Attention,
aspiring screenwriters: Diane Keaton wants to play your creepy villain.
Long the queen of comedy, the actress said she is open to playing
“types,” provided the script is good. “I really like working, so I
wouldn’t mind doing any types, at this point, it’d be fun,” Keaton said
during a recent interview with IndieWire. “I could play some hideous
person. Any creep. A killer. I’d be happy to look at it. Give me a
chance. Whatever’s out there, that I like, I would take it.”
Since
first making her name in classics like “The Godfather” and “Annie
Hall,” the actress has carved out her niche as Hollywood’s go-to for
charming goofballs, practically trademarking her scattered earnestness
and bubbly lilt. While it’s intriguing to imagine those ineffable Keaton
qualities mapped onto a power hungry witch or maniacal killer, her
latest role is much more in her wheelhouse.
In
“Mack & Rita,” a new comedy from director and actress Katie Aselton
(“The Freebie”), Elizabeth Lail plays a 30-something who gets trapped
in the body of a 70-something (Keaton, of course) after attending a new
age-y “past life regression” ritual in Palm Springs. It’s a zippy role
that allows Keaton to show off her physical comedy chops, including
walking in stiletto boots and learning how to post on Instagram.
'mack
& rita' will be the 51st feature film that diane keaton has acted
in. she has a body of work that is impressive and then some. i think
some of her work in the last 15 or so years has been under-discovered. i
loved 'plan b' - which is more like 20 years ago - and thought it was
very funny.
i love her romantic dramas like '5 flights up' and 'hamstead.'
i
loved her in 'poms.' the trailer turned me off as did the carping from
various actresses (anjelica huston, for example) who said that no 1
needed a film about cheerleaders in a retirement home. that's not what
it was. if they'd been honest in the trailer, more people would have
seen the movie. we learn in the 1st scene that diane is dying of
cancer. that puts a whole other spin on it. ava and c.i. covered it in
'' and that's the only reason i watched. when i did watch, i thought
it was a really strong and moving film.
Thursday, August 11, 2022. Joe Biden takes a vacation as troubles
mount, Moqtada insists on judicial action or else, and much more.
US
President Joe Biden is vacationing and he left without coming up with a
real plan to address monkeypox in place. This despite the fact that
this pandemic is a global issue.
The first monkeypox case in Germany was reported on May 20. Since
then, the number has risen steadily, from 28 cases per week in late May
to 125 in early June. There are now 300 to 400 cases per week and a
total of 2,916 cases have been reported to the Robert Koch Institute
(RKI) in Germany to date, corresponding to an incidence level of 3.54
cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. This is more than ten percent of
the worldwide cases outside Africa. A recent study estimated the
reproductive rate (R-value) of monkeypox in Germany to be 1.21, which is
higher than the COVID-19 R-value, which is currently 0.86.
Due to
widespread ignorance about the symptoms of monkeypox and generally
limited testing facilities, it can be assumed that the actual number of
infections is much higher.
Worldwide, Germany is among the most
affected countries. In absolute numbers, Germany has the third most
infections after the United States with 9,461 cases and Spain with 5,162
cases. On a per capita basis, however, the incidence rate in Germany,
at 3.54, is already much higher than in the US, with 2.15 cases per
hundred thousand inhabitants. This is despite the fact that the US
administration has already declared monkeypox a public health emergency.
Once again, the United States is messing up its approach to vaccines.
Three months into its monkeypox outbreak, just 620,000 doses of the
two-injection Jynneos shot—the nation’s current best immune defense
against the virus—have been shipped to states, not nearly enough to immunize the 1.6 million to 1.7 million Americans that the CDC considers at highest risk. The next deliveries from the manufacturer aren’t slated until September at the earliest. For now, we’re stuck with the stocks we’ve got.
Which is why the feds have turned to Inoculation Plan B: splitting
Jynneos doses into five, and poking them into the skin, rather than into
the layer of fat beneath. The FDA issued an emergency-use authorization for the strategy yesterday afternoon.
This dose-sparing tactic will allow far more people to sign up for doses
before summer’s end; if successful, it could help contain the outbreak
in the U.S., which currently accounts for nearly a third of the world’s documented monkeypox cases. But this decision is based on scant data, and the degree of protection offered by in-skin shots is no guarantee.
