May 13,2022
Biden mouns dead
America’s death toll from the Coronavirus continues its march toward one million fatalities as the nation’s leaders mourn the grim milestone.
President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered federal flags flown at half-staff to commemorate the loss of one million Americans, though that total won’t likely be reached for another two weeks, according researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow. To heal, we must remember, ‘’ Biden said.
“We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before. It’s critical that Congress sustain these resources in the coming months. ‘’
The infection total stands at 81.9 million cases. The number of new infections has more than tripled in the past two weeks; from 25,292 cases daily on March 28 to 78,236 on May 10.
COVID-19 related deaths have stabilized at 326 per day. If the trend continues, the nation will reach the 1 million dead in the next 12 to 13 days, the CDC said.
But researchers for the World Health organization have said that the global death toll is much higher because nations have underreported Coronavirus-related fatalities.
Despite major efforts to contain the virus, more people are getting sick by the BA.2 sub variant of COVID which spreads rapidly. Vaccines and booster shots cannot stop infections, but reduce harmful symptoms and prevent the hospitalization or deaths of victims
To stop the spread, China has instituted significant lockdowns of major cities including Beijing and Shanghai. The mandatory isolation has had a major effect on the nation’s economy and has angered the population.
On Friday, North Korea’s state controlled media announced that the virus has been spreading “explosively’’ killing half a dozen people and forcing the quarantine of more than 187,000 people.
The nation is the world’s most closed society and leaders have previously claimed that COVID-19 did not exist in the county. Earlier this week, dictator Kim Jong-un was photographed wearing a mask at a worker’s party meeting. Kim criticized his nation’s health system saying that the outbreak in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang “shows that there is a vulnerable point in the epidemic prevention system.”
Kim and North Korea’s leadership have refused any outside medical aid but experts have said that the pandemic will get worse without international assistance.
“We are in the early stage of the spread of vast human misery,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea expert at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
“The nature and scale of the illnesses, deaths, hunger and starvation can only be established much later.”
COVID 19 TOLL (by May 13 )
World
Total cases
520,439,995
Deaths
6,261,761
source: Johns Hopkins University
UNITED STATES
Total cases
82,196,077
Deaths
996,653
source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Biden mouns dead
America’s death toll from the Coronavirus continues its march toward one million fatalities as the nation’s leaders mourn the grim milestone.
President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered federal flags flown at half-staff to commemorate the loss of one million Americans, though that total won’t likely be reached for another two weeks, according researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow. To heal, we must remember, ‘’ Biden said.
“We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before. It’s critical that Congress sustain these resources in the coming months. ‘’
The infection total stands at 81.9 million cases. The number of new infections has more than tripled in the past two weeks; from 25,292 cases daily on March 28 to 78,236 on May 10.
COVID-19 related deaths have stabilized at 326 per day. If the trend continues, the nation will reach the 1 million dead in the next 12 to 13 days, the CDC said.
But researchers for the World Health organization have said that the global death toll is much higher because nations have underreported Coronavirus-related fatalities.
Despite major efforts to contain the virus, more people are getting sick by the BA.2 sub variant of COVID which spreads rapidly. Vaccines and booster shots cannot stop infections, but reduce harmful symptoms and prevent the hospitalization or deaths of victims
To stop the spread, China has instituted significant lockdowns of major cities including Beijing and Shanghai. The mandatory isolation has had a major effect on the nation’s economy and has angered the population.
On Friday, North Korea’s state controlled media announced that the virus has been spreading “explosively’’ killing half a dozen people and forcing the quarantine of more than 187,000 people.
The nation is the world’s most closed society and leaders have previously claimed that COVID-19 did not exist in the county. Earlier this week, dictator Kim Jong-un was photographed wearing a mask at a worker’s party meeting. Kim criticized his nation’s health system saying that the outbreak in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang “shows that there is a vulnerable point in the epidemic prevention system.”
Kim and North Korea’s leadership have refused any outside medical aid but experts have said that the pandemic will get worse without international assistance.
“We are in the early stage of the spread of vast human misery,” said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea expert at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
“The nature and scale of the illnesses, deaths, hunger and starvation can only be established much later.”
