Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services Suspends Vaccine Mandate Enforcement

 by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended enforcement of its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers after two court orders earlier this week.

A memo issued by the agency, posted by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Twitter Thursday, said that CMS “remains confident” it will prevail in court but is “suspending activities related to the implementation and enforcement of this rule pending future development in the litigation.”

“While these preliminary injunctions are in effect,” it continues to say, “CMS surveyors must not survey providers for compliance with the requirements” with the rule.

The memo is referring to federal government officials conducting checks of whether Medicare- or Medicaid-funded facilities are complying with the Biden administration’s mandate that healthcare staff gets fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 4.

The CMS rule allows for religious and medical exemptions to the vaccine.

Schmitt, a Republican who is running for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat, hailed CMS’s memo as a victory in a Twitter post.

This week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued preliminary injunctions against the CMS vaccine rule, which was unveiled on Nov. 4 alongside federal rules that mandate either testing or vaccines for employers with 100 or more workers.

“Between the two of them, these injunctions cover all states” as well as Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories, the memo said.

CMS has appealed the two federal court decisions.

The rule for private businesses, which is being enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, was dealt a blow last month when a U.S. Fifth Court of Appeals issued an injunction that blocked its enforcement.

The same court affirmed its previous decision several days later, which is currently being challenged by the Biden administration.

On Nov. 29, the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget federal told agencies in a memo that they can wait to terminate or suspend their employees who won’t get vaccinated until the holidays are over.

OMB Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller and Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja wrote that “no subsequent enforcement actions, beyond that education and counseling” is mandated for federal workers “who have not yet complied with the vaccination requirement until the new calendar year begins in January.”

Later, White House Jen Psaki downplayed the memo and said that “nothing has changed” regarding enforcement, claiming it is “inaccurate” to say that the White House has “delayed anything, or changed” enforcement of the rule. In September, Biden announced he would require all federal employees to receive the shot.

The Epoch Times has contacted CMS for comment.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/centers-medicare-and-medicaid-services-suspends-vaccine-mandate-enforcement

Nursing homes warn Build Back Better may spur labor shortages, force closures

 The nation’s largest nursing home association is sounding the alarm on President Biden’s social spending package, saying it could have a "devastating impact" and force thousands of long-term care facilities to limit admissions or close their doors.

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), which represents over 14,000 facilities housing millions of elderly individuals, said long-felt labor shortages in the industry will be exacerbated by two measures included in the Build Back Better plan.

Executive Director Patricia Gustin greets residents at the dining room at Emerald Court in Anaheim, California, on Monday, March 8, 2021. Residents were able to come to the dining room for the first time since social distancing restrictions were put (Photo by Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Getty Images)

One provision would require a registered nurse (RN) to be on hand 24 hours a day – a policy that officials say they have advocated for but need assistance to accomplish. 

"We strongly support having an RN on staff in nursing homes 24-hours a day, as we originally proposed in our reform agenda earlier this year," AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Mark Parkinson said in a statement provided to Fox News. "However, current data shows that the nursing homes are facing the worst job loss among all health care providers."

"We’ve lost 221,000 jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, and recovery is a long way away," he added. 

Nursing homes are required to have an RN on staff for at least eight hours a day, but increasing that requirement threefold would mean hiring 21,000 more registered nurses – an estimated cost of $2.5 billion a year.

The social spending package would also require nursing homes to accommodate regulation changes based on staffing ratio surveys conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services within a one-year time frame.

Cynthia Tachner, 86, waits to visit through glass with her daughter Karen Klink, of Hermosa Beach, at Silverado Beach Cities Memory Care in Redondo Beach on Monday, March 8, 2021. Klink is hopeful she will soon be able to have in-room visits with her (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG / Getty Images)

Parkinson said these changes mean the nursing homes he represents would need to hire at least 150,000 new caregivers and it could cost the facilities billions of dollars annually. 

"Nursing home providers are doing all they can to attract and retain new workers, but the applicants simply aren’t there," Parkinson said. "The provisions in this bill do nothing to help us strengthen our workforce and will only force thousands of nursing homes to further limit the number of residents they can serve."

As it stands now, the social spending plan would require the nursing home industry to increase its staffing by 25% by bringing on RNs, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants – a hiring spree that will cost nearly $11 billion each year. 

