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COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna should be "preferred" over Johnson & Johnson's shot, a U.S. government advisory panel said...after reviewing data on potentially dangerous blood vessel blockages from clotting associated with J&J's vaccine. The recommendation follows a strengthened warning the Food and Drug Administration added to the shot...The recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory panel...is likely to further constrain use of J&J's vaccine...READ MORE

As the omicron variant sweeps through South Africa, Dr. Unben Pillay is seeing dozens of sick patients a day. Yet he hasn’t had to send anyone to the hospital...That’s one of the reasons why he...suspect that the omicron version really is causing milder COVID-19 than delta, even if it seems to be spreading faster...“They are able to manage the disease at home,” Pillay said of his patients. “Most have recovered within the 10 to 14-day isolation period.” said Pillay...In the two weeks since omicron first was reported in Southern Africa, other doctors have shared similar stories. All caution that it will take many more weeks to collect enough data to be sure, their observations and the early evidence offer some clues...READMORE

Nevada has become the first state to implement a health care premium surcharge on some 5,000 state employees not vaccinated against COVID-19 starting in July 2022...The Nevada Public Employees’ Benefits Program, which manages the health program for 43,000 members and 27,000 dependents across the state, approved a policy...to charge state employees $55 a month plus $175 a month for any unvaccinated dependents over the age of 18 unless they provide a legitimate health or religious exemption by the end of the open enrollment period, which will be assessed July 2022...The policy will help cover the costs of COVID-19 testing and hospitalizations associated with unvaccinated members, Laura Rich, executive officer of the Nevada Public Employees’ Benefits Program (PEBP), said...READ MORE

UnitedHealthcare will adjust claims for COVID-19 vaccines in response to providers who said they were paid sub-Medicare rates to administer the shots...the nation's largest insurer said it has been reimbursing for COVID-19 vaccines at the $40 per administration Medicare rate since July 1 but that it will adjust claims that were underpaid between March 15 and June 30 to that same rate...A number of physicians, particularly pediatricians, have called out UHC for underpaying them to administer COVID-19 vaccines...George Rogu, M.D., a pediatrician and CEO of Commack, New York-based RBK Pediatricians, said physicians of all kinds faced significant costs in setting up vaccine programs...READ MORE

Nevada health officials have confirmed the state’s second confirmed case of the coronavirus caused by the highly transmissible omicron variant, this time in a rural county...The second case was found in Churchill County in northern Nevada and involved an unvaccinated woman in her mid-40s, according to the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory...READ MORE

Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine ‘may not be sufficient’ to protect against infection with the Omicron variant; but three doses of the vaccine neutralize the variant, according to a preliminary laboratory study released by the companies...it is the first data to indicate whether existing COVID-19 vaccines are likely to protect against the Omicron variant or not...Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech say a variant-specific vaccine could be ready by March should it prove to be needed to increase the level and duration of protection against Omicron...READMORE

A pharmacy in Virginia incorrectly administered Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 shots to 112 children last week, according to the state Department of Health...“The pharmacy attempted to provide a proper dose,” Loudoun County Health Department director Dr. David Goodfriend...said it appears the pharmacy did administer about a third of the adult dose, which should be the correct amount. However, “a lower dose is possible if not all of the 0.1 ml was administered into muscle,” he said...Goodfriend alerted parents in a letter sent out...that Ted Pharmacy may have administered a lower dose than recommended. State and federal officials told the pharmacy to stop distributing shots altogether on Friday before seizing all of its Covid doses, a Virginia health department spokesperson said in a statement...READ MORE

The Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court to preserve its vaccination mandate for healthcare workers after legal challenges in several states...The Department of Justice released a legal filing...that seeks to overturn a ruling from a federal court late last month that blocked the mandate in 10 states...a divided panel in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s motion to hold off enforcing the ruling until an appeal can be heard...This week, a federal appeals court reinstated in 26 states the administration's vaccination mandate for health workers at hospitals that receive federal funding. As it stands, the vaccine requirement for Medicare and Medicaid providers is blocked by courts in about half of U.S. states but not in the other half, creating the potential for patchwork enforcement across the country...READ MORE

A college student who argues he’s immune from COVID-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while he presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of UNR's mandatory vaccination policy...A U.S district judge from California...said in denying the temporary restraining order sought by 18-year-old Jacob Gold that he’s failed to establish a fundamental constitutional right to refuse vaccination...Gold claims that because he recovered from COVID-19, he has immunity superior to students who’ve been vaccinated and it is statistically impossible for a shot to benefit him...READMORE

Officials with the FDA have authorized the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech for use in children 5 through 11 years of age, based on submitted data and an advisory committee recommendation...the vaccine’s safety was evaluated in approximately 3100 children who received the vaccine. No serious adverse effects were detected in the ongoing study, according to the press release...approximately 8300 cases in children 5 through 11 years of age resulted in hospitalization, and as of October 17, 2021, 146 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in the United States in this age group...READ MORE