gorgeous,” as he saw the gown hit the runway.
People expressed their amazement at Udeh-Martin’s talent and process in the comments. They said things like:
“the talent that this needed,”
“OH MY GOD JAW DROPPED,”
and “Absolutely beautiful and talented [heart emoji].”
In the spirit of Cashmere’s French theme this year, the designer set the clip to the song “La Vie En Rose” by Emily Watts.
Udeh-Martin started Zoba Martin in 2016.
Born in Eastern Nigeria, the designer is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the LaSalle School of Fashion Design.
“Seemingly drawing on global influences, Chizoba turns out unique, hyper-flattering feminine clothes and gowns, bridal and otherwise, from her Toronto studio,” reads a post on the fashion brand’s Instagram account. It further highlighted Udeh-Martin’s “evident gifts for artisitcally draping, rouching, pouffing and pleating delicate fabrics” — all of which were skills that helped her execute her extravagant Cashmere Collection 2021 design.
Your chance tovote for Udeh-Martinin the contest ends on Oct. 31. If you’d like to take sewing classes taught by Udeh-Martin or are interested in learning more about her and her couture designs, find more informationhere.
Article From & Read More ( She Understood The Assignment: Woman Designs Dress Using Toilet Paper For Breast Cancer Awareness - Yahoo Lifestyle )
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Health officials and scientists are closely tracking a new mutation of the coronavirus amid concerns that it could be more transmissible than the original strain.
A subvariant of the Delta variant of the virus labelled AY.4.2 has been detected in dozens of countries, with the vast majority of cases being reported in the United Kingdom.
“An increase in AY. 4.2 sequence submissions has been observed since July,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly epidemiological update this week.
It said that 93 percent of AY.4.2 cases were reported in the UK, where the strain was gradually contributing to a greater proportion of cases and accounted for about 5.9 percent of overall Delta cases reported there in the week beginning October 3.
“Epidemiological and laboratory studies are ongoing” to assess if there has been a change of transmissibility or a decrease in the effect of the antibodies to repel the virus, the United Nations health agency added.
The UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) last week labelled AY.4.2 as a “variant under investigation,” but despite its spread, it has not yet been labelled as a “variant of concern”.
Here is what we know so far:
What is the new AY.4.2 strain?
The subvariant is an evolution of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. Scientists have found three mutations including two in the spike protein, the part of the virus that allows it to bind to and invade the body’s cells.
The new strain has been found in at least 42 countries, according to a WHO epidemiological update, including the UK, India, Israel, the United States and Russia.
The subvariant, which some have labelled as “Delta Plus,” contains changes that could give the virus survival advantages over other variants.
Previously, variants have fuelled new surges in coronavirus cases. The Alpha variant spread widely after it was discovered in the UK in late 2020, and the Delta variant has become the dominant strain of the virus worldwide since it was discovered in India in late 2020.
However, experts have noted that AY.4.2 has not become the dominant strain in the countries where it has been reported.
“Currently, the strain has been found in some other countries, but it is not becoming predominant,” Dr Roselyn Lemus-Martin, who holds a PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera.
“It’s possible that we see a situation similar to the Lambda strain … at the start, people were concerned but eventually its presence was diluted in places like the US or the UK,” she added.
Experts have also noted that similar mutations have been witnessed in other variants and other lineages of the Delta variant, without having a large effect on the virus.
The Delta variant remains “by far the most dominant variant in terms of global circulation”, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s epidemiologist, said at a public session in early October.
“Delta is dominant, but Delta is evolving,” she said, adding that the more the virus circulates, the greater the chances it has to mutate.
Is AY.4.2 more transmissible than Delta?
It is still unclear “whether it is more transmissible or whether it is more capable of evading any immunity that we have through the vaccination,” Dr Patrick Tang, the Division Chief of Pathology Sciences at Sidra Medicine in Qatar told Al Jazeera.
“We don’t have enough data to point one way or another.”
Experts warned that the spread of the variant could be the result of a number of factors, including public health measures set out by governments or adherence to those measures.
“The minor changes in the virus are almost never causing an increase in transmission. The increased transmission … is really an indication of public health response or compliance to public health measures,” he added.
According to Lemus-Martin, it is not clear whether its spread in the UK is a result of with biological reasons or if it is linked to the “epidemiological conditions in the UK”.
“In the UK the current measures against COVID-19 are very lax, practically they are not following them anymore, and we don’t know if that might be the reason for the spread,” she added.
