Life Insurance CEO Says Deaths Up 40% Among Those Aged 18-64

 The death rate for those aged 18-64 has risen an astonishing 40% over pre-pandemic levels, according to the CEO of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica.

"We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica," said Scott Davidson, head of the $100 billion insurance company that's been in operation since 1877 and has approximately 2,400 employees.

The increase represents "huge, huge numbers," among "primarily working-age people" who have employer-sponsored group life plans through OneAmerica, according to The Center Square.

"And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic," Davidson said during an online news conference last week. "Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic."

"So 40% is just unheard of," he added.

According to Davidson, the majority of deaths being filed are not classified as due to Covid-19.

"What the data is showing to us is that the deaths that are being reported as COVID deaths greatly understate the actual death losses among working-age people from the pandemic. It may not all be COVID on their death certificate, but deaths are up just huge, huge numbers," he said, adding that the company has seen an "uptick" in disability claims - at first short-term, and now long-term.

"For OneAmerica, we expect the costs of this are going to be well over $100 million, and this is our smallest business. So it’s having a huge impact on that," he said, adding that the costs will be passed on to employers purchasing the group life insurance policies.

At the same news conference where Davison spoke, Brian Tabor, the president of the Indiana Hospital Association, said that hospitals across the state are being flooded with patients “with many different conditions,” saying “unfortunately, the average Hoosiers’ health has declined during the pandemic.”

In a follow-up call, he said he did not have a breakdown showing why so many people in the state are being hospitalized – for what conditions or ailments. But he said the extraordinarily high death rate quoted by Davison matched what hospitals in the state are seeing.

"What it confirmed for me is it bore out what we're seeing on the front end,..." he said. -The Center Square

The number of those hospitalized in Indiana are now higher than before the Covid-19 vaccine was introduced a year ago, and is in fact higher than at any point in the past five years, according to Dr. Lindsay Weaver, Indiana’s chief medical officer.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/life-insurance-ceo-says-deaths-40-among-those-aged-18-64-and-not-because-covid

Ex-CDC chief: COVID-19 surge will make it 'challenging' for schools to stay open

 A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said a recent surge in coronavirus cases will make it difficult for schools to stay open for in-person instruction in the coming weeks.

“I think it’s going to make it challenging for many schools to stay open," Richard Besser, the former director of the CDC and now the president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said in an appearance on NBC's “Today.”

"A lot of teachers, a lot of staff are going to come down with covid. And whether schools are going to be able to remain open with the limited staff we'll have to see."

Health experts attribute the recent nationwide surge in cases to the highly-contagious omicron variant of the virus, although national rates of hospitalization and deaths have fallen significantly since last year.

As vaccines and booster shots become more widely available, many schools districts have been attempting to return to full-time in-person instruction for students, teachers and staff. 

Besser said any parent who has a child who exhibits any symptoms of a cold should keep them out of school.

"What parents can be thinking about is whether or not your schools are requiring masks," he said. "And if your child is in an age range where they are eligible to be vaccinated, talk to your doctor, get your questions answered. I really encourage parents to get their children vaccinated." 

https://thehill.com/homenews/587965-former-cdc-chief-covid-19-case-surge-will-make-it-challenging-for-many-schools-to

Pence group files SCOTUS brief opposing Biden vaccine mandate

 Former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday announced his advocacy group has filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject the Biden administration's attempt to require large businesses to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for its workers or require frequent testing.

Pence filed the brief, which was shared with The Hill, through his political advocacy group Advancing American Freedom. In the document, Pence's organization argues the Biden White House's mandate is unconstitutional and would exceed previous examples of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) use of emergency authority.

“America is about freedom and the ability to make the best decision for your family or business, and Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate must be stopped in its tracks in order to preserve freedom, protect American livelihoods and businesses, and to safeguard our constitution,” Pence said in a statement.

The brief outlines nine previous cases where OSHA used an emergency temporary standard to expedite the standard rule-making process. Pence's brief argued there is a distinction in that the previous instances sought to regulate workplace dangers like asbestos or other chemicals that threatened workers' safety, not require employees to get vaccinated or get some other medical treatment.

