Health

(KYIV, Ukraine) — It doesn’t take long to buy a fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate in Ukraine. Just typing the words into Google brings up a slew of advertisements offering a certificate “without visiting a doctor.”

A would-be customer sends their passport details, address and a phone number through the Telegram messenger app, and the next day, a document showing fake proof of vaccination with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine arrives in the post, according to several people who have bought one of the fake certificates, and who spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity because the practice is illegal. They said prices for the certificates can vary anywhere from $20 to $200 (USD) with some fetching as much as $380.

The COVID vaccination certificate black market is becoming a growing concern in Ukraine, which is suffering from a worsening third wave of the pandemic amid low vaccination numbers and as the government tries to impose restrictions on the unvaccinated. The number of people who have already bought fake certificates is unknown, but some Telegram app channel advertising them have thousands of subscribers.

Svitlana is one of them. She said she bought a fake certificate in September showing she was inoculated with Pfizer/BionTech’s vaccine.

“I don’t trust neither vaccines nor the government,” she told ABC News, explaining her decision and declining to give her last name.

The demand for fake vaccine certificates exists despite the ease of getting a free COVID vaccine in Ukraine. As of late September there are over 11 million doses of different coronavirus vaccines in Ukraine now for a population of 44.1 million, according to Ukraine’s health ministry. The vaccine is free for all Ukrainians and in Kyiv, walk-in vaccination centers are even open in some shopping malls.

But despite the availability of vaccines, Ukraine is among one of the least vaccinated countries in Europe, with only around 30.2% of the population having received one dose and 14.7% fully vaccinated, according to a vaccine tracker published by Bloomberg. In late September the health minister Viktor Lyashko said 34,000 doses of Pfizer would be dumped because they had expired.

The low numbers are the product of widespread vaccine hesitancy among Ukrainians: 56% don’t plan to get vaccinated at all, according to a poll from the Ilko Kucheriv Foundation, a well-known independent think tank that conducts sociological studies.

“We observe this trend globally, however in Ukraine, misinformation about vaccination is extremely politicized and is spread both among the general public and the medical community,” Murat Shahin, head of the UNICEF office in Ukraine told ABC News this month.

Another problem is lack of quality medical education on vaccination which leads to incorrect practices and confuses patients, Shahin said.

“We also observe a suboptimal level of trust to state institutions,” he said. “Meanwhile, people trust their relatives, local leaders and their doctors and nurses.”

Some of the social media channels offering fake vaccine certificates are part of that ecosystem pushing anti-vaccine sentiment, sharing anti-vax information and news stories, while urging people to buy fake certificates to avoid getting the shot.

According to the same Ilko Kucheriv Foundation poll, some are reluctant because they are not sure about the safety of the vaccines. Some of those who spoke to ABC News said they resist just because they are forced to vaccinate.

There is no mandatory vaccination in Ukraine, except for teachers and civil servants, meaning there is little pressure to vaccinate. But some companies are pressing their employees to vaccinate, threatening to cut salaries or reduce vacation days.

And a vaccine certificate is necessary to travel. Ukraine has created its own digital certificate in an app, called Diya (“Action”) that is valid in EU countries.

Wanting to go abroad, some Ukrainians are refusing the free shot of the real vaccine and instead are paying money for a fake certificate. On a site listing the phone number of one seller, users reviewed the service.

“We’ve just crossed the border in Rava Russka [in Poland], our border service scanned the certificate and let us go without any problems,” one wrote. “I took it to Germany. All worked,” another said.

Some services provide paper certificates. A fake official stamp is applied using the real names of doctors and clinics, based on samples posted by some of the Telegram channels offering them.

Getting the digital proof of vaccination without being vaccinated is more difficult. It is still possible for a bribe, according to some people ABC News talked to on condition of anonymity.

Some Ukrainians are simply paying doctors to sign off on their digital vaccine certificates, by entering them as vaccinated in Ukraine’s state vaccination register. After that, a digital certificate appears in the official Diya app, which is also valid in the EU.

Oleksiy Vyskyb, Ukraine’s deputy minister for digital transformation, told ABC News that some doctors were charging a fee to falsely enter people’s name into the state register showing vaccinated citizens.

One of the sellers confirmed that in a Telegram chat with an ABC reporter posing as a potential customer. ABC News did not actually purchase a fake certificate.

“We put the data into the register,” a person who identified themselves as a support manager responded when asked by the reporter how it would work.