(CNN)Many pediatricians have already placed their orders for child-sized doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and are anxiously awaiting their shipments of shots.
And parents are coming at them with a lot of questions: When can my child come in to get their vaccine? And what are the side effects?
But before administering vaccine, doctors' offices are waiting for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give the green light. And, of course, they're waiting for the vaccines themselves.
On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized two 10-microgram doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be administered three weeks apart to children ages 5 to 11. Vaccine maker Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said they will begin shipping the pediatric doses of their vaccine immediately.
"Everybody is very excited -- even my kids," Dr. Ilan Shapiro, medical director of health education and wellness for a federally qualified health clinic at AltaMed in California, told CNN on Friday. His children are ages 6 and 9.
Some 28 million children ages 5 to 11 are eligible for the vaccine, and pediatricians and pharmacies are already preparing to administer their shots, once the CDC recommends doing so. On Tuesday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is meeting to discuss the vaccines.
As the nation approaches this historic moment in the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccinating the youngest age group yet against Covid-19, pediatricians' offices report the mood among parents is a mix of eagerness and hesitancy.
'This is what I expected'
For Dr. Christina Johns, senior medical adviser at PM Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Annapolis, Maryland, the mix of moods is what she expected.
"Two-thirds of families are excited for the vaccine -- these families want to be first in line and will be signing their children up once available," Johns wrote in an email to CNN about her patients' families.
"One-third of families, on the other hand, are still hesitant and have questions," she added. "This is what I expected and falls in line with data from other medical groups."
"I think probably about a third are dying to do this. I fall into that group," said Wajnberg, a mother of two children between the ages of 5 and 11. She added that the pandemic has been difficult for children since many have been social distancing from friends and loved ones, and some families view getting vaccinated as a way to bring children a new level of freedom as well as some protection against Covid-19.
"Then I think there's about a third that are nervous and want to wait a little," Wajnberg said. "So, they might feel more comfortable after some weeks or months when hundreds of thousands or millions of kids have gotten it. And then of course there may be a group that wants to wait a bit longer."
The questions some parents have
The majority of US parents in one nationwide survey reported that they will not get their younger children vaccinated right away.
The survey, published Thursday from the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that among parents of children ages 5 to 11, only 27% said they are eager to vaccinate their children against the virus as soon as a vaccine becomes available. A third say they will wait a while to see how the vaccine is working and 30% said they will definitely not get the vaccine for their 5-11-year-olds.
About 76% of those surveyed said that they were "very" or "somewhat" concerned about long-term side effects, while 71% worried about serious side effects. A growing number of people also seemed to believe the myth that vaccines could impact fertility. About 66% of people surveyed said they were "very" or "somewhat" concerned that the vaccine may negatively impact their child's future fertility.
Those are some of the same concerns that parents have shared with Shapiro, the pediatrician and father based in California.
Most of his patients' parents have asked: "'What are the side effects?' 'What do we know about fertility?' And the third one, 'If I want to have it, when can I get it?' Those are the main three questions," Shapiro said.
In its announcement about authorizing the vaccine for children, the FDA noted that the vaccine's safety was studied in about 3,100 children ages 5 through 11 who received the vaccine. No serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study.
Commonly reported side effects in the clinical trial included a sore arm where the shot was administered, redness and swelling, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills, fever, swollen lymph nodes, nausea and decreased appetite.
Side effects were generally mild to moderate and occurred within two days after vaccination, and most went away within one to two days, the FDA reported. More children reported side effects after the second dose than after the first dose.
"And of course you have the question, 'What's happening with fertility?' Right now we have a lot of good information that that's completely not happening. There's no reason why parents should be afraid of infertility in kids," Shapiro said.
"And a lot of parents actually do want to vaccinate," he added. "But the question is when? Do I need to use another day of school? Do we need to lose another day of work? There's a lot of other complicated questions."
Shapiro said that he hopes children get vaccinated quickly in order for the United States to avoid a serious surge in Covid-19 cases this upcoming winter.
"We're closing on the window that we can make a huge difference for December, January and February. That's my main concern right now," Shapiro said.
"Right now, if we do not strongly do something, I'm extremely worried of what's going to happen in December," he said. "We know it takes six weeks to make a difference. So then if I get vaccinated November 1, my body will be defending me completely by December 15. So the window is now -- for adults and for kids."
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is administered as two doses three weeks apart, and in general, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose.
'The biggest challenge right now is the unknown'
Pfizer's vaccine for the younger children is not only reformulated at one-third the dose, but re-packaged -- with a new orange top, so it will be difficult to mix up with the adult vaccine.
