The union representing more than 900 nurses at a Bangor hospital wants elective procedures and most patient visits canceled as Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center deals with an outbreak that has infected more than 30 people.

The hospital announced an outbreak of COVID-19 that had infected 27 workers and five patients as of Thursday evening, with many of those cases coming from a surgical post-operative unit, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The hospital also had an uptick in coronavirus patients being admitted this week as cases continue to rise around the state.

EMMC representatives have said that some workers who tested positive in the new outbreak were exposed to the virus out in the community, the newspaper reported. In response to the outbreak, the hospital has increased testing, cut off visitors to the post-operative unit and quarantined patients for 14 days. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into what may have caused the outbreak, its director, Dr. Nirav Shah, said Friday.

EMMC has “ongoing discussions” with the nurses union and “has implemented suggestions where possible to keep patients and staff safe,” said Suzanne Spruce, a spokesperson for parent organization Northern Light Health.

Only 6 cases of severe allergic reaction after quarter-million vaccines doses given in U.S

ATLANTA — U.S. health officials closely tracking possible side effects of the first authorized COVID-19 vaccine say they have seen six cases of severe allergic reaction out of more than a quarter million shots given.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 272,000 shots of the Pfizer vaccine were given nationwide as of Saturday morning. The half-dozen cases of allergic reaction were reported as of Friday night, and included one person with a history of vaccination reactions.

Health officials are keeping close watch for such side effects.

U.S. vaccine recipients are supposed to hang around after their injections in case signs of an allergy appear. The CDC says all cases occurred within the recommended observation window and were promptly treated.

The numbers were discussed at a meeting of a committee that advises the CDC on vaccines. The group on Saturday endorsed Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which was granted emergency authorization on Friday.

Less severe side effects have also been rare. Among the first 215,000 people to get vaccinated in the U.S., fewer than 1.5% of them had problems that left them unable to perform their normal activities or required medical care.

Many vaccines can cause temporary discomfort, such as a sore arm or certain flu-like symptoms. COVID-19 vaccines tend to cause more of those reactions than a flu shot, and some hospitals are staggering the times their employees get vaccinated to avoid staffing problems.

U.S. reaches nearly quarter million daily cases

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The United States added a record of nearly a quarter million coronavirus cases in the past day.

Health experts says the record could increase as cases surge in various parts of the country and health care systems struggle to keep up.

Along with 249,709 new cases, there were an additional 2,814 reported deaths nationwide in the past 24 hours. That pushed the confirmed U.S. death toll past 313,000, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

California led the case surge with 48,221 more infections. Almost 17,000 people are hospitalized in California and health officials are scrambling to find enough beds for patients. Texas, Florida, New York and Tennessee all registered more than 10,400 new cases.

The seven-day rolling average for new cases in the U.S. rose in the past two weeks from 183,787 to 219,324 on Friday, an increase of nearly 20%.

Health officials are concerned about future cases brought on by travel and gatherings during the holidays and New Year’s.

Virus changes Iditarod, now 140 miles shorter

The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be about 140 miles shorter than normal as a result of complications stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Race officials announced Friday that teams will no longer embark on a 1,000-mile journey to Nome but instead will take a roughly 860-mile loop that starts and ends in Willow.

Every musher must also test negative for the coronavirus before the race begins. They will also be tested again during the race.

Facial coverings and social distancing will be mandated at checkpoints.

The race is scheduled to begin on March 6.

General apologizes to states for fewer doses

WASHINGTON — An Army general in charge of COVID-19 vaccines apologized Saturday for “miscommunication” with states on the number of early doses delivered.

Gen. Gustave Perna’s remarks came a day after a second vaccine was added in the fight against the coronavirus. Governors in more than a dozen states says the federal government has told them next week’s shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be less than originally projected.

“I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” he said. “I know that’s not done much these days. But I am responsible. … This is a herculean effort and we are not perfect.”

Perna says the government now is on track to get approximately 20 million doses to states by the first week of January, a combination of the newly approved Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. He says 2.9 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been delivered so far.

The coronavirus has killed more than 313,000 people in the U.S., the highest death toll in the world.

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Britain to tighten lockdowns over virus mutation precautions, reports say

LONDON — Faced with a new mutation of the coronavirus that may be spreading more quickly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to tighten pandemic restrictions, including rolling back relaxed rules over the holiday period, according to British media reports.

Johnson was expected to announce the measures at a news conference later Saturday after talks with his cabinet. The new mutation, or variants, was first detected in southeast England in September and is becoming more prevalent in new cases.

England’s Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said scientists consider this new strain to move more quickly between people.

Whitty said there is no evidence at this time to suggest the new strain is more deadly or able to elude vaccines designed to defeat it.

“We have alerted the World Health Organization and are continuing to analyze the available data to improve our understanding,” Whitty said.

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States spent more than $7 billion on PPE

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, gowns and ventilators.

California spent the most during the pandemic’s initial months, at least $1.5 billion in the AP’s data, followed by Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington. New York also spent several hundred million dollars on PPE and ventilators through November.

The data was obtained from states through open-records requests. State governments were scrambling for supplies at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Some states paid as much as $11 for individual N95 masks, which previously cost around 50 cents before the pandemic.

Supplies often went to the highest bidder, even if they’d already been promised to someone else. States set up their own fraud tests, rejecting masks that failed to meet safety specifications or lacked medical labeling.

Switzerland approves Pfizer vaccine

BERLIN — Switzerland has approved the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and German pharmaceutical company BioNTech.

The country’s health agency says the vaccine had been approved for the small Alpine country after a careful examination by expert teams. The agency did not say when vaccinations in Switzerland would begin.

