Federal regulators granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine — a milestone that could help increase inoculation rates and spark a wave of vaccine mandates by employers and universities amid a surge of new cases and hospitalizations fueled by the wildly infectious delta variant. The vaccine is approved for two doses, three weeks apart, in people 16 and older. It remains available under emergency use authorization for adolescents ages 12 to 15. Booster doses are now recommended for immunocompromised patients at least 28 days after completion of their initial vaccine series. And, it is widely speculated that booster doses will be approved in late September for all mRNA vaccinated individuals at least eight months after the initial series.
UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, reported on Friday it had admitted 39 pregnant women who were unvaccinated from COVID-19 in August. Ten of those women are currently in the hospital’s intensive care unit and seven are on ventilators. According to UAB, two COVID-positive women died while pregnant at the hospital. Another six women with COVID lost their babies during their second trimester, and three more lost their babies during their third trimester. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended by the CDC for all people 12 years and older, including people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future. Evidence about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy has been growing. These data suggest that the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy. There is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems in women or men.
CSSE is reporting 37,902,691 positive cases in the U.S. and 629,293 deaths. Fortunate Hospitals in Florida getting large oxygen deliveries, see O2 tank below.