The Biden administration has secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who are eligible for vaccination and will help equip more than 25,000 pediatric and primary care offices, hundreds of community health centers and rural health clinics as well as tens of thousands of pharmacies to administer the shots, according to the White House.
The vaccine that Pfizer tested in children is the same as the one used in adults, but a smaller dose -- 10 micrograms, rather than 30 micrograms. The vaccine is expected to ship in packages of 100 doses, which is much smaller than the packages of 1,170 doses used for the adult vaccines.
Hypothetically, providers could start giving Covid-19 shots to 5-to-11-year-olds right now under the FDA's emergency use authorization and before the CDC's recommendation to do so -- something that occurred when vaccines were authorized for older kids -- but that still would depend on which providers' orders for vaccine are filled first and how quickly those providers receive shipments of the doses.
"The main difference for this rollout is that pediatrician offices are likely to be the places to administer vaccines," Johns wrote in her email to CNN, but she added that the vaccine doses allocated to pediatricians' offices still need to be shipped -- and the timeline for that remains somewhat unclear.
"The biggest challenge right now is the unknown. We do not have information on when we can expect to receive shipments and the supply amounts, which can make setting the dates and times more difficult," Johns said.
"We also want to be sensitive to the fact that these are children in school, so we need to make sure there is minimum loss of instruction time. Our goal is to make the whole process convenient, easy and accessible for families."
Article From & Read More ( Pediatricians say some parents are eager to vaccinate their kids, with others asking questions as child-size doses of Covid-19 vaccine are shipped out - CNN )
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Philadelphia Councilwoman Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis
“Three days after I had my breast removed, I joined a Zoom meeting with my staff, never missing a beat in my duties as a City Councilmember,” she wrote
Maria Quiñones Sánchez, the lone Latina voice in the Philadelphia City Council, has revealed she is battling breast cancer.
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Quiñones Sánchez, a Democrat representing the 7th District, revealed Saturday in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed that she was diagnosed with the disease this summer.
“I am waging my own fight against breast cancer, one that began this summer after I had my first mammogram in seven years,” Quiñones Sánchez wrote.
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Despite knowing she had a lump in her left breast, the councilwoman said she had put off cancer screenings first because of “work and life,” and then because “COVID-19 gave me another excuse not to go to the doctor.”
Quiñones Sánchez said she had a mastectomy in August of this year in hopes of avoiding chemotherapy and radiation, but despite the removal of her left breast, doctors told her she needed the treatments to prevent future illness.
“Three days after I had my breast removed, I joined a Zoom meeting with my staff, never missing a beat in my duties as a City Councilmember,” she wrote.
Quiñones Sánchez said that although she is currently cancer-free, she is receiving chemotherapy at Penn Medicine and expects to begin preventative radiation in a few weeks.
Originally, the councilwoman said, she planned to stay silent about her diagnosis until completing her treatment in December, but she was inspired to speak out after thinking about women close to her who lost their battle to breast cancer, as well as seeing women share their own breast cancer stories during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“Get a mammogram regularly. Because of my own experience, I’ve learned that regular screening is absolutely vital to detecting and treating this disease,” Quiñones Sánchez wrote.
The councilwoman added that doctors have told her “this entire experience may be in the rearview mirror” by February of next year.
Black women are affected by breast cancer more than any other ethnic group. Research has shown that Black breast cancer patients have a 31% mortality rate, which is the highest amongst racial groups. While many Black women have succumbed to the deadly disease, there are countless survivors who have an inspirational story and Rebecca Crews is one of them.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S, Crews went for her annual physical exam and insisted that she have an ultrasound done to accompany her mammogram. The ultrasound revealed a small lump in her right breast and a biopsy revealed that she had stage one breast cancer. She opted for a double mastectomy so she could dodge radiation treatment. She was able to undergo her surgery before the country went through a shutdown. Crews had to recover from a life-saving procedure at home while the country was trying to avoid the deadly COVID-19 virus.
MADAMENOIRE caught up with Crews to reflect about her diagnosis and recovery a year late in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Crews spoke about her source of hope, recovering during a pandemic and how being a survivor has changed her outlook on life.
MADAMENOIRE: What was your source of hope while you were going through so many emotions after finding out about your diagnosis? Did you go to therapy or pastoral counseling?
