Tag Archives: Coronavirus

Current Affairs, Memories & History, Politics, Science & Health

Assessment Covid-19 leaked from Chinese lab is a minority view within US intel community, sources say | CNN Politics

By Jeremy Herb, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen and Pamela Brown, CNN

Updated 9:22 PM EST, Mon February 27, 2023

Screenshot

The Department of Energy’s low-confidence assessment that Covid-19 most likely originated from a laboratory leak in China is still a minority view within the intelligence community, three sources familiar with the intelligence community’s findings tell CNN.

While the FBI has also assessed – with moderate confidence – the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 likely leaked from a lab, the majority of the intelligence community still believes that Covid either emerged naturally in the wild, or that there is still too little evidence to make a judgment one way or another.

Three sources told CNN that the Department of Energy’s shift was based in part on information about research being conducted at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control in Wuhan, China, which was studying a coronavirus variant around the time of the outbreak.

Source: Assessment Covid-19 leaked from Chinese lab is a minority view within US intel community, sources say | CNN Politics

Current Affairs, Science & Health

Who should get a second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot — and when? – Vox

There is no right or wrong answer on getting another booster shot. Here’s what to consider.

By Dylan Scott@dylanlscott dylan.scott@vox.com, Mar 31, 2022, 2:30pm EDT

The Biden administration has approved a fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot for all Americans over age 50 and for all adults who are immunocompromised.
Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images

The Biden administration has approved a fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot for all Americans over age 50 and for all adults who are immunocompromised.

But does that mean everybody who is eligible should rush out to their pharmacy or primary care doctor to get it?

The short answer is that it depends — on both your personal risk and what’s happening with the pandemic.

Making things even more perplexing, the public health guidance has become more nuanced as more booster shots are authorized.

Whereas public health experts were unified in urging people to get their first and second shots last year, they were more divided about third shots when those were approved late last year, at least until the emerging omicron wave made the first round of boosters more urgent.

Source: Who should get a second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot — and when? – Vox

Current Affairs, Politics, Science & Health, Times They Are A-Changing

Alabama woman nearly killed by COVID while pregnant: ‘It all could have been prevented if I had gotten a vaccination’ | al.com

Updated: Oct. 19, 2021, 2:30 p.m. | Published: Oct. 19, 2021, 10:56 a.m.

Amanda Harrison holds her baby, Lake, outside her mother’s home in Phenix City, Ala., on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. Harrison was put on a ventilator and later life support after becoming ill with COVID-19 in her third trimester of pregnancy. Doctors delivered Lake at 32 weeks and put Harrison on a type of life support called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to save her. Harrison, who was unvaccinated, is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)AP

Sometimes when she’s feeding her infant daughter, Amanda Harrison is overcome with emotion and has to wipe away tears of gratitude.

She is lucky to be here, holding her baby. Harrison was 29 weeks pregnant and unvaccinated when she got sick with COVID-19 in August.

Her symptoms were mild at first, but she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. Living in Phenix City, she was intubated and flown to a hospital in Birmingham, where doctors delivered baby Lake two months early and put Harrison on life support.

Source: Alabama woman nearly killed by COVID while pregnant: ‘It all could have been prevented if I had gotten a vaccination’ – al.com

Current Affairs, Politics, Science & Health

Unvaccinated Adults 11 Times More Likely to Die from Covid-19: CDC – Rolling Stone

Hint: A lot more likely

By Peter Wade

A visitor sits on a bench to look artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg’s “In America: Remember,” a temporary art installation made up of white flags to commemorate Americans who have died of Covid-19, on the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, October 2nd, 2021.
AP

Getting vaccinated can significantly reduce your chances of dying from Covid-19.

Like, really significantly. Throughout the month of August, unvaccinated adults were 11 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than fully vaccinated adults, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC also found that unvaccinated adults faced a six times as likely to contract the virus than fully vaccinated adults. The data marks the first time the CDC has released information about how Covid-19 risks can differ depending on vaccination status.

Source: Unvaccinated Adults 11 Times More Likely to Die from Covid-19: CDC – Rolling Stone

Books & Reading, Memories & History, Politics, Science & Health, Web & Technology

Why Are So Many Knowledge Workers Quitting? | The New Yorker

The coronavirus pandemic threw everyone into Walden Pond.

By Cal Newport, August 16, 2021

An empty desk and chair in a sparse room.
During the pandemic, many knowledge workers have been embracing career downsizing, voluntarily reducing their work hours to emphasize other aspects of life.Photograph from Getty

Last spring, a friend of mine, a writer and executive coach named Brad Stulberg, received a troubling call from one of his clients. The client, an executive, had suddenly started losing many of his best employees, and he couldn’t really explain why. “This was the canary in the coal mine,” Stulberg said.

In the weeks that followed, more clients began sharing stories of unusually high staff attrition. “They were asking me, ‘Am I doing something wrong?’ ” Stulberg was especially well suited to help the executives he advises grasp the mind-set of their exiting employees.

Before the pandemic, Stulberg had been working on a book, “The Practice of Groundedness,” which argues for a values-based approach to defining and pursuing success. The research process led him to question his own professional situation. He lived with his wife and their young son in an apartment in Oakland, California.

He was on staff as an internal coach for Kaiser Permanente, a health-care company. He also ran his own small, community-based coaching practice, wrote books and freelance magazine articles, and delivered paid lectures. His new book emphasized the imperatives of presence and developing community ties, but Stulberg didn’t have the time to act on these principles, as he felt that he had to work constantly to keep up with the high cost of living in Oakland. “The laptop was always out,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item...

Source: Why Are So Many Knowledge Workers Quitting? | The New Yorker

Politics, Times They Are A-Changing

Rising number of Baby Boomers retirements may create ‘eye-opening’ changes, jobs, business, economy, Dayton, Kettering | Dayton daily news

Local News | July 17, 2021, By Nick Blizzard

The growing number of Baby Boomer retirements nationwide is accelerating, raising concerns locally about losing a large chunk of the workforce sooner than expected.

Data shows nearly 6 million more Boomers in the U.S. retired from October 2020 through March of this year than the same period a year prior, creating a larger void than anticipated in an economy seeking to fill jobs across an array of industries and recover from the woes of the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Rising number of Baby Boomers retirements may create ‘eye-opening’ changes, jobs, business, economy, Dayton, Kettering