The FDA is now playing a high-stakes game with the health and trust of
people most vulnerable to monkeypox—an already marginalized population.
Call it a bold decision; call it a risky gamble: It may be the best
option the country currently has, but one the U.S. could have avoided
had it marshaled a stronger response earlier on.
Little is known about how Jynneos performs against monkeypox even in its prescribed
dosing regimen, the so-called subcutaneous route; the new method,
intradermal injection, is a murkier proposition still. “We are in a very
data-thin zone,” says Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious-disease physician
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The shot was approved
for use against smallpox and monkeypox in 2019. But to date,
researchers don’t have a strong sense of how well it guards against
disease or infection or how long protection lasts. Although scientists
know that two doses of Jynneos can elicit similar numbers of antibodies as older poxvirus vaccines, no estimates of the vaccine’s true efficacy, from large-scale clinical trials, exist; a human studyin the Congo hasn’t yet reported results. And though firmer data have shown that the vaccine keeps lab monkeys
from getting seriously sick, “I don’t necessarily trust making the
clinical decisions” based just on that, says Mark Slifka, a
vaccinologist at Oregon Health & Science University. It’s not even
clear if Jynneos can stop someone from transmitting the virus,
especially now that many cases seem to be arising via skin-to-skin contact during sex, an understudied form of spread.
I call for an immediate shutdown of all production until the spread
of the infection is isolated and contained, with all workers affected
receiving full pay. The companies, which are making record profits based
on our exploitation, can afford to take the necessary measures to save
our health and lives.
We need to break through the misinformation
and disinformation that is being put out by the White House, the UAW and
corporate media.
All workers need to be made aware that monkeypox
is a potentially deadly virus with a case fatality rate similar to
COVID. It can cause disfiguring lesions and excruciating pain that in 10
percent of cases requires hospitalization. The experience of Africa
shows that it has a particularly severe impact on children.
The
official number of monkeypox cases, 7,500 in the US, is likely an
undercount, since testing is a complicated and long process. The vast
majority of individuals currently being tested are gay men, based on the
false claim that the virus is primarily transmitted through sex. In
fact, studies have shown that monkeypox can spread through aerosols that
linger in the air like the coronavirus. It can also spread through skin
to skin contact as well as contaminated fabric and surfaces. The virus
can remain alive for weeks outside the body, meaning all potentially
contaminated areas need to be regularly disinfected with appropriate
cleaning supplies.
Given this, it is highly probable that there
are more cases in the auto plants than the single reported case at SHAP,
where 7,000 work. For more than two years, management and the UAW have
systematically covered up the spread of COVID-19 in the plants, forcing
workers to rely on word of mouth.
Giant auto plants with thousands
forced to stand close together for hours on end are primary vectors for
the transmission of disease that can infect the entire community. The
danger will be multiplied when schools reopen in a few short weeks under
conditions where nothing is being done to halt the spread of COVID-19
or monkeypox.
No confidence can be put in the profit hungry
Stellantis management or their lackeys in the UAW bureaucracy to deal
with this emergency. The last two and a half years of the COVID-19
pandemic show they could not care less about workers’ health or lives.
When
COVID was first detected in auto plants, it was workers who halted
production, not the highly paid UAW bureaucrats. If it wasn’t for the
action of workers on the shop floor at SHAP and other auto plants, who
stopped production as the pandemic spread in March 2020, there would
have been no temporary lockdowns or other limited safety protocols put
in place. The UAW worked to prematurely reopen the auto plants before
the virus was contained and then steadily removed all the other
protocols while covering up its spread.
Now the UAW simply
parrots all the corporate and government lies that we must accept mass
infection, that COVID will be here forever, killing hundreds of
thousands every year and inflicting millions with debilitating “long
COVID.”
This means that we workers must act independently to protect the health of ourselves, our families and our communities.
I
call for the formation of rank-and-file committees in every auto plant
and workplace to oversee health and safety and other workplace
conditions.
We need to build a network of rank-and-file
committees to link up autoworkers everywhere, including with our
brothers and sisters overseas. We cannot allow COVID and now monkeypox
to continue to spread in our workplaces and society as a whole.