COVID 19 TOLL (by May 13 )
World
Total cases
520,439,995
Deaths
6,261,761
source: Johns Hopkins University
UNITED STATES
Total cases
82,196,077
Deaths
996,653
source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control
May 6, 2022
TSA infections double
Airline travelers may have cheered when told that they did not need to wear masks while flying, but federal security workers are not exactly gleeful.
COVID-19 infections have doubled among Transportation Security Administration officers since a judge struck down the federal mask mandate two weeks ago.
The agency has not been enforcing mask requirements among passengers and its own staff. By the beginning of the week, 542 TSA employees had tested positive for the Coronavirus, up from 359 on the day of the ruling, according to Fortune magazine.
Though most airports are now exempt from mandatory masking, TSA will continue to require face coverings in airports near communities where the COVID-19 rates are very high.
These would include Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Burlington, Vt. and several smaller airports in the Northeast.
More than 23,000 TSA workers have been infected since the pandemic began two years ago, and 22,891 have since recovered. Thirty six employees and two contractors died.
TSA infections double
Airline travelers may have cheered when told that they did not need to wear masks while flying, but federal security workers are not exactly gleeful.
COVID-19 infections have doubled among Transportation Security Administration officers since a judge struck down the federal mask mandate two weeks ago.
The agency has not been enforcing mask requirements among passengers and its own staff. By the beginning of the week, 542 TSA employees had tested positive for the Coronavirus, up from 359 on the day of the ruling, according to Fortune magazine.
Though most airports are now exempt from mandatory masking, TSA will continue to require face coverings in airports near communities where the COVID-19 rates are very high.
These would include Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Burlington, Vt. and several smaller airports in the Northeast.
More than 23,000 TSA workers have been infected since the pandemic began two years ago, and 22,891 have since recovered. Thirty six employees and two contractors died.
May 5, 2022
Nations underestimated the number of Coronavirus dead
The death toll due to the Coronavirus pandemic was grossly under reported, officials of the World Health Organization said Thursday.
A new W.H.O global report estimates that 15 million more people died during the past two years than would have perished without the viral outbreak. Previous estimates had put the total at six million fatalities according to the New York Times.
Many nations vastly under reported their death toll including Egypt where COVID-19 fatalities were 12 times higher than government estimates, Pakistan where the real toll was eight times higher than reported and Mexico where the actual number of deaths were 50 percent higher than government estimates, the report concluded.
The W.H.O.’s statistics combined government reports with new information from local sources, household surveys and statistical models that accounted for deaths that had been missed.
While most of the deaths were from COVID-19, other victims died because the pandemic made it difficult to treat patients with unrelated mortal ailments like heart attacks, the experts said.
Most of the deaths occurred during 2021 when more contagious variants of the virus devastated nations that had fended off earlier Coronavirus outbreaks. The toll was especially harsh in impoverished nations where nearly eight million people perished than would have died during a normal year.
Dr. Prabhat Jha, a member of the group that released the report was pessimistic.
“It’s absolutely staggering what has happened in this pandemic, including our ability to accurately monitor it,” he said. “It’s shouldn’t happen in the 21st century.”
Nations underestimated the number of Coronavirus dead
The death toll due to the Coronavirus pandemic was grossly under reported, officials of the World Health Organization said Thursday.
A new W.H.O global report estimates that 15 million more people died during the past two years than would have perished without the viral outbreak. Previous estimates had put the total at six million fatalities according to the New York Times.
Many nations vastly under reported their death toll including Egypt where COVID-19 fatalities were 12 times higher than government estimates, Pakistan where the real toll was eight times higher than reported and Mexico where the actual number of deaths were 50 percent higher than government estimates, the report concluded.
The W.H.O.’s statistics combined government reports with new information from local sources, household surveys and statistical models that accounted for deaths that had been missed.
While most of the deaths were from COVID-19, other victims died because the pandemic made it difficult to treat patients with unrelated mortal ailments like heart attacks, the experts said.
Most of the deaths occurred during 2021 when more contagious variants of the virus devastated nations that had fended off earlier Coronavirus outbreaks. The toll was especially harsh in impoverished nations where nearly eight million people perished than would have died during a normal year.
