By Miriam Raftery

December 28, 2021 (San Diego) – If you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 but don’t have symptoms, you only have to isolate for five days instead of ten – but you should wear a well-fitting mask for an additional five days when around other people if you are unvaccinated or haven’t had a booster shot. 

If you’ve had a booster shot in addition to the vaccine, you don’t have to quarantine at all if you don’t have symptoms, but should wear a mask for 10 days after exposure, when around others. 

If you do have symptoms, isolate until a negative test confirms that you don’t have COVID. Anyone exposed to COVID should get tested five days after exposure.

Those are the new guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which the state and county have announced they will follow.  The rules do not apply to healthcare workers, however.

December 23, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA authorizes first antiviral pill for COVID-19 (NPR) 
• Omicron is now the dominant COVID strain in the U.S., making up 73% of new infections : Coronavirus Updates  (NPR)
• Fauci warns some at-home tests may not detect Omicron variant as Covid cases spike across US (UK Independent)
• Vaccine protection vs. omicron infection may drop to 30% but does cut severe disease (NPR)
• Federal appeals court reinstates Biden COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers (USA Today)
• COVID can lead to lasting harm to the brain, scientists find (NPR) 
• A tantalizing clue to why omicron is spreading so quickly (NPR)  
• Study shows dramatic decline in effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines (Los Angeles Times)
• Supreme Court upholds New York's vaccine mandate for health care workers  (NPR)
• Judge Overturns Purdue Pharma’s Opioids Settlement (NY Times)
• F.D.A. Will Permanently Allow Abortion Pills by Mail (New York Times)
• Dogs get cancer, too. This San Diego biotech is trying to catch canine tumors earlier (San Diego Union-Tribune)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• France orders Clearview AI to delete the selfie data it gathered (DIY Photography)
• ICO issues £17 million fine to facial recognition firm Clearview AI - and orders cessation of processing personal data (Lexology)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

Map credit:  CDC

December 9, 2021 (San Diego) – The first case of the newly-identified Omicron COVID-19 variant has occurred in San Diego. The patient is a San diego resident who recently traveled abroad. He has not been hospitalized but is under isolation.

By Editor, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association 

Photo:  A vaccination van operated by UCSD Health visited SDUSD sites and offices to provide COVID-19 vaccines last month. Photo via @sdschools Twitter

December 5, 2021 (San Diego) - A federal appeals court has denied a request to stop San Diego schools from enforcing the district’s vaccine mandate.

By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

December 1, 2021 (San Francisco) - California will increase COVID-19 testing of some airport travelers after a passenger flying to San Francisco International Airport from South Africa was identified as the first known case of the omicron variant in the United States.

November 24, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 50 percent of people who survive covid-19 face lingering symptoms, study finds (Washington Post)
• Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine was 100% effective in kids in longer-term study (Stat News)
• In-Depth: Should long COVID sufferers be organ donors? (10 News)
• Germany recommends only Biontech/Pfizer vaccine for under-30s (Reuters)
• FDA, Ellume recalling more than 2 million at-home COVID-19 test kits (The Hill)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Tesla’s recent Full Self-Driving update made cars go haywire. It may be the excuse regulators needed.  (Washington Post)
• Tips for paying less for goods when everything costs more (Washington Post)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click  “read more” and scroll down.

November 11, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Pfizer says its COVID-19 pill cuts disease's worst risks by 89% (NPR)
• The C.D.C. adds mental health conditions to its high-risk Covid list. (New York Times)
• This New Test Can Detect 50 Types of Cancer from a Single Blood Draw (Healthline)
• Surgical masks reduce COVID-19 spread, large-scale study shows (Stanford Medicine)
• Cannabis vaping among teens has grown sharply in recent years  (NPR)
• Scientists used a tiny brain implant to help a blind teacher see letters again (NPR)
• How SARS-CoV-2 in American deer could alter the course of the global pandemic (NPR)
• Lung Transplant Patient and Father of 18 Encourages First Responders to get COVID-19 Vaccine (NBC San Diego)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Facebook Renames Itself Meta (New York Times)
• European Parliament Calls for Bans on AI-based Biometric Recognition in Public Spaces, Predictive Policing, and Social Scoring (Privacy News Online)
• Facebook to delete users' facial-recognition data after privacy complaints (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

November 9, 2021 (San Diego) -- This holiday season, Assemblywoman Dr. Akilah Weber is giving back to the community by hosting the 79^th Assembly district’s 9^th annual Drive-Through Turkey Giveaway and Walk-Up Vaccination Clinic on Saturday, November 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Avenue in east San Diego.