Medical
science has the tools like vaccines, mass testing, quarantine,
isolation, and rigorous contact tracing to contain and eliminate these
diseases. Workers must not be allowed to continue to die simply to grow
the profits of the auto companies and Wall Street.
If you support what I am saying, I ask you to contact my campaign and learn how you can become more involved.
AP Tweets:
President Joe Biden has arrived in South Carolina with members of his family for what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation.
Annual price increases for US consumer goods remain at their highest
level in nearly 40 years, according to the latest inflation data
released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Prices for
items in the Consumer Price Index rose 8.5 percent in the 12 months
ending in July, down slightly from the 9.1 percent rate reported in
June, but still the second-largest yearly increase since December 1981.
Food
prices in particular have surged in recent months. The BLS’ overall
food index rose 10.9 percent year-over-year in July, while the cost of
food at home increased 13.1 percent, the biggest increases since May
1979.
Amid a heat wave which has blanketed much of the US this
summer and broken records in a number of regions, electricity costs rose
15.2 percent compared to last year, increasing by 1.9 percent over the
last month alone.
The cost of shelter also pushed higher, with
rent rising 6.3 percent nationally since 2021, with increases far
greater in many major metropolitan areas, forcing large numbers of young
people to live with their parents, and threatening others with eviction
and homelessness. In California, 1.5 million households are behind on
their rent, according to Census Bureau data released in late July.
Although
the cost of gasoline, which is more volatile, fell somewhat from June,
down 7.7 percent, it remained 44 percent higher than a year ago. The
national average price for a gallon of gas is hovering near $4, compared
to $3.18 in 2021.
The Biden administration and sections of the
corporate media nevertheless seized on the latest data to claim that
inflation is easing and that a corner being turned, with Biden
misleadingly asserting that the BLS report showed “zero percent
inflation in the month of July—zero percent.”
In a two-minute
appearance, Biden painted a fantastical picture of a booming economy,
but the reality facing masses of workers is one of increasing desperate
struggle for daily existence. According to a separate BLS release
Wednesday, real average hourly earnings for production and
non-supervisory employees fell 2.7 percent year-over-year in July.
Over in Iraq, cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr has failed at forming a government so he now demands new elections. Amr Mostafa (THE NATIONAL) reports:
Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr on Wednesday called on the country's judiciary to dissolve parliament by the end of next week.
“I
address the competent judicial authorities, particularly the head of
the Supreme Judicial Council, hopefully so they correct the path,
especially after the constitutional deadlines for the parliament to
select a president and task a prime minister have passed,” Mr Al Sadr
said in a statement.
Mr Al Sadr also called on the judiciary to give the Iraqi president the task of setting a date for early elections that will be held “under a number of conditions we will announce later”.
Called on? Mild language. PRESS TV gets to the point in their opening paragraph, "Prominent Iraqi cleric and seasoned politician Muqtada al-Sadr
has given the country's apex court a one-week ultimatum to dissolve the
parliament amid a deepening post-election political crisis gripping the
country." It's an ultimatum from a man infamous for his tantrums. TRT reminds who caused the political stalemate in Iraq:
Sadr has called for early elections and unspecified changes
to the constitution after withdrawing his lawmakers from
parliament in June.
The withdrawal was a protest against his failure to form a
government despite holding nearly a quarter of parliament and
having enough allies to make up more than half the chamber.
Judiciary head Faiq Zaidan said earlier this year in an article
that the constitution did not set any punishment for the parliament
when it fails to form the government within the constitutional
deadlines.
The only way to dissolve the parliament is for two-thirds of its members to vote for the dissolution.
Zaidan asked to add a new mechanism for dissolving the parliament,
specifically for the time it fails to form the government within the
constitutional deadlines.
The suggested mechanism is to dissolve the parliament by a request
from the prime minister approved by the president, after the deadlines
meet.