Dr. Prabhat Jha, a member of the group that released the report was pessimistic.
“It’s absolutely staggering what has happened in this pandemic, including our ability to accurately monitor it,” he said. “It’s shouldn’t happen in the 21st century.”
May 3, 2022
Harris returns
Vice President Kamala Harris returned to work Tuesday after remaining in isolation for one week due to the Coronavirus.
Harris tested positive on April 26, but a rapid antigen test Monday revealed that she was no longer infected, her office said.
While on the job, Harris will wear a “well-fitting mask around others,” for 10 days said her press secretary Kristen Allen.
Doug Emhoff, Harris’ husband, tested positive for the virus in mid-March though Harris herself has received a second booster shot after it was approved for people over the age of 50.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also tested positive for the virus this week, and a state department spokesman said he is “fully vaccinated and boosted” and experiencing only mild symptoms. Blinken will work at home for an undetermined amount of time.
The secretary was one of 2,000 people who attended the annual White House Association’s dinner last weekend along with President Joe Biden. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said both men have not been in close contact based on the guidelines approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cases up in New York and California
Just as authorities are lifting most Coronavirus restrictions, a new strain of Covid 19 is increasing infections in New York City and throughout California.
New York is experiencing nearly 2,500 new cases per day a huge jump from 600 daily cases in March. The latest increase is smaller than the surge of December and January but equals the infection rate when the Delta variant swept through the city last year, according to the New York Times.
Authorities said the highly contagious Coronavirus sub variant BA.2 is to blame.
Mayor Eric Adams, who caught the virus last month, told reporters that hospitalization and deaths remain low. An average of 50 New Yorkers are infected each day with four or five deaths daily, compared with 1,000 daily hospitalizations and 120 deaths in January.
Another viral surge could force Adams to reinstate restrictions-like mandatory masking at schools and proof of vaccination in restaurants- which he had ended in March.
In California, the COVID-19 infection rate rose 30 percent last week, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The state has recorded 5,600 cases a day over the previous week, which coincided with the loosening of some public restrictions, the paper reported.
San Mateo County has the highest rate of 222 cases per 1,000 population per week. San Francisco is second with 220 but those statistics may just reflect a higher local rate of viral testing.
April 28, 2022
Vaccine for young children unveiled
The drug company Moderna has developed a COVID-19 vaccine for children six months to under six years old.
On Thursday, the company asked the U.S. Food and Drug administration for an Emergency Use Authorization similar to the approval process used for adult Coronavirus drugs.
Children under the age of five are the only group still not eligible for vaccination.
A low dose of the drug was safe, and as effective in producing a similar immunity as higher doses given to adults, company researchers said.
The latest analysis showed that the vaccine was 51 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in children aged six months to two years old and 37 percent effective in kids aged two to five.
The FDA has not approved a Coronavirus vaccine for young children because most other drug manufacturers have not finished their applications, said Dr. Peter Marks, who oversees vaccine approvals for the agency.
Despite public pressure, authorization to use the vaccine on 18 million very young children may not come until June, officials of the Biden administration have said.
Feds to increase distribution of anti-viral drug
The Biden administration has launched an effort to distribute an anti-viral drug that reduces the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in high-risk patients.
Paxlovid has been available since December but has failed to reach many people who could benefit from the drug.
Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by 90 percent in patients considered at serious risk for infection due to diabetes or obesity.
The drug’s distribution has been stymied because many patients don’t know they are eligible to receive it and pharmacies have stressed that it is hard to obtain, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Tuesday announced a series of new measures to help get the pill to more Americans, emphasizing a medication surplus and pushing doctors to stop thinking of the treatment as scarce.
“The word on the street was these things are not widely available, you should restrict it to the highest-risk patients,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, said at a news briefing Tuesday. “Too many physicians still have that mind-set.”
Officials also said the administration would allow pharmacies to begin ordering the drug directly from the federal government, and that it would aim in coming weeks to double the number of pharmacies carrying Covid antiviral medication, to 40,000.
