CDC UPDATE

[voljeep]

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands — saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history — and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser.

 

 

Murthy was paid $400,000 by Carnival Corporation — the parent company of the cruise ship marooned off the California coast, the Grand Princess, as well as of the similarly virus-ravaged Diamond Princess. The ships became symbols of the early outbreak, with then-Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams repeatedly quizzed by reporters about whether cruises were safe. The industry has been essentially shuttered by regulators since March amid warnings the vessels are “petri dishes” for the virus to spread.

 

A Carnival spokesperson confirmed that Murthy had advised the company’s coronavirus response. “We have been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support our ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise based in the latest knowledge around protection and mitigation,” said Roger Frizzell, a spokesperson.

Edited February 20, 2021 by voljeep

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands — saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history — and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser.

 

 

Murthy was paid $400,000 by Carnival Corporation — the parent company of the cruise ship marooned off the California coast, the Grand Princess, as well as of the similarly virus-ravaged Diamond Princess. The ships became symbols of the early outbreak, with then-Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams repeatedly quizzed by reporters about whether cruises were safe. The industry has been essentially shuttered by regulators since March amid warnings the vessels are “petri dishes” for the virus to spread.

 

A Carnival spokesperson confirmed that Murthy had advised the company’s coronavirus response. “We have been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support our ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise based in the latest knowledge around protection and mitigation,” said Roger Frizzell, a spokesperson.

I'm not sure what you're saying here.  Is this good or bad news for the cruising industry?  If he was paid so much by a cruise company do you think he'll have any leanings toward reopening cruising?  Does the Surgeon General hold any sway over the CDC? 

 

Also, according to Yale University:  "During the 2008 campaign, Murthy founded Doctors for Obama, an effort to increase engagement by physicians in the political process."   Gee, I wonder if that factored into his nomination..

[Bgwest]

10 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I'm not sure what you're saying here.  Is this good or bad news for the cruising industry?  If he was paid so much by a cruise company do you think he'll have any leanings toward reopening cruising?  Does the Surgeon General hold any sway over the CDC? 

 

Also, according to Yale University:  "During the 2008 campaign, Murthy founded Doctors for Obama, an effort to increase engagement by physicians in the political process."   Gee, I wonder if that factored into his nomination..

Elections have consequences. 

[ontheweb]

25 minutes ago, voljeep said:

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands — saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history — and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser.

 

 

Murthy was paid $400,000 by Carnival Corporation — the parent company of the cruise ship marooned off the California coast, the Grand Princess, as well as of the similarly virus-ravaged Diamond Princess. The ships became symbols of the early outbreak, with then-Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams repeatedly quizzed by reporters about whether cruises were safe. The industry has been essentially shuttered by regulators since March amid warnings the vessels are “petri dishes” for the virus to spread.

 

A Carnival spokesperson confirmed that Murthy had advised the company’s coronavirus response. “We have been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support our ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise based in the latest knowledge around protection and mitigation,” said Roger Frizzell, a spokesperson.

That is about the most slanted news article I have ever read. 

 

What is wrong with advising a company that obviously needed expert advice at the time? And the reference to warnings the vessels are "petri dishes" (their quotation marks) is just a evidence of how unfair the article is.

[billco]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivek_Murthy

 

Also, it might have been helpful to post the full article or other parts, such as "Murthy this month pledged to government ethics officials that if confirmed, he will “not participate personally and substantially” in matters involving his former consulting clients for one year, unless he’s authorized to do so, and also promised to follow Biden’s broader ethics pledge, which would require recusals from certain client-related matters for two years. In addition, he said he would step down as an adviser to Behavioral Health Group and three other firms that had retained him.
A spokesperson for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who chairs the Senate health committee that will hear Murthy’s nomination, said the senator was confident in Murthy’s ethical pledges and planned to vote for him, calling him “a known, trusted leader on matters of public health.”

Edited February 20, 2021 by billco

[trbarton]

3 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Yes I have the yellow fever vaccine with a yellow card from when I went to South America and I have Kaiser too. 

  What's interesting is that Kaiser has no idea I got my moderna vaccination at CVS. I will let them know to add it to my medical record when I have my next appt but that won't be soon. 

  There will always be scammers who might forge a vaccination card but it's them who would get sick, not me since I really am really vaccinated. 

I’m also a veteran & with them I’ll just photograph my Vaccination card & send them a copy. They have already asked me to do this. If I didn’t have my shots with Kaiser I would have done the same thing. That way my record is up to date. Both the VA & Kaiser know I’m very good at doing this. If there is a reason that I need to show all of the vaccinations that I have had at least my record will be up to date when I print it out. If necessary Kaiser has told me that they will provide me a copy signed by then. 
 