The only way to amend the constitution is to return the parliament
sessions and votes for this amendment, which it does not seems possible
now due to Sadr objections to return the parliament sessions.
raelle and scylla were finally reunited and kissed when
raelle saved her from torture. when it's all over, raelle asked scylla
to marry her. that was the best thing about 'motherland: fort salem'
last night. they and tally and abigail then turned themselves in to
stop the government's attack on the province they were hiding in.
that's all i'm in the mood to note.
i'm
really tired of shows that decide it's time for hamburger helper. by
that i mean, 'dynasty' with their nonsense episodes (liam's novel comes
to life! fallon breaks into song!!!) and 'motherland' wasting the final
season with nonsense that just postponed the action.
if
they're not able to write a full season, they don't need to be in the
business of writing. find new jobs and stop torturing the audience.
With
the future of Warner Bros' DC Extended Universe movies a topic of much
discussion at the moment, many have speculated about the return of Henry
Cavill as Superman - but the actor would sadly be right to reject this
possibility. Recent reports have suggested that Cavill has been asked to
return as part of Warner Bros Discovery's new "ten-year plan" for the
DC heroes, and rejected the possibility of a return. While this is just a
rumor, and it would be unfortunate to never see Henry Cavill put on the
cape again, he would be very justified to not return given the DCEU's
creative chaos and the questionable decisions in all three of the movies
that saw him play the role of Superman himself.
Cavill's Superman helped to launch the DCEU in Man of Steel, and later appeared in the follow-up movies Batman v. Superman and Justice League, all three directed by divisive filmmaker Zack Snyder.
The first two movies received negative critical response, but were
financially successful, and Cavill's steely performance as Superman was
often praised. Justice League was
heavily re-edited by Warner Bros to make it shorter and lighter, with
reshoots conducted by Joss Whedon, and the resulting movie pleased few
and killed DC and Snyder's plan for a five-film saga as the backbone of
an interconnected movie universe.
As
strong as Cavill's performances were, the DCEU movies never seemed to
understand Superman, instead trying to chase the success of Christopher
Nolan's Batman trilogy by interjecting superficial "darkness" into the
story of a character that was always designed to be optimistic and
inspiring. The climax of Man of Steel - in which Superman destroys much of downtown Metropolis and ultimately kills General Zod - was widely criticized by audiences as being all wrong for the character. Batman v. Superman unconvincingly
killed off Cavill's Superman in an empty echo of the "Death of
Superman" comic event. As such, Henry Cavill choosing to opt out of a
Superman return would be understandable.
he
shouldn't do it. they wasted him. he really is a strong actor - i've
realized since 'man of steel.' and they wasted him go read ava and
c.i.'s 'DISCOVERY trashes itself in the entertainment indu...' and grasp what chaos that studio is now in. by the way, i've
had more friends in p.r. call about that piece than anything else ava
and c.i. have ever written. it's an industry piece and the industry is
glad some 1's addressing it. by cancelling releases of completed films,
at&t is running off the creative community in hollywood.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022. Joe Biden has no plans for addressing
pandemics in the US, Moqtada wants Iraq to dissolve the Parliament but
the Parliament would have to meet to vote on that, and much more.
Where is the action from US President Joe Biden on monkeypox? We addressed that yesterday.
We're back to the topic for two reasons. A Zoom yesterday included a
woman who brought the topic up and insisted that she didn't have to
worry about it because she wasn't gay.
Well our
country does have gay people in it and they are citizens and we should
care what happens to everyone. But there's also the reality that it's
not just gay people at risk nor is it a "gay disease." It's history
disproves that. For whatever reasons, it may show up more in one
demographic right now but we are in the early stages and the country is a
risk -- the country as a whole.
The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) reported last Thursday that
the state has recorded 12 cases of monkeypox. Just a month prior, the
state reported its first case of the disease. Notwithstanding the Biden
administration’s belated declaration of a state of emergency over the
spread of the monkeypox virus, workers throughout the world have voiced
their deep concern over existing conditions in which two pandemics are
being allowed to rip through the population.
While the far-right
have issued baseless claims that monkeypox is a “gay disease,” according
to a July 28 statement released by the ADH, “Monkeypox is spread
through close contact and can be transmitted to anyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity.” (Emphasis added.)
The
ADH goes on to report, “It can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact
with infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. This can include household
and/or intimate contact. Spreading can also occur when contacting
contaminated items, such as clothing. It can also be transmitted through
respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact; however,
it is not an airborne illness. Monkeypox is not spread through casual,
brief conversations or walking by someone with monkeypox, like at a
grocery store.”
