#coronavirus vaccine status

[thoughtportal]

Opinion Here’s how to get free Paxlovid as many times as you need it

When the public health emergency around covid-19 ended, vaccines and treatments became commercial products, meaning companies could charge for them as they do other pharmaceuticals. Paxlovid, the highly effective antiviral pill that can prevent covid from becoming severe, now has a list price of nearly $1,400 for a five-day treatment course.

Thanks to an innovative agreement between the Biden administration and the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, Americans can still access the medication free or at very low cost through a program called Paxcess. The problem is that too few people — including pharmacists — are aware of it.

I learned of Paxcess only after readers wrote that pharmacies were charging them hundreds of dollars — or even the full list price — to fill their Paxlovid prescription. This shouldn’t be happening. A representative from Pfizer, which runs the program, explained to me that patients on Medicare and Medicaid or who are uninsured should get free Paxlovid. They need to sign up by going to paxlovid.iassist.com or by calling 877-219-7225. “We wanted to make enrollment as easy and as quick as possible,” the representative said.

Indeed, the process is straightforward. I clicked through the web form myself, and there are only three sets of information required. Patients first enter their name, date of birth and address. They then input their prescriber’s name and address and select their insurance type.

All this should take less than five minutes and can be done at home or at the pharmacy. A physician or pharmacist can fill it out on behalf of the patient, too. Importantly, this form does not ask for medical history, proof of a positive coronavirus test, income verification, citizenship status or other potentially sensitive and time-consuming information.

But there is one key requirement people need to be aware of: Patients must have a prescription for Paxlovid to start the enrollment process. It is not possible to pre-enroll. (Though, in a sense, people on Medicare or Medicaid are already pre-enrolled.)

Once the questionnaire is complete, the website generates a voucher within seconds. People can print it or email it themselves, and then they can exchange it for a free course of Paxlovid at most pharmacies.

Pfizer’s representative tells me that more than 57,000 pharmacies are contracted to participate in this program, including major chain drugstores such as CVS and Walgreens and large retail chains such as Walmart, Kroger and Costco. For those unable to go in person, a mail-order option is available, too.

The program works a little differently for patients with commercial insurance. Some insurance plans already cover Paxlovid without a co-pay. Anyone who is told there will be a charge should sign up for Paxcess, which would further bring down their co-pay and might even cover the entire cost.

Several readers have attested that Paxcess’s process was fast and seamless. I was also glad to learn that there is basically no limit to the number of times someone could use it. A person who contracts the coronavirus three times in a year could access Paxlovid free or at low cost each time.

Unfortunately, readers informed me of one major glitch: Though the Paxcess voucher is honored when presented, some pharmacies are not offering the program proactively. As a result, many patients are still being charged high co-pays even if they could have gotten the medication at no cost.

This is incredibly frustrating. However, after interviewing multiple people involved in the process, including representatives of major pharmacy chains and Biden administration officials, I believe everyone is sincere in trying to make things right. As we saw in the early days of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, it’s hard to get a new program off the ground. Policies that look good on paper run into multiple barriers during implementation.

Those involved are actively identifying and addressing these problems. For instance, a Walgreens representative explained to me that in addition to educating pharmacists and pharmacy techs about the program, the company learned it also had to make system changes to account for a different workflow. Normally, when pharmacists process a prescription, they inform patients of the co-pay and dispense the medication. But with Paxlovid, the system needs to stop them if there is a co-pay, so they can prompt patients to sign up for Paxcess.

Here is where patients and consumers must take a proactive role. That might not feel fair; after all, if someone is ill, people expect that the system will work to help them. But that’s not our reality. While pharmacies work to fix their system glitches, patients need to be their own best advocates. That means signing up for Paxcess as soon as they receive a Paxlovid prescription and helping spread the word so that others can get the antiviral at little or no cost, too.

{source}

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

More than 30,000 people in Japan died of COVID-19 in the first year after most coronavirus-related guidelines were lifted in May 2023, a figure over 14 times higher than deaths caused by influenza during the same period, government data showed Thursday.

Coronavirus infections led to 32,576 deaths during the 12 months, with those aged 65 or older accounting for 97 percent of the total, while the number of influenza fatalities reached 2,244, according to the health ministry's vital statistics.

After the virus was downgraded to the same legal status as influenza on May 8 last year, the government removed guidelines, including the seven-day quarantine period for those who tested positive, to facilitate the normalization of social and economic activities.

"Each of us has to think about how we can lessen the number of victims in Japan as we face an aging society," said Hitoshi Oshitani, a virology professor at Tohoku University.

The government discontinued financial support for coronavirus treatment and prevention on April 1.

The coronavirus continues to mutate, forming new variants that remain highly contagious and spread rapidly. In 2022, 47,638 people died after contracting the virus, as the Omicron strain became prevalent. The death toll dropped to 38,086 in 2023, aided by the effects of vaccination and natural immunity, according to the data.

"In order to reduce the number of deaths while continuing social economic activities, the government should provide financial aid for the elderly to take tests and receive vaccines," Oshitani said.

Fatalities for the January-April period of 2024 were compiled from preliminary data.

[lotus-tower]

COVID-19's long-term effects on the body: an incomplete list

COVID’s effect on the immune system, specifically on lymphocytes:

NYT article from 2020 (Studies cited: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.18.101717v1, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.20.106401v1, https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/32405080/Decreased_T_cell_populations_contribute_to_the_increased_severity_of_COVID_19_, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.08.20125112v1)

 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.10.475725v1

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc8511 (Published in Science)

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9057012/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2022/04/14/sars-cov-2-actively-infects-and-kills-lymphoid-cells/

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/10/in-cleveland-and-beyond-researchers-begin-to-unravel-the-mystery-of-long-covid-19.html

SARS-CoV-2 infection weakens immune-cell response to vaccination: NIH-funded study suggests need to boost CD8+ T cell response after infection

https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hematology-and-oncology/leukopenias/lymphocytopenia

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/11/07/COVID-Reinfections-And-Immunity/

Dendritic cell deficiencies persist seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1034159/full

https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Lauterbach-warnt-vor-unheilbarer-Immunschwaeche-durch-Corona-article23860527.html (German Minister of Health)

Anecdotal evidence of COVID’s effects on white blood cells:

 https://twitter.com/DrJohnHhess/status/1661837956875956224

 https://x.com/TristanVeness/status/1661565201345564673

https://twitter.com/TristanVeness/status/1689996298408312832

Much more if you speak to Long Covid patients directly!