Tom😀

[broberts]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands — saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history — and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser.

 

 

Murthy was paid $400,000 by Carnival Corporation — the parent company of the cruise ship marooned off the California coast, the Grand Princess, as well as of the similarly virus-ravaged Diamond Princess. The ships became symbols of the early outbreak, with then-Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams repeatedly quizzed by reporters about whether cruises were safe. The industry has been essentially shuttered by regulators since March amid warnings the vessels are “petri dishes” for the virus to spread.

 

A Carnival spokesperson confirmed that Murthy had advised the company’s coronavirus response. “We have been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support our ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise based in the latest knowledge around protection and mitigation,” said Roger Frizzell, a spokesperson.

 

Are you suggesting that anyone considered for a position at this level must retroactively refuse employment in her field? Or perhaps you are demanding that he be prescient?

[memoak]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

your new soon to be surgeon general ... 

 

Murthy was paid millions of dollars last year in coronavirus-related consulting for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb’s rental properties and other firms, in addition to collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from dozens of organizations, according to ethics documents that Murthy filed this month. The disclosure caught the attention of longtime health policy hands — saying that Murthy has the most financial entanglements of any surgeon general pick in recent history — and of watchdogs who raise questions about how credible he would be as a spokesperson on the pandemic response and presidential adviser.

 

 

Murthy was paid $400,000 by Carnival Corporation — the parent company of the cruise ship marooned off the California coast, the Grand Princess, as well as of the similarly virus-ravaged Diamond Princess. The ships became symbols of the early outbreak, with then-Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams repeatedly quizzed by reporters about whether cruises were safe. The industry has been essentially shuttered by regulators since March amid warnings the vessels are “petri dishes” for the virus to spread.

 

A Carnival spokesperson confirmed that Murthy had advised the company’s coronavirus response. “We have been working with a number of world-leading public health, epidemiological and policy experts to support our ongoing efforts for developing enhanced protocols and procedures for the return of cruise based in the latest knowledge around protection and mitigation,” said Roger Frizzell, a spokesperson.

You know people are allowed to make a living.  I work in telecommunications does that mean I cannot be on the FCC ?

[Bgwest]

4 minutes ago, memoak said:

You know people are allowed to make a living.  I work in telecommunications does that mean I cannot be on the FCC ?

That explains a lot. 

[Potstech]

3 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Elections have consequences. 

And we are beginning to see the consequences of the last one.

[Potstech]

5 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Yes I have the yellow fever vaccine with a yellow card from when I went to South America and I have Kaiser too. 

  What's interesting is that Kaiser has no idea I got my moderna vaccination at CVS. I will let them know to add it to my medical record when I have my next appt but that won't be soon. 

  There will always be scammers who might forge a vaccination card but it's them who would get sick, not me since I really am really vaccinated. 

But it will be all passengers that will be affected if they test positive in the middle of a cruise. Vaccinated or not.

[nocl]

10 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I'm not sure what you're saying here.  Is this good or bad news for the cruising industry?  If he was paid so much by a cruise company do you think he'll have any leanings toward reopening cruising?  Does the Surgeon General hold any sway over the CDC? 

 

Also, according to Yale University:  "During the 2008 campaign, Murthy founded Doctors for Obama, an effort to increase engagement by physicians in the political process."   Gee, I wonder if that factored into his nomination..

Since the Office of the Surgeon General really has nothing to do with operations of the CDC (an operatig Division of DHHS reporting to the Secretary of HHS) would not expect it to have any impact.  

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, nocl said:

Since the Office of the Surgeon General really has nothing to do with operations of the CDC (an operatig Division of DHHS reporting to the Secretary of HHS) would not expect it to have any impact.  

Well, yes and no.  The CDC is part of the US Public Health Service, which is overseen by the Assistant Secretary for Health, who then reports to the Secretary of HHS.  Part of the US Public Health Service is the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, overseen by the Surgeon General, who reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health.  So, while the Surgeon General has no oversight of the CDC, he/she does oversee the USPH inspectors (the Commissioned Corps) who carry out the CDC's VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program) for cruise ships, and who would be doing the inspections of cruise ships for compliance with the conditional sailing certificate.

[D C]

On 2/20/2021 at 5:13 PM, Potstech said:

But it will be all passengers that will be affected if they test positive in the middle of a cruise. Vaccinated or not.

We're a LONG way from that, and if vaccines are required to cruise, there should be no need to even test during a cruise unless one falls ill.  For the rest of the vaccinated passengers, that unlikely event shouldn't matter.  