Another channel said that the clinic where the false vaccination happens “dumps” two real doses of Pfizer and VaxZevria after pretending the client has received them.. They also offer “to save” these doses for the client to be vaccinated later if they change their mind before the vaccine expires two months later. Both options cost around $60.

According to some advertisements you can get a forged vaccination certificate even if you’re a foreigner. It will cost a bit more than for a Ukrainian citizen — $380 if you’re abroad, according to one ad.

Besides becoming part of a dangerous invisible pool of unvaccinated people that undermine restrictions and spread infection, those buying fake certificates may be unable to get a real shot later on since they are already recorded as having received one in the state registry, Shahin said.

Ukraine’s authorities say they are now trying to crackdown on the practice. Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, together with the country’s cyberpolice, said they have opened nearly 500 criminal proceedings relating to the selling of forged paper vaccination certificates and that more than 50 web resources have been blocked. So far, only three cases have been opened against doctors for allegedly entering false information into the register. Those detained face up to six years in prison. But government says it wants to increase the punishment.

This week, Ukraine imposed a full lockdown in four regions as Ukraine’s daily numbers continue to worsen, recently hitting its highest level since the country’s second wave in the spring. Ukrainian authorities reported 22,415 new confirmed infections and 546 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest numbers since the start of the pandemic. Most experts also believe the real number of cases and deaths are likely higher, since not all are recorded with testing.

“People who use fake certificates create a dangerous space for others,” Maria Karchevych, Ukraine’s deputy health minister said at a press conference in Kyiv last week.

She said the fake COVID vaccine certificate industry also threatens Ukraine’s international image since Ukraine was among the first non-European Union countries to have its national vaccine pass recognized by the EU for travel.

“EU countries expect transparency and honesty in using such documents,” she said.
 

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(NEW YORK) — Walmart has recalled an aromatherapy spray after it identified a bacteria in the product that has now been linked to four illnesses and two deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that it had identified the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei in the aromatherapy spray.

The spray, “Better Homes & Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones,” was found Oct. 6 in the home of a Georgia resident who became ill with melioidosis in late July, according to the CDC.

The CDC said it will continue to test the bacteria in the bottle to potentially match the bacteria identified in the four patients. The symptoms of melioidosis are similar to that of a cold or flu, according to the CDC.

The contaminated spray was sold at about 55 Walmart stores and on Walmart’s websites between February and Oct. 21.

Walmart has pulled the remaining bottles of this spray and related products from the shelves and its websites.

“Our hearts go out to the families that have been impacted by this situation,” Inger Damon, director of the CDC’s Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, said in a statement. “We at CDC have been very concerned to see these serious related illness spread across time and geography. That is why our scientists have continued to work tirelessly to try to find the potential source for the melioidosis infections in these patients. We hope this work can help protect other people who may have used this spray.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Walmart issued a recall for the lavender and chamomile room spray along with five other scents in the same product line.

The CDC will continue to investigate whether other related aromatherapy scents and brands may pose a risk.

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(NEW YORK) — Climate change is not only warming the planet, it’s negatively affecting human health in myriad ways, with researchers reporting surges in heat-related illnesses, infectious diseases, poor sleep and an increase in suicides, according to a major report by The Lancet Countdown that’s been cosigned by health experts from more than 70 institutions worldwide.

“There is no safe temperature rise from a health standpoint,” Dr. Renee Salas, an author of the report and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard, said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “The take-home message of this year’s brief is clear: Climate change is first and foremost a health crisis.”

Additionally, the report shows how decades of racial inequity has deepened divides when it comes to health outcomes, especially in the U.S. over the last few decades, as researchers have observed an increase in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat waves, wildfires and droughts.

We could be investing in a healthier future. This is a pivotal moment in history.
More than a third of urban heat-related deaths in the 1990s and early 2000s can be attributed to climate change, and extensive research also has shown that exposure to heat waves poses a range of health risks, from heat rashes to heat exhaustion to heatstroke.

“During the last heat wave, I saw paramedics with burns on their knees from kneeling down on the sidewalk to take care of patients with heatstrokes,” said Dr. Jeremy Hess, a co-author of the report and a professor of environmental and occupational health services at the University of Washington. “I have seen patients die of heatstroke this year. These are preventable problems.”

Warmer temperatures also contribute to people sleeping less and observable increases in suicide and crime.