Vaccine for young children unveiled
The drug company Moderna has developed a COVID-19 vaccine for children six months to under six years old.
On Thursday, the company asked the U.S. Food and Drug administration for an Emergency Use Authorization similar to the approval process used for adult Coronavirus drugs.
Children under the age of five are the only group still not eligible for vaccination.
A low dose of the drug was safe, and as effective in producing a similar immunity as higher doses given to adults, company researchers said.
The latest analysis showed that the vaccine was 51 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in children aged six months to two years old and 37 percent effective in kids aged two to five.
The FDA has not approved a Coronavirus vaccine for young children because most other drug manufacturers have not finished their applications, said Dr. Peter Marks, who oversees vaccine approvals for the agency.
Despite public pressure, authorization to use the vaccine on 18 million very young children may not come until June, officials of the Biden administration have said.
Feds to increase distribution of anti-viral drug
The Biden administration has launched an effort to distribute an anti-viral drug that reduces the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in high-risk patients.
Paxlovid has been available since December but has failed to reach many people who could benefit from the drug.
Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by 90 percent in patients considered at serious risk for infection due to diabetes or obesity.
The drug’s distribution has been stymied because many patients don’t know they are eligible to receive it and pharmacies have stressed that it is hard to obtain, according to the New York Times.
The White House on Tuesday announced a series of new measures to help get the pill to more Americans, emphasizing a medication surplus and pushing doctors to stop thinking of the treatment as scarce.
“The word on the street was these things are not widely available, you should restrict it to the highest-risk patients,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, said at a news briefing Tuesday. “Too many physicians still have that mind-set.”
Officials also said the administration would allow pharmacies to begin ordering the drug directly from the federal government, and that it would aim in coming weeks to double the number of pharmacies carrying Covid antiviral medication, to 40,000.
April 25, 2022
Chinese government orders mandatory COVID-19 testing
Residents of Beijing Monday were ordered to undergo testing for the Coronavirus after 70 new cases were discovered there over the weekend.
Almost everyone must submit to at least three comprehensive tests over the next five days, by order of the city’s municipal government, according to the New York Times.
More than two thirds of the cases were discovered in the affluent Chaoyang district where 3.5 million residents will be tested on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. People living in the city’s other 10 districts will report for testing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The outbreak could cause the government to impose lockdowns like the four week closure of the city Shanghai after a viral outbreak was discovered there.
Shutdowns have had a devastating effect on the Chinese economy and would likely further strain the movement of goods from Asian factories to western consumers.
U.S. government to appeal transit mask ruling
Federal health authorities are appealing a ruling by a federal judge that allows travelers to fly or ride public transit without wearing protective masks.
Passengers on an Delta Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco cheered and removed masks following a pilot’s announcement of Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s April 18 decision.
Zane Kirby, president of the American Society of Travel Advisors called the ruling “A shocking event.” The society represents 14,000 employees in the travel industry.
The sudden reversal of policy was “unimaginable” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, who added that the ruling could limit the ability of public health agencies to respond to nationwide emergencies.
Mizelle is a Trump administration appointee who legal experts claim was unqualified to assume a federal judgeship.
Delta and United Airlines immediately dropped the mask mandate and masks are optional on Alaska, JetBlue, American, Southwest and Frontier airlines. But unruly passengers who have been banned from Alaska flights will not be allowed back on board, company executives said.
Chinese government orders mandatory COVID-19 testing
Residents of Beijing Monday were ordered to undergo testing for the Coronavirus after 70 new cases were discovered there over the weekend.
Almost everyone must submit to at least three comprehensive tests over the next five days, by order of the city’s municipal government, according to the New York Times.
More than two thirds of the cases were discovered in the affluent Chaoyang district where 3.5 million residents will be tested on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. People living in the city’s other 10 districts will report for testing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The outbreak could cause the government to impose lockdowns like the four week closure of the city Shanghai after a viral outbreak was discovered there.
Shutdowns have had a devastating effect on the Chinese economy and would likely further strain the movement of goods from Asian factories to western consumers.
U.S. government to appeal transit mask ruling
Federal health authorities are appealing a ruling by a federal judge that allows travelers to fly or ride public transit without wearing protective masks.
