Manatee County, Fla. Evacuates Residents Near Imminent Radioactive Wastewater Spill

 Florida residents located within a one of a phosphate processing plant in Manatee County were evacuated this weekend as officials warned that a pond containing radioactive wastewater could collapse "at any time," according to CBS News.

"A portion of the containment wall at the leak site shifted laterally," said Manatee Director of Public Safety Jake Saur, after the Piney Point processing plant developed a "significant leak" according to county officials cited by WTSP-TV. Saur said that a "structural collapse could occur at any time." Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the area on Saturday.

On Friday, the Manatee County Public Safety Department sent out emergency evacuation notices to those living within a half-mile of the facility, only to expand the orders to those within one mile north, and half-mile south of the reservoir's stacks of phosphogypsum - a radioactive fertilizer waste product left over when phosphate ore is processed into a fertilizer component.

Nearby stretches of highway were also closed to traffic according to the report.

Mandatory evacuations were extended an additional half mile west and one mile southwest of the site on Saturday evening. Manatee County Public Safety Department said that 316 households are within the full evacuation area. -CBS News

"In addition to high concentrations of radioactive materials, phosphogypsum and processed wastewater can also contain carcinogens and heavy toxic metals," said the Center for Biological Diversity in a Saturday statement. "For every ton of phosphoric acid produced, the fertilizer industry creates 5 tons of radioactive phosphogypsum waste, which is stored in mountainous stacks hundreds of acres wide and hundreds of feet tall."

According to Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, the "public must heed that notice to avoid harm."

Officials are on site conducting a controlled release of water, roughly 22,000 gallons a minute. 

The water that is currently being pumped out by officials in order to avoid a full collapse is a mix of sea water from a local dredge project, storm water and rain runoff. The water has not been treated. 

"The water meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen," said officials in a statement. "It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern, nor is it expected to be toxic."

State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a Saturday letter to DeSantis that an emergency session of Florida's cabinet is in order to discuss the situation, adding that the leaking water is "contaminated, radioactive wastewater," and not the plant's first.

"For more than fifty years, this Central Florida mining operation has caused numerous human health and environmental disasters and incidents," she wrote. "There have been numerous, well-documented failures — which continue today — of the property's reservoir liner, including leaks, poor welds, holes, cracks and weaknesses that existed prior to purchase by the current owner, HRK Holdings, and exacerbated since."

Read the rest of the report here.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/structural-collapse-could-occur-any-time-florida-county-evacuates-residents-near-imminent

German vax panel: Younger people should not get 2nd shot with Astra Zeneca

 Anyone who has initially only received one vaccination with the vaccine from Astra Zeneca and is younger than 60 years of age should receive a drug such as that from Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna for the second. This is communicated by the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) in a revised recommendation. There is still no scientific knowledge about vaccinations with different means. However, "a dose of an mRNA vaccine 12 weeks after the first vaccination" is recommended until appropriate data are available. This class of vaccines includes those from Pfizer / Biontech and Moderna. The Astra-Zeneca preparation is a so-called vector vaccine.

Stiko chairman Thomas Mertens told Spiegel about this in an interview published on Thursday evening : "Animal experiment data show that the immune reaction is the same after heterologous vaccination. We still have to scientifically clarify how good the protection is in humans. I hope that data will be available soon. " The term "heterologous" refers to the administration of single doses of different vaccines.

Mertens also said that one can only speculate about the risk of being vaccinated twice with Astra Zeneca at the moment. "In my opinion, the obvious way out is not to try it at all, but to give an RNA vaccine as an alternative to be on the safe side."

The federal and state governments followed a recommendation by Stiko on Tuesday to use the Astra Zeneca remedy only for people over 60. With 2.7 million Astrazeneca doses administered, 31 suspected cases of a so-called cerebral vein thrombosis were reported. Nine cases were fatal. Experts suspect that the already very low risk only affects young people.

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/corona-aktuell-rki-inzidenz-infektionen-1.5249833

When Will America's Kids Get Their COVID Vaccines?

 Kids will be kids, and that's exactly why Holly McDade plans to get her three young children the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them.