Update:  Video of th expert panel answering parents' questions is now available to view here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIFudyPvXfQ 

By Miriam Raftery

November 5, 2021 (El Cajon) – Now that the federal government has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot for children ages 5 and up, many parents have questions.  So Cajon Valley Union School District and ABC 10 News are hosting a PTA town hall featuring a discussion with medical experts and education leaders. You can watch live on Thursday, November 11 at 5:30 p.m. online at www.10News.com or on the ABC 10News smart phone app.

October 27, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• There’s Now CDC Data on How Much More Likely Unvaxxed Adults Are to Die of Covid (Yahoo)
• ‘Oh my gosh. I’m myself again.’ Growing evidence vaccines prevent, treat long COVID (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• CNN Investigation: Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US (CNN)
• J&J vaccine recipients should get their second dose as soon as it's available, experts say (CNN)
• Merck will ask regulators to authorize the first antiviral pill designed to treat COVID-19, after a trial found it halved the risk of hospitalization or death (Business Insider)
• U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rates up thanks to mandates; cases and deaths down -officials (Reuters)
• Chronic pain is surprisingly treatable — when patients focus on the brain (Washington Post)
• With Mandates Approaching, Demand for Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Cards Explodes (NBC San Diego)
• U.S. judge upholds COVID-19 vaccine requirement for those with 'natural immunity'  (Reuters)
• Global TB deaths are rising — and COVID gets the blame (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Ancient Footprints Show Humans Lived In The Americas Earlier Than Once Thought  (NPR)
• Hacks and data breaches are all too common. Here’s what to do if you’re affected. (Washington Post)
• The Facebook Papers: What you need to know about the trove of insider documents  (NPR)
• William Shatner, Star Trek’s Capt. Kirk, flies to space and back, adding to this year’s number of civilian astronauts (Washington Post)
• EPA Moves To Sharply Limit Potent Gases Used In Refrigerators And Air Conditioners  (NPR)
• Elephants have evolved to be tuskless because of ivory poaching, a study finds (NPR)
• Microsoft Shuts LinkedIn China, Citing ‘Challenging’ Climate (Bloomberg)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

October 24, 2021 (San Diego) – “Just a couple of weeks ago, a quarter of a million kids were getting COVID,” says Dr. William Tseng, area assistant medical director of Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser’s vaccine expert. That’s according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' new site tracking COVID cases in U.S. children. Deaths of children due to COVID have occurred in 48 of 50 states.

In an exclusive interview via Zoom on October, the day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) broadly expanded eligibility of COVID-19 booster shots, East County Magazine interviewed Dr. Tseng on who should get boosters and what parents should know about COVID vaccines for children ages 5-11, which are likely to be approved in early November.  The answers may surprise you!

Click the image at left to view the full interview (which will also air on KNSJ radio) or click "read more' and scroll down to read highlights.

476 of 605 officer deaths in 2020 and 2021 in the U.S. were due to COVID-19

By Miriam Raftery

October 17, 2021 (San Diego) – Law enforcement officers risk their lives daily to protect the public. Yet many have voiced fear over COVID-19 vaccines as their unions push back against mandates.

The irony is that according to the “Officer Down Memorial Page,” the greatest risk by far to the lives of police and other law enforcement officers isn’t an armed criminal. In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 killed by far more law enforcement officers nationally and statewide than anything else. In California last year, COVID took the lives of more officers than all other causes of death combined.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  international border crossing at San Ysidro, via U.S. Customs & Border Patrol

October 13, 2021 (Washington, D.C.) - The White House has announced an easing of COVID-related Title 19 travel restrictions along the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada. Starting next month, non-essential travel across borders will be permitted for travelers who are fully vaccinated. Essential travelers will have to show proof of vaccination starting in January.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: CC by SA-NC via Bing

October 6, 2021 (Atlanta) – If you’re pregnant, you are at higher risk for severe COVID-19. Not only can expectant mothers suffer more serious complications, but so can their unborn children. COVID-19 can increase the risk of bleeding disorders, high blood pressure, maternal death and stillbirth, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control warns.

By Miriam Raftery

October 3, 2021 (Washington D.C.) – If you’ve been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 for at least six months, you’re eligible for a booster shot now if you are in any of these categories, according to new information published September 30 on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control website:

• 65 years and older
• Age 18+ with underlying medical conditions (the list of conditions is long and includes common conditions such as high blood pressure and being overweight)
• Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings (such as nursing homes)
• Age 18+ who live in high-risk settings (such as homeless shelters)
• Age 18+ who work in high-risk settings  (including school employees, healthcare workers, first responders such as police and firefighters, food and agricultural workers, manufacturing employees, prison employees, postal service workers, public transit workers, and grocery store employees.