Mikey Likes It!: 2022-08-07

Thursday, August 11, 2022

MARVEL and DC

I want to post this on MARVEL film releases and pay attention to the first film:

Key Release Dates

I have got to get my eyes checked. I read that as BLACK PANTHER: WANDA. I thought, "Huh? They're bringing Scarlet Witch into this one?" :D

Okay, so MARVEL. Does any of that excite you? I don't know about Black Panther without the lead actor, you know what I mean?

What would I see above?

If Sam is now CAPTAIN AMERICA, I will see that film. I know it's not Chris Evans. If it's Sam (Anthony Mackie), I'm on board. If FANTASTIC FOUR brought back Chris Evans and Jessica Alba, I'd be on board. AUNT MAN & THE WASP is a no brainer -- Paul Rudd and (I'm assuming) Michelle Pfeiffer? Those are two actors I try to see everything they're in. Michelle was the best thing about SHOWTIME's FIRST LADY and Stan's right (see "THE FIRST LADY (destroyed by Viola) and HBO MAX (d..") about what killed that show and prevented a second season.

By the way, please read Stan's "Chris Pratt is getting on my nerves" -- I agree with him. I didn't like Mindy Kaling whining that it was sexism if you didn't like her movie and I don't need to hear Chris Pine whining that you must be 'woke' if you don't like his AMAZON series. I don't like his AMAZON series. It's dull and boring. Loved REACHER and can't wait for season two. Anyway, if you want criticism, don't act. You're paid a ton of money. And you want to whine like Mindy, Chris or Viola Davis.

In terms of MARVEL TV shows, they need to bring back IRON FIST and THE DEFENDERS and JESSICA JONES. Glad they're bringing back DAREDEVIL but IRON FIST was my favorite.

Now let's go to DC and FLASH:

Could the stars be aligning just right for Grant Gustin to hop over to the DCEU from the Arrowverse, replacing Ezra Miller as Barry Allen in The Flash? As it stands, Gustin's schedule is about to free up considerably. It was just recently announced that the upcoming ninth season of The Flash would serve as the final season of the long-running Arrowverse series.

Also in recent news, Miller has been arrested once again, this time for felony burglary in Vermont. Miller's multiple arrests and other examples of problematic behavior have reportedly put The Flash in serious danger of getting canceled. Because Warner Bros. Discovery just recently axed Batgirl, even with that movie having completed filming, there is a good chance The Flash could get scrapped, or perhaps even remade with a different actor in the lead role.

Enter Grant Gustin, as far as many fans are concerned. The latest press involving both actors has been seen by fans as a perfect storm to set up the switch for Gustin from the Arrowverse to the DCEU. Whether that will end up happening remains to be seen, but there are certainly a lot of fans clearly hoping this is the direction that Warner Bros. Discovery will take with the film.

They should have immediately started reshoots with Grant. They should have used CGI to put him into the scenes and remove Ezra. Ezra is a trainwreck but it's DISCOVERY and they're idiots (see Ava and C.I.'s "DISCOVERY trashes itself in the entertainment industry (Ava and C.I.)" and "HOUSE OF HAMMER, slum of DISCOVERY").

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, August 11, 2022. Joe Biden takes a vacation as troubles mount, Moqtada insists on judicial action or else, and much more.

US President Joe Biden is vacationing and he left without coming up with a real plan to address monkeypox in place. This despite the fact that this pandemic is a global issue.

Tamino Dreisam (WSWS) reports on the spread of monkeypox in Germany:

The first monkeypox case in Germany was reported on May 20. Since then, the number has risen steadily, from 28 cases per week in late May to 125 in early June. There are now 300 to 400 cases per week and a total of 2,916 cases have been reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany to date, corresponding to an incidence level of 3.54 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. This is more than ten percent of the worldwide cases outside Africa. A recent study estimated the reproductive rate (R-value) of monkeypox in Germany to be 1.21, which is higher than the COVID-19 R-value, which is currently 0.86.

Due to widespread ignorance about the symptoms of monkeypox and generally limited testing facilities, it can be assumed that the actual number of infections is much higher.

