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What is COVID-19 'rebound'? CDC explains phenomenon affecting Fauci, some Paxlovid users

(NEXSTAR) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday that he experienced a recurrence of symptoms after taking the Pfizer’s oral antiviral medication Paxlovid as a treatment for COVID-19.

Fauci, also the current director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had initially experienced only mild symptoms upon becoming infected with COVID-19 in mid-June, he said Tuesday at the Foreign Policy’s Global Health Forum.

“When [the symptoms] increased, given my age, I went on Paxlovid for five days and I felt really quite well, really just a bit of rhinorrhea and fatigue,” said Fauci, 81.

After finishing his course of Paxlovid, Fauci claimed he tested negative for COVID-19 on antigen tests for three days in a row. But on the fourth day, he again tested positive. He also began to experience worsening symptoms.

“It was sort of what people are referring to as a ‘Paxlovid rebound,’” Fauci said.

Fauci is currently on another course of Paxlovid, he confirmed.

The phenomenon that Fauci mentioned — also known as COVID-19 rebound — has been acknowledged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In May, the CDC issued an advisory on the potential recurrence of symptoms and possibly a “new positive viral test after having tested negative” within two to eight days of finishing a five-day course of Paxlovid.

The agency noted, however, that the resurgence of symptoms “may be part of the natural history of SARS-CoV-2 … infection in some persons, independent of treatment with Paxlovid and regardless of vaccination status.”

The CDC added that Paxlovid is still believed to be an effective treatment in the early stages of COVID-19 infection among those at higher risk for severe illness. Still, the agency has not found evidence that a second round of Paxlovid — like the one Fauci is taking — is necessary among those suffering from “COVID-19 rebound.”

Fauci, meanwhile, said Tuesday that he’s feeling “reasonably good,” but “not completely without symptoms.”

He had also said suggested the phenomenon is becoming “more and more typical, the more clinical experience we get.”

The National Institutes of Health first announced Fauci’s COVID-19 diagnosis on June 15, confirming that he would immediately begin isolation and continue to work from home.

“Dr. Fauci will follow the COVID-19 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical advice from his physician and return to the NIH when he tests negative,” the NIH said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Powell: Global economy is in a ‘new world’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a Wednesday speech said the global economy has entered a “new world” when it comes to inflation, while insisting the Fed would stick toward its goal of keeping inflation at a 2 percent annual hike.

Powell said the low inflation era after the 2008 crisis is over and that new economic forces have led to higher inflation, creating challenges for the world’s central banks.

“The last 10 years were, so far, the height of the disinflationary forces that we’ve faced, and really it goes back to before the global financial crisis, but since the global financial crisis, we’ve had very low inflation in the United States,” Powell said at a central banking forum in Portugal. “That world seems to be gone now, at least for the time being.

“We’re living with different forces now and have to have to think about monetary policy in a very different way,” Powell said. “So I think if you want to know the lessons to be learned over the last 10 years, look at our framework – those were all based on the low-inflation environment that we had, and now we’re in this new world where it’s quite different with higher inflation, many supply shocks and strong inflationary forces around the world. It’s quite a different environment.”

Inflation around the world is surging to decades-long highs in many countries. Consumer inflation is at 8.6 percent in the U.S., 5.2 percent in France, 7.6 percent in Germany and 10 percent in Spain – nearly all high-water marks.

Powell said the Fed is not reconsidering what a neutral inflation rate should be despite all the changes.

“We are committed to and will succeed in getting inflation down to 2 percent,” he said.

Economists say the root cause of inflation is the combination of high demand for goods and services along with supply shortages and disruptions in the wake of the pandemic. Some economists say that supply disruptions are compounded by high levels of employment and increasing wages.

Conservative analysts argue that tight labor markets compel companies to drive up their prices in a what’s called a “wage-price spiral,” while liberals argue that the inflationary environment acts as a smoke screen for companies to charge consumers a premium without feeling the negative effects of market competition.

In either case, labor protests have been erupting around the world in response to the increased cost of living, with rail workers on strike in the United Kingdom and picketing truckers in South Korea having forced stoppages in production.

Powell sought to assure his listeners that he’s still focused on improving economic conditions for consumers.

“We fully understand and appreciate the pain people are going through dealing with higher inflation. We have the tools to address that and the resolve to use them,” he said. “The process is likely – highly likely – to involve some pain, but the worst pain would be from failing to address this high inflation and allowing it to become persistent.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden officials call on early childhood teachers to help promote kids' COVID vaccines

Two Biden administration officials released a letter on Wednesday calling on teachers to help encourage parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 now that vaccines are available to nearly all children.

In a “Dear Colleagues” letter provided to The Hill, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called on the staff for early childhood education (ECE) programs to help in getting more children vaccinated.