Related information of interest:

China approves Genuine Biotech's HIV drug for COVID patients

COVID as a “mass disabling event” and impact on the economy:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/report-says-long-covid-could-impact-economy-and-be-mass-disabling-event-in-canada-1.6306608

https://x.com/inkblue01/status/1742183209809453456?s=20

COVID’s impact on the heart:

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/deadly-virus-could-lead-heart-31751263 (Research from: Japan's Riken research institute)

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/unlike-flu-covid-19-attacks-dna-in-the-heart-new-research-20220929-p5bm10.html

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/1/186

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-mild-covid-effects-cardiovascular-health.html

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/covid-and-the-heart-it-spares-no-one

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/is-coronavirus-a-disease-of-the-blood-vessels (British Heart Foundation)

COVID’s effect on the brain and cognitive function:

https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/article/brain-infection-by-sars-cov-2-lifelong-consequences/171391/

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-shows-covid-leaves-brain-injury-markers-blood

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/08/warning-of-serious-brain-disorders-in-people-with-mild-covid-symptoms

Cognitive post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) can occur after mild COVID-19 

Neurologic Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Transmitted among Dogs

https://journals.lww.com/nsan/fulltext/2022/39030/neurological_manifestations_and_mortality_in.4.aspx

https://www.salon.com/2023/06/17/new-evidence-suggests-alters-the-brain--but-the-extent-of-changes-is-unclear/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-virus-may-tunnel-through-nanotubes-from-nose-to-brain/

https://neurosciencenews.com/post-covid-brain-21904/

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00260-7/fulltext

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08-covid-infection-crucial-brain-regions.html

https://news.ecu.edu/2022/08/04/covid-parkinsons-link/

Covid as a vascular/blood vessel disease:

https://www.salon.com/2020/06/01/coronavirus-is-a-blood-vessel-disease-study-says-and-its-mysteries-finally-make-sense/

https://www.salon.com/2023/12/27/brain-damage-caused-by-19-may-not-show-up-on-routine-tests-study-finds/

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/sars-cov-2-infects-coronary-arteries-increases-plaque-inflammation

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/6/2123

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211004104134.htm (microclots)

Long Covid:

Post-COVID-19 Condition in Canada: What we know, what we don’t know, and a framework for action

 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/more-than-two-years-of-long-covid-research-hasn-t-yielded-many-answers-scientific-review-1.6235227

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/cause-of-long-covid-symptoms-revealed-by-lung-imaging-research-at-western-university-1.6504318

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/long-covid-study-montreal-1.6521131

https://news.yale.edu/2023/12/19/study-helps-explain-post-covid-exercise-intolerance

Other:

- Viruses and mutation: https://typingmonkeys.substack.com/p/monkeys-on-typewriters

Measures taken by the rich and world leaders

Heightened risk of diabetes

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2805461

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00912-y

Liver damage:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/46-of-covid-patients-have-liver-damage-study/articleshow/97809200.cms?from=mdr

tl;dr: covid is a vascular disease, not a respiratory illness. it can affect your blood and every organ in your body. every time you're reinfected, your chances of getting long covid increase.

avoid being infected. reduce the amount of viral load you're exposed to.

the gap between what the scientific community knows and ordinary people know is massive. collective action is needed.

[xtruss]

Who Is Helping DOGE? List of Staff Revealed

- Feb 14, 2025 | Newsweek | By James Bickerton, US News Reporter

DOGE head Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty

list of 30 employees and alleged allies of Elon Musk's newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been published by ProPublica, an investigative news outlet.

Newsweek reached out to Musk for comment via emails to the Tesla and SpaceX press offices.

DOGE, a U.S. government organization which, despite its name, doesn't have full department status, was created by President Trump via an executive order on January 20 with the aim of cutting what the new administration regards as wasteful spending. Musk, a close Trump ally, heads the body and has been given special government employee status.

Musk has called for sweeping cuts to federal spending, suggesting it could be reduced by up to $2 trillion per year out of a 2024 total of $6.75 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury figures.

This ties in with Trump's pledge to "drain the swamp," a term his supporters use for what they believe is a permanent left-leaning bureaucracy that holds massive power regardless of who is in the White House.

DOGE has already recommended that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) be closed down, with its functions transferred to the State Department. In a recent interview, Trump said he wants DOGE to go through spending at the Departments of Education and Defense.

On February 8, a federal judge imposed a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE employees from accessing the Treasury Department's payment system, resulting in Musk calling for him to be impeached.

A White House spokesperson told ProPublica: "Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities."

The 30 DOGE employees and associates reported by ProPublica, which labeled them Musk's "demolition crew," are listed below.

Not Even DOGE Employees Know Who’s Legally Running DOGE! Despite all appearances, the White House insists that Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE. US DOGE Service employees can’t get a straight answer about who is. Photograph: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

DOGE Employees And Associates

Christopher Stanley, 33: Stanley was part of the team Musk used to take over Twitter, now X, according to his LinkedIn profile, serving as senior director for security engineering for the company. The New York Times reports he now works for Musk at DOGE.

Brad Smith, 42: According to The New York Times, Smith, a friend of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was one of the first people appointed to help lead DOGE. He also served with the first Trump administration and was involved with Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's coronavirus vaccine development program.

Thomas Shedd, 28: Shedd serves as director of the Technology Transformation Services, a government body created to assist federal agencies with IT, and previously worked as a software engineer at Tesla.

Amanda Scales, 34: According to ProPublica, Scales is chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, a government agency that helps manage civil service. She previously worked for Musk's artificial intelligence company Xai.

Michael Russo, 67: Russo is a senior figure at the Social Security Administration, a government agency that administers the American Social Security program. According to his LinkedIn page, Russo previously worked for Shift4 Payments, a payment processing company that has invested in Musk's company SpaceX.

Rachel Riley, 33: Riley works in the Department of Health & Human Services as a senior adviser in the secretary's office. ProPublica reports she has been "working closely" with Brad Smith, who led DOGE during the transition period.

Nikhil Rajpal, 30: According to Wired, Rajpal, who in 2018 worked as an engineer at Twitter, is part of the DOGE team. He formally works as part of the Office of Personnel Management.