The approval comes shortly after Britain, Canada, the United States and other countries allowed the use of the vaccine in their respective countries.

The director of Swissmedic said “Thanks to the rolling process and our flexible teams we could quickly decide and fully accommodate the three most important requirements security, efficacy and quality.”

Raimund Bruhin added that, “The safety of the patients is a required condition especially regarding the approval of vaccines.”

Michigan lawmakers agree to pandemic spending plan

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have agreed to a $465 million pandemic spending plan, including relief payments to businesses and workers struggling to stay afloat because of the coronavirus and government restrictions to curb its spread.

The legislation received overwhelming Senate support late Friday and is expected to win House passage on Monday before legislators adjourn for the year. Nearly half of the funding would be used to continue, through March, a maximum 26 weeks of unemployment benefits in a year instead of 20 weeks.

The bill would provide $45 million in assistance to employees who have been laid off or seen their hours cut due to restrictions under a state health department order that has prohibited indoor restaurant dining and closed entertainment venues. A worker could get up to $1,650.

Small businesses affected by the recent orders would receive $55 million in grants — up to $20,000 if they had to close, $15,000 if they partially closed. Certain concert and other live-entertainment sites could qualify for $40,000 as part of a separate $3.5 million grant program.

Massachusetts expects to get 20 percent less vaccine than promised

BOSTON — Massachusetts expects to receive 20% fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this year after the federal government reduced its allotment, state officials say.

The state joins more than a dozen others that have been told their vaccine shipments will be smaller than planned in coming weeks. Instead of receiving 180,000, Massachusetts now expects to get 145,000.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said he hasn’t received an explanation for the cutback.

“We’re certainly frustrated,” Baker said at a COVID-19 briefing on Friday. “We’re working to get clarity on what this means, what happened and how that bump will be dealt with along the way.”

Baker said he expects to get more answers during a call with federal officials next week. Despite the reduced allotment, Baker said he expects the state to have “more than enough” doses in the first months of 2021.

New Jersey pushes nursing home vaccinations back a week

NEWARK — New Jersey will start to vaccinate its nursing homes a week later than other states because the state missed a deadline by a day with Operation Warp Speed, the state’s top heath official said Friday.

Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the “sheer volume” of information required for over 650 facilities led the state to miss a Dec. 7 deadline. That means New Jersey won’t begin vaccinations at its long-term care centers until Dec. 28, she said.

New Jersey’s COVID-19 outbreak has ravaged nursing homes, with 7,430 deaths, including residents and staff. That’s about 46% of the overall death toll in the state.

China says it will being inoculations soon

BEIJING — China says it will soon begin coronavirus inoculations for workers in health care, transport and border control.

The vice minister of the National Health Commission says the government is prioritizing those most at risk. Workers in logistics and in markets selling fresh meat and seafood would also be placed higher on the list of those receiving vaccines, along with the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.

Vaccines produced by Chinese companies are now pending approval in Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil, as manufacturers continue testing the vaccines in more than a dozen countries including Russia, Egypt and Mexico.

The United Arab Emirates last week announced the vaccine was 86% effective in the first public release of such information.

Even before final market approval, more than a million people have received vaccine shots in a program critics say has not been transparent about safety, efficacy or scientific merit.

Indias virus cases pass 10 million

NEW DELHI — India’s coronavirus cases have crossed 10 million with new infections dipping to their lowest levels in three months, as the country prepares for a massive COVID-19 vaccination in the new year.

Additional cases in the past 24 hours dropped to 25,152 from a peak of nearly 100,000 in mid-September. The epidemic has infected nearly 1% of India’s more than 1.3 billion people, second to the worst-hit United States.

A government health expert says India is keeping its fingers crossed as the cases tend to increase in winter months.

India is home to some of the world’s biggest vaccine-makers and there are five vaccine candidates under different phases of trial in the country. India aims to provide vaccines to 250 million people by July 2021.

California doctors say care rationing is imminent

LOS ANGELES — Doctors in California say increasingly desperate hospitals are being crushed by soaring coronavirus infections.

One Los Angeles emergency room doctor is predicting that rationing of care is imminent.

Hospitals are on the brink of filling up and many emergency rooms already have been using outdoor tents to make more space. Hospitals in both Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley have no more ICU beds available for coronavirus patients.

The state’s death toll, meanwhile, topped 22,000 Friday. The most populous state reported more than 41,000 new coronavirus infections and 300 more deaths related to COVID-19, bring the toll for the pandemic to 22,160.

North Carolina prepares to vaccinate long term care facilities

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina is preparing to vaccinate workers in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities next week.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that it plans to receive 61,425 doses of Pfizer’s newly approved vaccine from the federal government next week.

If the Food and Drug Administration follows a key panel’s recommendation to approve Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, North Carolina will get 175,900 doses of it. The state health department said about 96,000 of its allotment from Moderna will go to long-term care facilities.

Alaskan officials say second health care worker experiences allergic reaction to vaccine

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Alaska officials say a second health care worker in the state has experienced a severe reaction after receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

In the latest, a worker identified only as a female clinician began experiencing probable anaphylactic symptoms about 10 minutes after receiving the shot Thursday in Fairbanks. Symptoms included tongue swelling, hoarse voice and difficulty breathing.

She received two doses of epinephrine at the emergency department at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and was discharged about six hours later.

The hospital’s chief medial officer says that “allergic reactions, though uncommon, can occur with injections of medications and vaccines.”

A statement from the unidentified woman encourages everyone to get the vaccine. She says she has seen firsthand the suffering and death of COVID-19 patients, and her adverse reaction pales in comparison to that.

 

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