Worldwide, Germany is among the most affected countries. In absolute numbers, Germany has the third most infections after the United States with 9,461 cases and Spain with 5,162 cases. On a per capita basis, however, the incidence rate in Germany, at 3.54, is already much higher than in the US, with 2.15 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. This is despite the fact that the US administration has already declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

Joe's 'plan' is to take a vaccine and divide it into fifths and then use the diluted form on Americans. Supposedly, it may work -- based on a single study done seven years ago. We noted that yesterday as did Trina. At THE ATLANTIC, Katherine J. Wu reports:

Once again, the United States is messing up its approach to vaccines. Three months into its monkeypox outbreak, just 620,000 doses of the two-injection Jynneos shot—the nation’s current best immune defense against the virus—have been shipped to states, not nearly enough to immunize the 1.6 million to 1.7 million Americans that the CDC considers at highest risk. The next deliveries from the manufacturer aren’t slated until September at the earliest. For now, we’re stuck with the stocks we’ve got.

Which is why the feds have turned to Inoculation Plan B: splitting Jynneos doses into five, and poking them into the skin, rather than into the layer of fat beneath. The FDA issued an emergency-use authorization for the strategy yesterday afternoon.

This dose-sparing tactic will allow far more people to sign up for doses before summer’s end; if successful, it could help contain the outbreak in the U.S., which currently accounts for nearly a third of the world’s documented monkeypox cases. But this decision is based on scant data, and the degree of protection offered by in-skin shots is no guarantee. The FDA is now playing a high-stakes game with the health and trust of people most vulnerable to monkeypox—an already marginalized population. Call it a bold decision; call it a risky gamble: It may be the best option the country currently has, but one the U.S. could have avoided had it marshaled a stronger response earlier on.

Little is known about how Jynneos performs against monkeypox even in its prescribed dosing regimen, the so-called subcutaneous route; the new method, intradermal injection, is a murkier proposition still. “We are in a very data-thin zone,” says Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The shot was approved for use against smallpox and monkeypox in 2019. But to date, researchers don’t have a strong sense of how well it guards against disease or infection or how long protection lasts. Although scientists know that two doses of Jynneos can elicit similar numbers of antibodies as older poxvirus vaccines, no estimates of the vaccine’s true efficacy, from large-scale clinical trials, exist; a human study in the Congo hasn’t yet reported results. And though firmer data have shown that the vaccine keeps lab monkeys from getting seriously sick, “I don’t necessarily trust making the clinical decisions” based just on that, says Mark Slifka, a vaccinologist at Oregon Health & Science University. It’s not even clear if Jynneos can stop someone from transmitting the virus, especially now that many cases seem to be arising via skin-to-skin contact during sex, an understudied form of spread.

Some real leadership would be nice right about now. Hope Joe's enjoying that vacation. A case of monkeypox has been discovered at Detroit's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant. In response, Will Lehman, a candidate for the presidency of United Auto Workers issued the following statement:

I call for an immediate shutdown of all production until the spread of the infection is isolated and contained, with all workers affected receiving full pay. The companies, which are making record profits based on our exploitation, can afford to take the necessary measures to save our health and lives.

We need to break through the misinformation and disinformation that is being put out by the White House, the UAW and corporate media.

All workers need to be made aware that monkeypox is a potentially deadly virus with a case fatality rate similar to COVID. It can cause disfiguring lesions and excruciating pain that in 10 percent of cases requires hospitalization. The experience of Africa shows that it has a particularly severe impact on children.

The official number of monkeypox cases, 7,500 in the US, is likely an undercount, since testing is a complicated and long process. The vast majority of individuals currently being tested are gay men, based on the false claim that the virus is primarily transmitted through sex. In fact, studies have shown that monkeypox can spread through aerosols that linger in the air like the coronavirus. It can also spread through skin to skin contact as well as contaminated fabric and surfaces. The virus can remain alive for weeks outside the body, meaning all potentially contaminated areas need to be regularly disinfected with appropriate cleaning supplies.

Given this, it is highly probable that there are more cases in the auto plants than the single reported case at SHAP, where 7,000 work. For more than two years, management and the UAW have systematically covered up the spread of COVID-19 in the plants, forcing workers to rely on word of mouth.

Giant auto plants with thousands forced to stand close together for hours on end are primary vectors for the transmission of disease that can infect the entire community. The danger will be multiplied when schools reopen in a few short weeks under conditions where nothing is being done to halt the spread of COVID-19 or monkeypox.

