Month: December 2021

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 booster shots for 12-15 year old next week. Sources familiar with the decision said on Thursday that the booster will be recommended five months after the older children receive their second vaccine, instead of the six months currently advised for adults. Additionally, the FDA is expected to authorize a booster shot for younger children, ages 5 to 11, who have compromised immune systems.

After the FDA officially makes its recommendation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to make its own decision on booster shots for adolescents. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told CNN: “Of course, the CDC will swiftly follow as soon as we hear from them, and I’m hoping to have that in the days to weeks ahead.”  The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to meet by the middle of next week to vote on whether to make a recommendation.

Currently, everyone 5 years old and older is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals 18 years old and older can receive a booster shot, and 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to receive a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot, according to the CDC.

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On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a bulletin recommending that people avoid travel by cruise ship amid increasing cases of COVID-19. The CDC increased its health notice level for cruise ships to “Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19,” its highest category.

The bulletin released Thursday said vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers should steer clear of cruise ships, several of which have reported COVID-19 outbreaks in recent weeks.  Said the CDC:  “The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.”

Cruise ship travel was shut down at the start of the pandemic in spring 2020, and resumed in June 2021 as COVID-19 cases declined with the arrival of the vaccine.  However, cases have been on the rise in the United States — and worldwide — since then, with 486,428 new cases reported Wednesday, the highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic.

Multiple cruise lines have reported outbreaks in recent weeks, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line. Last week, several cruise ships were turned away from foreign ports after reporting such outbreaks.

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Thousands of flights across the globe were cancelled as travel chaos that unfolded over the holidays continued, with airlines blaming the spread of the omicron variant and adverse weather conditions for the disruptions.  As of Wednesday morning, more than 2,280 flights had been canceled globally for the day, with more than 740 flights to/from the United States cancelled.  U.S carriers Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines were among those to cancel flights this week, with the two collectively canceling hundreds of flights Tuesday and Wednesday.

Delta had said it was forced to cancel more than 250 of 4,133 scheduled flights on Tuesday alone, while Alaska canceled 170 flights and warned of more cancellations and delays throughout the end of the week.  Both airlines have gone on record to blame weather and the spread of the Covid-19/Omicron variant for the travel disruptions. Delta said it was working to reroute and substitute some planes. Alaska said as it heads into Thursday, it is proactively decreasing Seattle departures by around 20 percent to allow for additional time to de-ice aircraft in the midst of winter storms in the western U.S. Snowy weather in the Pacific Northwest contributed to the cancellation of more than 110 flights scheduled to land at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday alone.

The cancellations on Wednesday come after a week of travel chaos over the holidays that saw airlines ax thousands of flights, with some blaming the spread of omicron among crew and other staff.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it was not considering recommending a Covid vaccine mandate for domestic flights, despite the suggestion by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said of air travel: “Right now, what we’re talking about is ways to get people vaccinated. Certainly domestic flights has been a topic of conversation, but that is not something we’re revisiting right now.”

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Ghislaine Maxwell — British socialite and associate of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein — was convicted of federal sex trafficking charges for her role in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused by her close confidant, Epstein. A jury of six men and six women reached a verdict in the New York City sex trafficking trial on Wednesday after six days of deliberations.

The jury weighed evidence and testimony from about 30 witnesses over three weeks that alleged Maxwell played a pivotal part in recruiting and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused Epstein. Maxwell faced six federal counts that together carry a maximum sentence of 70 years: sex trafficking of a minor, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy. Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, has been jailed since her arrest in July 2020.

Maxwell’s defense team argued that it was the financier who pulled the strings and that federal prosecutors only sought to take her down because Epstein, a convicted sex abuser, committed suicide by hanging n a Manhattan jail cell two years ago as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors argued that Maxwell was not an unwilling participant, and was known at Epstein’s Florida estate as the “lady of the house.” Numerous women before Epstein’s death came forward with allegations that he sexually abused them, with some claiming Maxwell helped to traffic them to other powerful men, however prosecutors focused their case on the testimony of four accusers. Those women provided graphic accounts of how they say Maxwell “groomed” them as young girls to have sex with Epstein. Maxwell denied helping recruit and engage in the trafficking of young girls, mostly in the 1990s.

Maxwell was charged with six counts for alleged acts committed between 1994 and 1997, and then allegedly lying to investigators in 2016. She was also charged with perjury, although those counts will be tried separately.

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Upon reopening after the holiday break on January 3rd, New York City public schools will expand in-school coronavirus testing, but relax quarantine rules for students in a bid to keep them in class as much as possible amid skyrocketing infection and hospitalization rates.  NYC Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday that roughly 80,000 students will be tested every week across the public school system once classes resume. de Blasio said in a virtual briefing at City Hall that while only unvaccinated students were eligible for the randomized in-school surveillance tests at the start of the school year, vaccinated kids will now also be able to get them. In another policy shift, de Blasio said students who are exposed to an infected classmate will receive an at-home rapid test kit that their parents should administer as soon as they’re home. Students who are negative on the at-home test can return to school the very next day as long as they’re asymptomatic — a marked shift from the previous mandatory 10-day quarantine rule for kids exposed to an infected classmate.

de Blasio, who leaves office on Saturday, was joined for his briefing by incoming Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Hochul. “We have a lot of evidence now that tells us this is going to be the approach that works in the future,” de Blasio said, citing data from the Health Department indicating 98% of kids who have a close interaction with an infected classmate do not contract the virus. Gov. Hochul added that her administration is setting aside 2 million at-home testing kits for city schools that can be distributed to students as needed in the event of a positive case.

Adams, who’s set to be sworn in as de Blasio’s successor on Saturday, noted that data indicates children are at a comparatively low risk of catching COVID-19 in school. “Your children are safer in school, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Adams.  However, he also suggested at a later press conference he may adjust the outgoing mayor’s school plan once he takes over. “We’re going to roll out our plan. It’s going to be a very clear plan,” Adams said at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

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Authorities said that five people were killed (including a police officer) and three injured in a series of shootings that began in the Denver area and ended later in the suburb of Lakewood. Police said the shootings began when the gunman killed two women and injured a man just before 6 p.m. Monday in Denver. The gunman fatally shot another man a few blocks away, with police then killing the suspect.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said at a news conference: “There are four significant locations where gunfire took place in the City and County of Denver.” Denver Police officers identified a vehicle associated with the incident and a pursuit ensued. There was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and officers, Pazen continued. No officers were injured as a result.

A motive for the shootings is unknown, and an investigation is ongoing. The deceased victims names were not released.

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