“Patients tend to complain more about sleep disturbances during heat waves, which generally go away once the weather passes,” said Dr. Shehram Majid, a New York City-based psychiatrist. “I have seen a rise in patients struggling with mood and anxiety disorders during periods of extreme weather in NYC.”

One study estimates that in the U.S., suicide rates rise 0.7% for every 1 degree Celsius increase in average temperature.

Climate change also creates and exacerbates droughts, which can lead to more wildfires that burn for much longer, which means more dust and smoke that destroys air quality. Agriculture suffers. Pollen levels can increase, affecting those with allergies.

And poor air quality can be felt thousands of miles away from fires. In July 2021, smoke from California’s Dixie Fire reached the Eastern Seaboard, contributing to the worst air quality in New York City in 15 years.

“September 2020, we saw the max wildfires to date, with about 80,000 wildfires in the U.S., which is eight times greater than 2001,” Salas added.

Emerging evidence, cited in the report, also shows that wildfire smoke may be more harmful than many other types of smoke, especially for children. Exposure has been linked to an increased risk of heart and pulmonary disease, premature death, worsened mental health and greater risk of preterm birth.

More flooding can create conditions that lead to increased mosquito breeding, which means diseases such as Dengue fever, a dangerous viral infection, can spreader wider more quickly via the insects.

“New Dengue transmission potential is five times higher than 1950,” Salas added.

Longer warm seasons also means more ticks are spreading Lyme disease.

“We spent many years talking about the pandemic, yet we were not prepared. We are bound to make the same mistake again with climate change. We have not invested in the mitigation and adaptation necessary,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “The health sector is already stressed, and when you add these natural disasters it pushes things to the breaking point.”

Policymakers need to get serious about taxing carbon and reaching zero-emission targets, said Benjamin, adding: “This is an opportunity to invest differently in a green recovery that isn’t fueled by fossil fuels. We could be investing in a healthier future. This is a pivotal moment in history.”

Yalda Safai, M.D., M.P.H., a psychiatry resident in New York City, is a contributor to ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — There is a growing sense of optimism across the country, with national coronavirus infection rates steadily falling, booster shots available for many Americans and pending vaccine approval on the horizon for young children.

In southern states like Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia, which were hit early on by the delta surge, hospitalizations are on the decline.

But despite the good news, experts are pleading with Americans to remain alert, as the highly infectious delta variant continues to circulate.

Despite vaccination rollouts, several states, particularly those in colder climates, are beginning to see a rise in infections.

“You’re starting to see an uptick in cases in the colder parts of the country and as people are driven indoors without masks on,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNN earlier this month. “The delta wave has not run through the United States… I think we have a couple of months to go.”

Experts have been warning for weeks that colder areas may see an uptick in cases this winter.

“We may be starting to see the delta surge in the northern parts of the country that were relatively spared over the summer,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

In recently released forecasts, the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia reported that infection rates in parts of the Midwest and Mountain states remained “stubbornly high,” and that despite declining transmission in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and in California, a period of resurgence may be on the horizon for northern regions of the country.

“We can take some comfort this week in the fact that national daily case counts have dropped below 100,000 and national adult and pediatric hospital censuses have declined by 50% since late summer,” the group wrote, adding that the country must still be prepared to see a resurgence.

In the Midwest, many counties throughout Minnesota and Michigan have had a significant rise in cases, while other states (Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming) are reporting high transmission in nearly every county, according to federal data.

“Coronaviruses tend to thrive in winter months and colder weather,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said. “Right now is not the time, as cases are coming down to become complacent because we do know colder weather is ahead of us.”

These local increases in cases are being accompanied by an uptick in hospitalizations. Ten states (Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wyoming) are already seeing a higher number of hospital admissions.

In Montana, forecasters noted that cities are experiencing the highest rates of case incidence and hospitalizations they have seen throughout the pandemic, mirroring what happened in Idaho last month. Similarly, in Utah, the outlook continues to worsen, specifically in the Salt Lake City region, as resurgence spreads to a wider geographic area.

According to the PolicyLab, the regional variation across the country makes predicting the trajectory of this period of the pandemic challenging. While the team wrote that the likelihood of a fall and winter resurgence in northern areas “seems more probable,” there is “uncertainty about the magnitude, duration and breadth of geographic regions that will be impacted.”

“We need to expect that, as we enter a season of shorter, colder days that will push more people to gather indoors, we will soon see a widening geographic distribution of resurgent transmission in many locations,” forecasters wrote.