“We appreciate your leadership, dedication, perseverance, and resilience, and honor your efforts that consistently put the needs of children first,” Becerra and Cardona said.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared the way for children older than 6 months and under the age of 5 years to receive COVID-19 vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna.

The two secretaries called on ECE staffers to do three things: encourage parents to connect with health care providers, share information about COVID-19 vaccines with families with eligible children and partner with local health care providers to host vaccination clinics at their facilities or neighborhoods.

“As trusted messengers, staff of ECE programs and schools play a vital role in spreading the good news that COVID-19 vaccination is available for our youngest children,” the secretaries wrote. “You are essential in encouraging parents and guardians to learn about and access vaccines for all children 6 months of age and older, which will be available free at no cost.”

To help in hosting vaccination clinics, the secretaries encouraged ECE staffers to use tools provided by the HHS’s We Can Do This COVID-19 education campaign. They added that there were “ample funds” through the American Rescue Plan Act’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to reimburse the costs of hosting clinics.

Source: TEST FEED1

Despite appearances, the Russia sanctions are working

In an era of instant gratification, it is perhaps not surprising that some foreign affairs commentators are expressing doubts about the effectiveness of the Western sanctions imposed on Russia since it began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. They cite a putative strengthening of the ruble and a recovery in the volume of Russian crude oil exports following an initial drop as evidence of the failure of sanctions to exact more than a mere flesh wound on the Russian economy.

A closer look reveals a somewhat different story. The ruble’s strength has less to do with confidence in the currency than with the imposition of, on the one hand, exchange controls and, on the other, a precipitous drop in imports of goods and services due to sanctions. Russian citizens are limited in their foreign currency purchases, Russian exporters are required to convert 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings into rubles, and foreign investors are prevented from repatriating capital and dividends. Consequently, Russia’s current account enjoys a surplus and Central Bank reserves (those not frozen abroad by sanctions) are holding steady, alleviating downward pressure on the ruble. This comes at the expense, however, of greatly reduced levels of private consumption and severe limits on the importation of industrial inputs essential for normal economic activity.

Russia’s oil exports to traditional markets in Western Europe have plunged as countries have banned Russian-flagged vessels from their ports, and port workers in some countries have refused to unload other vessels carrying Russian oil and refined products. Major international oil companies and trading firms have shunned Russian crude due to reputational concerns, and many tanker operators avoid carrying Russian crude or refined products for fear of not being able to unload them. While it is true that Russian oil exports have recovered since the initial days of the invasion, this is due to substantial discounts from the normal differential between Russian crude oil and the leading international benchmark oil prices. 

The increase in global oil prices has somewhat offset those discounts, and clandestine ship-to-ship transfers of oil at sea have enabled Russia to partially evade sanctions. However, loopholes in remaining trade with the European Union will narrow in December when a total ban on seaborne Russian oil imports goes into effect and Germany discontinues Russian oil imports via pipeline. Then only Hungary and Slovakia will import smaller quantities of Russian oil via pipeline until that too ends once alternative sources are secured. Further, marine insurance companies in the EU, the United Kingdom and the U.S. will soon be prohibited from issuing coverage to carriers of Russian oil and gas — something which has largely occurred already. Russian oil exports will then shrink even further, leaving Russia as a supplier to China, India, and a handful of other buyers squeezing out even steeper discounts.

Natural gas exports are not yet subject to sanctions, but Russia seems to have imposed sanctions on itself by sharply reducing Gazprom’s shipments to its main customers in the EU as punishment for those countries’ “unfriendly actions.” Such weaponization of energy exports vindicates those who opposed Europe’s growing dependence on Russian energy and provides a powerful stimulus to the importation of liquified natural gas (LNG) from diverse sources. Having effectively destroyed European demand for its natural gas, Russia will be left with only China as a major buyer. Russia will be compelled to invest in additional pipelines and will have little bargaining leverage as it negotiates long-term contracts with the Chinese. As for Russian LNG exports, the problems with using Russian-flagged vessels and the difficulty of obtaining marine insurance are already taking a toll on exports. And planned expansions in Russian LNG export capacity have ground to a halt due to sanctions on the provision of Western equipment, for which there are currently no substitutes.

Altogether, this adds up to an impending catastrophe for the Russian energy sector. Oil production has already dropped by roughly 10 percent and is set for further cutbacks. As storage capacity is eventually filled up oil wells will have to be shut in, with the probability that many of those wells will not be able to resume production if Russia ever returns to global markets. With oil and gas exports historically accounting for approximately half of foreign exchange earnings and nearly half of overall government revenues, this portends a massive economic decline.

