More than 270 schools and 300 childcare centres in NSW have closed due to COVID-19 cases in the past month alone. Children have been forced to quarantine and miss more school, prompting calls for rapid testing to be rolled out as an alternative solution.
As the northern hemisphere heads into winter, more European countries are having to reintroduce COVID-19 restrictions as cases spike. Countries that were hailed as ‘COVID-19 success stories’ with high vaccination rates are being inundated with cases, including Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the Czech Republic. Germany’s national health minister has warned the spike represents a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
The Singaporean government has announced they will no longer be covering the medical costs of COVID-19 patients who are ‘unvaccinated by choice’. Previously, the government covers any Singaporean citizen, permanent resident or holder of a long-term worker pass who is sick with COVID-19. Now, COVID-19 medical costs will only be covered for those who are vaccinated or are ineligible for vaccination.
New data released by NSW Health shows that unvaccinated people were 16 times more likely to die or be seriously sick from COVID-19 compared with vaccinated people during the Delta outbreak. The rate of COVID-19 cases amongst fully vaccinated people was 49.5 per 100,000; amongst unvaccinated people it was 561 per 100,000. That is more than a tenfold difference.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has warned Australians that we may need to get COVID-19 booster shots every 6-12 months for the foreseeable future to keep the pandemic at bay. Pharmacy Guild president Mr Trent Twomey explained that it may take a couple years to reach a steady vaccination program, but that “in time we will treat Covid like many other viruses that have been around for decades, and a Covid-19 shot will just be another element of the Australian vaccination program.”
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder caused by interruptions to breathing during sleep. Symptoms include snoring, gasping for air during sleep, daytime tiredness and waking up with a headache.
Did you know the US loses up to an estimated $411 billion and 1.2 million work days a year because of sleepy employees? Aside from the company’s loss, you may be affecting your own salary due to unproductivity.
Novavax has finally concluded their submission seeking provisional approval of their COVID-19 vaccine. The Novavax vaccine is a more ‘traditional’ protein sub-unit vaccine that could help increase vaccination rates amongst those sceptical of the mRNA and viral vector vaccine technology. So far, phase 3 clinical trials have shown promising results – an efficacy of 90.4% against illness and 100% protection against severe illness amongst 30,000 participants.