[nocl]

5 minutes ago, D C said:

We're a LONG way from that, and if vaccines are required to cruise, there should be no need to even test during a cruise unless one falls ill.  For the rest of the vaccinated passengers, that unlikely event shouldn't matter.  

I expect that any cruises to/from the US prior to November will be testing at both embarkation and disembarkation according to the CDC framework, even if vaccinations are required.

[Ombud]

18 minutes ago, D C said:

We're a LONG way from that, and if vaccines are required to cruise, there should be no need to even test during a cruise unless one falls ill.  For the rest of the vaccinated passengers, that unlikely event shouldn't matter.  

I personally hope they will continue to do so as there's a rumor floating about that the vaccine protects against symptomatic covid but perhaps not asymptomatic covid. Read this on UCSF med site. The test isn't as bad as some think

[D C]

9 hours ago, Ombud said:

I personally hope they will continue to do so as there's a rumor floating about that the vaccine protects against symptomatic covid but perhaps not asymptomatic covid. Read this on UCSF med site. The test isn't as bad as some think

There's no rumour. We just don't know yet. 

The vaccine trials didn't look at transmission prevention. That will take time, thus the need to proceed with caution regarding transmission right now. 

 

However, promising information from Oxford/AZ suggests a marked reduction in transmission on the order of 75% or better.  Not real study results, but working in that direction. 

 

Plus, almost every vaccine ever created prevents transmission, save for the Salk polio vaccine (possibly a small number of others). 

[Potstech]

11 hours ago, D C said:

We're a LONG way from that, and if vaccines are required to cruise, there should be no need to even test during a cruise unless one falls ill.  For the rest of the vaccinated passengers, that unlikely event shouldn't matter.  

Are we? A long way from that. We shall see.

[D C]

15 hours ago, nocl said:

I expect that any cruises to/from the US prior to November will be testing at both embarkation and disembarkation according to the CDC framework, even if vaccinations are required.

But the CDC framework is ancient pre-vaccine history at this point.  Every last bit of it requires rework or reconsideration in light both the presence of vaccines and the fast rate at which they're being administered in the US. 

[broberts]

50 minutes ago, D C said:

But the CDC framework is ancient pre-vaccine history at this point.  Every last bit of it requires rework or reconsideration in light both the presence of vaccines and the fast rate at which they're being administered in the US. 

 

Which helps to explain why expected technical guidance have not been issued.

[nocl]

4 hours ago, D C said:

But the CDC framework is ancient pre-vaccine history at this point.  Every last bit of it requires rework or reconsideration in light both the presence of vaccines and the fast rate at which they're being administered in the US. 

It is ancient once it is removed.  I expect that it will remain in force until the infection rate indicates that the pandemic has been controlled in the US.  Will not see that for several months, probably around the time that it expires.

[brisalta]

20 hours ago, Ombud said:

I personally hope they will continue to do so as there's a rumor floating about that the vaccine protects against symptomatic covid but perhaps not asymptomatic covid. Read this on UCSF med site. The test isn't as bad as some think

 

Sampling for the PCR test is fairly simple in trained hands. A very thin disposable probe with a very thin swab is placed up each nostril in turn and wriggled around. The sensation is of very slight tickling.

I received the result of the test back in about an hour. The sample was sent to another location hence the hour wait.

[brisalta]

10 hours ago, D C said:

There's no rumour. We just don't know yet. 

The vaccine trials didn't look at transmission prevention. That will take time, thus the need to proceed with caution regarding transmission right now. 

 

However, promising information from Oxford/AZ suggests a marked reduction in transmission on the order of 75% or better.  Not real study results, but working in that direction. 

 

Plus, almost every vaccine ever created prevents transmission, save for the Salk polio vaccine (possibly a small number of others). 

 

There is some concern about viral particles breathed into the nasal cavity not being attacked by the immune system of someone that has been vaccinated or previously had the disease. If this is true the viral particles could then be ejected from the nasal cavity by breathing or a sneeze.

[nocl]

51 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

Sampling for the PCR test is fairly simple in trained hands. A very thin disposable probe with a very thin swab is placed up each nostril in turn and wriggled around. The sensation is of very slight tickling.

I received the result of the test back in about an hour. The sample was sent to another location hence the hour wait.

There is also another test using a spit sample that data shows to be just as accurate as the nasal swab. Don't know why more places have not shifted to it.

[nocl]

48 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

There is some concern about viral particles breathed into the nasal cavity not being attacked by the immune system of someone that has been vaccinated or previously had the disease. If this is true the viral particles could then be ejected from the nasal cavity by breathing or a sneeze.

There have been some studies that are indicating that asymptomatic infection, as well as transmission, is also greatly reduced by the vaccines.  However, none of them are designed for or sufficient to get the label changed to include that reduction listed.