Tag: vaccines

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News Round-Up: May 6, 2021

Disney rolls out brand new rainbow pride gear for Pride Month

Disney rolls out brand new rainbow pride gear for Pride Month
(image via Disney Parks)
Some news items you might have missed: • Disney Parks: Just in time for Pride Month 2021, fans around the world can showcase their LGBTQ pride with all-new bespoke products featuring Disney brands. To learn more, visit RainbowDisneyCollection.com. • Pink News: An anti-transgender bill in Texas that would ban trans students from playing sports on the team corresponding to their gender identity has failed to advance out of a House committee. It failed to get the requisite seven votes to move forward, instead receiving a 6-5 vote in favor. • Kenneth-in-the-212: This week’s installment of Wrestle Wednesdays was a truly worthy honoree (below). Click here for more of KIT212’s regular Hump Day feature.
Follow David Torres here
Make sure to follow David Torres here on Instagram
• OUT: A Republican state lawmaker in Kansas was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery charges for kneeing the groin of a teenaged boy who was in a class he was substitute teaching. • Edge Media: Olympic athlete Tom Daley is back in familiar form after winning two gold medals at the 2021 FINA World Cup in Tokyo. The event was the diver’s first competitive performance in 14 months, and the judges unanimously agreed that Daley didn’t miss a beat. • Twitter: Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson says thousands of Americans have died after they received a COVID-19 vaccine, pointing to CDC numbers. What he doesn’t say: “Reports to VAERS of death ‘following’ vaccination do not necessarily mean the vaccine ’caused’ the death.” VAERS is an open-access system. It’s designed so that anyone — parents, patients and health care professionals — can freely report any health effects that occur after a vaccination whether or not those effects are believed to be caused by the vaccine. People have died after watching Carlson’s TV show. It doesn’t mean they actually died from his show (although I guess that’s possible).

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News Round-Up: May 5, 2021

LGBTQ streaming platform is launching a new queer-centric news show Culture Q

LGBTQ streaming platform is launching a new queer-centric news show Culture Q
LGBTQ streaming platform Revry is launching a queer-centric news show ‘Culture Q’
Some news items you might have missed: • Revry: On May 6th, global LGBTQ TV network, Revry, will premiere it’s first original weekly news program CULTURE Q, an innovative entertainment, pop culture, lifestyle and politics news series. Emphasizing the queer milieu, CULTURE Q stands to be the leading, weekly forum for boundary-pushing LGBTQ discussions and commentary. • OUT: A gay man in Latvia was reportedly set on fire by a homophobic neighbor and died from the burn wounds that covered over 85% of his body. The man and his roommate had reported the numerous threats they received from their neighbor to police, but to no avail. • Pink News: Patrick O’Connell, a venerable AIDS activist who sought to smash stigma by creating awareness campaigns including the iconic red ribbon, has died. According to his brother, Barry, O’Connell passed away at age 67 of AIDS-related causes. RIP Patrick O’Connell.

• Billboard Music Awards: P!nk will be honored with Billboard’s ICON Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards on May 23. The pop star will join the pantheon of previous honorees Garth Brooks, Cher, Neil Diamond, Céline Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. • New York Daily News: Baseball fans can get free tickets to a Yankees or Mets game if they get vaccinated against COVID at either of the team’s facilities, Gov. Cuomo announced on Wednesday. The doses available outside Citi Field and Yankee Stadium will be the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. • Fox News: After months of being banned from social media services like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, ‘former guy’ Donald Trump has launched a “communications platform,” which will eventually give him the ability to communicate directly with his followers. The platform, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” is part of Trump’s official website. Folks, it’s a blog.

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NY Gov Says Broadway Can ‘Effectively’ Re-Open May 19, But…

A photo of Broadway marquees in Times Square
(photo: Ludovic Bertron/Flickr)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given the green light for Broadway shows to reopen as of May 19, although getting productions up and running on the Great White Way is actually going to take a bit longer. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Though Broadway can effectively reopen on that date “from a capacity point of view,” Cuomo said, the governor noted that it will take time to remount productions and sell tickets.

“They may make their own economic decision as to when they reopen,” Cuomo said during a Monday press briefing. “We’re talking about Broadway.”

For their part, Broadway leaders — including The Broadway League — had previously said a September reopening is more likely. This came after Mayor Bill de Blasio said he expects New York City to reopen in July.

And, following Cuomo’s Monday remarks, the League remains committed to reopening at full capacity in the fall.

Included in Cuomo’s announcement was an emphasis on social distancing measures which would have to remain in effect per the CDC unless theatergoers provide proof of vaccination or recent negative test results. Read the full article here.

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Herd Immunity May Not Be Achievable In US

(photo: Anna Shvets/Pexels)
Medical experts have said that the goal in defeating the coronavirus in the U.S. would be to achieve ‘herd immunity’ – when some 80 percent of Americans would be protected from the virus via natural infection or vaccines. Now, with vaccination rates slowing down, health officials aren’t sure we’ll actually reach that level. From the New York Times:

Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.

How much smaller is uncertain and depends in part on how much of the nation, and the world, becomes vaccinated and how the coronavirus evolves.

It is already clear, however, that the virus is changing too quickly, new variants are spreading too easily and vaccination is proceeding too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon.

Medical experts originally thought 60-70 percent of Americans getting vaccinated would get us to herd immunity, but they’ve upped that estimate to 80 percent due to the new variants of the virus spreading. Polls show nearly 30 percent of Americans have no plans to get vaccinated. Read the full article here.

