July                     90,733,888                        1,027,886                           10,367,437               92,784

UPDATED WEEKLY - Last updated on 26 July 2022, 7:00 pm PST, John Hopkins Corona Virus Dashboard and Worldometer

Cases Worldwide

                            John Hopkins                                                           Worldometer

• TOTAL CASES     -   572,156,743                      TOTAL CASES        -   577,023,105

Recovered      -                                              Recovered          -   546,865,657

• TOTAL DEATHS   -     6,388,495                       TOTAL DEATHS       -       6,407,209

POPULATION - is 334,876,997* as of 26 July 2022, 7:00 pm PST, based on Census U.S. and World Population Clock.

      * no updated information at this reporting

Cases in the U.S.

• TOTAL CASES      -   90,733,888                      TOTAL CASES         -     92,494,018

Recovered       -                                              Recovered         -     87,648,838

• TOTAL DEATHS    -     1,027,886                       TOTAL DEATHS      -       1,052,935

Cases in California

• TOTAL CASES     -   10,367,437***                   TOTAL CASES         -       10,640,103

Recovered      -                                              Recovered            -        9,726,208

• TOTAL DEATHS   -       92,784***                      TOTAL DEATHS      -             93,549

07/26/2022                   Cases (WHO)                  Deaths (WHO)                Recovered (WHO)

• Texas                  -   7,465,109                            89,617                            7,029,656
• Florida                -   6,798,448                            77,286                            6,405,861
• New York           -   5,960,648                            70,663                           5,808,830
• Illinois                  - . 3,548,004                            38,830                           3,359,495
• Pennsylvania     -   3,061,287                            46,062                           2,970,034
• N. Carolina        -   2,949,198                            25,435                           2,873,307
• Ohio                   -   2,918,366                             38,981                          2,808,623
• Georgia             -   2,721,391                             38,933                          2,598,616
• Tennessee         -   2,189,373                             26,952                           2,133,071
• Arizona              -   2,179,180                             30,698                           2,092,509
• Alabama          -   1,416,310                             19,889                           1,287,403
• Louisiana          -   1,365,819                              17,539                           1,293,313
• W. Virginia        -      551,921                                7,129                              541,721

  * correction

** no change

           *** no updated information at this reporting

United States progress                                       Updated 26 July 2022, 7:00 pm PST,

• Doses Distributed                                                 784,110,065
• Doses Administered                                             601,497,801
• 1st dose administered                                         261,204,035           78.7%               
• 2nd dose administered                                      222,950,194            67.2%
• Booster administered                                         107,468,726            48.2%
• 2^nd Booster                                                            19,094,866            29.7%                  
• Total population                                                 334,876,997**

   *Updated information

             ** no updated information at this reporting

• https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/
• https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/us-states
• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
• https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/us-states
• https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
• https://usafacts.org/visualizations/weekly-unemployment-claims/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ND-Jobs&msclkid=b11efd9b16dc12762fd79d422c12da27
• https://www.edd.ca.gov/newsroom/unemployment-may-2021.htm
• https://www.bls.gov/
• https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm

COVID UPATE

VARIANT UPDATE

Okay, Okay…..What the………

Monkeypox:  What we know about the virus as the WHO considers if the outbreak is an 'emergency'.  The World Health Organization, WHO, described the outbreak as “unusual” and the continuing spread was worrying enough to convene its expert committee to decide whether the disease should be declared a ‘public health emergency’ of international concern.  That label would give this tropical disease the same designation and attention as:  Zika, Ebola or more recently COVID-19.

The current outbreak is unusual because the virus is spreading outside West and Central Africa, where it has been prevalent for decades.  More than 1,300 cases have been reported globally across 31 countries, according to the CDC.

Monkeypox has historically been a disease limited to Africa and neglected by the rest of the world.  \

Monkeypox is a relative of smallpox, a disease eradicated in 1980, is less transmissible, causes milder symptoms and is less deadly.  Today, scientists are puzzled how it managed to cause a sizeable sudden global outbreak and why the overwhelming majority of patients infected are men who have sex with men.

