Spinning and Keeping the FUD and Dependency going, always... https://www.theepochtimes.com/fda-americans-should-treat-covid-19-like-the-f... FDA: Americans Should Treat COVID-19 Like The Flu Several top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, including Commissioner Robert Califf, admitted that Americans will now have to accept COVID-19 as another respiratory virus, comparing it to influenza. Califf, Principal Deputy Commissioner Janet Woodcock, and top vaccine official Dr. Peter Marks wrote for the Journal of the American Medical Association that COVID-19 will be around for the foreseeable future while suggesting that it will require yearly vaccines targeting the most threatening variations of the virus. “Widespread vaccine- and infection-induced immunity, combined with the availability of effective therapeutics, could blunt the effects of future outbreaks,” the officials said, referring to another name for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. “Nonetheless, it is time to accept that the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is the new normal.” The virus “will likely circulate globally for the foreseeable future, taking its place alongside other common respiratory viruses such as influenza. And it likely will require similar annual consideration for vaccine composition updates in consultation with the [FDA],” they continued. Dr. Robert Califf, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, is seen before his nomination hearing in Washington on Dec. 14, 2021. (Manuel Balce/AP Photo) It’s a departure from the rhetoric that was expressed by public health officials in 2020 and 2021. In late October 2020, for example, current White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci said that President Donald Trump’s comparisons to the flu were false, telling NBC at the time “it is not correct to say it’s the same as flu.” About a year later, Fauci told CBS News that Americans will “likely” have to deal with COVID-19 in a similar manner as influenza. “That’s entirely conceivable and likely, as a matter of fact, we are not going to be in a situation of this degree of intensity indefinitely,” he said when asked about the Omicron variant. Data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that while cases have trended slightly upward in the United States, the numbers are a fraction of the cases that were reported in mid-January when the seven-day average stood at around 800,000 per day. As of May 6, the seven-day average was about 68,000 per day. In the Journal of the American Medical Association article, the three FDA officials proclaimed that by the summer of 2022, decisions will have to be issued “about who should be eligible for vaccination with additional boosters and regarding vaccine composition.” “Administering additional COVID-19 vaccine doses to appropriate individuals this fall around the time of the usual influenza vaccine campaign has the potential to protect susceptible individuals against hospitalization and death, and therefore will be a topic for FDA consideration,” they added. White House Asks For Another $20 Billion In COVID Money To Stop Winter Wave Here we go again. Just when the world (or rather, the US) was finally coming around to the notion that the COVID pandemic might be over, the White House has offered the latest reminder that this is simply not the case. As COVID cases surge in the US, White House COVID response coordinator Ashish Jha said Sunday morning that the Biden Administration will need to authorize another $20 billion+ in COVID spending to pay for the next round of shots needed to stop another brutal winter wave later this year. Specifically, Jha called on Congress to approve $22.5 billion, a number that will help the federal government replenish its dwindling vaccine supply. If it doesn't the US "is going to run out of treatments...we're going to run out of testing." Fortunately, at-home tests are available at most pharmacies in the US these days. If Congress does not approve the White House’s request for an additional $22.5 billion in COVID emergency aid, Dr. Ashish Jha warns that U.S. is "going to run out of treatments, we’re going to run out of testing.” https://t.co/IrJErc7aqc pic.twitter.com/fm75VyjPtP — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 8, 2022 This would imply that the FDA will approve a fourth shot for all Americans (not just the eligible elderly) by the time the winter rolls around, as the general population's immunity begins to wane. With enough resources to get more people vaccinated and more therapeutics in place, he said, "I do think we can get through this winter without a lot of suffering and death." Jha cited the Northeastern US, a region with among the highest vaccination rates, as an example of how vaccines can lower the rate of hospitalizations and deaths. US COVID deaths in the US are slated to pass 1 million as soon as this week (although as we have explained, it's unclear how many of these deaths were actually caused by COVID, as opposed to another co-occurring illness. It's worth noting that the CDC recently revised its figures for COVID deaths among children). Shanghai Tightens COVID Lockdown Despite Decline In Cases Following President Xi's promise last week that the CCP would double down on its stringent lockdown policies, while also pledging to stamp out any dissent by locals who have grown frustrated with the government's insistence on enforcing its lockdown policies no matter how many people die of non-COVID illnesses, or how many suffer from shortages of food, medicine and other necessities in an economy where even disposable diapers are considered a frivolous luxury. Now, just as Shanghai was hoping that lockdown measures would be eased as the number of new cases has fallen sharply, authorities have decided to instead tighten those measures. According to the AP, notices issued in several districts said residents were ordered to stay home and have been barred from receiving nonessential deliveries as part of a "quiet period" lasting at least until Wednesday. The tightened measures could be extended depending on the results of mass testing, the notices said. "Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Together we can lift the lockdown at an early date," said one notice issued in the city’s Huangpu district that was later shared online. Shanghai on Monday reported 3,947 cases over the prior 24 hours, almost all of them asymptomatic, along with 11 deaths. Authorities have been gradually lifted isolation rules on the city’s 25 million residents, but the new orders appear to be returning to conditions at the early stage of the outbreak. Two Shanghai residents reached through social media by CNN said they’d had no prior notice of the new restrictions, which could last as long as a week, according to them. One viral video that has spread widely on Twitter shows Chinese COVID police coming to arrest an individual who claims they were mistakenly targeted for quarantine after somebody else on their floor tested positive. The faces and voices of Shanghai Covid Police, with the occasional squirts of disinfectant. Seriously the intermittent squirting is worth the 4+ minutes alone pic.twitter.com/qP4mhqnSpI — Bill Bishop (@niubi) May 7, 2022 A couple of particularly troubling quotes from the officer in the video were transcribed courtesy of CNN: "From now on, people who live on the same floor (as Covid cases) must be transported (into quarantine)," a police officer says in the video. "It's not that you can do whatever you want -- unless you're in America. This is China," another police officer says sternly, waving a bottle of disinfectant in his hand. "Stop asking me why. There is no why. We have to obey our country's regulations and epidemic control policies." Meanwhile, a video of one local Shanghai resident lecturing police for allegedly blocking a fire escape has also gone viral (notice how the lecturer's face is conveniently covered for their safety). 为这位上海市民点赞，给公安上了一堂法律课： 1.公权和私权 2.《消防法》规定不能封堵消防通道 3.公安执法，如果超越法律范畴就是违法 4.拿出书面文件才能执行硬隔离 pic.twitter.com/1VQgnw4XcU — iPaul🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@iPaulCanada) May 9, 2022 Still, many locals are despairing as they worry about where food will come from. Shanghai is going into the harshest phase of lockdown yet. Food delivery is halting. We’re told to rely on govt for food (rotting cabbage?). Day 39 of full lockdown feels like it could be day 1. They say this new phase is 2-5 days. The original lockdown was supposed to be 4 days pic.twitter.com/VuSkExZphL — Don Weinland (@donweinland) May 9, 2022 On top of all this, locals are complaining about price inflation as the CCP swears it will get price pressures under control. One market professional in Shanghai's western Pudong district said quality of life has declined sharply even as prices surge.