Passengers on an Delta Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco cheered and removed masks following a pilot’s announcement of Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s April 18 decision.
Zane Kirby, president of the American Society of Travel Advisors called the ruling “A shocking event.” The society represents 14,000 employees in the travel industry.
The sudden reversal of policy was “unimaginable” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, who added that the ruling could limit the ability of public health agencies to respond to nationwide emergencies.
Mizelle is a Trump administration appointee who legal experts claim was unqualified to assume a federal judgeship.
Delta and United Airlines immediately dropped the mask mandate and masks are optional on Alaska, JetBlue, American, Southwest and Frontier airlines. But unruly passengers who have been banned from Alaska flights will not be allowed back on board, company executives said.
Virus still a threat despite fewer illnesses
Despite a decline in new deaths and infections from the Coronavirus, the pandemic is still plaguing humankind.
The global statistics till the story. The total number of COVID-19 infections reached 300 million at the beginning of the year, 400 million by February and 500 million by April 12.
Experts say even those figures are too low considering the number of undetected or unreported cases caused by nations cutting back on preventative testing, according to the New York Times.
“That’s dangerous,” said Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington. “If you don’t test then you don’t know what variants you have.”
The number new cases continues to decline globally, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Health authorities are reporting an average of 1.1 million new infections per day, a 32 percent decline from two weeks ago. Virus deaths during the same period reached 3,800 a day, a drop of 23 percent.
But the relaxing of virus restrictions by national and local governments is keeping the virus alive. Federal health officials two months ago lifted national indoor mask requirements and suggested that Americans could stop social distancing to avoid infection.
Last week more than 70 high level federal officials-including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Attorney General Merrick Garland-tested positive after attending a dinner at the exclusive Gridiron Club in New York City. Health officials labeled the elite gathering a “super spreader event.”
Americans don’t think the virus poses much of a threat. In a recent poll by Axios-Ipsos, less than 10 percent of those questioned consider COVID 19 a serious crisis and 17 percent say it is not a crisis at all. The remaining 73 percent think the pandemic is a manageable problem.
“What’s happening globally and in the U.S., is that people give up,” Mokdad said. “They just want to go back to normal life.”
The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation through mid-April, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday.
The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.’s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transit hubs. Passengers on airplanes, buses and trains and at airports and transit stations must wear masks.
City brings back mask requirement
Faced with a sudden leap in the number of COVID 19 infections, the city of Philadelphia is requiring people to wear masks in public places.
Reported infections jumped by 50 percent since the first of the month and local public health officials said the city was averaging 142 new cases daily. Testing and vaccines will not be required where food and drink are served. But masks must be worn in schools, child care facilities, restaurants and government buildings.
Viral surges have occurred recently in parts of Europe and the U.S. due to a new highly contagious BA.2 strain of the COVID-19 omicron virus.
“This looks like we may be at the start of a new COVID wave just like Europe saw, “said Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphia’s health commissioner.
Second booster doesn’t protect very long
A second booster shot doesn’t provide total long term protection from COVID-19, a new study has shown. Researchers in Israel said a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine did lower the number of elderly patients who became infected, but the level of immunity declined after four weeks, according to the Reuters news service.
However, patients were protected from severe illness for up to six weeks but additional study is needed, Israeli health officials said.
The study was conducted on 1.3 million people aged 60 and older from Jan.10 to March 2 when the omicron variant was detected in the Middle East nation.
Zoo animals being vaccinated against virus
The nation’s zoo animals are now getting more than their usual allotment of food and water each day. Like their human counterparts, they are being immunized against the Coronavirus.
Spurred on by reports of infections in tigers and apes, veterinarians are administering an experimental vaccine developed by Zoetis, a drug company specializing in animal care.
Zoetis is distributing more than 11,000 doses of the drug free of charge to 70 zoos, animal sanctuaries and other institutions. The drug was originally developed for cats and dogs and is now authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a case-by-case basis.
Despite being kept at a distance from the public, some zoo animals have caught COVID-19. Big cats at the Bronx Zoo became infected in April of 2020 and in June, two tigers died after testing positive for the virus at a zoo in India, according to the National Geographic.