Officials worry these requirements would alter how nursing homes are allowed to function to the degree that they would prompt facility closures or greatly limit the number of elderly individuals accepted into homes. 

The White House did not immediately return FOX Business’ request for comment. 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nursing-homes-build-back-better-labor-shortages-closures

'A real crisis': Skilled nursing shortage worries families, staff

 Healthcare heroes have had it hard during the pandemic, working long hours and seeing so much loss. Some have retired early after getting burned out.

This has contributed to a lack of skilled nurses in nursing homes and assisted living homes.

The pandemic isn’t the only cause of a skilled nurse shortage, although it has played a role. Low pay is another.

But regardless of the reason, the industry is facing what professionals are calling a "crisis."

This week was the first time in about a year Lilian Veal saw her 23-year-old son in person.

Cyrano Veal’s friends and family call him C Note.

He lives at an assisted living home in Las Vegas.

The CDC ordered long-term care facilities to temporarily close to the public last year.

The CDC allowed them to reopen in September 2020 but still limited the number of visitors.

But the Veal family waited longer to be safe.

The time apart was tough.

"You can barely see him, and you can’t even help him at all," Lilian Veal said.

C Note has been in long-term care since trying to kill himself when he was 16.

His dad Cyrus said, "He had left us a note and said ‘It’s not your fault. These migraines were killing me. Dad, you told me to be strong, but I can’t take it anymore. I have to tap out, but we'll see you again.’"

The Veals say they know the staff at Marquis Centennial Hills takes good care of their son. But the nurse shortage is concerning.

"My son is not a little guy anymore. He’s big, 190 pounds, 6’4," Cyrus Veal said. "So it takes a couple of people."

The American Healthcare Association reports nursing homes lost about 220,000 jobs and assisted living communities lost 38,000 jobs since March 2020.

"We’ve never had a situation like this where virtually every assisted living and skilled nursing company in the country is experiencing a problem," said Mark Parkinson, the president and CEO of AHCA.

Now, some facilities have had to close or limit new patients.

Marquis Centennial Hills in Las Vegas has not reached that point, but they are down about 13 full-time employees.

"So you’re trying to figure out how do you manage already stressed resources to comply with these above and beyond requirements," said Jacob Atwood, administrator at the assisted living home.

The number of skilled nursing jobs has decreased since the start of the pandemic.

Karen Barker is a licensed practical nurse. She's been in the business for 40 years.

"I just love what I do," Barker said. But even she’s burned out.

"I’m thinking right now of wanting to retire early. It’s not like years ago. It’s very much different in nursing," Barker said.

Currently, about two million people are living at skilled nursing or assisted living facilities. On average, it’s about five million a year.

The AHCA says a long-term solution to the workforce challenges is more funding from the state and federal governments to increase pay.

"We know that right now we’re in a real crisis, and we need help," Parkinson said.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/healthcare/skilled-nurse-shortage-raises-concerns

5 'Mild' Cases Of Omicron Variant Detected In New York

 It's an outcome that could be seen from a mile away - and we made sure everyone following us would see it this morning, when we said to "expect a cluster of NYC cases in the next 24 hours" after it was reported that the 2nd identified US case in Minneapolis had attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center from Nov. 19-21...

... but apparently the news that more cases are emerging in NYC has come as a total shock to the algos programmed by 19 year old math PhD's.

Moments ago, during a press conference by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, the two announced that at least five cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant were reported in New York, just hours after the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced a case in a resident with a recent travel history to New York City.

The five confirmed cases in the state of New York include:

1. 67-year-old woman in Suffolk County - some vaccination history present, unknown how many doses she received
2. Queens based case - unknown gender - unknown if vaccinated
3. Queens based case - unknown gender - unknown if vaccinated
4. Brooklyn based case - unknown gender - unknown if vaccinated
5. Just received word of a 5th suspected case - no further info

What is far more important - because by now everyone knows that the omicron variant is highly transmissible - is that all of the cases are said to be "mild" and everyone recovered at home. In other words, while we collect more and more data point, every incremental observation validates the optimistic take that omicron may spread faster but is indeed, as the South African doctor who first identified it, "extremely mild."

Gov Hochul confirmed as much, saying that "while [Omicron] may be highly transmissible we want people to know that the early cases that arise are not life threatening, they seem to be minor cases"

Of course, all the nuances was wasted on the headline scanning algos, and futures which had levitated after the close to trade near session highs in today's torrid short covering session, dropped on the news, and were down about 15 points...