Justin Monroe, 36: According to ProPublica, Monroe is working as an adviser in the FBI director's office, having previously been senior director for security at SpaceX.

Katie Miller, 33: Miller is a spokesperson for DOGE. Trump announced her involvement with the new body in December. She served as Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary during Trump's first term.

Tom Krause, 47: Krause is a Treasury Department employee who is also affiliated with DOGE, according to The New York Times. Krause was involved in the DOGE team's bid to gain access to the Treasury Department's payments system.

Gavin Kliger, 25: Kliger, a senior adviser at the Office of Personnel Management, is reportedly closely linked to Musk's team. On his personal Substack blog, he wrote a post titled "Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America."

Gautier "Cole" Killian, 24: Killian is an Environmental Protection Agency employee who researched blockchain at McGill University. Killian is also a member of the DOGE team, according to Wired.

Stephanie Holmes, 43: ProPublica reports that Holmes runs human resources at DOGE, having previously managed her own HR consulting company, BrighterSideHR.

Luke Farritor, 23: Farritor works as an executive engineer at the Department of Health and previously interned at SpaceX, according to his LinkedIn account. He won a $100,000 fellowship from billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel in March 2024.

Marko Elez, 25: Elez is a Treasury Department staffer who worked as an engineer at X for one year and at SpaceX for around three years. The Wall Street Journal reported that Elez was linked to a social media account that had made racist remarks, but Musk stood by him after he initially resigned.

Steve Davis, 45: Davis is a longtime Musk associate who previously worked for the tech billionaire at SpaceX, the Boring Company and X. According to The New York Times, Davis was one of the first people involved in setting up DOGE with Musk and has been involved in staff recruitment.

Edward Coristine, 19: Coristine is a Northeastern University graduate who was detailed to the Office of Personnel Management and is affiliated with DOGE. He previously interned at Neuralink, a Musk company that works on brain-computer interfaces.

Nate Cavanaugh, 28: Cavanaugh is an entrepreneur who interviewed staffers at the General Services Administration as part of the DOGE team, according to ProPublica.

Unmasked: Musk’s Secret DOGE Goon Squad—Who Are All Under 26! The world’s richest man doesn’t want anyone knowing his right-hand people who are disrupting government. — Josh Fiallo, Breaking News Reporter, Daily Beast, February 3, 2025

Akash Bobba, 21: A recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, Bobba works as an "expert" at the Office of Personnel Management and was identified by Wired as part of Musk's DOGE team.

Brian Bjelde, 44: A 20-year SpaceX veteran, Bjelde now works as a senior adviser at the Office of Personnel Management, where he wants to cut 70 percent of the workforce, according to CNN.

Riccardo Biasini, 39: Biasini is an engineer who now works as a senior adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management. He previously worked for two Musk companies, Tesla and the Boring Company.

Anthony Armstrong, 57: Another senior adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management Armstrong previously worked as a banked with Morgan Stanley, and was involved in Musk's 2022 purchase of Twitter.

Keenan D. Kmiec, 45: Kmiec is a lawyer who works as part of the Executive Office of the President. He previously clerked on the Supreme Court for Chief Justice John Roberts.

James Burnham, 41: Burnham is a general counsel at DOGE whose involvement with the Musk-led body was first reported by The New York Times in January. He previously worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Jacob Altik, 32: A lawyer affiliated with the Executive Office of the President, Altik previously clerked for D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao, whom Trump appointed during his first term.

Jordan M. Wick, 28: Wick is an official member of DOGE and previously worked as a software engineer for the self-driving car company Waymo.

Ethan Shaotran, 22: Shaotran is a former Harvard student who Wired listed as one of several young software engineers working to analyze internal government data at DOGE.

Kyle Schutt, 37: Schutt is a software engineer affiliated with DOGE and worked at the General Services Administration. He was involved in the launch of WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform that helped raise $1.8 billion ahead of the November 2024 elections.

Ryan Riedel, 37: Riedel is the chief information officer at the Department of Energy and a former SpaceX employee.

Adam Ramada, 35: Ramada is an official DOGE member, according to federal records seen by ProPublica. Ramada previously worked for venture capital company Spring Tide Capital. E&E News reported he had been seen at the Energy Department and the General Services Administration.

Kendell M. Lindemann, 24: Lindemann is an official member of the DOGE team who previously worked for health care company Russell Street Ventures, founded by fellow DOGE associate Brad Smith, and as a business analyst for McKinsey & Company.

Nicole Hollander, 42: Hollander works at the General Services Administration. She was previously employed by X, where she was involved with the company's real estate portfolio.

Alexandra T. Beynon, 36: Beynon is listed as an official member of DOGE, according to documents seen by ProPublica. She previously worked for therapy startup Mindbloom and banking firm Goldman Sachs.

Jennifer Balajadia, 36: Balajadia is a member of the DOGE team who previously worked for the Boring Company for seven years. According to The New York Times, she is a close Musk confidant and assists with his scheduling.

[counterintuitivecomics]

"Wear it and stay healthy," a comic about masking in solidarity with Palestinians. I made it for Steel Transplant's digital release COVID CAUTIOUS QUEERS ZINE 2 ($0+).

It's a collage of transparent printed text from news/science articles, magazine scraps, and marker drawings of posts Muhammad Smiry & Omar Hamad made from Palestine in 2024. The title is a quote from Hala, a Palestinian girl who sold masks in Gaza until she was killed by Israel last June.

Omar's words make up most of this comic - he is a poet, writer, and a tailor for Gaza's children with his Needle of Hope project, and also has a family survival fund. Support him, Muhammad, Care for Gaza, and all Palestinians in every way you can, and MASK UP against all genocides.