These claims are unsubstantiated and at odds with
decades of research and reports on monkeypox, which have warned that the
virus can spread through aerosols, in addition to direct skin-to-skin contact.
Arkansas
Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson has not issued a statement on the
increase in monkeypox cases. As of this writing, 30,189 people globally
have contracted the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC). The US accounts for nearly 30 percent of all
cases, numbering 8,933, while four countries in Europe have tallied more
than 15,000. In conjunction with the unbridled spread of the monkeypox
virus, official COVID-19 cases have reached 589,896,455 internationally,
according to the worldometers
website, with an official record of 6,438,021 deaths, though estimates
of excess deaths place the actual global death toll above 20 million.
ADH Director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said July 5, “Arkansas has been
monitoring cases of monkeypox in the U.S. While this news is concerning,
monkeypox is not as contagious as other viruses, like COVID-19. We
encourage anyone who feels they may have been exposed to monkeypox to
please contact their health care provider and be tested.” Despite the
claim monkeypox is not as infectious as COVID-19, the state government
has done virtually nothing to prevent its spread. They have refused to
reinstate mask mandates, while pressing ahead with the full reopening of
schools this fall, where both COVID and monkeypox will spread widely in
the coming months.
Over
the course of the monkeypox outbreak, coronavirus cases in Arkansas
have soared. On Thursday, official cases increased by 1,438, while in
the last week ADH reported 8,064 new cases, bringing the case count to
more than 911,000. This is more than 30 percent of the state’s
population! According to health officials, the latest figures show, as
of Thursday, more than half of Arkansans are fully immunized, numbering
1,652,249, with another 287,907 partially immunized. But the inoculated
populace is not safe, due to waning immunity and the increased dangers
of the Omicron BA.5 and future variants.
In the race for Arkansas
governor, Republican former White House Adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders
and Democrat Chris Jones have both refused to address COVID-19 or
monkeypox. Exposing all the myths that the Democratic Party represents
the working class, Jones’ campaign website has said nothing about
monkeypox since the first case was reported in Arkansas late last month,
as well as COVID-19, despite its soaring rate of infection.
Jones,
as have the Democrats as a whole, has pushed for further armaments in
Ukraine and supported Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, bringing the world
to the brink of World War III. If he were to win, which is highly
unlikely, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox
pandemics.
If he were to win, the report
notes, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox
pandemics -- that sounds like an apt description of Joe Biden.
Joe's
gone from he would deal with the pandemic to now catching COVID twice
in the last weeks and to presenting the White House 'plan' that we'll
all get it (I've had, it scarred my lungs) and that's the plan. That's
the plan. He and others, in 2020, slammed Donald Trump only to come to
power and do even less than Donald did.
And that's COVID -- the pandemic that existed while he was campaigning for the presidency.
Monkeypox has become a US problem on his watch and he's doing damn little.
Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including:
Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluids from a person with monkeypox.
Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
Contact with respiratory secretions.
This direct contact can happen during intimate contact, including:
Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals (penis,
testicles, labia, and vagina) or anus (butthole) of a person with
monkeypox.
Hugging, massage, and kissing.
Prolonged face-to-face contact.
Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person
with monkeypox and that have not been disinfected, such as bedding,
towels, fetish gear, and sex toys.
A pregnant person can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.
It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals,
either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or
eating meat or using products from an infected animal.
A person with monkeypox can spread it to others from the time
symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin
has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.
Scientists are still researching:
If the virus can be spread when someone has no symptoms
How often monkeypox is spread through respiratory secretions, or
when a person with monkeypox symptoms might be more likely to spread the
virus through respiratory secretions.
Whether monkeypox can be spread through semen, vaginal fluids, urine, or feces.
Here are some videos.
The more dense the population, the more it's spreading in the US. So,
for example, Montana hasn't yet had a case but New York has had 1960 and
California has had 1310. (Those are CDC figures.)
The virus is spreading in the US. And what's Joe doing to ramp up
production on vaccines? Nothing. Georgia is now approaching 750
reported cases.
What's the plan, Joe?
Just going to ignore it and tell everyone they'll end up getting it? Is that plan for every disease now?