The group noted that the Northeast did not experience a significant surge last year, until the holiday season in November and December, and added that nationally, case incidence increased rapidly just after Halloween last year, surging through the New Year.

“As winter approaches, indoor mixing, especially among the remaining unvaccinated populations, means that we will likely continue to see increases in cases. The biggest remaining question is whether we have vaccinated enough of the population to see a decoupling with hospitalizations and deaths,” added Brownstein.

People who have not been fully vaccinated are 6.1 times more likely to test positive with the virus and 11.3 times more likely to die from it, compared with people who are vaccinated, according to federal data.

Although nearly two-thirds of Americans have now received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, more than 112 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated. Approximately 64 million of those unvaccinated Americans are people over the age of 12, and thus, are currently eligible to get the shot.

PolicyLab experts say it is therefore critical for communities to act now in order to “maximize vaccinations among children and adults so that we can prevent local surges in all regions this winter and finally move toward the waning days of the pandemic.”

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(ATLANTA) — CDC Director Rochelle Walensky gave the final signoff on Thursday evening to recommend both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine boosters for certain populations.

The CDC’s independent panel voted unanimously to support that decision earlier Thursday.

The panel recommended a third dose for Moderna vaccine recipients at least six months after a person’s initial course for those 65 and older, and those as young as 18 who are at higher risk due to their underlying health conditions, or where they work or live.

This aligns with what was recommended for a third booster dose for recipients of the Pfizer vaccine.

A second dose for those that received a one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine was recommended for anyone 18 years and older, at least two months after their first dose.

The panel also cleared the way for allowing mixing and matching of booster doses, meaning they will allow for people to get a different brand as a booster than was used for a primary vaccination.

Echoing the FDA however, CDC advisors today did not say any booster combination was preferred over another.

MORE: As White House announces vaccine plan for kids ages 5-11, states prepare for complex rollout
CDC’s advisory vote follows — and falls in line with — FDA’s move Wednesday to authorize those boosters, and aligns with what FDA and CDC authorized for the Pfizer vaccine booster shots last month.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must now give the final signoff to the panel’s recommendation, which is typically expected within a day.

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(NEW YORK) — A salmonella outbreak in 37 states has been linked to fresh whole red, white, and yellow onions sold to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least 652 people have reported illness with 129 hospitalizations due to the onions imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, and distributed by ProSource Inc, according to the CDC.

The company said these onions had import dates from July 1 to Aug. 27. It said they can last up to three months in storage and may still be in homes and businesses.

These onions may have stickers or packaging to indicate the brand, ProSource Inc., and the country where they were grown. They were sold in 37 states.

Investigators are working to determine if any other onions or suppliers are linked to this outbreak.

ProSource Inc. said it voluntarily agreed to recall these onions.

“While investigations into various potential sources of salmonella remain ongoing, to date no onions marketed through ProSource have tested positive for Salmonella,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “This voluntary recall is being conducted out of an abundance of caution, in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), based on reported illnesses which have been associated with the possible consumption of fresh onions that originated in Chihuahua, MX.”

CDC recommendations

Check storage coolers and coolers for these onions. If you can’t tell where they are from, don’t buy them or eat them, throw them away, the agency said.

Wash and sanitize any surfaces or containers that may have touched these onions with hot soapy water.

Do not buy or eat any whole fresh red, white, or yellow onions if they were imported and distributed from the above places.

Throw away any whole red, white, or yellow onions you have at home that do not have a sticker or packaging.

Salmonella symptoms

The CDC urges anyone to call their health care provider if they have any of these severe salmonella symptoms:

-Diarrhea and a fever higher than 102°F

-Diarrhea for more than three days that is not improving

-Bloody diarrhea

-So much vomiting that you cannot keep liquids down

-Signs of dehydration, such as not peeing much, dry mouth and throat, feeling dizzy when standing up

Most people infected with salmonella experience diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Symptoms typically start six hours to six days after swallowing the bacteria.

Recovery for most people without treatment is four to seven days, but people with weakened immune systems like children under 5 and adults over 65 may experience more severe illnesses that require medical treatment or hospitalization.

For more information about salmonella, see the CDC Salmonella Questions and Answers page here.

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(NEW YORK) — First lady Dr. Jill Biden is speaking out about two causes close to her heart: access to community colleges and breast cancer awareness.