(Alt text in post, all sources under the cut:)

PAGE 1

White graph paper: "Her name is Ghazal, she sells masks everyday to make a living | Gaza" - Orig @MuhammadSmiry post (2/28/24):

Transparent text:

"white phosphorous" - Youmina Boukara et al, Gaza, armed conflict and child health, BMJ Pediatrics Open (2/12/24)

"two million Palestine refugees" - Masako Horino et al, Understanding coverage of antenatal care in Palestine: Cross-sectional analysis of Palestinian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2019–2020, PLOS ONE (2/2/24)

"severe COVID" - Hatem A Hejaz, Palestinian strategies, guidelines, and challenges in the treatment and management of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), Avicenna J Med, (10/13/2020)

"60 times more likely" - “In Israel, you’re 60 times more likely to have a COVID vaccine than in Palestine” - Matthias Kennes for MFS (2/22/24)

PAGE 2:

White graph paper: "A little girl named Hala stopped me today and gave me this mask." - Post by @OmarHamadD (5/21/2024)

Transparent text: "In this necroeconomy, lives are rendered and disposed of" - Nadia Naser-Najjab's book, "Covid-19 In Palestine: The Settler Colonial Context" (1/11/24). Asma'a Adjerid's summary of the same book, MEDIA WATCH: BOOK (May 2024)

PAGE 3

White graph paper: "Didn't you know? She went to heaven three days ago." - Omar Hamad's 6/4/24 thread updating his post about Hala.

Transparent text: "abduction of children" - Youmina Boukara et al, Gaza, armed conflict and child health, BMJ Pediatrics Open (2/12/24)

"long list of banned items" - ‘Long List of Banned Items’ – From Maternity Kits to Wheelchairs, Israel Blocks Gaza Aid (4/12/24)

"the implications are excruciating" - Tamara Qiblawi et al, Anesthetics, crutches, dates: Inside Israel's ghost list of items arbitrarily denied entry into Gaza, CNN (3/2/24)

PAGE 4

@OmarHamadD's thread about Rimas (8/12/24): https://x.com/OmarHamadD/status/1792981447889801725

Transparent text: "US spends a record $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since last Oct. 7" - Ellen Kickmeyer, CNN, (10/7/24)

The other small scraps are from the previously cited scientific papers & news articles.

PAGE 5

Brown paper: "Wear it and stay healthy." - Hala, as quoted by @OmarHamadD (5/21/24)

Transparent paper: Map of Palestine, with 2024 borders for Gaza and the West Bank.

"...freedom and justice...my true priority" - quote from Naser-Najjab, "COVID-19 in Palestine" (2024).

[darkmaga-returns]

As Biden's HHS administration is gearing up to unleash 2025 flu vaccines without reviewing any safety or efficacy data first, MAHA is already making offensive moves warning Americans about the shots.

Karen Kingston

Dec 05, 2024

December 5, 2024: On October 10, 2024, members of the WHO, FDA, CDC, NIH, ASPR, BARDA, as well as U.S. infectious disease pediatricians, held a 6.5 hour meeting to discuss the current status and further development of vaccines for an emerging 2024-2025 H5N1 global flu pandemic.

As the current Biden HHS administration is gearing up to unleash 2025 flu shots without reviewing any safety or efficacy data first, MAHA is already making strong offensive moves warning Americans about the risks of flu vaccination.

MAHA is on the move! Share this FREE report.

Yesterday, Valuetainment posted a 2-minute clip on YouTube from an interview of RFK Jr and Patrick Bet-David. RFK Jr. did not mince his words when he stated, “In a million years, I would not take the flu shot and I’ll tell you why.”

How the Flu Shot Increases Risk for a Viral Infection

RFK Jr. goes on to cite peer-reviewed studies explaining how the flu vaccine causes pathogenic priming. In simple terms, pathogenic priming is the weakening of your immune system so that you’re more likely to get a viral infection, including a coronavirus infection. Even the CDC’s current flu vaccine campaign ‘admits’ that the flu shots don’t prevent flu infection, but may lessen the symptoms of the flu virus if you’re infected.

[liesmyteachertoldme]

In an October 2023 lecture, David E. Martin, Ph.D., detailed how we can know that SARS-CoV-2 is a manmade bioweapon that has been in the works for 58 years

The virus called “coronavirus” was first described in 1965. Two years later, the U.S. and U.K. launched an exchange program where healthy British military personnel were infected with coronavirus pathogens from the U.S. as part of the U.S. biological weapons program

In 1992, Ralph Baric at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, took a pathogen that used to infect the gut and lungs and altered it with a chimera to make it infect the heart, causing cardiomyopathy. This research was part of the efforts to produce an HIV vaccine

In November 2000, Pfizer patented its first spike protein vaccine. Between 2000 and 2019, vaccine trials using this technology proved it was lethal, yet in the summer of 2020, the clinical trials for the SARS-CoV-2 shots went straight into human trials

mRNA spike protein was publicly described as a bioweapon 18 years ago. In 2005, at a conference hosted by DARPA and The Mitre Corporation, the mRNA spike protein was hailed as a “biological warfare-enabling technology,��� i.e., a biological warfare agent

[body-mind-motion]

Covid-19 & The Government

While recalling the days I spent during the coronavirus outbreak, I remember seeing people in Nepal waiting for long hours in line to get vaccinated. It was when my curiosity regarding the role of government in managing the pandemic and working on its citizen’s health peaked. People learn new things every day but the things people learn from their personal experiences are everlasting. With this belief of mine, I would like to talk about what I observed during the coronavirus outbreak and the conclusions I drew regarding the role of government, with the help of this article. 

My curiosity to understand the responsibility of government during the pandemic, led me to take part in the One Young World Academy ‘Pandemic Preparedness Series’ where I received an opportunity to listen to experts working to handle the pandemic. While taking part in the program, I understood the lack of adequate doses of vaccines in Nepal was a result of a supply chain problem that should have been solved by the government. When borders of countries get closed as coronavirus cases rise, it becomes hard to move materials from one place to the other. It impacted the supply chain a lot. The solution to this problem could be making sure the borders of countries are open when supplying medicines and vaccines. I believe the main role of government in promoting its citizens' health is to ensure that goods are flowing freely across different nations so there is no lack of medicines and vaccines. 

In addition, pre-planning is also extremely important as the government needs to make sure there is a stock of raw materials and components so that there is no shortage of raw materials when the country needs them. After this, the right doses of the right vaccines and medications can be provided to the people in case of an emergency. 

Along with this, during the coronavirus outbreak, there was negativity all around us. Even when people tried to distance themselves from the negativity, I noticed they were still struggling to do so, which led to a detrimental impact on their mental health. Social media, news channels, and several other mediums of communication played a role in conveying the message of how devastating the pandemic is. I realized although spreading awareness regarding the pandemic was important, helping people not to lose hope was equally important as well. It led me to volunteer in the Live Now Regional Campaign for Youth Positivity and COVID-19. Here I contributed by providing content in the format of poems which was published on the website and social media of the Live Now Platform and was shared not only in Nepal but across the Asia-Pacific Region and beyond. Although people individually worked in sectors like mental health and youth positivity, I realized the role of government in Nepal in helping people to have a good mental health status was limited. I believe the government should be working efficiently in the sector of mental health as well for the promotion of its citizen's health. 