No confidence can be put in the profit hungry Stellantis management or their lackeys in the UAW bureaucracy to deal with this emergency. The last two and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic show they could not care less about workers’ health or lives.

When COVID was first detected in auto plants, it was workers who halted production, not the highly paid UAW bureaucrats. If it wasn’t for the action of workers on the shop floor at SHAP and other auto plants, who stopped production as the pandemic spread in March 2020, there would have been no temporary lockdowns or other limited safety protocols put in place. The UAW worked to prematurely reopen the auto plants before the virus was contained and then steadily removed all the other protocols while covering up its spread.

Now the UAW simply parrots all the corporate and government lies that we must accept mass infection, that COVID will be here forever, killing hundreds of thousands every year and inflicting millions with debilitating “long COVID.”

This means that we workers must act independently to protect the health of ourselves, our families and our communities.

I call for the formation of rank-and-file committees in every auto plant and workplace to oversee health and safety and other workplace conditions.

We need to build a network of rank-and-file committees to link up autoworkers everywhere, including with our brothers and sisters overseas. We cannot allow COVID and now monkeypox to continue to spread in our workplaces and society as a whole.

Medical science has the tools like vaccines, mass testing, quarantine, isolation, and rigorous contact tracing to contain and eliminate these diseases. Workers must not be allowed to continue to die simply to grow the profits of the auto companies and Wall Street.

If you support what I am saying, I ask you to contact my campaign and learn how you can become more involved.

AP Tweets:

President Joe Biden has arrived in South Carolina with members of his family for what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation.

apnews.com

Biden begins summer vacation with family in South Carolina

NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived in South Carolina on Wednesday to begin what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation with members of his family outside of...

6:30 PM · Aug 10, 2022

As Joe enjoys his vacation, Marcus Day (WSWS) notes:

Annual price increases for US consumer goods remain at their highest level in nearly 40 years, according to the latest inflation data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Prices for items in the Consumer Price Index rose 8.5 percent in the 12 months ending in July, down slightly from the 9.1 percent rate reported in June, but still the second-largest yearly increase since December 1981.

Food prices in particular have surged in recent months. The BLS’ overall food index rose 10.9 percent year-over-year in July, while the cost of food at home increased 13.1 percent, the biggest increases since May 1979.

Amid a heat wave which has blanketed much of the US this summer and broken records in a number of regions, electricity costs rose 15.2 percent compared to last year, increasing by 1.9 percent over the last month alone.

The cost of shelter also pushed higher, with rent rising 6.3 percent nationally since 2021, with increases far greater in many major metropolitan areas, forcing large numbers of young people to live with their parents, and threatening others with eviction and homelessness. In California, 1.5 million households are behind on their rent, according to Census Bureau data released in late July.

Although the cost of gasoline, which is more volatile, fell somewhat from June, down 7.7 percent, it remained 44 percent higher than a year ago. The national average price for a gallon of gas is hovering near $4, compared to $3.18 in 2021.

The Biden administration and sections of the corporate media nevertheless seized on the latest data to claim that inflation is easing and that a corner being turned, with Biden misleadingly asserting that the BLS report showed “zero percent inflation in the month of July—zero percent.”

In a two-minute appearance, Biden painted a fantastical picture of a booming economy, but the reality facing masses of workers is one of increasing desperate struggle for daily existence. According to a separate BLS release Wednesday, real average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory employees fell 2.7 percent year-over-year in July.

Over in Iraq, cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr has failed at forming a government so he now demands new elections. Amr Mostafa (THE NATIONAL) reports:

Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr on Wednesday called on the country's judiciary to dissolve parliament by the end of next week.

“I address the competent judicial authorities, particularly the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, hopefully so they correct the path, especially after the constitutional deadlines for the parliament to select a president and task a prime minister have passed,” Mr Al Sadr said in a statement.

Mr Al Sadr also called on the judiciary to give the Iraqi president the task of setting a date for early elections that will be held “under a number of conditions we will announce later”.