Turning to Russian manufacturing industries, sanctions prohibiting the export of a broad range of industrial inputs, particularly semiconductors, have crippled factory output. To cite one example, automobile production has decreased by nearly 85 percent over the past year. Those cars which are being built lack anti-lock brake systems, airbags and onboard navigational aids. Russian aeronautical manufacturers are facing even greater problems as Western aviation agencies stop issuing airworthiness certificates for Russian aircraft. The exodus of Western companies from Russia — now numbering more than 1,000 — leaves many factories idled due to a lack of imported components and proprietary know-how. In Moscow alone, 200,000 employees of foreign companies have been laid off.

As for the Russian consumer, the impact of sanctions is impossible to ignore. Many Western products to which Russians have become accustomed over the past three decades are no longer available. Iconic brands which once heralded Russia’s integration with the global economy have disappeared from the high streets of Russian cities. Of course, substitutes can be found, but rarely of the same quality. From cars to computers, from Big Macs to blockbuster movies, the options are severely limited. And any passenger on a Russian airplane will no doubt contemplate the fact that spare parts for aircraft are being cannibalized and factory-approved maintenance deferred.

We should not expect the Russian economy to collapse because of sanctions. Even as the effects of sanctions increase the Russian economy will still stumble along at some considerably lower rate of productivity and efficiency. However, sanctions will gradually degrade Russia’s ability to wage war on its neighbors as the production of military equipment declines and government revenues plummet. The big question is if the impact of sanctions on the Russian population will help contribute to the public’s growing disenchantment with their country’s leadership for embarking on an unnecessary war without a credible justification. 

Edward S. Verona is a senior advisor at McLarty Associates who consults with clients on issues related to Russia and Europe. He is a former U.S. diplomat, former vice president of ExxonMobil Russia, and former president and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Business Council (USRBC). The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden praises Erdoğan for allowing Finland, Sweden to join NATO

President Biden praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for dropping objections to the bids by Sweden and Finland to join NATO.  

“I want to particularly thank you for what you did putting together the situation with regard to Finland and Sweden, and all the incredible work you’re doing to try to get the grain out of Ukraine,” Biden told Erdoğan during a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Madrid. “You’re doing a great job.”  

Erdoğan said he believed both leaders “will be able to go back to our countries with full satisfaction” after the summit. He also praised Biden for his leadership, calling it “crucial in strengthening NATO for the future.” 

The meeting between the two leaders took place a day after Turkey agreed to drop its objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, paving the way for a major expansion of the alliance. NATO formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance earlier Wednesday, after the two countries had expressed interest in joining amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The three countries agreed to sign a memorandum deepening their counterterrorism cooperation on Tuesday that addressed Turkey’s concerns about the two Nordic countries not doing enough to crack down on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and others. 

There has also been broad speculation that the U.S. could announce a deal to sell upgraded F-16 fighter jets to Turkey as part of the effort to persuade Ankara to support the accession of Sweden and Finland.  

A senior U.S. defense official signaled Wednesday that the U.S. is willing to sell F-16s to Turkey.  

“The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander said during a briefing with reporters.  

Still, senior administration officials told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. did not offer Turkey concessions to drop its objections to the two Nordic countries joining the alliance. 

The decision by Turkey to allow Finland and Sweden to join the alliance is viewed as an accomplishment for Biden, who publicly and vociferously endorsed the expansion of NATO at a White House event with the leaders of the two Nordic countries back in May.  

Biden administration officials have been engaged with Turkey, Sweden and Finland behind the scenes. Biden held a phone call with Erdoğan on Tuesday — his first one-on-one engagement with the Turkish president in months — in a sign that negotiations were making progress.  

Source: TEST FEED1

These are the least independent states in the US: report

As the nation prepares to celebrate its 246th Independence Day this weekend, a WalletHub report took a look at how independent each state is in relation to the federal government. 

Based on consumer finances, government, job market, international trade, and personal vices, experts ranked each state on its self-sustainability despite increased reliance on federal assistance programs seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Breaking down these five categories revealed 39 key indicators of state independence. In 2022, Kentucky is the nation’s least independent state, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, and South Carolina. 

In contrast, the nation’s top five most independent states are Utah, Colorado, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Nebraska, respectively. 

With regard to median credit score, three of the worst states, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky also ranked in the bottom five. 

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Mississippi was also among the bottom five states having the least percentage of households with rainy-day and emergency funds. Texas, South Dakota, Alabama, and West Virginia rounded out this group. 

When measuring government dependency, researchers found Alaska, West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico and Kentucky were the most reliant on the federal government. Kentucky and Alaska also ranked among the lowest for international-trade dependency. 

Rates of binge drinking are highest in rural midwest states, while rates of adult drug use were highest in Pacific northwest and western states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

Mississippi has the highest percentage of adult gamblers, a proportion that is eight times higher than that of the state with the lowest proportion – Michigan. 

Rhode Island accounts for the highest percentage of residents on public assistance, followed by New Mexico, Oregon, New York and West Virginia. 