The White House released the following b.s. yesterday:
Combatting the monkeypox outbreak is a top priority of the
Biden-Harris Administration. Today, as part of the Administration’s
comprehensive effort to mitigate the spread of monkeypox, the
Administration announced that it has taken action to increase the number
of vaccine doses available by up to five times through an alternative
dosing regimen. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced
it is granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the JYNNEOS vaccine
to be administered intradermally. Because intradermal administration
requires a smaller dose, this change allows the number of available
doses to increase by as much as five-fold while continuing to ensure the
vaccine meets high standards for safety and quality.
The White
House National Monkeypox Response team today outlined its plan to
implement this approach and ensure providers and public health officials
put the alternative dosing regimen into practice.
Today’s announcements include:
The
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Section 564
declaration, allowing FDA to use its authority to allow health care
providers to administer up to five times the number of vaccine doses per
vial of JYNNEOS vaccine. Following last week’s public
health emergency declaration, today HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a
determination under the Section 564 declaration of the Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act that allows for emergency use authorization of vaccines to
prevent monkeypox and prevent severe disease from the virus. This action
paves the way for the federal government to get up to five times the
amount of doses administered out of a single vial of the JYNNEOS
vaccine.
HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Dawn O’Connell requested that the Secretary issue the Section 564
determination and last week’s public health emergency declaration. This
declaration allows HHS to take emergency measures based on the
information currently available about the monkeypox virus.
FDA
subsequently granted Emergency Use Authorization for the JYNNEOS
vaccine to be administered intradermally – enabling the current vaccine
supply to increase five-fold without sacrificing safety and quality. Today,
the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization allowing healthcare
providers to use an alternative dosing regimen of the JYNNEOS Vaccine to
expand the total number of doses available for use by up to five-fold.
The EUA now allows for 0.1ml of the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered
between layers of the skin (intradermally), as opposed to 0.5ml of the
vaccine that is administered under the skin (subcutaneously). Data from a
2015 clinical study of the JYNNEOS vaccine prior to its approval,
published in a peer-reviewed journal, demonstrated that a fifth of the
dose, when given intradermally on the same two-dose schedule as
currently administered, produced an immune response that was similar to
subcutaneous dosing – meaning individuals in both groups responded to
vaccination in a similar way. Additionally, data shows the intradermal
administration of other vaccines such as influenza and hepatitis B, is
safe and effective for immunocompromised individuals, such as people
with HIV. JYNNEOS has been tested in individuals with immunocompromising
conditions and has found to be safe and effective in the trials that
were performed to support approval. Two doses of the vaccine given 28
days apart will still be needed. Individuals who received their first
dose subcutaneously can receive their second dose intradermally or
subcutaneously.
The administration requires a different type of
needle than the current vaccine administration, similar to the
administration for a tuberculin skin tests (or PPD) or intradermal
allergy tests. As part of the Administration’s comprehensive monkeypox
response effort, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will conduct
trainings and outreach to clinicians, public health officials,
providers, and patients to make sure jurisdictions can effectively
administer the vaccine using this alternative dosing regimen.
The
FDA also authorized use of the vaccine, using the standard dosing
route, in individuals younger than 18 years of age determined to be at
high risk of monkeypox infection.
The White House
National Monkeypox Outbreak Response team will oversee the prompt and
coordinated implementation of this strategy by HHS, CDC, FDA, and state
and local health officials. Since the start of the outbreak,
HHS has distributed more than 670,000 JYNNEOS vaccines to states and
jurisdictions from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). In addition,
the SNS is preparing to distribute approximately 400,000 additional
vials to states and jurisdictions as part of the next phase of the
national vaccine strategy. Jurisdictions that administer 90% of their
current vaccine supply may request additional doses sooner. Because of
today’s announcement, the 400,000 vials of vaccine in the SNS’s
inventory that have been allocated but not yet distributed hold the
potential to provide up to 2 million doses using intradermal
administration. Additionally, vaccines that have been received by
jurisdictions, but not yet administered, are eligible for intradermal
administration.
In order to quickly and effectively implement
this approach to increase JYNNEOS vaccine dose supply five-fold, the
Biden-Harris Administration is launching a robust effort to train health
care workers and providers on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine
intradermally.