In conclusion, the main roles of the government to holistically promote its citizens' health are ensuring there is no lack of raw materials, goods are flowing freely across different nations, and putting equal effort in all dimensions of health. The observation of my country during the unprecedented situation of the pandemic helped me to draw these conclusions and place my beliefs accordingly. 

-Sarwagya Bhattarai

[coffee-with-pigeon-milk]

Hi! I’m back. I wasn’t gone very long but that’s okay. So there is good news and bad news and worse news. The good news is that my Nurse Practitioner has agreed to the diazepam as a rescue medication for my anxiety. She also ordered an every day medication that should help bring my anxiety down to a manageable level and help with my horrible, horrible nightmares. I’m very grateful and excited to see how this goes!

The bad news is my mom is still sick and they’re worried about her heart. They believe she has broken heart syndrome from the losses in our family due to coronavirus . 21+ people in a four year span is just too much. For anyone. Luckily with counseling and medical management she’s expected to make a recovery!!

Okay for the worse news.

My landlord is being absolute garbage. They know we are both unwell, however they invited themselves and the potential buyer over TONIGHT. When I protested they said that the other option is to have the showing on Friday…after the buyer has thrown a party of over 50 people. People who are of dubious vaccination status. So break the law and show them my dirty house and risk punishment from the landlord or risk bringing Covid into my home.

So this is where we’re re at. Sometimes you have to take a minute and take care of yourself. That’s what I’m trying REALLY hard to do.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while this sorts itself out and HOPEFULLY we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled broadcast soon lol

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Clean air and masking makes us all healthier.

By Hugo Francisco de Souza

In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers evaluated the relative risks of Long COVID following human exposure to several types of environmental pollutants. Their study leveraged data from the Catalonian COVICAT cohort (n = 2,853 Catalonian adults aged 40–65) and found that while air pollutant exposure (particularly particulate matter) increased Long COVID risk (PM2.5 RR = 1.14 [95% CI: 0.97–1.37], PM10 RR = 1.15 [95% CI: 0.98–1.39]), these associations were not statistically significant. Other environmental pollutants (noise, light, and green spaces) showed no such association.

Notably, study findings validate previous research suggesting the role of suspended particulate matter in COVID-19 severity and its indirect link to Long COVID risk through heightened initial infection severity, while highlighting subtle differences in Long COVID risk across sex, age, and education levels. It helps inform clinicians and policymakers of priorities when tackling this growing global public health concern.

Background Long COVID, also called ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’ and ‘post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)’ is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms that develop or persist for weeks, months, or even years following recovery from a coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Its symptoms vary substantially between patients and may include post-exertional malaise, fatigue, chest or muscle pain, and ‘brain fog’ (cognitive dysfunctions).

The duration and severity of Long COVID impart significant debilitation and socioeconomic stress to patients and their families, highlighting the need for identifying its risk factors and high-risk populations. Previous research has suggested that air pollution significantly contributes to COVID-19 infection severity and, in turn, Long COVID risk. However, such findings have often been limited by short study durations, reliance on self-reported data, and insufficient sample sizes. Furthermore, the impacts of other environmental pollutants remain unknown.

About the Study The present study aims to address present knowledge gaps by investigating the associations between urban environmental pollutant exposure and subsequent Long COVID risk. It leverages detailed, longitudinal self-reported online questionnaire data from the COVICAT cohort, a long-term prospective population-based cohort of Catalonian adults (40-65 years), supplemented with baseline medical data from the GCAT study (2019).

Study data was collected via three online questionnaires administered during the pandemic (2020, 2021, and 2023). Relevant data included sociodemographics (sex, age, education level) and clinical data (COVID-19 infection severity, body mass index [BMI], general health status, and vaccination details). Participants who remained unresponsive or provided incomplete data were excluded from statistical analyses.

The study further defined and investigated the prevalence and risk associations of ‘persistent Long COVID,’ symptoms which were reported in 2021 and persisted through 2023. Urban environmental pollutant exposure was assessed based on annual averages at participants' residential addresses. These included air (suspended particulate matter [PM2.5, PM10], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ozone [O3]), green space availability (including normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]), nighttime road-traffic noise, and outdoor melanopic illuminance (blue light artificial light at night [ALAN]).

The association between each individual exposure and participant outcomes was evaluated using three mixed-effect robust Poisson regression models adjusted for sociodemographic, clinical, and infection severity factors. Statistical analyses included participants reporting COVID-19 infections but no subsequent Long COVID symptoms as controls.

Study Findings Out of the 2,853 participants included in the final dataset, 700 (24.5%) reported Long COVID symptoms, of which 153 (5%) reported persistent Long COVID. Women (n = 1,788, 27.6%) reported higher Long COVID prevalence than their male counterparts (n = 1,065, 19.4%). Education was found to be a significant determinant of Long COVID incidence, with university-educated participants (n = 1,557, 22.2%) demonstrating lower prevalence than those with only primary/lower education (n = 219, 29.2%).

Prior chronic disease substantially increased Long COVID risk (n = 1,013, 33.3%). COVID-19-associated clinical data revealed that infection severity and pre-infection vaccination administration were significant determinants, with the latter reducing Long COVID risk.

Notably, apart from suspended particulate matter exposure (PM2.5 RR = 1.14 [95% CI: 0.97–1.37], PM10 RR = 1.15 [95% CI: 0.98–1.39]), no other urban environmental pollutants were found to be associated with the heightened prevalence of Long COVID. These findings align with previous reports, albeit in a Catalonian-restricted sample cohort. Researchers speculate that particulate matter may influence Long COVID risk indirectly by increasing the severity of the initial infection.

Conclusions The present study investigates the impacts of several urban environmental pollutants (air, noise, green spaces, and light) on Long COVID or persistent Long COVID risk. Study findings reveal that suspended particulate matter increased the risk of Long COVID by exacerbating the severity of the initial COVID-19 infection. Women, participants with limited education, and those with pre-existing chronic diseases were found to demonstrate substantially higher Long COVID risk than their respective counterparts. Surprisingly, other evaluated environmental pollutants were not found to impact Long COVID incidence or prevalence.