NEXT PANDEMIC THREAT CAN COME FROM EVERYWHERE, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT SAYS.  The U.S. has confirmed 45 monkeypox cases across 15 states and Washington D.C.  No deaths have been reported.

Monkeypox normally begins with symptoms similar to the:

• flu, including fever,
• headache,
• muscle aches,
• chills,
• exhaustion
• and swollen lymph nodes.

The disease progresses to a painful rash that can spread all over the body.  Most patients recover in 2 - 4 weeks without specific medical treatment.   Some patients only develop a rash on the genitals or anus before experiencing flulike symptoms.  It’s unclear if the virus can spread through semen or vaginal fluid like sexually transmitted diseases.  The virus can spread through direct contact with sores, bodily fluids or materials such as clothes or bedsheets.  In other cases, patients developed a rash without any flu like symptoms.

Monkeypox can also spread through respiratory droplets when in close, sustained face-to-face contact.   The virus doesn’t appear to linger in the air or transmit through short periods of shared airspace such as casual conversations.  

The CDC does not know if the virus can spread from infected people with mild or no symptoms.  75% of monkeypox patients in the U.S. reported exposure during international travel.  A few patients are unsure how they caught monkeypox, which suggests the virus maybe spreading within the U.S. at a low level.  Those diagnosed with monkeypox during the current outbreak, have reported close physical contact with people infected with the virus. 

The U.S. performed 300 tests for orthopox, the family of viruses that includes monkeypox,  smallpox, horsepox, cowpox, camelpox and many other -pox viruses of animals,” indicated Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Each orthopox virus has its own personality.  Those testing positive for orthopox are presumed to have monkeypox until the Atlanta CDC confirms the diagnosis.

Jynneos, a small pox vaccine approved to fight monkeypox, is a two-dose vaccine, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for people 18 and older.   The U.S. also has an older generation smallpox vaccine, ACAM2000, which also prevents the monkeypox infection.  The CDC generally recommends Jynneos because ACAM2000 can have severe side effects.

Some monkeypox patients also have sexually transmitted diseases, CDC says.  PUBLISHED FRI, JUN 10 20221:35 PM EDTUPDATED FRI, JUN 10 2022, 6:15 PM EDT.

• CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said some patients with monkeypox also had syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea or chlamydia infections.
• The monkeypox rash can resemble herpes and syphilis. 
• “Health-care providers should not rule out monkeypox just because a patient has another diagnosis or another ST,” advised  Walensky. 

“It’s important to be aware that monkeypox cases may present similar to some sexually transmitted infections and mistaken for other diagnoses,” Walensky said.

The Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have together become dominant in the U.S., the C.D.C. estimates.  This milestone comes less than six months after first being detected in South Africa and as the federal government considers an Omicron-specific booster dose for adults in the fall.   Of new cases in the United States, BA.4 made up 15.7 % and BA.5 made up 36.6 %, together averaging 52 %, numbers that should rise in the weeks to come.

An expert committee recommended the Food and Drug Administration plan for an updated booster shot of the coronavirus vaccines that targets some form of the Omicron variant, even though the virus might evolve again by the fall.

BA.4 and BA.5 exhibit qualities of escape artists, able to elude antibodies produced after coronavirus vaccinations and infections, including infections caused by earlier versions of Omicron.  This may explain why these sub-variants have spread even faster. 

Hospitalizations nationwide were up 6 % in the last two weeks, an average of 31,000 a day, according to federal data.  New deaths have stayed below 400 per day.  The spread of the virus is a regional affair.  In the Northeast and Midwest, cases have been declining while in the South and West, cases are increasing.

Across the nation, public health rules continue to be lifted, including ending an indoor mask mandate for Alameda County, the San Francisco Bay Area’s second-most populous county.  In New York City, Broadway theaters are retiring mask requirements.  Even the longstanding requirement to test for the coronavirus before flying to the U.S. from abroad was dropped. 

