DC Bill B23-0171 Allowing Children 11 Years and Older to Be Vaccinated Without Parental Knowledge or Consent Advances
Opinion | On Oct. 7, 2020, during a hastily scheduled virtual meeting,1 four District of Columbia Council members making up the Health Committee2 amended and unanimously passed a minor consent bill, B23-0171.3 The bill would not only permit children aged 11 years and older to give consent for doctors and other vaccine administrators to give them […]
Coronavirus Cases Plummet When PCR Tests Are Adjusted
Health experts now say that PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with the illness COVID-19, is too sensitive and needs to be adjusted to rule out people who have insignificant amounts of the virus in their system.1 The test’s threshold is so high that it detects people with the live virus as well as […]
WHO: Polio Outbreak in Sudan Caused by Oral Polio Vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that a new poliovirus outbreak in Sudan is linked to an ongoing string of vaccine strain polio outbreaks in Africa caused by continued use of the live attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV).1 On Aug. 9, 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health in Sudan notified the WHO of the […]
Polls Find Many Americans Do Not Want COVID-19 Vaccine as Soon as It’s Licensed
Story Highlights More adults in the U.S. are expressing doubts about the safety of a newly licensed COVID-19 vaccine that might become available this year. The number of poll respondents planning on getting a new coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is FDA approved has fallen from a reported high of 50 to 60 percent […]
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Unlikely in Canada Say Health Officials
The government of Canada has signed deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from four pharmaceutical companies when their vaccines are approved to be given to the public. According to Canada’s Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand, the Canadian government has contracts with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer […]
ACIP Updates Influenza Vaccine Guidelines for Seniors
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new updates for influenza vaccines for 2020–2021 “flu season,” primarily for Fluzone and Fluad vaccines. In November 2019, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed inactivated injectable Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent (HD-IIV4) for use in persons aged […]