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Doctor Dies Of COVID Just Weeks After Calling Vaccines ‘Totally Unnecessary’

Dr. Stephen Karanja

Dr. Stephen Karanja
Dr. Stephen Karanja (image via Update of Nepal Banda)
A doctor in Kenya who virulently opposed the use of COVID-19 vaccines has died from the virus just weeks after calling the shots “totally unnecessary.” From the BBC:

Dr Stephen Karanja, chairman of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, advocated steam inhalation and hydroxychloroquine tablets.

Health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) rejected his claims.

“[The vaccine] being distributed in Kenya, has been reviewed and found safe not only by the WHO rigorous process but also by several stringent regulatory authorities,” the WHO said in March.

In a letter dated 3 March Dr Karanja said that “there are drugs that have been repurposed and used effectively to treat Covid-19,” adding that “we also know that vaccination for this disease is totally unnecessary making the motivation suspect.”

I don’t celebrate the death of any man, but this is would seem to be yet another lesson to those who continue to fall for or espouse anti-vaccine propaganda. #Choices

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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100 Million Americans Fully Vaccinated Against COVID

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine White House coronavirus response director Jeff Zients announced today that over 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. From CNN:

The news comes as CNN reported that Biden’s coronavirus advisers are moving into the next phase of their response, from ramping up availability of Covid-19 vaccines to reaching those who have not yet gotten the shot.

White House officials have three overarching goals for the next 100 days: increasing accessibility, combating misinformation and assisting those without the resources to get vaccinated.

The US has administered approximately 237 million shots of the three Covid-19 vaccines as of Friday morning, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 330 million people in the United States, medical experts say the minimum needed in order to reach the goal of ‘herd immunity’ is 70 percent or 231 million.

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Half Of US Adults Have Received At Least One COVID Shot

Getting my second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine

Getting my second dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine
Getting my second Pfizer vaccine shot last month
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on Saturday that shows nearly half of U.S. adults (49.7%) have received at least one dose of the corona virus vaccine. That accounts for more than 128 million over the age of 18 having received at least one shot. More than 82 million, or 31.8% of adults, are fully vaccinated. See the full data here. The U.S. is averaging just over 3 million vaccine shots a day, which is good news considering a recent poll showed 49% of Republican men have no intention of getting the shot. A big part of overcoming the pandemic relies on folks getting vaccinated in order to stop the spread of the virus. That equation now includes a focus on about new, more potent variants which now make up about half of new infections in the U.S. With that in mind, the White House announced Friday that it will allocate $1.7 billion from the recent stimulus package to target the detection, surveillance and mitigation of the variants.

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News Round-Up: April 15, 2021

Nick Vallejo

Nick Vallejo
Nick Vallejo (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Outsports: A gay surfer started an OnlyFans page to feel sexy, and apparently it’s working. Nick Vallejo (above) finds inner-peace in the ocean and confidence in front of the camera. • Pink News: Arizona Republicans have passed an anti-LGBT+ bill that would allow parents to stop their kids from learning about queer people. The bill would also prohibit schools from providing sex-ed classes which include information about AIDS and HIV without parent’s permission. • Instagram: Ivanka Trump celebrated getting her coronavirus vaccine shot on social media, and Republicans lost their minds leaving ugly comments. I’m still surprised they oppose the vaccines so much considering their lord and savior the Donald says he created them with his own two, itty-bitty hands. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNqQe5QBVES/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • New York Times: While it is rare for the police to mistake their sidearms for their stun guns, it is even rarer for charges to be brought against them in such cases. A Times review of 15 other cases of so-called weapon confusion showed that only five of the officers were indicted. Just three received guilty verdicts. • WIS News10: Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott confirms Sergeant First Class Jonathan Pentland had been arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery after viral video footage showed him assaulting a young Black man on a public sidewalk. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine or 30 days in jail. • The Hill: A Minnesota man was arrested Wednesday for assault after he allegedly drove away while a police officer’s arm was trapped in his truck window. An officer was standing on the truck’s running board when Oeltjenbruns is accused of rolling up the window on his arm. The suspect then allegedly drove away at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, leaving the officer hanging off the vehicle. Note: the accused was neither tased nor shot.

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Poll: 43% Of Republicans Say They Won’t Get Vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine

Vials of COVID-19 vaccine A new poll by Monmouth University shows 21% of Americans say they will never get a COVID-19 vaccine shot if they can avoid it. That number is down 3 points from similar polls by Monmouth in January and March. But – the survey was conducted before the recent news regarding Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. Political affiliation is a big determining factor in how people feel about the vaccines. • 43% of Republicans say they’ll never get the shot versus 5% of Democrats; 22% of independents say they want to avoid getting the vaccine altogether. • Adults under age 65 continue to be more likely to avoid getting the vaccine (25%)  than seniors than seniors (11%). The survey also found President Biden currently holds a job rating of 54% approve and 41% disapprove. His rating last month stood at 51% to 42%. Biden garners good reviews for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak with 62% saying he has done a good job and 31% saying he has done a bad job. That’s an increase from 57%–31% in March and 58%–23% in late January. Click here for more results of the poll.

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CDC Hits Pause On Johnson &Johnson Vaccine

Image of a vaccine shot

Image of a vaccine shot The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hit the pause button for injections of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine after 6 women developed a rare blood clotting disease. From the New York Times:

All six were women between the ages of 18 and 48 and all developed the illness within one to three weeks of vaccination. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition.

As of Monday, nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far without any other serious adverse reactions reported, and roughly nine million more doses have been shipped out to the states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At this point, there’s no hard evidence there’s a connection between the blood clotting and the J&J vaccine. With 6 patients out of nearly 7 million vaccinated with the vaccine, experts point out the odds of getting COVID-19 are far greater. But, the development is sure to cause even more vaccine hesitancy in those who were already unsure about getting vaccinated. There are no reports that the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines – which are based on a different scientific approach – have been connected to similar blood clotting.