COVID-19 vaccines protective in children ages 0 to 11 CIDRAP

Children under the age of 12 are protected against severe illness from COVID-19 by mRNA vaccines, but the effectiveness decreases over time, as does immunity gained from previous infections. These findings and others are published in a new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Experts say policymakers must learn from the impact of COVID-19 on older people Policymakers must learn from the impact of COVID-19 on older people in order to tackle the deep-seated inequalities exposed by the pandemic, according to a new publication written by a group of experts ... Science X

In the period between March and December 2020, twice as many years of life were lost in the poorest areas of the country compared with the wealthiest. Ethnic inequalities were a feature across all waves of the pandemic, with rates of death highest among the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.

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Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax gear up for fall Covid vaccine rollout with an important head start The FDA's strain selection puts Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax on track to deliver updated coronavirus shots in time for the fall. Annika Kim Constantino CNBC

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European study shows mental health impact of pandemic CIDRAP

The first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of millions of Europeans, but not as strongly as many feared, with only a modest rise in mental health problems seen in a new systematic review published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Still, access to mental health services has yet to rebound fully.

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Public health experts fear that Meta's decision to roll back some of its COVID-19 misinformation measures will lead to more disinformation about the virus, treatments for it and vaccines.

The company announced the changes on Friday after it asked its independent oversight advisory board whether it should continue its COVID-19 misinformation policy for Facebook and Instagram or take a "less restrictive approach."

Bivalent COVID vaccine protects against death for at least 6 months in older adults, study suggests CIDRAP

The bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 booster provides substantial protection against death among US adults aged 65 years and older, with no significant signs of waning for up to 6 months, concludes a study published Friday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.

Two-thirds of doctors, scientists have experienced harassment on social media - UPI.com Physicians and scientists are experiencing alarming levels of harassment on social media, according to a new survey. UPI

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About 64% reported harassment related to comments made about the pandemic, while 64% of those harassed said the pandemic had affected their use of social media platforms.

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Former PM Cameron says Britain was prepared for flu-like pandemic rather than COVID Former prime minister David Cameron told an inquiry on Monday that Britain was prepared for a flu-type pandemic but not enough work was done in advance to confront an asymptomatic disease similar to COVID-19. Reuters Reuters

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Japan to roll out COVID-19 booster targeting XBB subvariant in the fall A vaccine subcommittee under the health ministry is aiming to prepare for another spike in infections possibly arriving in the winter. Tomoko Otake The Japan Times

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Decline in COVID reporting muddles tracking of global illness patterns CIDRAP

Global cases and deaths continued to drop over the past 28 days, but the metrics don't accurately reflect infection rates because of the steady drop in testing and regular reporting from countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said (Thursday) in its latest weekly update.

Global water reservoir volumes decline despite construction boom, study says Global reservoir volumes fell during the last 20 years despite a construction boom that drove up storage capacity, a new study showed on Tuesday, suggesting that new dams will not be enough to solve growing strain on the world's water supplies. David Stanway Reuters

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