Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 1 announced that it is seeking comments on new and revised emergency management (EM) requirements for its hospital and critical access hospital accreditation programs. The aim of the proposed standards is to help healthcare organizations develop and improve their actions and responses to…

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Editor's Note This study finds that fully vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) at University of California San Diego Health experienced a rapid increase in COVID-19 infections from June to July 2021. Vaccinations began in mid-December, and by March 2021, 76% of HCWs were fully vaccinated. This rose to 83% by July.…

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Editor's Note An Axios-Ipsos poll published August 31 finds that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy may be waning. Among the findings: 20% are not likely at all or not very likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, down from 23% 2 weeks ago and 34% in March 68% with K-12 children have either…

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Editor's Note This Israeli study finds that exposure to COVID-19- positive household members was a risk factor associated with COVID-19 infection in vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs). Of 171 HCWs analyzed, exposure to a positive household member was significantly more common among vaccinated HCWs who were COVID-19-positive (56%) than nonvaccinated HCWs…

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Editor's Note Zimmer Biomet on August 31 presented data at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2021 annual meeting that highlighted the clinical value of its MyMobility platform with Apple Watch, the August 31 Mass Device reports. MyMobility is a remote care management platform that helps guide and support patients…

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Editor's Note This survey study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, finds that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is high among healthcare workers (HCWs), and there are substantial differences in vaccine hesitancy by race and ethnicity. Of 10,871 surveyed—compared with White HCWs—vaccine hesitancy was increased: nearly five-fold among Black HCWs…

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Editor's Note CEOs of Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals (UH), Cleveland, say they are concerned that COVID-19 vaccine mandates could lead to healthcare worker (HCW), shortages, endangering patient care, the August 26 cleveland.com reports. Strict COVID-19 measures were keeping patients safe before the vaccines and are still doing the job,…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at University Hospital Birmingham, UK, finds that COVID-19 is associated with a significantly increased risk of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE). This analysis of more than 128,000 patients at 1,630 hospitals in 115 countries found that the likelihood of postoperative VTE was 50% higher…

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Editor's Note On August 26, Nebraska Gov Pete Ricketts announced multiple initiatives to increase bed capacity and boost hospital staffing in his state amid the latest wave of COVID-19, including a health measure to limit elective surgical procedures. He directed hospitals to cancel elective inpatient surgical procedures “that can wait…

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Editor's Note This study of healthcare workers (HCWs) at the University of Kentucky Healthcare in Lexington finds a low and similar antibody positivity rate between HCWs and patients. Of 322 HCWs, 5 were antibody positive for an overall rate of 1.55%. The antibody positivity rate of COVID-19 infected patients at…

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