... or about 3 spoos for every new case. We can't wait for the algos to learn that there are over 8 million New Yorkers (actually probably less than that now that so many are fleeing de Blasio' socialist paradise).

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/futures-slide-after-five-mild-cases-omicron-variant-detected-new-york

Covid patients age under 2 have highest admission rate in S. Africa epicenter

 Children aged 2 and under make up the highest percentage of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital in Gauteng, the South African epicentre of the outbreak.

Pubic health spokeswoman Dr Waasila Jassat said the country was starting to see a “slight increase” nationally in the number of admissions.

However, there had been “significant increases” over the past two weeks in the province of Gauteng, from 18 admissions a day to 49.

The new Omicron variant has rapidly overtaken Delta to become the dominant variant in Gauteng, a province that accounts for the vast majority of the country's cases.

There were about 455 admissions from November 11 to 28 in the Gauteng city of Tshwane, where eight people have died, Dr Jassat said during a televised government media briefing on Monday.

In Tshwane, which has recorded the highest increases in admissions, there has been “a very sharp increase”, particularly in the past 10 days, she said.

“When you look at the numbers of admissions by age, what we normally see is a large number of admissions in older people,” she added.

“But in this early resurgence in Tshwane, we are seeing most admissions in the 0-2 age group.

“And we are seeing a large number of admissions in the middle ages, sort of around 28 to 38.”

She said “very high proportions” of young children were being admitted — more than 70 per cent of cases in the 4-and-under age group.

The percentage was much lower in other child age groups, at about 10 per cent in children aged 5 to 9 and slightly less for the age 10-19 group.

However, the percentage of young children admitted with comorbidities, or underlying conditions, was “quite low,” at about 1 per cent.

More than 5 per cent of children aged 5 to 9 who were admitted had underlying conditions, she said. The percentage was slightly less for the 10-to-19 group.

Almost 30 per cent of children aged 4 or under had “severe disease”. The percentage of those admitted with severe disease was slightly higher for the five-to-nine age group, at more than 30 per cent. It was slightly less for the age 10-19 group at about 27 per cent.

“The increase in admissions in young children under 2 could just be precautionary. We don’t have enough information yet,” said Dr Jassat.

“But the indications are not that they are more severe than they have been in the past.

“I think what’s important for us to note is that while we do hospital surge preparedness, this time we may need to look at paediatric preparedness, especially.”

There were eight deaths in the two weeks from November 14 to 28.

Most occurred in older groups, aged 60 to 69. About 1.5 per cent of children aged 4 and under admitted to hospital died. There were no deaths among children aged 5 to 19 in the two-week period.

“It doesn’t look at the moment like there is any increase in severity, but it is early. Admissions do lag about two weeks after cases and it takes some time for patients to have an outcome, so this is something we will watch and give more information in the coming weeks,” said Dr Jassat.

The “vast majority” of those admitted to hospital were unvaccinated.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/coronavirus/2021/11/29/covid-patients-aged-2-and-under-most-likely-to-go-to-hospital-in-south-african-epicentre/

Many Severe Covid-19 Survivors Go on to Die Within a Year

 New research this week finds that people who are hospitalized with severe covid-19 but survive often pay a heavy price afterward. The study concluded that these survivors were more than twice as likely to die in the subsequent 12 months compared to people who had tested negative for the virus. This relatively increased risk of death was even higher for people under the age 65.

While there remains much research to be done, studies thus far have made it clear that many covid-19 survivors can experience lingering symptoms even after the infection itself has cleared up. And those who are hospitalized are all the more vulnerable to these aftereffects. Severe covid often seriously damages the lungs and other organs, while life-saving interventions like steroids, ventilators, and life support devices like ECMO can take a toll on the body as well.

Researchers from the University of Florida had already published a study in July showing that hospitalized survivors were significantly more likely to be hospitalized again within six months, compared to those with mild to moderate covid-19. This new study of theirs, based on an examination of anonymous electronic health records, instead looked at the long-term mortality risk of patients up to a year later.