“Further research focusing on Long COVID subtypes, symptom clusters, and potential mechanisms underlying observed associations will be crucial for enhancing our understanding of this complex condition,” the researchers concluded.

Journal reference: Saucy, A., Espinosa, A., Iraola-Guzmán, S., Castaño-Vinyals, G., Harding, B. N., Karachaliou, M., Ranzani, O., De Cid, R., Garcia-Aymerich, J., & Kogevinas, M. (2024). Environmental Exposures and Long COVID in a Prospective Population-Based Study in Catalonia (COVICAT Study). In Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 132, Issue 11). Environmental Health Perspectives, DOI – 10.1289/ehp15377, ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP15377

[ukftm]

I recently changed my NHS number and the GP has transferred all my medical records except my Covid vaccine information. They said that they couldn't repopulate my new record because the Covid information is entered through a different system. I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue and if it has been resolved?

Hi Anon,

There really should not be any issue updating any NHS system.

According to my research (gov.uk) your GP is the person that should update your details on your COVID certificate. So you may want to tell your GP what the government website says about it being your GP that updates this for you.

The NHS, especially GP surgeries are very good at placing responsibility on others, when they don’t know the answer. Too often admins in GP surgery’s make statements that have no reason behind them other than they just don’t know. So instead of being honest and just simply saying they need to go and find out before giving you incorrect information, they’ll say things like this instead. It’s important to know that your GP is the central person to your care on the NHS and they are responsible for your NHS records being accurate, matching across departments and being up to date.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-covid-pass#:~:text=You%20should%20check%20that%20your,to%20have%20your%20details%20updated.

[americanmysticom]

Covid-19 was an act of biological warfare perpetrated on the human race

THIS WAS PREMEDITATED DOMESTIC TERRORISM!

THIS IS AN ACT OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WARFARE!

ADMITTED TO, IN WRITING, THAT THIS WAS A FINANCIAL HEIST, FINANCIAL FRAUD

THE PATENT WAS FILED IN 1990 !

THE SCIENCE IS THAT VACCINES DO NOT WORK AGAINST CORONAVIRUS

INFECTIOUS REPLICATION WEAPONIZED AND PATENTED IN 2002, A VIRUS DEVELOPED IN NORTH CAROLINA

This is the most important video you will watch this year.

Millions were killed with Covid-19 for profit. “Covid-19 was an act of biological warfare perpetrated on the human race. It was a financial heist. Nature was hijacked. Science was hijacked.”

Kim Dotcom@kimdotcomowns

https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/1661698114917646336?s=20

View on CloudDrive; https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZ4UVEVZx8LnaTJeI5F6iX10KPiTOhsIyJIV

[Nuremberg never saw these numbers. Where is Nuremberg today?]

https://www.secretdonttell.com/shop/

[nursingwriter]

Technology and the Development of Modern Medicine The 20th century saw a seismic change in the perception of the human body, and the relationship of patients to physicians and other aspects of modern medicine. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, of course, the focus upon technology and medical developments has become a matter of global importance. Vaccines and innovative drugs were not solely innovations of the past century, but they extent to which they were proven safe and effective is relatively new. The relationship between providers and patients has likewise changed, as well as expectations about treatment. Vaccination and Immunization Technology Infectious disease was once an accepted part of modern life. However, the first smallpox vaccines were developed as early as the late 18th century. Safety of vaccines could not always be guaranteed, however. Inactivation of bacteria via heat or chemical treatment to confer immunity status was developed by the very end of the 19th century (Plotkin 12284). But in the 20th century, the generation of technology that would allow widespread, safe transmission of the vaccine became popularized, freeing generations from the fear and threat of illness as a childhood rite of passage. Purified protein vaccines were developed as early as the 1920s (Plotkin 122285). “By the 1940s, virologists understood that attenuation could be achieved by passage in abnormal hosts,” and both rabies and oral polio vaccines were developed in chicken embryos and mice (Plotkin 12284). Live annotated vaccines for the oral polio vaccine was developed in 1963, with measles, mumps, and rubella shortly after in the 1960s (Plotkin 12284). The 20th century also saw the development of live, inactivated viral vaccines, such as the influenza vaccine (Plotkin 122284). Most influenza vaccines are grown in embryonic eggs. However, “Influenza HA has been produced in insect ells and induces antibodies without the risk of allergy to egg proteins” through the use of genetic engineering and the development of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was made “because of the properties of the L1 protein of the virus” and “L1 is produced in yeast or in-sect cells, and the VLPs produced there inform the basis of the current vaccines” (Plotkin 122285). The development of these vaccines has freed modern society, until recently, from the fears of infection in crowded areas. Even as recently as the 1990s, until the development of vaccines, certain illnesses as chickenpox were considered rites of passage. The knowledge that contracting the illness conveyed immunization provided some comfort, although the diseases could cause debilitating effects for the duration of the individual’s lifetime. A good example of this is the polo vaccine, an illness so debilitating and common even President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had suffered the condition when a young man, and was partially paralyzed as a result (Palca). In the 1950s, when the first polio vaccines were being developed, confidence in science was at a new high, and in contrast to current anxieties about vaccines, there was a widespread call to fuel money and time into developing a disease that was, by the end of World War II, a rite of passage of closing swimming pools and monitoring children in the summers to contain threats of the disease (Palca). In one scandal during the early development of the vaccine, the Cutter Laboratory’s manufacturing did not fully kill the virus, and children actually contracted polio (Palca). During the early vaccine trials on children, a number of children received a placebo in the control group (Palca). Thus, many of the ethical and scientific practices during the development of the vaccine would not be acceptable today. Fear of polio was so great, however, that when the rollout of the vaccines took place, compliance was widespread. This is in stark contrast to today, where memories of the virulence of infectious diseases is much fainter, and parents often express concerns about impurities or toxins in vaccines, or vaccine side effects, which they fear may be greater than the diseases the vaccines are designed to effect. Whether vaccine resistance and fears in the online age will continue, despite the proven threat of coronavirus in recent months, still remains to be seen as the distribution of the vaccine has only begin. Development of Sulfonamide Drugs and Penicillin Along with infectious diseases such as mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, and influenza, bacterial diseases such as syphilis had destroyed many lives (famous and non-famous) and was a continual, inhibiting fear in the eyes of many. The development of antibiotics and sulfonamide drugs were likewise groundbreaking. The drugs turned illnesses which could destroy lives and communities, and also generated considerable anxiety in the case of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) about sexuality in general, into far more benign concerns. “Sulfa antibiotics were first used in the 1930s, and they revolutionized medicine….While antibiotic resistance remains a problem for this class of antibiotics, sulfa drugs are still commonly used to treat a variety of bacterial infections” (Earl). Concerns about antibiotic resistance, however, has led to the need for innovation for treatment of a variety of types of drugs to address these illnesses. Unlike the highly orchestrated drive to develop sulfa drugs, however, the development of penicillin was initially accidental. “Alexander Fleming…noticed a zone around an invading fungus on an agar plate in which the bacteria did not grow” (Gaynes 859). Fleming isolated the mold, identified it as the Penicillium genus, extracted the mold, and thus penicillin was born (Gaynes). Penicillin even became a player in World War II, as various Axis powers attempted to secure penicillin from the Allies (Gaynes). Just as germ warfare was long been a factor, treatments for various illnesses have become an issue in wartime. The creator would receive a Nobel Prize, but as seismic an achievement as penicillin was, the generation of new bacterial agents has remained until this day. The fight for new antibacterial agents to keep ahead of antibacterial resistance has likewise continued apace. There are also concerns about over-sanitization regarding antibacterial drugs and cleansers further contributing to antibacterial resistance. Insulin Development Finally, another disease which has long plagued humankind is diabetes. Just like measles and syphilis could rob people of their lives, or, at minimum, their productivity and lifetime health, diabetes was often a death sentence before the development of insulin. Before the development of insulin, the only way to control blood sugar was extreme fasting, and this was only a way to delay, not completely postpone the risk of coma and premature death. The discovery of insulin in 1922, following a link to understanding the pancreas’ role in metabolic regulation, was critical, although for many years, potency varied considerably (Quianzon and Cheikh). Even today, although refinement of insulin treatment and new understanding of the illness has increased, complications in individuals who live longer and longer with the autoimmune disease Type 1 diabetes has increased, and the incidence of Type 2 diabetes (an illness of different origins, but also treated with insulin quite frequently) has likewise increased, due to lifestyle factors that contribute to the illness. Modern medicine once again has made it far easier for people to have their illnesses treated, but new diseases and lifestyle factors continue to be generated. Works Cited Earl, Leslie. “How Sulfa Drugs Work.” National Institute of Health. March 12, 2012. Gaynes, Robert. “The Discovery of Penicillin—New Insights After More Than 75 Years of Clinical Use.” Emerging Infectious Diseases vol. 23, 5 (2017): 849–853. Web. December 20, 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403050/ Palca, Joe. “The Race For A Polio Vaccine Differed From The Quest To Prevent Coronavirus.” NPR. May 22, 2020. Web. December 20, 2020. Plotkin, Stanley. “History of vaccination.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 111, 34 (2014): 12283-7. December 20, 2020. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151719/pdf/pnas.201400472.pdf Quianzon, Celeste C, and Issam Cheikh. “History of Insulin.” Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, vol. 2, 2 10.3402/jchimp.v2i2.18701. July 16, 2012. Web. December 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3714061/   Read the full article