Rebecca Crews: My source of hope was my sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit within me. Prior to getting my diagnosis, I had a sense that something was wrong. I felt that voice within me say to me “Rebecca, if they find anything, be radical. Cut it off and rebuild it, don’t play around.” So, in a sense, I had already been given instructions before my diagnosis. There was a steely calm that came over me when I got the phone call… Just a resolute feeling of pressing forward to battle this disease, expecting to win. I did not flinch, I didn’t waver, and I immediately went into the house and told my husband. In the weeks following, I did ask my prayer chain to pray for me and I did speak with my pastor that I already had made up my mind about the battle plan I was going to execute. Their counsel simply served as reassurance of what I already knew.
MN: Why a double mastectomy? Would you recommend this to other breast cancer patients?
RC: I did the double mastectomy primarily so that I wouldn’t have to worry about the other one for the rest of my life. I thought it seemed silly to chase the left breast for the next 10 years worrying. I figured if I had cancer in one, there would be a good possibility I would get it in the other one. So, I opted for the double. Would I necessarily recommend this? No, I believe each person has to make their own decision, but that was mine.
MN: You went through this during the early days of the COVID pandemic. What was that like? How did it affect your treatment?
RC: Thank goodness I was able to be diagnosed and schedule my surgery two weeks prior to the country shutting down. I am very grateful for the timing of that because I would’ve had to wait probably a year to have surgery. During the time of my surgery and treatment, my son had been casted on his first show. That was part of the reason why I put a little pressure on my surgeons to get me booked. I knew I would be taking him to work soon, so I wanted to be able to be there and recover for my kid. Of course, I had no idea that COVID-19 would come to America. The pandemic did allow me to rest and recuperate because everything shut down, including my son’s production.
MN: How did your breast cancer journey affect your marriage?
RC: It made my husband appreciate me more! He was quite scared when I told him, because his mother struggled with cancer and died from a complication of her chemotherapy. So, I had to hold my husband up a little bit, smack him in the face, and tell him “I need you to be strong.” And he was! He stood by me, he prayed with me, he came with me to surgery, and he was there when I woke up. In the weeks during the shutdown, he cleaned the house, he made the meals, and he did his best to just let me sleep and restore my body. He was a true champ.
MN: How has your lifestyle changed now that you’re a breast cancer survivor?
RC: I eat less meat, I practice something called intermittent fasting every day, I don’t do dairy and I do a lot more juicing to keep nutrients in my system that fight cancer in the body. I also try to keep my stress levels down and rest more. I also don’t take on more than I can handle and I’m better at telling people “no.”
MN: What would you tell women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer who are having trouble coping?
RC: Have faith in God. There is someone out there bigger than you looking out for you and He is available at your very beckon call. He is your father, He loves you supremely and He will help you through your storm. Get support from people who have been through what you’re going through, but don’t necessarily assume that your journey will be like theirs, because yours is unique. Pray and have positive expectations. Imagine yourself well. Even science has proven that positive people recover better.
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Health
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez announced on Saturday that she has been battling breast cancer.
She made the announcement in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed to raise awareness of the importance of regular screenings.
Quiñones- Sánchez, who is 52, said she put off having a mammogram for 7 years.
"I am waging my own fight against breast cancer, one that began this summer after I had my first mammogram in seven years," wrote the councilwoman.
She says after her diagnosis, she had a mastectomy. She is now cancer-free after undergoing aggressive treatment.
Quiñones-Sánchez is still undergoing chemotherapy and is set for another round of preventative care radiation. She hopes her story will convince other women to schedule a mammogram.
CULLODEN, W.Va. (WSAZ) - At age 35, Monica Keiling did not expect to facing stage 3 breast cancer.
“That’s probably been the worst part of all of it, is the waiting, the worrying,” she said. “You know you probably have cancer, we don’t know where it’s at, we don’t know for sure, you’re just praying that it’s not.”
On Sept. 11, she noticed a lump. Within a few days she was in to get a mammogram, and her life changed forever. The young mom of two boys, says it was a major shock to their whole family.
“Playing every scenario in my head, where’s it at, where did it move to, how bad was it,” she said.
Women are encouraged to get a mammogram each year starting at age 40. St. Mary’s Breast Center says if your mother or sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, you should begin getting screened 10 years prior to their diagnosis.
They estimate about 50% of eligible women living in the tri-state area have not undergone a breast cancer screening.
Many people put off getting it done due to the pandemic, and doctors across the country are concerned because they’re seeing more late stage cases pop up in patients.