Nearly 14,000 patients in the same health care system were studied. These included 178 diagnosed with severe COVID-19 and 246 diagnosed with mild to moderate covid-19, as well as many others who tested negative for the virus but may have been sick for other reasons and received medical care in some way. Compared to covid-negative patients, and even after accounting for other factors like age and sex, those with severe covid were 2.5 times more likely to die in the next 12 months after their illness. Overall, just over 52% of severe covid patients died in a year’s time. There was no significant increased risk of mortality for mild to moderate cases, however.

]“This study provides evidence that the increased risk of death from covid-19 is not limited to the initial episode of covid-19, but a severe episode of covid-19 carries with it a substantially increased risk of death in the following 12 months,” the authors wrote in their study, published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.

About 20% of the deaths among these patients post-infection were attributed to problems with either the respiratory or cardiovascular system, the authors noted, the areas of the body that tend to be affected directly by infection from the coronavirus. But it’s well known that the symptoms of severe covid are often the result of an overzealous immune response, one that can wreak havoc all throughout the body. And it’s this potential for widespread damage that is likely to blame for the majority of added deaths seen in these survivors.

“Since these deaths were not for a direct covid-19 cause of death among these patients who have recovered from the initial episode of covid-19, this data suggests that the biological insult from covid-19 and physiological stress from covid-19 is significant,” they wrote.

Older people are more likely to develop severe illness and die from covid-19. But among patients in this study, the associated risk of dying was actually relatively greater for survivors of severe covid under age 65 than it was for patients over 65. Compared to similarly aged but non-infected people, they were more than three times more likely to die in the months after their hospitalization.

The results are yet another reminder that the harms of the pandemic run deeper than any official death toll can illustrate. As many as 7.5 million Americans have been hospitalized by covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated. Given the risks that hospitalized survivors will face even after their initial ordeal, the authors say it’s “clear that prevention of significant covid-19 infection is the most effective way to decrease the risk of death following covid-19.”

https://gizmodo.com/many-severe-covid-19-survivors-go-on-to-die-within-a-ye-1848144418

Omicron has 'substantial' ability to evade immunity from prior COVID infection

 Omicron has a "substantial" ability to evade immunity from a previous COVID infection, according to the first real-world study of the variant's effect.

The finding suggests the new variant could cause a substantial wave of infections, even in populations with high levels of antibodies.

Researchers at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) warn their finding has important public health implications.

They add: "Urgent questions remain regarding whether Omicron is also able to evade vaccine-induced immunity and the potential implications of reduced immunity to infection on protection against severe disease and death."

The scientists looked at almost 2.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Africa since March 2020 and found 35,670 were reinfections.

The risk of a reinfection was lower in the Beta and Delta waves than the first surge of cases in March 2020 that was caused by the Wuhan strain of the virus.

But significantly they found the risk of reinfection in the current Omicron wave is 2.4 times higher than in the first wave.

The results have been published as a pre-print on the MedRxiv server and have not been peer reviewed.

The researchers say: "We find evidence of a substantial and ongoing increase in the risk of reinfection that is temporally consistent with the timing of the emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa, suggesting that its selection advantage is at least partially driven by an increased ability to infect previously infected individuals.

"Immune escape from prior infection, whether or not Omicron can also evade vaccine derived immunity, has important implications for public health globally."

Professor Paul Hunter, of The Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, said: "The implications of this paper are that Omicron will be able to overcome natural and probably vaccine induced immunity to a significant degree.

"But, the degree is still unclear though it is doubtful that this will represent complete escape.

"The other big uncertainty is whether this increases the risk of severe disease, hospital admissions and deaths.

"With previous variants epidemiological studies showed that protection against severe disease from other variants was better maintained than protection against infection."

Although only around a quarter of the population in South Africa is fully vaccinated, immunity from natural infection is high because the country has had several large waves of COVID.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it will deploy a surge team to South Africa to help deal with the variant outbreak.

The team will be sent to Gauteng province to help with surveillance and contact tracing.

However, Barry Schoub, chair of the South African government's committee on COVID vaccines, told Sky News initial signs were "good news".

"Certainly, at this stage, the news does look to be promising - the great majority of the breakthrough infection (in other words, individuals that have had infection despite vaccination) is mild.

"Our hospital surveillance is showing a little bit of an uptick but certainly nothing as dramatic as we've seen in the previous waves."

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-omicron-has-substantial-ability-to-evade-immunity-from-previous-coronavirus-infection-12484840