Month: May 2021

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday that the agency has now identified 28 cases of blood clots with low platelets in people who received the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The 28 cases were found after more than 8.7 million doses of the single injection vaccine were administered, the agency said. There were no confirmed cases involving any of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

According to the CDC, four of the 28 people with the condition remained in the hospital as of May 7, one of whom was in the ICU, and two have been discharged to a post-acute care facility. Health agencies paused use of the vaccine for 10 days last month beginning on April 13 to investigate the rare and potentially fatal side effect, and to educate providers on how to treat it. Twelve of the patients were treated with heparin, which is a blood thinner normally used for blood clots, but has been shown to make this specific condition worse.

All 28 confirmed cases occurred before the pause began on April 13. The median age of patients was 40 and their ages ranged from 18 to 59. Of the 28 cases, 22 occurred in women and six occurred in men. The CDC said the known potential benefits of the vaccine continued to outweigh its potential risks.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine linked to 28 cases of blood clots, CDC reports

Via www.nbcnews.com

More than 8.7 million people have received the J&J Covid-19 vaccination.

05/12/2021 5:05 PM

 

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Colonial Pipeline restarted operations on Wednesday, five days after a cyberattack on the company forced it to shut down the crucial fuel line that delivers nearly half the gasoline to the East Coast. The closure drained supplies of gasoline at many retail stations, causing panic buying across the southeastern U.S.  

Colonial Pipeline warned that resuming operations on the 5,500-mile artery that runs from Houston to New Jersey would take some time. The company said in a statement: “It will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal. Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period.”

The pipeline shipments were stopped on Friday after the attack that used ransomware from the cyber gang DarkSide. It was the biggest ever cyber assault on U.S. energy infrastructure, and it drew concerns from lawmakers about the lack of attention that has been paid to vulnerabilities in the critical U.S. infrastructure.

Colonial announces pipeline restart, says normal service will take ‘several days’

Via www.nbcnews.com

Colonial Pipeline, operator of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, said it is restarting operations…

05/12/2021 7:04 PM

 

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Former acting defense secretary Christopher Miller is expected to defend his decisions at a congressional hearing in response to the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6th, saying that sending in troops would have created the appearance of a “military coup”.

Miller plans to say the military was deliberately restrained on the day of Trump’s January 6 rally, which turned into an assault by hundreds of his followers that left five dead including a police officer. Miller will testify on Wednesday at a hearing held by the House of Representatives oversight committee on unanswered questions from the attack.

National Guard troops did not arrive at the Capitol until about 5.20pm on January 6, more than four hours after the grounds were first breached by the pro-Trump mob. Miller is expected to testify that the Pentagon’s response was “rapid” compared with other military deployments in urban areas, and is also expected to fault Trump for encouraging the violent attack, saying, “I stand by my prior observation that I personally believe his comments encouraged the protesters that day.”

Ex-Pentagon chief defends response to Capitol riot, feared appearance of ‘coup’

Via news.yahoo.com

The man who led the Pentagon during former President Donald Trump’s supporters’ deadly attack on…

05/11/2021 4:47 PM

 

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On Tuesday, prosecutors in Georgia said they would seek the death penalty for the man accused of fatally shooting eight people at Atlanta-area spas, charging the suspect with committing hate crimes. 22-year-old Robert Aaron Long was indicted on murder charges in the March 16 killings of four women in Fulton County, Georgia, as well as on aggravated assault and domestic terrorism charges. He was previously charged with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in Cherokee County, about 40 miles north of Atlanta.

In a court filing, Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis said Long had targeted four women in Atlanta because of their race, national origin and gender. In a separate filing, Willis said she would seek the death penalty against Long. 

Long told investigators a sex addiction drove him to commit the killings and indicated he frequented spas in the area. Four people were killed and another wounded at Young’s Asian Massage in Cherokee County. Two Asian-American women were among those killed, along with a white woman and a white man. An hour later in Atlanta, police officers responding to a robbery report arrived at the Gold Spa beauty salon to find three women shot dead. The officers were then called to a separate spa across the street where another woman was found fatally shot. All four women killed in Atlanta were of of Asian descent. 

Prosecutors to Seek Hate Crime Charges, Death Penalty Against Suspect in Atlanta-Area Spa Shootings

Via www.msn.com

The case will be one of the first major tests of Georgia’s new hate crime law. Prosecutors…

05/11/2021 5:17 PM

 

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NBC announced on Monday that they will not air the 2022 Golden Globes ceremony next year. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or HFPA, the organization that puts on the ceremony, has been criticized in recent months for a lack of racial diversity among its voting members and various ethical concerns. The organization is said to have no Black voting members.

A spokesperson for NBC said: “We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform. However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has vowed to diversify its membership and make other changes. However, many actors and major entertainment companies such as Netflix, Amazon Studios and WarnerMedia have sought to distance themselves from the organization, saying they would not work with the HFPA until more sweeping changes are made in the group’s demographic makeup and ethics rules.

Amid outcry, NBC says it will not air Golden Globes in 2022

Via abcnews.go.com

Amid growing pressure on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, NBC said Monday that will not…

05/10/2021 6:31 PM

 

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The US Food and Drug Administration has expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 to 15.  This is the first Covid-19 vaccine in the United States authorized for use in younger teens and adolescents; the vaccine had previously been authorized for people age 16 and older. Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are authorized for use in people age 18 and older.

The FDA reviewed data submitted by Pfizer, who said at the end of March that a clinical trial involving 2,260 12-to-15-year-olds showed the vaccine’s efficacy is 100% and it is well tolerated.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet Wednesday to advise the CDC on whether to recommend use of the vaccine in this age group. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will then decide whether the agency will recommend the vaccine’s use in the new group. Vaccinations for 12-to-15-year-olds are not expected to begin until after that recommendation.  The Biden administration has said it will quickly mobilize to ready vaccinations for 12-to-15-year-olds through the federal pharmacy program, pediatricians and family doctors.

FDA authorizes Pfizer vaccine for children 12 to 15

Via www.nbcnews.com

The CDC is expected to sign off on the move in the coming days.

05/10/2021 5:20 PM