In a new interview with Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, Biden, a professor of writing at Northern Virginia Community College, said she plans to continue to advocate to make community colleges more accessible to more Americans.

Tuition-free community college was included in President Joe Biden’s social-spending package, but it is now reportedly one of the latest big-ticket items to be dropped from the package.

When asked by Roberts what she would say to families who were hopeful about the prospect of free community college access, the first lady replied, “I would say we’re not giving up. We are not giving up. This is round one. This is year one. I’m going to keep going.”

Biden, the country’s sole first lady to hold a job outside the White House, said she is also committed to another cause important to her — making sure breast cancer screenings are accessible to all Americans.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many doctors saw a drop in cancer screenings due to limited non-essential, in-person visits and patients opting to put off routine examinations — including annual cancer screenings — to curb risky face-to-face interactions.

The number of screening and mammograms given to people in the U.S. fell by as much as 80 percent during the pandemic, according to research published in July in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Now, Biden is making it her mission to make sure people do not miss their screenings.

“We were afraid of the pandemic, afraid of the virus, but now I think that we’ve moved on a little bit and people are vaccinated,” Biden said. “We have to make sure that we have to get the message out.”

Urging people to get mammograms, Biden continued, “The next thing you have to do today is call your doc and get in there and get your screenings. If you go get that mammogram and they catch it early, you have a fighting chance.”

Why breast cancer research matters to the first lady

For Biden, who has been advocating for breast cancer research since the early 1990s, her fight for breast cancer prevention and awareness is personal.

“I had four friends who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time,” Biden said. “Unfortunately, we lost one of those friends, and I was so upset. I thought, what can I do? There has to be something. I thought, I know education inside and out, and so let’s start to educate people.”

Biden started to spread the message about breast cancer awareness in schools.

“I went into all the schools in Delaware and we taught them about early detection and breast health and the importance of good habits,” said Biden, whose husband served as a Democratic senator from Delaware for several decades. “Not only that, then they went home and sort of spread the word. When your kids say it, you do it, you know?”

Detecting breast cancer early

Biden spoke to Roberts at the Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center in New York City, where doctors have also seen a drop in the number of people getting mammograms.

“We screen about 41,000 patients getting mammograms every year, and with the pandemic here, that dropped to almost 31,000, and that’s disheartening,” Dr. Amanda Rivera, an attending radiation oncology physician at Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center, told “GMA.” “We really just want people to get their cancer detected early so that we have more treatment options.”

For 52-year-old Sandra Cruz, her hesitancy around the pandemic pushed back her annual mammogram. It wasn’t until this past April, after her doctor urged her to get screened, that she learned of her Stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis.

Like Biden, Cruz — who does not need chemotherapy but will be starting radiation soon — is urging other women to get screened early.

“I was one of those women during the pandemic that had the fear of coming in, getting screened,” Cruz said. “I for one didn’t know what COVID was all about except for the fear of catching it, so I was one of those individuals that waited until things calmed down.”

Biden noted she took time within the first month of moving to the White House earlier this year to get a mammogram.

“As soon as we got into office, there I was, off and getting my mammogram,” she said. “There’s nothing more important than your health. Nothing.”

Improving access to screenings

As first lady, Biden said she is also working to make sure the federal government makes it a priority to provide access to mammograms to all women.

“It’s the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that we have access, that all communities have access,” Biden said. “Whether that’s urban, whether that’s rural, so that’s one of the things that we plan to do.”

Medical centers like Montefiore are also working to make sure their efforts to increase screenings reach all people, including those who face barriers when it comes to health care.

“We know that in communities of color, in communities where there’s less access to health care, we have barriers to overcome in terms of getting that population in for cancer screening,” Rivera said. “When you add a pandemic onto that, those disparities only grow further.”

Rivera said one of the ways Montefiore is reaching communities of color is through its clinical trials.

“As we learn through science, through research, we know that certain differences exist,” Rivera said. “Until we get more representation on those clinical trials, we’re not adequately assessing that patient population. So it’s very important to get more clinical trial enrollment from communities of color.”

According to federal guidelines, women ages 40 to 44 should have access to annual breast cancer screening with mammograms, while women ages 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.

Starting at age 55, women should switch to mammograms every two years or continue annual screenings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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(ATLANTA) — An independent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Thursday is set to discuss and vote on booster shots for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, along with the potential for people to mix and match their booster doses.