The brief from Pence's group argues that the OSHA rule requiring vaccinations suggests "the Biden Administration is not truly seeking to mitigate workplace hazards through the [emergency temporary standard], but rather is attempting to use OSHA to accomplish an end that it has been unable to persuade Congress to support: the mandatory vaccination of the American public."

The Biden White House has said it does not support making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for the public.

Pence's group has previously filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court outlining positions on prominent cases on abortion and school choice. The former vice president is the latest conservative politician to weigh in against the Biden administration's push for large businesses to require vaccinations or regular testing for employees as part of an aggressive strategy to end the pandemic.

The workplace mandate is scheduled to take effect this month and could affect an estimated 84 million employees. It generally requires larger businesses with more than 100 employees to adopt written policies requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or wear masks and undergo regular testing. 

The Biden administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to leave intact a workplace vaccine-or-test mandate as public health officials contend with the surging COVID-19 pandemic.

DOJ lawyers argued that the 1970 law that established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) makes plain that the policy “falls squarely within OSHA’s statutory authority.”

But conservatives, including several interest groups and governors, have argued in court that the OSHA rule is an example of government overreach and that the White House should not have the power to require certain groups to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which has spread rapidly in recent weeks thanks to the highly contagious omicron variant.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/587978-pence-group-files-scotus-brief-opposing-biden-vaccine-mandate

Allarity, Oncoheroes in Pediatric Cancer Development Pact

 Oncoheroes will fund and advance the clinical development of both dovitinib and stenoparib in pediatric cancers, utilizing Allarity’s DRP® companion diagnostics

Allarity has submitted a new drug application (NDA) for the U.S. approval of dovitinib in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) together with the Dovitinib-DRP® companion diagnostic

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/allarity-therapeutics-oncoheroes-biosciences-sign-130000918.html

FDA authorizes Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds

 The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine boosters for children ages 12 to 15.

The agency also shortened the time needed between an initial series of vaccine and a booster from at least six months after completion of an initial series to at least five months for everyone 12 and older.

Pfizer’s booster dose contains the same amount of the vaccine as the initial doses: 30 micrograms.

Adolescents in this age group became eligible to receive their initial series of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in mid-May, opening vaccinations up to about 17 million additional people.

Now, about half of the populations aged 12 to 15 – about 8.7 million – is fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5 million of them have been fully vaccinated for more than five months and are now eligible to receive a booster shot.

Children in this age group represent about 5% of the total US population. They account for about 4% of the fully vaccinated population in the US and about 3% of those eligible to receive a booster shot, according to the latest CDC data.

In October, the CDC recommended that everyone age 16 and up who completed their initial series of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago receive a booster shot, along with those who received their initial Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago. 

The FDA also authorized a third dose as part of the primary series for certain immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11, including those who have received an organ transplant.

Overall, about 68.8 million people are fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19. That’s less than half of the nearly 180 million people who are eligible to receive their booster shot and about a fifth of the total US population. And at least 69 million people ages 5 and up have not received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest CDC data.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/omicron-variant-coronavirus-news-01-03-22/h_fe58375ad39271c157889aa9cdb05254

Genprex fast tracked for lung cancer therapy combo

Genprex, Inc. ("Genprex" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) for the Company’s lead drug candidate, REQORSA™ Immunogene Therapy, in combination with Merck & Co’s Keytruda® in patients with histologically-confirmed unresectable stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after treatment with Keytruda. In the first quarter of 2022, Genprex expects to initiate its Acclaim-2 clinical trial, which is an open-label, multi-center Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating REQORSA in combination with Keytruda, for this patient population. The Company previously received its first FTD for REQORSA in combination with AstraZeneca PLC’s Tagrisso® in patients with histologically confirmed unresectable stage III or IV NSCLC, with EGFR mutations that progressed after treatment with Tagrisso.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/genprex-receives-u-fda-fast-130000882.html

Pear Therapeutics started at Buy by BTIG

 Target $12

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=pear&ty=c&ta=1&p=d