An outbreak among a gorilla troop in February at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park prompted officials to request the vaccine which was administered there to 266 animals including lions, tigers, bears and hyenas.
Veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo begin vaccinating tigers, black bears, mountain lions, ferrets and chimpanzees in June. None of the animals showed COVID-19 symptoms, so the treatment was considered preventative.
Some animals are now receiving their second injection and haven’t experienced any side effects with the exception of one bear who had slight irritation at the injection site, but is fine, said zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison.
News of the Oakland vaccinations sparked a flurry of protests from anti-vaxxers who berated the zoo for experimenting on their furry charges. Many vowed to retaliate by contacting the animal advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The zoo’s leadership fought back with a strongly worded July 8 statement, pointing out that all COVID-19 vaccines were considered experimental because the virus broke out two years ago so no long-term studies were available.
“Development studies by Zoetis demonstrated the vaccines to be safe and have a reasonable expectation of efficacy in mounting an immune response in cats and dogs,” it said. “There were no adverse reactions when the vaccine was administered to cats and dogs.”
“If you know the Oakland Zoo, you know that nothing is more important to us that the health and safety of our animals, and the decision to vaccinate them against the COVID-19 and the Delta variant along with the demonstrated safety of the vaccine itself, is based on that. We do not experiment on our animals.”
PETA also came to the zoo’s defense with its own announcement pointing out that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection.
Vaccinating animals against the virus is an important element in the battle to control COVID-19 worldwide.
Outbreaks have been rampant among minks raised commercially for their lustrous pelts. More that 12,000 of this nation’s three million minks have died from COVID-19 along with thousands in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Scientists fear that because the virus can be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa, failure to treat an infected species could serve as a kind of viral reservoir prolonging the pandemic for years to come.
Spurred on by reports of infections in tigers and apes, veterinarians are administering an experimental vaccine developed by Zoetis, a drug company specializing in animal care.
Zoetis is distributing more than 11,000 doses of the drug free of charge to 70 zoos, animal sanctuaries and other institutions. The drug was originally developed for cats and dogs and is now authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a case-by-case basis.
Despite being kept at a distance from the public, some zoo animals have caught COVID-19. Big cats at the Bronx Zoo became infected in April of 2020 and in June, two tigers died after testing positive for the virus at a zoo in India, according to the National Geographic.
An outbreak among a gorilla troop in February at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park prompted officials to request the vaccine which was administered there to 266 animals including lions, tigers, bears and hyenas.
Veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo begin vaccinating tigers, black bears, mountain lions, ferrets and chimpanzees in June. None of the animals showed COVID-19 symptoms, so the treatment was considered preventative.
Some animals are now receiving their second injection and haven’t experienced any side effects with the exception of one bear who had slight irritation at the injection site, but is fine, said zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison.
News of the Oakland vaccinations sparked a flurry of protests from anti-vaxxers who berated the zoo for experimenting on their furry charges. Many vowed to retaliate by contacting the animal advocacy group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The zoo’s leadership fought back with a strongly worded July 8 statement, pointing out that all COVID-19 vaccines were considered experimental because the virus broke out two years ago so no long-term studies were available.
“Development studies by Zoetis demonstrated the vaccines to be safe and have a reasonable expectation of efficacy in mounting an immune response in cats and dogs,” it said. “There were no adverse reactions when the vaccine was administered to cats and dogs.”
“If you know the Oakland Zoo, you know that nothing is more important to us that the health and safety of our animals, and the decision to vaccinate them against the COVID-19 and the Delta variant along with the demonstrated safety of the vaccine itself, is based on that. We do not experiment on our animals.”
PETA also came to the zoo’s defense with its own announcement pointing out that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection.
Vaccinating animals against the virus is an important element in the battle to control COVID-19 worldwide.
Outbreaks have been rampant among minks raised commercially for their lustrous pelts. More that 12,000 of this nation’s three million minks have died from COVID-19 along with thousands in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Scientists fear that because the virus can be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa, failure to treat an infected species could serve as a kind of viral reservoir prolonging the pandemic for years to come.