"Little kids can't help but touch their mouths and their noses and touch other things," said McDade, 32, of Strasburg, Va. "They just don't think about it. It's not where their brains are at yet."

McDade isn't concerned so much about her kids getting sick, but to whom they might spread COVID-19. Her immediate family has a range of health problems that increase their risk of severe illness -- a husband with asthma, a father-in-law with multiple sclerosis, and both grandmothers with rheumatoid arthritis -- not to mention the chance of infecting a random stranger.

"You don't have to love somebody to not want them to get sick," McDade noted.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 vaccines for kids are still some months away, possibly more than a year for the youngest children, experts say.

Pfizer announced this week that its vaccine is safe and remarkably effective in children aged 12 to 15, with no vaccinated kids falling ill with COVID-19 out of 2,300 kids total in the study, said Dr. Tina Tan. She is a professor of pediatrics with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.

"You're looking there at a vaccine efficacy of around 100%," Tan said. "Now, take it with a grain of salt because it's still early and it's a small trial, but I think it's very, very, very encouraging."

Based on those numbers, Tan expects Pfizer to seek to expand its vaccine's emergency authorization to teenagers.

Younger kids will have to wait longer for COVID vaccines

"If that is successful, by the fall of 2021 when school starts we may be vaccinating kids between 12 and 18 years of age," Tan said.

However, vaccine trials for kids younger than 12 have only just started, and results from those trials aren't likely to become available until the end of this year or early next, according to health experts.

Based on that, there won't be a vaccine available for McDade's kids -- girls 3 and 6, and a 1-year-old boy -- until sometime next year.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said that elementary school kids likely won't be vaccinated until the first quarter of 2022.

Which raises the natural question: Won't all this be over by then?

Probably not, experts say, because kids will need to be vaccinated to reach the 75% to 85% of population protected to produce herd immunity.

"We need to remember that children make up close to a quarter of all the population in the U.S.," said Dr. Henry Bernstein, an infectious disease expert and professor of pediatrics at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "By vaccinating children, we're protecting the children, but if they're less likely to get the disease, they're less likely to spread the disease to others, and that's a good thing as well."

In fact, Tan noted, a lot of kids will need to be vaccinated to make up for the one in three adults who currently say they will not get the COVID-19 vaccine at this time.

And while COVID-19 isn't as likely to cause severe disease in kids, they still can get very sick from it, health experts warn.

Overcoming parents' vaccine hesitancy is critical

Nearly 270 children have died from COVID-19 during this pandemic year, Bernstein noted, more than double the average 110 kids who die from flu annually.

Kids infected with COVID-19 also are at risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a condition that can lead to hospitalization in an intensive care unit and time spent on a mechanical ventilator, Tan said.

Despite this, doctors expect they'll have to work hard to sell some parents on the value of vaccinating their kids.

"It appears we may have a difficult time selling it to adults for themselves," Bernstein said. "If we're having difficulty selling it to adults, you can only imagine that we're going to have difficulty selling it to parents of kids."

More than one-quarter of U.S. parents currently do not intend to vaccinate their kids against COVID-19, according to a new study from Indiana University.

"I do believe parents will be receptive to the vaccines for children once they have their questions answered and they understand the process that's been done to develop and thoroughly study these vaccines," Bernstein added.

The return to in-person school for many kids might help this process. Many children have fallen behind on their routine immunizations during the pandemic, Tan said, and some schools might add the COVID-19 vaccine to the standard list of shots that a kid needs to attend class.

"Now that kids are going back to school, schools need to be very vigilant about making sure that the kids who are going back are up to date on their immunizations," Tan said.

McDade said that she needs no sales job on the vaccine for her kids, although she understands the hesitancy of others.

"Vaccines are something we're used to taking a long time to develop, but as our knowledge base grows and technology grows I think it's something that can develop more quickly," McDade said.

"Just because up to now it's taken a while for vaccines to be developed, we in our heads think if it happens too fast then it can't be right, it can't be good. I have to trust that the physicians and medical providers and scientists know more about this than I do," McDade continued.

"I am not a science person. At some point, you have to extend your trust to somebody who is a science person who knows more than you do," she said.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-04-02/when-will-americas-kids-get-their-covid-vaccines

China aims to vaccinate entire city in 5 days after outbreak

 A Chinese border city hit by a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 began a five-day drive Friday to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people.