“We all have to take care of ourselves, especially women because we’re busy taking care of everyone else in the family,” said Anne Hammack, clinical coordinator. “It’s really important because it only takes a few minutes and you have to take care of yourself so you can take care of everyone.”
Keiling admits she wasn’t performing self-exams on her breasts. She also has no family history of the disease either.
Doctors conducted genetic testing which came back negative, which leads her to believe it may be environmental.
Now, she’s encouraging other women to not delay, become their own health advocate and act quickly as soon as they realize something isn’t right.
“Luckily for me, I got my stuff started quite a bit faster with my second opinion,” she said. “I got chemo started within two weeks versus what could’ve been two months.”
Keiling will head to Atlanta next week for another round of chemo treatments, which she says have been brutal and have come with a lot of side effects.
She tells WSAZ she appreciates all of the love, kindness and support the community and other friends and family have shown her throughout this challenging time.
While the whole process has been difficult, scary and emotionally taxing, she hopes to spread awareness and save just one other person from this burden or heartache.
Even though she’s the one typically cheering on the sidelines of sporting events, she’s prepared to get in the game and start the battle of a lifetime.
“The kids really give you a lot to fight for,” she said.
During the month of October, St. Mary’s Breast Center is offering free mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women who meet certain income guidelines. These mammograms will be paid for through the St. Mary’s Pink Ribbon Fund, a fund of the St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation. For more information on how to qualify for a free mammogram, and/or to schedule an appointment call St. Mary’s Breast Center at 304.526.8221.
Wales’ first minister has expressed concern that a new COVID-19 variant resistant to vaccines will emerge soon, Sky News reports.
Mark Drakeford, the first minister, said that COVID-19 cases will continue to rise, and that he is “almost certain” a new variant will rise in the United Kingdom.
“There is at least a possibility that that variant will turn out to be more resistant to vaccination than the current one we have,” he said.
There’s already a COVID-19 variant spreading throughout the U.K. Per Business Insider, the delta variant subtype — called AY.4.2 — has been infecting people in the United Kingdom, raising some concern among experts.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the AY.4.2 variant has made its way to the United States, too. She said there isn’t any major reason to panic yet, but the CDC will monitor for potential clusters.
Francois Balloux, the director at the University College London Genetics Institute, tweeted Saturday that the AY.4.2 variant could be 10% more transmissible than the current delta variant, too.
“As such, it feels worthwhile keeping an eye on it,” he said.
That said, scientists in Germany warned that an older COVID-19 variant — called the A.30 variant — can evade the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, too. However, the variant has not been around for months.
The study looked at more than 7,000 people hospitalized with Covid-like illnesses, and found that those who were unvaccinated — but had a previous case of the illness — were five times more likely to have a confirmed case of Covid than people who were fully vaccinated and had not had Covid before.
A previous infection does provide some degree of immunity and protection against reinfection, but the findings suggest that the protection conferred by vaccination is stronger.
“We now have additional evidence that reaffirms the importance of Covid-19 vaccines, even if you have had prior infection,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.
Deepta Bhattacharya, a professor of immunology at the University of Arizona, cautioned that it can be very difficult to compare vaccine-induced immunity to infection-induced immunity.
“What I would say is that these are maybe not the right terms of the debate,” he said. “The reason to prefer vaccine-induced immunity is that infections can make you really sick, not that they don’t leave you immune.”
Oct. 21, 202104:06
In the study, researchers looked at people hospitalized with Covid symptoms in 187 hospitals across nine states from January to September — a period that included both the alpha and the delta variants. Patients were included if they had a previous case of Covid in the past three to six months, or had been fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccines in the past three to six months. Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients were not included because there was not enough data, the researchers said.
A total of 6,328 fully vaccinated people in the study were hospitalized with Covid-like illnesses, but among them, only 324, or 5.1 percent, tested positive for the virus. In the second group — unvaccinated but previously infected — there were a total of 1,020 people hospitalized, 89 of whom, or 8.7 percent, tested positive for the virus.
Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic
Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines provided higher protection than previous infection. Protection from the Moderna vaccine was stronger than protection from the Pfizer vaccine, a finding that’s been observed in an earlier CDC report. The protective effects of the vaccines were also higher in adults 65 and older compared with people ages 18 to 64.
Because the study only included people vaccinated or previously infected within the previous six months, the researchers cautioned that the protective effects may wane over time.
Previous research has shown that so-called hybrid immunity, or natural immunity from a previous infection plus vaccine-induced immunity, leads to particularly robust protection — another reason that people who have been previously infected should get vaccinated.
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