VACCINE UPDATE

Why boosted Americans seem to be getting more COVID-19 infections.  JUNE 2, 2022 / 2:40 PM .   COVID-19 cases began to accelerate in the spring, federal data suggests the rate of breakthrough COVID infections was worse in April in those boosted compared to those un-boosted.   Rates of deaths and hospitalizations remained the lowest among the boosted.

The shift underscores the growing complexity of measuring vaccine effectiveness at this stage of the pandemic.  More boosted Americans have abandoned "prevention behaviors" like wearing masks and are vulnerable to catching and spreading the virus, at a time when officials are contemplating re-imposing pandemic measures.  

"Home testing has become, the single biggest concern in developed countries that can interfere with our measurements," stated CDC's Ruth Link-Gelles at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases conference. 

CDC Director Dr. Walensky indicated her agency was in talks with the Food and Drug Administration regarding extending the second boosters option to more adults where only adults 50 and over and some immunocompromised are eligible to receive a fourth dose. 

CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccinations for Young Kids.  Immediate Release: Saturday, June 18, 2022.   CDC Director Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’, ACIP, recommendation that all children 6 months - 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine.  This expands eligibility to 20 million additional children and Americans ages 6 months and older are now eligible for vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines to better protect them from COVID-19.   All children, including children who have already had COVID-19, should get vaccinated.   Walensky signed off on two doses of Moderna's vaccine in children six months - 5 years and three doses of Pfizer's vaccine six months - 4 years.

Covid-19 is the leading cause of infectious disease-related death in ages 0 - 19 years old and the seventh most common of all causes of death according to Dr. Daley, senior investigator with the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado.  The data also shows deaths can be prevented through vaccination, Dr. Matthew Daley said in an ACIP meeting.

FDA NEWS RELEASE

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update:  FDA Authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Down to 6 Months of Age. 

• The FDA’s evaluation and analysis of the safety, effectiveness and manufacturing data of these vaccines was rigorous and comprehensive, supporting the EUAs.
• The agency determined that the known and potential benefits of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the known and potential risks in the pediatric populations authorized for use for each vaccine.
• Prior to the decision, the FDA’s independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee was consulted and voted in support of the authorizations. 

Evaluation of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine for Individuals 6 Months through 17 Years of Age.

• Effectiveness - The effectiveness and safety data evaluated and analyzed by the FDA for the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to support the EUA for these pediatric populations were generated in two ongoing, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials in the United States and Canada which enrolled infants, children and adolescents.

1. Children 6 months through 5 years of age:  In these FDA analyses, the immune response to the vaccine, of both age groups of children, was comparable to the immune response of the adults.  

In this analysis, the vaccine was 50.6% effective in preventing COVID-19. Among participants 2 through 5 years of age, the vaccine was 36.8% effective in preventing COVID-19.

                   2.  Children 6 years through 11 years of age:  In the FDA analysis, the immune response was                          comparable to the immune response of the adults.

                   3.  Adolescents 12 through 17 years of age:  In this analysis, the immune response of                                        adolescents was comparable to the immune response of the older participants. 

• Safety

Children 6 months through 5 years of age:  In the clinical trial the most commonly reported side effects across all age groups included:

1. pain,
2. redness and swelling at the injection site,
3. fever,
4. underarm or groin swelling or tenderness of lymph nodes in the same arm or thigh as the injection,
5. irritability/crying,
6. sleepiness,
7. loss of appetite,
8. fatigue,
9. headache,
10. muscle ache,
11. chills,
12. nausea/vomiting
13. and joint stiffness.  

The most commonly reported side effects in the clinical trial participants for both the 6 - 11 age group and the 12 - 17 age group include:

1. pain,
2. redness and swelling at the injection site,
3. tiredness,
4. headache,
5. muscle pain,
6. chills,
7. joint pain,
8. underarm swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection,
9. nausea and vomiting
10. fever.