[darkmaga-returns]

by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

A new study by Chaufan et al titled, “It isn’t about health, and it sure doesn’t care”: a qualitative exploration of healthcare workers’ lived experience of the policy of vaccination mandates in Ontario, Canada, was just published in the Journal of Public Health and Emergency:

Background: When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines became available, healthcare workers (HCWs) were prioritized for vaccination. Despite controversy, vaccine mandates were implemented in most healthcare settings across Canada, with many still in effect. Many studies have examined the perceived problem of vaccine hesitancy within the healthcare labour force. However, few have investigated the lived experience of mandated vaccination from the perspective of HCWs themselves. In this study, we examine this experience in a purposive sample of HCWs in the province of Ontario, including their decision-making processes, the mandates’ impact on their lives and livelihoods, and their views on the effects of mandates on patient care. The study is part of a mixed methods study reassessing the COVID-19 policy response in Canada. Methods: We performed a reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data of responses to one open ended question and open-ended entries to closed questions, offered by 245 HCWs in a published survey of a purposive sample of 468 HCWs in Ontario, of diverse vaccination status, professions, ages, socioeconomic status, races/ethnicities, and genders. Respondents were recruited through snowball sampling via social media and professional networks of the research team.

[didanawisgi]

Abstract

Background

Despite ongoing waves of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, including significant surges such as the 10th wave, understanding the impact of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccination on infection risk and associated behavioral changes remains crucial. This study aims to urgently evaluate the effects of mRNA COVID-19 vaccination on COVID-19 infection rates and related behaviors among participants of the Yamato Project, which includes employees of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Methods

A case-control study was conducted using data collected from a survey administered by the Japan Small and Medium Enterprise Management Council in December 2023. Participants included individuals who were part of the Yamato Project, not necessarily limited to SME employees. The survey gathered information on demographic characteristics, COVID-19 infection status, vaccination history, health status before January 2020, and various preventive behaviors. The primary outcome was the presence or absence of COVID-19 infection. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between vaccination status and COVID-19 infection.

Results

A total of 913 participants were included in the final analysis. The adjusted ORs for COVID-19 infection among vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated individuals were 1.85 (95% CI: 1.33-2.57, p < 0.001). The odds of contracting COVID-19 increased with the number of vaccine doses: one to two doses (OR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.08-2.46, p = 0.020), three to four doses (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.35-3.08, p = 0.001), and five to seven doses (OR: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.07-4.56, p = 0.033). Behavioral analysis indicated that a reduced frequency of bathing and exercising was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 infection rates (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The study observed a higher reported incidence of COVID-19 infection among vaccinated individuals during the pandemic period, which increased with the number of vaccine doses received. This paradoxical finding may be influenced by various factors, including immune response mechanisms, such as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) or original antigenic sin, behavioral changes, and exposure risk. Understanding these factors is crucial for urgently enhancing public health strategies and vaccination programs.