Intradermal administration of vaccine is currently
used by providers across the country, particularly when administering
tuberculosis skin tests (in the forearm) and intradermal allergy tests,
and providers currently have the supplies needed to administer the
vaccine in this way. Nonetheless, the Administration will actively
engage providers and clinicians to ensure they are prepared to use this
approach for most adults who need JYNNEOS vaccine.
CDC
is releasing interim clinical guidance and a Dear Colleague Letter from
FDA to public health officials, and will be hosting trainings and
webinars to support the transition to intradermal administration. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a robust plan
to communicate with and train public health professionals and providers
to quickly implement the intradermal vaccine administration strategy.
Beginning today, the CDC is releasing:
Interim clinical considerations on its website,
with relevant guidance on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine
intradermally. The “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of JYNNEOS
and ACAM2000 Vaccines during the 2022 U.S. Monkeypox Outbreak” document
includes an overview of monkeypox vaccines, vaccination strategies and
post-exposure prophylaxis, and planning considerations for health
departments including health equity. In addition, it provides interim
guidance for use of JYNNEOS or ACAM2000 vaccines, including the schedule
and dosing regimens that can be considered, dosing intervals, vaccine
administration, evidence quality, pre- and post-vaccination counseling,
and contraindications and precautions.
Supporting documents including FAQs for providers and the general public about monkeypox vaccines
Related resources for providers, including template standing orders and preparation and administration summary documents.
A video to help train health care providers and medical professionals immediately on intradermal vaccine administration.
CDC is making experts and clinicians available this afternoon to answer questions on intradermal administration.
CDC also plans to communicate with tens of thousands of public health officials and healthcare providers
through a Clinical Outreach and Communications Activity (COCA), and
will hold webinars and training sessions online and on the ground in
communities where the outbreak is most severe.
Vaccines will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, and
HHS will be reviewing existing allocations and future vaccine
distribution timelines to reflect the increased number of doses now
available. Vaccine vials shipped from the supplier, the
SNS, and jurisdictions will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, from
which healthcare providers can withdraw 0.5ml for a single subcutaneous
dose or 0.1ml for an intradermal dose.
Currently, the SNS has
approximately 400,000 vials of JYNNEOS ready for distribution, totaling
up to 2 million doses if administered by the intradermal route.
Jurisdictions can order additional vaccine supply starting on August 15th
or when they have used 90% of their current vaccine allotment.
Jurisdictions can also continue to administer the vaccine subcutaneously
while they are training medical professionals on the alternative dosing
regimen for administration of the vaccine, and for individuals who
still need the standard subcutaneous regimen, like children and
adolescents.
In light of today’s announcements and the
anticipated increase in JYNNEOS vaccine supply, CDC and ASPR are
reviewing the current allocation and distribution timeline for vaccines.
The goal of revised allocation or distribution strategies will be to
ensure jurisdictions have sufficient vaccine supply to implement a
two-dose strategy using intradermal application, and to ensure that
jurisdictions aren’t receiving more vaccine than they can store or use
in a given time period.
ASPR will proceed with
procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, totaling over 25 million
additional doses that will be available in the United States. Even
with the alternative vaccine administration, the Administration for
Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will proceed with its
procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, which, factoring in the
alternative dosing regimen, represents as much as 25 million doses that
will become in the United States, in addition to current vaccine supply.
The
Biden-Harris Administration will also continue to work to accelerate
vaccine production and distribution. Last week, the Administration
announced that 150,000 vials – totaling up to 750,000 doses administered
intradermally – will arrive in the United States and be available for
distribution in September, two months earlier than originally planned.
Today’s
announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive
strategy to combat the monkeypox outbreak and protect those at risk of
contracting the virus. Since the first known cases in the United States,
the Administration has developed a robust and agile strategy to expand
and accelerate the production and distribution of vaccines, increased
testing capacity from 6,000 tests per week to 80,000 tests per week,
made treatments more accessible, and communicated on an ongoing basis
with public health officials, state and local leaders, and individuals
most impacted by the virus to date, including the LGBTQI+ community.