Evaluation of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Children 6 Months through 4 Years of Age.   The effectiveness and safety data evaluated and analyzed by the FDA for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine were generated in an ongoing, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial in the United States and internationally, which enrolled infants and children.

Effectiveness

• The effectiveness data to support the EUA in children 6 months through 4 years of age, in the FDA analyses, the immune response to the vaccine for both age groups of children was comparable to the immune response of the older participants.

Safety

• The most commonly reported side effects in clinical trials were:
• rritability,
• decreased appetite,
• fever and pain,
• tenderness, redness and swelling at the injection site
• fever,
• headache,
• chills 

Risks of Myocarditis and Pericarditis.  The FDA and CDC safety surveillance systems have identified increased risks of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis, inflammation of tissue surrounding the heart, following vaccination with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, particularly following the second dose.  

• Moderna COVID-19 - the observed risk is highest in males 18 - 24 years of age
• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 - the observed risk is highest in males 12 - 17 years of age

Ongoing Safety Monitoring.  It is mandatory for ModernaTX Inc., Pfizer Inc., and vaccination providers, to report the following to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for these two COVID-19 vaccines:

• serious adverse events,
• cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, MIS
• cases of COVID-19 that result in hospitalization or death.

Dr. Veronica McNally indicated she was "struck" by the impact Covid-19 has had on children and the numbers:  2 million cases, 20,000 hospitalizations and over 200 deaths

FDA decision on Novavax’s Covid shots could be delayed to review changes in manufacturing.  PUBLISHED THU, JUN 9 2022, 7:00 AM EDT. UPDATED THU, JUN 9 2022, 2:57 PM EDT.

• The FDA’s committee of independent vaccine experts voted overwhelmingly to recommend Novavax’s vaccine for use in the U.S.  They reviewed data on the shot’s safety and its effectiveness at preventing Covid.
• Novavax informed the Food and Drug Administration of changes to its manufacturing process.
•  The FDA needs to review the changes to Novavax’s manufacturing before deciding whether to authorize the vaccine according to a spokesperson. 
• The FDA is not obligated to follow the committee’s recommendation, though the agency normally does so.

FDA authorization would allow Novavax to start shipping to the U.S. from its manufacturing partner, Serum Institute of India.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off on the vaccine before pharmacies and other health-care providers could start administering the shots.

Novavax, a small Maryland biotech company, was an original participant of Operation Warp Speed, the race to develop a Covid vaccine in 2020, receiving $1.8 billion.  Novavax asked the FDA to authorize its two-dose vaccine late January.  While awaiting authorization in the U.S., the biotech company’s shots have been authorized in 40 countries, including Australia, Canada and the European Union.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Novavax Inc's vaccine reduces the risk of mild-to-severe COVID-19 and could provide some level of protection against the Omicron variant.

The FDA analyzed data from Novavax's trial before the Omicron and Delta variant became the dominant strains.

In the study, which enrolled 30,000 adults in the United States and Mexico, the vaccine efficacy was 90.4%.  The FDA also flagged the possible risk of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation also associated with rival mRNA vaccines, after the Novavax shot.

How to Protect Yourself?  Getting vaccinated is your best bet!

IT’S NOT OVER!

Stay safe.  Mask.  Social distance.  Frequent hand washing.  Avoid crowds

ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-boosters-infection-rate/
• https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-u-fda-staff-says-125219179.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
• https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/some-monkeypox-patients-also-have-sexually-transmitted-diseases-cdc-says.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0618-children-vaccine.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/18/health/cdc-covid-vaccine-children-under-5/index.html
• https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-and-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-children
• https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/06/23/monkeypox-what-we-know-so-far-about-the-smallpox-like-virus-detected-in-the-uk
• https://www.prevention.com/health/a40206906/what-is-orthopox/
• https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0618-children-vaccine.html
• https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/09/fda-decision-on-novavaxs-covid-shots-could-be-delayed-.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/28/health/covid-subvariants-ba4-ba5.html