News

【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, October 22, 2022】The CDC’s independent vaccine advisers voted 15-0 Thursday to add most Covid-19 vaccines offered in the U.S. to the childhood, adolescent and adult immunization schedules.

The immunization schedules, which are updated every fall before going into effect the following year, consolidate all of the CDC’s vaccine recommendations in one document for states that use them as guidance for school entry requirements and busy physicians. The additions formalize recommendations the CDC has already made on Covid vaccination in individuals ages 6 months and older for shots that the FDA has approved or has authorized for emergency use. (Photo credit : Getty Images).

Covid vaccines’ inclusion on the schedules don’t constitute mandates, particularly for schoolchildren, which are the purview of states, localities or jurisdictions, depending on local laws. Still, the committee’s vote sparked controversy and debate on social media about what the additions mean for vaccine requirements after Fox News’ Tucker Carlson asserted Tuesday that the CDC would trigger mandates for students.

“This doesn’t represent new recommendations. This represents sort of a summary of existing recommendations,” said advisory panel member Matthew Daley, a senior investigator at the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “But I will acknowledge ... there is symbolism in adding Covid-19 to the childhood immunization schedule, and that symbolism is that we view this as routine and that we view this as Covid is here to stay.”

The FDA has approved two messenger-RNA vaccines targeting Covid: The Pfizer-BioNTech primary series vaccine for people 12 and older and the Moderna primary series for adults 18 and older. They’re each authorized for emergency use for children as young as 6 months, and all booster doses — including new formulations designed to target the original coronavirus strain and two Omicron subvariants — are authorized for emergency use.

The agency also has authorized a two-dose primary series of a protein-based vaccine by Novavax for emergency use in individuals 12 and older, as well as one booster dose in a limited population of adults.

Vaccine law experts acknowledge adding Covid vaccines to the immunization schedule could influence states that are inclined to require them for school entry to do so, and many states use the schedules as guidance for requirements. But the CDC panel’s recommendations do not trigger mandates, and 21 states have passed laws prohibiting Covid vaccine mandates for students.

Nirav Shah, director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and an advisory committee member, noted there are vaccines included on the schedule now, such as seasonal flu shots, that many jurisdictions don’t require for children to attend school.

“Local control matters, and we honor that the decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is at the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all,” Shah said. “They are the arbiters of what vaccines are required, if any, for school entry. This discussion does not change that.”

According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, 21 states have instituted bans against Covid vaccine mandates for students. Washington, D.C., has required students eligible for fully approved Covid vaccines to be immunized by 2023, and California has a similar requirement that won’t kick in before July 2023.

(Source: New York Times)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/

【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, October 20, 2022】Per County of San Diego Communications Office, San Diego County residents and businesses still have time to register to join the Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill which is being held Thursday, 10/20/22.(Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)

Minimizing or preventing injuries during a significant earthquake is the top goal and the best way to do that is to have some safety measures in place before one occurs, to know how to protect yourself during the shaking in different situations, and to be aware of potential hazards after one has passed.

San Diego is in the “before” phase now with more than 800,000 individuals, businesses and organizations in San Diego County currently registered to drop, cover and hold on at 10:20 a.m. on Thursday 10/20. Statewide, 9.4 million are participating and on an international scale, even more will drill.

The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services and San Diego County Fire and CAL FIRE San Diego encourage all San Diego County residents and area visitors to register for ShakeOut.

“Review and update your emergency plan if needed, and download the county’s SD Emergency App which includes ShakeReadySD, technology which can notify people of intense shaking several seconds before it begins. This can give people time to seek cover,” said Jeff Toney, Director of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services. “The key to surviving an earthquake is having a plan and practicing it in different environments. Where you might seek cover at home is not the same as what you might do in your workplace or in your vehicle.”

Tony Mecham, County Fire and CAL FIRE San Diego Unit Chief, notes those with a plan and emergency supplies have a better chance of survival. This is because during a large-scale disaster, first responders may be unable to get to households for basic first aid calls.

Drop, cover and hold on is the protective action recommended by federal, state and local emergency preparedness organizations as the best way to avoid or reduce injury during an earthquake. If indoors, seek cover under a desk or table, or if one is not in the area, sit against an interior wall away from glass and heavy furniture and protect your head. Do not run outside if shaking begins. But if you’re already outdoors, try to find a clear area and sit down and protect your head. Move away from building exteriors, trees, power lines if possible. For more specific situations and video demonstrations, visit the Earthquake Country Alliance.

The ShakeOut drill can be conducted in as little as 90 seconds. After your drill, look around your surroundings at work or at home to see what items might fall or topple over during intense shaking and cause injury, then secure furniture and wall hangings to prevent the hazard.

Drill tips and information resources are available on the ShakeOut website. Free family disaster plan templates are also available on www.ReadySanDiego.org in multiple languages. The templates include a list of important items to assemble in your disaster emergency kit.