###
So the
'plan' is to take 400,00 shots and divide them by five and then claim
that's 2 million shots! And, hey, this 'plan' is based on a peer review
study from 2015. One study. From 2015. Seven years ago. Monkeypox
has been a global issue for many years. Is there a reason this ONE peer
reviewed study didn't prompt changes seven years ago when it was
published? Maybe because further studies were needed? And now US
citizens will be the lab monkeys?
This isn't a plan. A
plan is, "We're ramping up production of vaccines and these are our
target dates for the production and these are our target dates for
giving the immunizations."
Joe has no plan. He has no
vision. He's a senile old man approaching the end of his life and
apparently determined to take the country out with him.
There
is no excuse for the White House's refusal to increase production.
They have the powers to do so and they have the money to do so. Joe is
doing nothing. If monkeypox, in the coming months, gets worse -- as
many suspect it will -- then he's going to have to receive the scorn he
gave Donald Trump and then some. Joe is AWOL on this issue. It's
happening on his watch and his answer is to dilute the vaccine and this
'plan' is based on one clinical study. From seven years ago.
Maryam Ali had just walked into the neurosurgery
on-call room when a man grabbed her, shoved her to the ground and put a
knife in her back.
Hospital security guards
shut the facility down and arrested the man. With unusual fortune, Ali
says, the CCTV camera covering the ward was working.
“I remember saying I thought I was going to die,” she said. “I was in complete shock. I cursed the day I became a doctor.”
Ali,
27, was in the second year of her postgraduate medical residency at
Baghdad’s Ghazi Al-Hariri hospital when the attack happened in January
2021. Her attacker was caught and jailed but Ali has since, like many
Iraqi doctors, considered leaving the country.
A recent survey
of Baghdad doctors found that 87% experienced violence in the preceding
six months. The majority said violence had increased since the
beginning of the pandemic, and three-quarters of the attacks were
perpetrated by patients and their families.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday said that there
will be no dissolution of the parliament or early elections without the
return of the legislature to holding sessions, following calls from
longtime political rival Muqtada al-Sadr for a snap parliamentary vote.
Influential Shiite leader Sadr on Wednesday called for
the dissolution of the current legislature and holding snap
parliamentary elections in Iraq amidst demonstrations and a sit-in at
the Iraqi parliament building by his supporters in protest of the
Coordination’s Framework prime minister pick.
“No dissolution of the parliament, or a change in the system, or early
elections without the return of the Council [of Representatives] to
holding sessions. For it [the parliament] is the one who discusses these
demands, and what it decides, we will follow,” said Maliki in a
televised video statement on Monday evening.
Maliki stressed that Iraq is a country of many components and that “no
will shall be imposed upon it” unless it is one that reflects the
entirety of the Iraqi people.
The Parliament would
have to vote to dissolve itself. On that, Nouri is correct. That said,
he has a long history of statements -- and promises -- that are never
what they appear. The Erbil Agreement is only the most prominent. The
legal contract brokered by the US government gave Nouri a second term
after the 2010 vote didn't. It overturned the votes of the Iraqi people
-- one of the reasons voting has fallen off with each election cycle in
Iraq. Now how did Nouri get what he wanted?
By
promising others that they would get certain things. Ayad Allawi's
Iraqiya won the election. The Erbil Agrement promised Iraqiya a
governmental position. That position was never created -- let alone
given to Allawi. The Kurds? They were promised the implementation of
Article 140 and they were stupid enough to believe it.
Stupid enough?
The
Iraqi Constitution demanded that Nouri implement that in his first
term. He didn't. But they thought that because he swore it would
happen in his second term that things had changed?
He never implemented.
He
never honored The Erbil Agreement. He used it to get a second term and
then he ignored it. His spokespweron said, months after it was signed,
that it wasn't legal and Nouri wasn't bound by it.
And
the White House said . . . nothing. Despite Barack Obama placing a
phone call to Ayad Allawi and telling him -- to get Allawi and his MPs
back into Parliament so Nouri could be named prime minister-designate --
that the US stood firmly and fully behind The Erbil Agreement.
So
anything Nouri says or does should always be suspect. He is correct.
The Parliament would need to come back into session to vote to dismantle
the current government. But that doesn't mean that if the Parliament
comes back into session it will vote to dissolve.
