The latest surge of COVID-19 cases has put many hospitals in a precarious position, with shortages of staff, space, and supplies. Lessons learned earlier in the pandemic cannot necessarily shore up systems that have been overwhelmed with patients. Throughout most of 2020, some patients postponed medical or surgical care. When…

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Editor's Note After the Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization for Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on December 11, the company began shipping 2.9 million doses to 636 sites throughout the US. (https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-key-action-fight-against-covid-19-issuing-emergency-use-authorization-first-covid-19). On December 14, the first dose of the vaccine was administered at 9:23 am to an…

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Editor's Note Barrier devices used for intubation may reduce operator exposure to infectious droplets and aerosols, but there is wide variation in aerosol containment, this study finds. Fully enclosed barrier devices reduced vapor and aerosol content in the area of the operator. If no barrier device was used, aerosol content…

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Editor's Note This study reports the safety and efficacy findings of the phase 2 and phase 3 parts of the clinical trial of the BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizere/BioNTech) vaccine in preventing COVID-19 in persons 16 years of age or older. These results are the basis for an application for emergency use…

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Editor's Note Gen Gustave Perna, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, announced December 8 that the government is prepared to distribute 2.9 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this week or immediately after the vaccine receives emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, finds that out-of-hospital (community and home) exposure to COVID-19 had the largest association with seropositive status of healthcare workers. Of 6,150 healthcare workers analyzed, nurses, medical assistants, and support services workers were at highest risk for…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) issued a joint statement December 8 on performing elective surgery and anesthesia on COVID-19 patients who have recovered from the virus. The statement notes that: In general, all non-urgent procedures should be delayed until the patient…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on December 8, released documents that confirmed the safety and efficacy of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the Associated Press reports. The vaccine was co-developed with BioNTech. FDA regulators posted their analysis online, as the UK began administering doses of the vaccine to its…

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Editor's Note This large US study of patients who contracted COVID-19 confirms and provides risk estimates for numerous complications of the disease. Using US health claims data of 70,288 patients who had a COVID-19-related healthcare visit between March 1 and April 30, 2020, researchers found that 53.4% were admitted to…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that implementing and monitoring adherence to recommended COVID-19 mitigation strategies can reduce the risk for transmission in child care settings. In collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children…

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