As part of the assessment, WalletHub asked Corinne M. Tagliarina, director of the human rights advocacy program at Utica College, about the fairness of some states relying on the federal government more than others. 

“I am not sure that fair and unfair is the best framing for this question,” Tagliarina said. 

“Ultimately the fairness issue is less about the amount of support each state gets from the government, but how much each state contributes to the general funds and whether those are mediated by the ability to pay,” she noted. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Justice Breyer set to retire from Supreme Court on Thursday

Justice Stephen Breyer on Wednesday said that his previously announced retirement from the Supreme Court would take effect at noon the following day, capping off a 28-year career on the bench that concluded with a tumultuous court term dominated by the court’s six-member supermajority.

The announcement by the Breyer, 83, came in a letter to President Biden.

“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the rule of law,” he wrote.

DEVELOPING

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Ohio abortion clinics challenge state ban

A group of abortion clinics and abortion rights organizations filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to block the state’s six-week abortion ban, which went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood and the WilmerHale law firm have filed a lawsuit to restore access to abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. WilmerHale is representing organizations like Preterm Cleveland, Northeast Ohio Women’s Center and Toledo Women’s Center.

Like several other state lawsuits have argued since Roe was overturned, the Ohio suit asserts that abortions are still protected under the Ohio Constitution. The plaintiffs cited the document’s “broad protections for individual liberties” as well as its “equal protection guarantee.”

“This sweeping measure, which prevents nearly every pregnant person from accessing essential care, is blatantly unconstitutional under Ohio’s state constitution which has broad protections for individual liberties,” Freda Levenson, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement.

The law the plaintiffs are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to block bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which often occurs before women are aware they are pregnant.

The suit argued that this bill has “decimated abortion access in Ohio.”

Similar suits in states like Louisiana and Texas have led to abortion bans being temporarily blocked pending further review, allowing for abortions to still be performed in those states for the time being.

Suits have been filed in the majority of the 13 states that had trigger laws set to go into effect immediately or soon after Roe was overturned.

Source: TEST FEED1

Supreme Court narrows sovereignty for Oklahoma tribes

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Oklahoma authorities can prosecute certain crimes on Native American lands, narrowing a landmark victory that tribes in the state had won from the court just two years ago.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the decision for a 5-4 majority, ruling that both state and federal law enforcement have jurisdiction to prosecute certain crimes committed in tribal territory.

“We conclude that the Federal Government and the State have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country,” Kavanaugh wrote.

He was joined in the majority by Chief Justice John Roberts as well as Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a member of the court’s conservative wing, joined the three liberal justices in dissent.

Gorsuch, who wrote the landmark 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma that found much of the state belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, said in his dissent on Wednesday that the majority is defying the country’s history in establishing sovereignty for Native American reservations.

“Now, at the bidding of Oklahoma’s executive branch, this Court unravels those lower-court decisions, defies Congress’s statutes requiring tribal consent, offers its own consent in place of the Tribe’s, and allows Oklahoma to intrude on a feature of tribal  sovereignty recognized since the founding,” Gorsuch wrote. “One can only hope the political branches and future courts will do their duty to honor this Nation’s promises even as we have failed today to do our own.”

The legal challenge was brought by Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta, a non-Indian who was tried and convicted by the state on child neglect charges over his treatment of his Cherokee stepdaughter. His case was in the appeals process when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in McGirt, and Castro-Huerta argued that the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction to bring charges against him, as opposed to Oklahoma state prosecutors.

The McGirt decision was seen as a landmark victory Oklahoma’s tribes. It established that much of the eastern part of the state, including Tulsa, belonged to the Creek Nation. 

“Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law,” Gorsuch wrote at the time. “Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.”

Gorsuch and the four liberal justices at the time formed the majority in McGirt, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death later that year imperiled the court’s coalition on Native American rights.

Kavanaugh on Wednesday pushed back on Gorsuch’s dissent, rejecting his conservative colleague’s arguments about the sovereignty of Oklahoma’s Indian country.

“From start to finish, the dissent employs extraordinary rhetoric in articulating its deeply held policy views about what Indian law should be,” Kavanaugh wrote. “The dissent goes so far as to draft a proposed statute for Congress. But this Court’s proper role under Article III of the Constitution is to declare what the law is, not what we think the law should be. The dissent’s views about the jurisdictional question presented in this case are contrary to this Court’s precedents and to the laws enacted by Congress.”

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said he was disappointed in Wednesday’s decision, but vowed to work with Oklahoma officials on public safety and law enforcement. 

“With today’s decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against legal precedent and the basic principles of congressional authority and Indian law,” Hoskin said in a statement. “The dissent today did not mince words – the Court failed in its duty to honor this nation’s promises, defied Congress’s statutes, and accepted the ‘lawless disregard of the Cherokee’s sovereignty.’”

Source: TEST FEED1