(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/

【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, October 18, 2022】Today, the market for hearing aids is set to become significantly more affordable. That’s because devices that previously required a prescription and an expensive custom fitting will now be available over the counter. (Photo credit: Healthline)

Professional-quality hearing aids still aren’t cheap — prices start around $800 — and people with severe hearing loss will still need the help of a specialist. Most people with slight to moderate hearing loss, though, will save hundreds or even thousands of dollars by buying and fitting devices to their needs without the intervention of an audiologist or an otolaryngologist.

And the cost of devices should come down over time as more consumer electronics companies jump into a market previously dominated by medical device makers. That might not happen right away, though — Sony’s new line of hearing aids start with two models priced at about $1,000 and about $1,300.

(Source: Los AngelesTimes)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/

【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, October 19, 2022】Per County of San Diego Communications Office, as ballots start showing up in mailboxes around San Diego County, the Registrar of Voters office is encouraging voters to vote early.(Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)

More than 1.9 million ballots for the Nov. 8 Statewide General Election were sent out to registered voters last week. If you haven’t received yours by Oct. 17, contact the Registrar’s office.

“San Diego County voters have more days and more ways to vote,” said Registrar of Voters Cynthia Paes. “You don’t need to wait until Election Day to vote. The sooner we get your ballot back, the sooner we can start processing it. Your ballot can be in the first release of election night results.”

Voting by mail is:

SIMPLE: A ballot, instructions and an “I Voted” sticker are included in your official ballot packet.
CONVENIENT: Make voting decisions and mark your ballot comfortably at home.
SECURE: Sign and date your envelope, seal your completed ballot inside and return it postage free to a trusted source:
Return your ballot through the mail, postage free. For a location near you, visit the U.S. Postal Service office or collection box website. Voters who return their mail ballot through U.S. Postal Service can track their ballot by signing up for “Where’s My Ballot?”.
Return it to one of the Registrar’s 141 official ballot drop boxes around the county. The new stand-alone boxes feature the Registrar’s logo along with the County seal and are labeled “Official Ballot Drop Box.” Find one close to you through the Registrar’s online locator tool or inside your information pamphlet. Check each location’s hours of operation before heading out at sdvote.com.
Return it to the Registrar’s office where early voting is already underway. Hours run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

You can also vote in person at any vote center. Starting, Saturday, Oct. 29, 39 vote centers will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 5, over 200 vote centers will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All vote center locations and the Registrar’s office will be open on Election Day, Nov. 8, when voting hours change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Learn more about voting in the Nov. General Statewide Election at sdvote.com, call (858) 565-5800 or toll free at (800) 696-0136.

(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/

【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, October 17, 2022】Preeclampsia, a little understood complication of pregnancy that each year results in more than 70,000 maternal and 500,000 fetal deaths worldwide. Rates of the illness had been rising steadily in the United States for years, but during the pandemic, the number of cases jumped, according to doctors. No one knows exactly why. (Photo credit: Intercept)

The mystery of preeclampsia cases is part of thegrowing pool of information scientists are sorting through when it comes to the impact of the coronavirus on reproductive health, from a woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility down to possible effects on a baby’s development. Ilhem Messaoudi, a professor of immunology at the University of Kentucky, said she and many of her colleagues have been taken aback by the extent to which pregnancy has been affected by the pandemic. Like many researchers, she had initially thought of covid-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as a respiratory illness and did not expect it to impact reproductive organs. Instead, she and other pregnancy experts have spent the past few years scrambling to understand spikes in maternal complications — first reported anecdotally then verified in several large studies — including an extremely small but nonetheless alarming group of unusual stillbirths. “I was naive,” Messaoudi reflected. “Now I wonder, ‘What else have we been missing?’

It will be decades before we know the extent of the coronavirus’s effects on human health. But now, more than 2 years and 9 months since it appeared — a period in which millions of pregnant people have been infected with the virus at least once — researchers have noted some positive signs, some worrisome ones, and many other data points they still aren’t sure how to evaluate, especially since it’s difficult to disentangle the impact of maternal stress during the pandemic from the devastation of the virus itself.

Among the key findings so far about SARS-CoV-2 — by many accounts the most studied virus ever to infect humans — are that fertility appears unaffected by either infections or vaccines. Periods may shift in women after the vaccine but only slightly so and the change appears to be only temporary. But there is more reason for concern with pregnancy itself. While the vast majority of people who are infected do not experience complications, the risk of preeclampsia and other severe issues has been documented to be much higher with infection.

The biological mechanisms are still unclear, but researchers say they likely start with changes in the blood and immune system of the mothers. Pregnancy can be both magical and brutal as it transforms a person’s body to support another life. Much of the stress is on the heart and circulatory system, with blood volume surging by 30 percent to 50 percent, and the heart growing to pump more blood.

The coronavirus, it turns out, can have a profound impact on that same system. The virus attaches itself to what are known as ACE2 receptors involved in regulating blood pressure and inflammation, and throughout the pandemic, doctors have found that in some patients, the disease can lead to hundreds of microclots in blood vessels, all of which can have a range of effects on the mother and developing baby.

“Right now we’re not doing enough. Maybe if people knew more about the risks they would be behaving differently,” she said, adding that she continues to have “lingering worries about what damage this may or may not have done” when it comes to future pregnancies since she and her husband would like to have more children.

(Source: Washington Post)

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/