State broadcaster CCTV showed people lining up and getting vaccinated in Ruili, where 16 cases have been confirmed since Tuesday. Twelve of them are Chinese and the other four are nationals of Myanmar, which lies across the border.

A city Communist Party official told CCTV the previous day that 159,000 doses of vaccine had arrived in the city.

Television footage showed vacant streets as officials ordered people to home quarantine and closed non-essential businesses. The city has also said it would tighten controls around the porous border to try to stop anyone crossing illegally from Myanmar.

China has largely eradicated local transmission of COVID-19 and quickly rolls out strict measures whenever a new cluster emerges.

This is the first time China has tried to vaccinate an entire city in response to new outbreak. The move comes as the government ramps up a nationwide vaccination drive.

https://apnews.com/article/china-coronavirus-pandemic-myanmar-da0f0ccc4598a2c782b2b0bbeb3e28a0

CDC reverses Walensky statement that vaccinated are no longer contagious

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is clarifying claims made by the agency’s director that people vaccinated against COVID-19 will not become infected with the coronavirus or spread it to others. 

In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow earlier this week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cited a study from the agency released Monday that found people who received both doses of both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine were 90 percent less likely to be infected with the virus.

“We can kind of almost see the end,” Walensky told Maddow. “We’re vaccinating so very fast, our data from the CDC today suggests, you know, that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that it’s not just in the clinical trials but it’s also in real world data.”

Walensky went on to emphasize the importance of vaccinated people to continue wearing masks and social distancing. 

The claim, however, prompted criticism from some scientists who said while transmission from vaccinated people may be unlikely, there is not enough data to claim those vaccinated are completely protected and can’t carry the virus and spread it to others. 

“It’s much harder for vaccinated people to get infected, but don’t think for one second that they cannot get infected,” Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, told The New York Times. 

“If Dr. Walensky had said most vaccinated people do not carry virus, we would not be having this discussion,” John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, told the outlet.

“What we know is the vaccines are very substantially effective against infection — there’s more and more data on that — but nothing is 100 percent.” 

The CDC later told the Times Walensky was speaking broadly during the interview. 

“It’s possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get COVID-19. The evidence isn’t clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence,” a CDC spokesman told the Times. 

The CDC study found the two mRNA vaccines prevented 90 percent of infections two weeks after patients received the second of two doses, including asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections. Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection dropped by 80 percent. 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/546234-cdc-reverses-statement-by-director-that-vaccinated-people-are-no

Every variant 'of concern' now detected in Santa Clara County, Cal.

 Every variant of concern has been detected in Santa Clara County, and all have either been shown or are believed to be circulating in the community, public health officials announced on Thursday. 

Specifically, the first two cases of the variants detected in New York -- one each of B.1.525 and B.1.52 -- have now been confirmed in Santa Clara County.

At of the end of March, public health officials said there were 92 confirmed cases of B.1.1.7, the variant first detected in the United Kingdom; three confirmed cases of B.1.351 first detected in South Africa; one case of P.1 first detected in Japan and Brazil; and more than 1,000 confirmed cases of B.1.427 and B.1.429 first detected in California.

"Genomic sequencing is allowing us to confirm what we already presumed based on national trends, which is the presence and unfortunate increase of variants in our community," Santa Clara County Director of Public Health Dr. Sara Cody said. "We’re already seeing surges in other parts of the country, likely driven by variants."

Because of this, Cody said that people must continue to minimize the spread of the disease by avoiding travel and consistently use face coverings. She said things will get better as more people get vaccinated. 

The increase in variants comes as Santa Clara County, and other areas, continue to face inadequate vaccine supply.

The number of allocated doses has remained flat over the past several weeks, with this week’s allocation allowing for roughly 35,000 first dose appointments, health officials said. 

As eligibility expands, Cody said more doses are needed to vaccinate those waiting in line, particularly community members who are most impacted by the pandemic.

