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By Travis Caldwell | CNN
A pill has chopped the hazard of hospitalization oregon decease from Covid-19 by fractional successful a study, Merck and Ridgeback Therapeutic said Friday.
It would go the archetypal oral antiviral for Covid-19 if approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for exigency usage authorization.
“At the interim analysis, molnupiravir reduced the hazard of hospitalization oregon decease by astir 50%,” Merck said successful a quality release. “7.3% of patients who received molnupiravir were either hospitalized oregon died done Day 29 pursuing randomization (28/385), compared with 14.1% of placebo treated patients (53,377). Through Day 29, nary deaths were reported successful patients who received molnupiravir, arsenic compared to 8 deaths successful patients who received placebo.”
Merck said it volition question FDA exigency usage authorization “as soon arsenic possible.”
Experts person said that processing an oral antiviral could beryllium the adjacent accidental to thwart Covid-19. A short-term regimen of regular pills would purpose to combat the microorganism aboriginal aft diagnosis and forestall symptoms from processing aft exposure.
One antiviral cause has been approved to dainty Covid. Remdesivir is fixed intravenously to sick patients successful the hospital. It is not meant for early, wide use.
Some states are seeing accrued vaccinations
Meanwhile, arsenic much states and wellness attraction systems determination toward mandatory inoculations for definite workers, officials are hoping the inducement of employment volition destruct vaccine hesitancy — portion 1 politician is arranging contingency scenarios.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has instructed the National Guard to hole successful lawsuit determination are staffing shortages erstwhile a vaccine mandate and investigating request goes into effect astatine the extremity of Monday, helium said. State employees indispensable supply impervious of vaccination oregon taxable to play investigating requirements by the deadline, and those who don’t comply volition beryllium placed connected unpaid leave.
As of Thursday, much than 63% — 20,000 employees — were afloat vaccinated portion 12% of employees person started play testing, Lamont said. More than 8,000 non-compliant employees remain, yet immoderate 2,000 person updated their presumption successful the past 2 days.
“We person provided astir authorities employees with the enactment to get tested play alternatively of getting vaccinated, providing much flexibility than our neighboring states. We person besides provided our employees with a compliance grace period. There is nary crushed each our employees should not beryllium successful compliance,” Lamont said.
Connecticut is conscionable 1 of respective states that look pushback implicit mandating vaccinations for captious workers, a determination that has been highlighted by wellness experts arsenic indispensable to support those astatine a higher hazard for Covid-19, but which has been met with stiff absorption from a vocal number who privation to stay some unvaccinated and successful their existent roles.
In Rhode Island, the section of wellness announced successful August that “all employees, interns, and volunteers successful RIDOH-licensed healthcare facilities” would beryllium required to get their archetypal dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by Friday.
Care New England, 1 of the largest infirmary systems successful the state, reported Thursday that implicit 95% of its healthcare workforce has been vaccinated. Staff vaccination “continues to ascent by the time and the hour,” according to the system’s CEO James E. Fanale.
The deadline has already passed successful different states. California’s 2 cardinal wellness attraction workers needed to beryllium vaccinated by Thursday oregon hazard losing their jobs, with exemptions disposable for spiritual beliefs oregon qualifying aesculapian reasons.
Many hospitals that CNN surveyed had precocious vaccination rates among employees, averaging implicit 90% astatine immoderate of the state’s largest healthcare systems.
In New York, nary of the wellness attraction facilities unopen down arsenic a effect of vaccine mandates for workers, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday. Earlier this week, it was reported that 92% of nursing location staff, 89% of big attraction facilities staff, and 92% of infirmary unit person received astatine slightest 1 dose statewide.
“You volition spot that fig spell higher quickly, due to the fact that what we’re uncovering is, you know, arsenic much radical are furloughed oregon suspended, that that fig is going to spell up,” Hochul said.
Some country hospitals had reported suspending employees without wage oregon temporarily halting elective inpatient procedures owed to shortages.
Vaccines for ages 5-11 whitethorn beryllium disposable soon, but canvass finds hesitancy remains
As the Delta variant continues to spread, wellness attraction employees are acold from the lone who woody with mundane risks connected the job. The resumption of in-person learning successful schools has already been analyzable by Covid-19 outbreaks and the quarantining of exposed students and staff.
Yet contempt grounds that vaccinations are lowering Covid-19 infections and severity among eligible property groups, determination is inactive hesitancy among parents and guardians astir inoculating children ages 5 to 11, according to a caller survey.
Only astir one-third of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds accidental that they volition vaccinate their kid arsenic soon arsenic a vaccine becomes disposable for that property group, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor results published Thursday. A akin percentage, 32%, accidental that they volition hold and spot however the vaccine is working, and 24% accidental that they decidedly won’t get their 5- to 11-year-olds vaccinated.
According to the report, 58% of parents said that K-12 schools should necessitate masks successful schoolhouse for each students and staff, 4% said masks should beryllium required lone for unvaccinated students and staff, and 35% said determination should beryllium nary disguise requirements.
There is simply a divided betwixt vaccinated and unvaccinated parents polled, KFF found, with 73% of vaccinated parents saying schools should necessitate masks for each students and 63% of unvaccinated parents saying determination should beryllium nary disguise requirements.
The bulk of interviews, conducted September 13 to 22 from a illustration of much than 1,500 adults, were earlier Pfizer announced that objective trials showed their Covid-19 vaccine was harmless and generated an immune effect successful this property group.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is approved for radical property 16 and older and has an exigency usage authorization for radical ages 12 to 15. On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced they submitted information connected children ages 5 to 11 to the FDA for archetypal reappraisal but are not yet seeking exigency usage authorization.
A ceremonial submission to petition EUA for the vaccine is expected to travel successful the coming weeks, the companies said successful a statement.
Among those already eligible for vaccines, the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that astir 200 cardinal US adults person gotten astatine slightest 1 dose of the vaccine. Nearly 67% of US adults are afloat vaccinated.
Death rates successful nonmetropolitan areas are higher, survey finds
Meanwhile, researchers are looking astatine the effects the pandemic is having connected antithetic parts of the nation.
Deaths from Covid-19 successful nonmetropolitan areas are present occurring astatine much than doubly the complaint of deaths from Covid-19 successful metropolitan areas, according to an investigation of Johns Hopkins University information from the University of Iowa’s Center for Health Policy Analysis.
After analyzing information connected mean Covid-19 decease rates astatine the region level, it was determined that successful the 2 weeks ending September 15, 2021, nonmetropolitan areas had an mean of 0.85 Covid-19 deaths for each 100,000 residents. Metropolitan areas had an mean fractional that — 0.41 Covid-19 deaths for each 100,000 residents.
Deaths successful nonmetropolitan areas person outpaced those successful metropolitan areas consistently since the opening of the survey successful April 2020, and the numbers from September 15 are the 4th clip wide that the nonmetropolitan decease complaint has been astatine slightest treble the metropolitan decease rate. However, the nonmetropolitan complaint had not been treble that of metropolitan areas since December 1, 2020.
The researchers utilized US Department of Agriculture methodology to differentiate betwixt metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Counties were logged arsenic metropolitan if they had an municipality country with 50,000 oregon much radical oregon were an outlying region with beardown economical ties to an municipality center. All different counties successful the survey were coded arsenic nonmetropolitan.
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