[goldislops]

Long COVID Is Harming Too Many Kids

Pediatric long COVID is more common than many thought, and we keep letting kids be reinfected with new variants

Blake Murdoch

A small child draws a frowning coronavirus using red colored pencil, top view

SergeyChayko/Getty Images

Pediatric long COVID is more common than many thought, and we keep letting kids be reinfected with new variants

Since the COVID pandemic began, claims that the disease poses only minimal risk to children have spread widely, on the presumption that the lower rate of severe acute illness in kids tells the whole story. Notions that children are nearly immune to COVID and don’t need to be vaccinated have pervaded.

These ideas are wrong. People making such claims ignore the accumulating risk of long COVID, the constellation of long-term health effects caused by infection, in children who may get infected once or twice a year. The condition may already have affected nearly six million kids in the U.S. Children need us to wake up to this serious threat. If we do, we can help our kids with a few straightforward and effective measures.

The spread of the mistaken idea that children have nothing to worry about has had some help from scientists. In 2023 the American Medical Association’s pediatrics journal published a study–which has since been retracted—reporting the rate of long COVID symptoms in kids was “strikingly low” at only 0.4 percent. The results were widely publicized as feel-good news, and helped rationalize the status quo, where kids are repeatedly exposed to SARS-COV-2 in underventilated schools and parents believe they will suffer no serious harm.

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In January 2024, however, two scientists published a letter with me explaining why that study was invalid. Some of the errors made it hard to understand how the study survived peer review. For example, the authors claimed to report on long COVID using the 2021 World Health Organization definition, but didn’t properly account for the possibility of new onset and fluctuating or relapsing symptoms, even though that definition and the subsequently released 2023 pediatric one emphasize those attributes. Any child with four symptom-free weeks—even nonconsecutive ones—following confirmed infection was categorized by the study authors as not having long COVID.

In August, the authors of the study retracted it. They did not admit to the errors we raised. But they did admit to new errors, and said these mistakes meant they understated the rate of affected children.

And that rate, according to other research, is quite high. The American Medical Association’s top journal, JAMA, in August published a key new study and editorial about pediatric long COVID. The editorial cites several robust analyses and concludes that, while uncertainty remains, long COVID symptoms appear to occur after about 10 percent to 20 percent of pediatric infections.

If you’re keeping score, that’s as many as 5.8 million affected children in the U.S.—so far. And we know studies and surveys of adults have found that repeat infections heighten the risk of long-term consequences.

The JAMA study comparing infected and uninfected children found that trouble with memory or focusing is the most common long COVID symptom in kids aged six to 11. Back, neck, stomach and head pain were the next most common symptoms. Other behavioral impacts included “fear about specific things” and refusal to go to school.

Adolescents aged 12 to 17 reported different leading symptoms. Change or loss in smell or taste was most common, followed by body pains, daytime tiredness, low energy, tiredness after walking and cognitive deficits. The study noted that symptoms “affected almost every organ system.” In other words, these symptoms reflect real physiological trauma. For example, SARS-COV-2 can cause or mediate cardiovascular, neurological and immunological harm, even increasing the relative risk of new onset pediatric diabetes when compared with other lesser infections.

Children in schools today are often described as struggling with emotional regulation, attention deficits and developmental problems. Adolescents have some of the worst standardized test scores in decades. Pandemic measures such as school closures—most of which were short-lived and occurred several years ago—have been blamed almost entirely for children’s present-day behavioral and learning problems.

While it is clear these early pandemic disruptions negatively impacted many children, the unproven notion that “the cure was worse than the disease” has become dogma and sometimes involves reimagining history. For example, the Canadian Pediatric Society’s most recent COVID vaccination guidance fails to even acknowledge the existence of pediatric long COVID, while stating without evidence in its preamble that children were more affected by pandemic disruptions in activities than direct viral effects. It’s hard to imagine how this wording could encourage pediatricians and parents to vaccinate children against a disabling virus.

Consider also a small but widely publicized Bezos Family Foundation–funded study which unscientifically claimed accelerated cortical thinning, a type of brain restructuring that occurs over time, is caused by “lockdowns.” The study design could not demonstrate cause and effect, however, but only correlation. Pediatric brain experts have critiqued the research, pointing out that “no supporting evidence” was provided for the claim cortical thinning is from social isolation, and that it isn’t necessarily pathological. “Lockdowns” were neither defined nor controlled for in the study, which relied on 54 pandemic-era brains scans from different children than the prepandemic scans they were compared to—meaning there was no measurement of brain changes in specific individuals. The pandemic-era scans came from months when relevant CDC seroprevalence data estimate that the number of children with one or more infections rose from about one in five to around three in five. We might reasonably predict that many of the studied brain scans were therefore from children who recently had COVID.

It is understandably disturbing to entertain the idea that we might currently be recklessly allowing millions of children to be harmed by preventable disease. That may be part of why problematic studies such as these have gotten headlines. It is more disturbing, however, that almost no public attention has been given to infection itself as a potential cause of children’s behavioural and learning problems.

This makes no sense. We know that COVID harms the brain. Neuroinflammation, brain shrinkage, disruption of the blood-brain barrier and more have been documented in adults, as have cognitive deficits. These deficits have been measured as equivalent to persistent decreased IQ scores, even for mild and resolved infections. Millions of people have, or have experienced, “brain fog.” What, then, do we guess a child’s COVID-induced “trouble with focusing or memory” might be?

When you put together the estimate that 10 to 20 percent of infected kids may experience long-term symptoms, that many of the most common symptoms affect cognition, energy levels and behavior, and that children are being periodically reinfected, you have a scientific rationale to partly explain children’s widely reported behavioural and learning challenges.

We can do something to protect our kids. We can vaccinate them every season, which somewhat reduces the risk of long COVID. We can keep sick children home by passing laws that create paid sick leave and end attendance-based school funding. We can normalize rather than vilify the use of respirator masks that help prevent the spread of airborne diseases.

Finally, we can implement fantastic new engineered indoor air quality standards designed to greatly reduce the spread of germs. Clean indoor air should be expected as a right, like clean water. The cost of providing cleaner indoor air is low relative to the economic benefits, which even when conservatively modeled are in the tens of billions annually in the U.S. and more than ten times the costs. These costs are also small compared to the price children and their families would pay in suffering as a result of preventable long-term impairment.

By regulating, publicly reporting and periodically inspecting building air quality, similarly to how we oversee food safety in commercial kitchens, we can greatly reduce the spread of disease and reap huge benefits for everyone—especially children.

This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.