County health officials also reminded the public that although most activities are now allowed, many are high-risk and not recommended, and it remains critical for the community to minimize exposure.

https://www.ktvu.com/news/every-variant-of-concern-now-detected-in-santa-clara-county

COVID-19 cases spike in Michigan, fueled by infections among kids

 As federal officials warn of a potential fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, Michigan has emerged as one of the most pressing hotspots, with average daily infections now five times what they were six weeks ago. 

New data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shows this dramatic surge is due in large part to cases spiking among children and teenagers. 

According to state data, since February 19, average daily new COVID-19 cases among children under 10 jumped 230%, more than any other age group. The second-highest increase in infections is in the 10 to 19 age group, which saw cases rise 227%. The trends in these groups exceed that of the state as a whole.

The rise in cases among kids has been evident elsewhere across the country. In Minnesota, people under age 20 made up nearly a quarter of reported cases in March, up from less than 15% at the end of February. Similar trends have been seen in other states as well, including Illinois and Massachusetts. According to the most recent data from the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 64,000 new cases in children were reported nationwide between March 18 and March 25, the highest weekly total in a month.

According to physicians and infectious disease experts in Michigan, much of the rise in pediatric cases can be linked to the reopening of schools and youth sports. State data shows more than 40% of new outbreaks (defined as two or more cases linked by place and time) have come from either K-12 schools or youth programs. But Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, senior public health physician at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, says social gatherings after youth sporting events are also contributing to the spread. 

"If everyone is removing their mask and going out to dinner to celebrate a big win then all of those precautions go out the door," she said. "So really, this seems to have driven this surge." 

The state allowed schools to resume contact sports on February 8, but testing wasn't mandatory for every sport. More than a month later, it tweaked that policy to mandate testing for every sport regardless of whether it's contact or non-contact, a change that will take effect Friday. Bagdasarian says that like other mitigation measures, this change has received pushback. 

While children generally are at less risk for severe cases of COVID-19, some have suffered serious illness. Some children go on to develop a condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after infection, a rare condition that may affect the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs. As of March 1, more than 2,600 cases had been reported nationwide, with 33 deaths. 

Doctors in Michigan are concerned that the current spike in COVID infections will lead to a rise in this syndrome in the weeks and months ahead. Bagdasarian says anecdotally, that's already happening. 

Beaumont Health, Michigan's largest health care system, says it has received an uptick in MIS-C cases. Dr. Bishara Freij, chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Beaumont Royal Oak, says his hospital has had three MIS-C cases in the ICU last month, and eight total this calendar year. He said MIS-C cases normally lag infections by 2 to 6 weeks from their peak, fueling concerns that more are on the way. 

One of the three MIS-C patients at Beaumont Royal Oak in March was 4-year-old Juliana Elkhoury, who was in the ICU for six days. Her parents said they had little to no information about MIS-C before their child was admitted to the emergency room, adding that early symptoms looked like a normal head cold, until they escalated including a persistent rash. 

"It was a really scary experience," said Juliana's mother Michelle, fighting back tears. "It was a hard thing to go through with your kid that you just want to always protect and not see them in the ICU with tubes hooked up everywhere and going through this." Both parents urged others to rethink whether a social activity is essential and worth the risk. 

In recent days, federal health officials have been adamant that while the end of the pandemic may be near, now is not the time to loosen restrictions, specifically mask mandates. The recent rise in infections led to an impassioned plea earlier this week from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who warned of a sense of "impending doom." 

"We do not have the luxury of inaction," she said. 

While officials are concerned about the rise in pediatric cases and their contribution to community spread, research on COVID-19 vaccines for kids is making progress. Preliminary data from Pfizer showing its vaccine is fully effective in kids ages 12 to 15 is a significant sign of hope. All three of the vaccines approved in the U.S. have trials underway in children, with the expectation that vaccinations in some age groups could begin before the fall school year. Bagdasarian says it's imperative that vaccines become available as soon as possible. 

"Getting a vaccine for that pediatric age group is our best chance towards reaching herd immunity," she said. 

Freij noted that in the meantime, it's important that adults overcome any hesitancy and decide to get the shot. 

"Our health is all tied together. We stand together and fall together," he said. "And I think people should maybe loosen up on some strongly held beliefs and perhaps try and help those around them." 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-michigan-cases-spike-kids/