Here is what the editors at Physician’s Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of Oct. 18 to 22, 2021. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice.
BNT162b2 Effectively Prevents Pediatric COVID-19 Hospitalization
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — For children and adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (BNT162b2) are highly effective for preventing COVID-19 hospitalization, according to research published in the Oct. 22 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Michigan Data Show Routine Vaccinations Plummeted in Early Pandemic
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — There were drops in routine vaccinations among both children and adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the American Journal of Public Health.
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Delta Variant Subtype on Rise in United Kingdom
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A subtype of the delta variant of the coronavirus is causing a growing number of infections in the United Kingdom and is being closely monitored there and in other countries.
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Pfizer Says Lower Dose of Its COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Younger Children
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — A lower dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 90.7 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years, according to new clinical trial data from the company.
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CDC Signs Off on Moderna, J&J Boosters, Backs Mix ‘n’ Match Shots
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday gave its blessing to booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines for tens of millions of Americans.
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BNT162b2 Highly Effective Against Delta Variant in Teens
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The BNT162b2 vaccine is highly effective against the delta variant among adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, according to a letter to the editor published online Oct. 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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mRNA Vaccine More Effective Booster to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Use of heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and mRNA prime-boost vaccination is more effective than homologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 prime-boost vaccination, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in The Lancet Regional Health: Europe.
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Geriatrics-Focused Risk Factors ID’d for COVID-19 Death
FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Factors other than age predict mortality in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a study published online Oct. 14 in BMC Geriatrics.
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Poisoning Related to Ivermectin Exposure for COVID-19 Described
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Twenty-one cases of poisoning for ivermectin exposure relating to COVID-19 were reported to the Oregon Poison Center in August 2021, according to a letter to the editor published online Oct. 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Pfizer Vaccine Booster Restores Nearly Full Protection, Company Says
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster restored close to full protection against COVID-19 in a late-stage trial involving 10,000 people, the company announced Thursday.
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U.S. Has Shared 200 Million COVID-19 Vaccines With Other Countries
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The United States has now donated 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 100 countries and territories, making it the largest donor in the world.
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FDA Approves Moderna, J&J Booster Shots, Backs Mix ‘n’ Match Vaccines
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Millions of Americans who received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines will be eligible for booster shots in the near future — and they will be able choose any vaccine for their extra dose, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.
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Delta Variant May Increase Risk for Poor Pregnancy Outcomes
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is associated with increased critical illness in pregnancy and adverse perinatal outcomes, according to a research letter published online Sept. 30 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Cigarette Sales Increased During COVID-19 Pandemic
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — There was an increase in cigarette sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, with about a 14.1 percent increase above expected sales, according to a research letter published online Oct. 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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White House Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for Young Children
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The White House on Wednesday unveiled a national plan to roll out COVID-19 vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds that is designed to make getting shots as easy and comfortable as possible for both children and their parents.
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Study IDs Pregnancy Complications in the U.S. Tied to the Pandemic
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increased risk for several adverse pregnancy outcomes among commercially insured pregnant women, according to a research letter published online Oct. 15 in JAMA Network Open.
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FDA Expected to Allow Mix ‘n’ Match COVID-19 Vaccines
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to announce Wednesday that people can mix and match their COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots, a move that would give health officials more flexibility as they try to immunize as many Americans as possible.
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U.S. Pediatricians, Psychiatrists Declare ‘Emergency’ in Child Mental Health
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Fear, grief, uncertainty, and isolation during the pandemic have triggered a national state of emergency in the mental health of America’s youth, leading child health care groups warned Tuesday.
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Short Hospital Stays for Births More Common During Pandemic
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — In the COVID-19 era, short birth hospitalization lengths of stay occurred more often, according to a study published online Oct. 12 in Pediatrics.
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More Than Half of COVID-19 Survivors Have Postacute Sequelae
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — More than half of COVID-19 survivors experience long-term postacute sequelae six months after recovery from acute illness, according to a review published online Oct. 13 in JAMA Network Open.
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Antithrombotic Therapy Not Helpful for COVID-19 Outpatients
MONDAY, Oct. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Compared with placebo, neither aspirin nor apixaban reduces the rate of major adverse cardiovascular or pulmonary outcomes for clinically stable outpatients with symptomatic COVID-19, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Potential Safety Concern for Guillain-Barré Syndrome ID’d for Ad26.COV2.S
MONDAY, Oct. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Receipt of the Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen/Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine is associated with a potential small, but statistically significant, safety concern for Guillain-Barré syndrome, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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