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized Moderna and J&J boosters for some, and allowed for mix and matching booster doses with a different vaccine.

The next step in the process is for the CDC panel to deliberate and ultimately vote on whether to recommend those boosters, and whether and how to mix and match them.

The panel’s vote is non-binding, and CDC is not required to follow the panel’s recommendations, though they generally do so.

Once the panel votes, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to make her own final signoff shortly after — typically within a day.

Boosting for eligible Moderna and J&J recipients would be able to start once Walensky gives the greenlight — potentially meaning those populations could begin receiving their boosters as soon as the end of this week.

The FDA has made clear there is no preferred booster vaccine for the mixed dosage, but the CDC panel is likely to discuss available data on what booster blend might offer the strongest immunity.

Dr. Peter Marks, a top FDA official, said allowing people to mix boosters makes sense, particularly when people might not remember what brand they initially received.

“Most people don’t know what brand flu vaccine they received. And although they’re somewhat more standardized, perhaps, this is something that is probably a good next step for us to be able to have the flexibility that people can get vaccinated easily,” he told reporters.

Under the new rules, if the CDC signs off, Moderna recipients would qualify for a booster shot of their choice if they are 65 or older — or younger with medical conditions or a high-risk job. The FDA and CDC had already cleared Pfizer recipients to get a third shot, and now they too can choose which brand booster they want. J&J recipients 18 and older would be eligible for a booster of their choice.

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(NEW YORK) — The country’s largest nurses’ union praised the federal government on Wednesday after officials said three states tasked with implementing their own safety measures for health care workers would lose that right unless they adhered to agreed-upon guidelines.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had announced Tuesday it was considering stripping Arizona, Utah and South Carolina of their abilities to oversee workplace safety enforcement because they’re not in compliance with an emergency standard order passed over the summer that guarantees certain protections.

OSHA had allowed 22 states to oversee work conditions for health care workers — measures including the wearing of personal protective equipment, or PPE, enforcing social distancing, providing paid sick leave — so long as local workplaces adopted requirements at least as strong as those agreed to at the federal level.

Deborah Burger, president of National Nurses United, which represents over 175,000 nurses, said in a statement on Wednesday that health care workers from coast to coast have been pushing for better protections as they put themselves at risk working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We urge federal OSHA to act expeditiously to put in place the necessary elements for federal OSHA to resume enforcement in Arizona, Utah, South Carolina and any other states which fail to enforce the [emergency standard] to ensure protections for health care workers,” Burger said in a statement. “We will never emerge from this pandemic if we don’t make sure nurses and health care workers are safe at work.”

The Republican governors of Arizona, Utah and South Carolina defended their states’ action and accused OSHA of overreach.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey contended that the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s OSHA, or ICA, the state’s workplace overseer, intends to comply with the emergency standards but is seeking public input on the mandate. Ducey accused the federal government of not justifying its threat to revoke oversight powers.

“The federal government’s threat to strip the ICA of its OSHA authority is nothing short of a political stunt and desperate power grab,” Ducey said in a statement.

Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox said in a statement that he had concerns over the emergency standard, saying it “would place an unfair burden on the health care industry” and his state didn’t “have regulatory authority to require employers to pay their employees sick leave.”

“We reject the assertion that Utah’s State Plan is less effective than the federal plan,” Cox said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said his office is preparing for “a vigorous and lengthy legal fight” and that OSHA’s announcement Tuesday was “clearly a preemptive strike by the federal government.”

Burger stressed that all three states needed to prioritize the safety of health care workers and come together to make sure they’re protected as hospitalizations keep increasing.

“Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah had the duty — legally and morally — to come into compliance and protect workers,” Burger said. “They did not, and we could not be more proud that OSHA is standing up to hold them accountable today.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The FDA on Wednesday announced it has authorized boosters for millions more Americans, giving a green light for third shots to people who received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The FDA also says it will allow people to mix and match booster doses.

The agency detailed its decision in a news release that said a single booster dose of the Moderna vaccine may be administered at least six months after completion of the primary series to individuals 65 years of age and older, those 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19 and those 18 through 64 years of age with frequent institutional or occupational exposure to the virus.

It went on to say the use of a single booster dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine may be administered at least two months after completion of the single-dose primary regimen to individuals 18 years of age and older.

Nothing has changed yet for individuals.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee will meet Thursday and cast a non-binding vote on the matter and then CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will release final recommendations.

This is developing story. Please Check back for updates.

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