Called on? Mild language. PRESS TV gets to the point in their opening paragraph, "Prominent Iraqi cleric and seasoned politician Muqtada al-Sadr has given the country's apex court a one-week ultimatum to dissolve the parliament amid a deepening post-election political crisis gripping the country." It's an ultimatum from a man infamous for his tantrums. TRT reminds who caused the political stalemate in Iraq:

Sadr has called for early elections and unspecified changes to the constitution after withdrawing his lawmakers from parliament in June.

The withdrawal was a protest against his failure to form a government despite holding nearly a quarter of parliament and having enough allies to make up more than half the chamber.

So Moqtada screaming for the judiciary to act and? AL-MONITOR explains:

Judiciary head Faiq Zaidan said earlier this year in an article that the constitution did not set any punishment for the parliament when it fails to form the government within the constitutional deadlines.

The only way to dissolve the parliament is for two-thirds of its members to vote for the dissolution.

Zaidan asked to add a new mechanism for dissolving the parliament, specifically for the time it fails to form the government within the constitutional deadlines.

The suggested mechanism is to dissolve the parliament by a request from the prime minister approved by the president, after the deadlines meet.

The only way to amend the constitution is to return the parliament sessions and votes for this amendment, which it does not seems possible now due to Sadr objections to return the parliament sessions.

The following sites updated:

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

I can't believe who I'm agreeing with!

Not a fan of right-winger Cal Thomas but my buddy Beau sent me his latest column and I do agree with the part I'm quoting below:

That appears to be what first lady Jill Biden suggested during a speech to a Democratic fundraiser in ultra-liberal Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Speaking of the president, she said: “He’s just had so many things thrown his way. Who would have ever thought about what happened (with the Supreme Court overturning) Roe vs. Wade? Well, maybe we saw it coming, but still, we didn’t believe it. The gun violence in this country is absolutely appalling. We didn’t see the war in Ukraine coming.”

Notice the use of the past tense, which is telling.

All of this is false. Vladimir Putin signaled his intention to invade Ukraine far in advance; the decision on Roe was leaked weeks before the formal announcement; gun violence in major cities preceded the Biden administration.

The problem that is only now speaking its name is that the president of the United States appears to have dropped the ball and is a little too slow off the mark in dealing with the challenges of the presidency.

Now here's Lee Camp and Richard Wolf on Joe Biden's war on Russia.

Joe needs to be held accountable for all the money he's wasted -- our money -- on this hideous war. We're suffering here at home and Joe's sending billions to the nazi regime in Ukraine.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, August 10, 2022. Joe Biden has no plans for addressing pandemics in the US, Moqtada wants Iraq to dissolve the Parliament but the Parliament would have to meet to vote on that, and much more.

Where is the action from US President Joe Biden on monkeypox? We addressed that yesterday. We're back to the topic for two reasons. A Zoom yesterday included a woman who brought the topic up and insisted that she didn't have to worry about it because she wasn't gay.

Well our country does have gay people in it and they are citizens and we should care what happens to everyone. But there's also the reality that it's not just gay people at risk nor is it a "gay disease." It's history disproves that. For whatever reasons, it may show up more in one demographic right now but we are in the early stages and the country is a risk -- the country as a whole.

The second thing that happened was Cordell Gascoigne's article at WSWS:

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) reported last Thursday that the state has recorded 12 cases of monkeypox. Just a month prior, the state reported its first case of the disease. Notwithstanding the Biden administration’s belated declaration of a state of emergency over the spread of the monkeypox virus, workers throughout the world have voiced their deep concern over existing conditions in which two pandemics are being allowed to rip through the population.

While the far-right have issued baseless claims that monkeypox is a “gay disease,” according to a July 28 statement released by the ADH, “Monkeypox is spread through close contact and can be transmitted to anyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity.” (Emphasis added.)

The ADH goes on to report, “It can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact with infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. This can include household and/or intimate contact. Spreading can also occur when contacting contaminated items, such as clothing. It can also be transmitted through respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact; however, it is not an airborne illness. Monkeypox is not spread through casual, brief conversations or walking by someone with monkeypox, like at a grocery store.”

These claims are unsubstantiated and at odds with decades of research and reports on monkeypox, which have warned that the virus can spread through aerosols, in addition to direct skin-to-skin contact.

Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson has not issued a statement on the increase in monkeypox cases. As of this writing, 30,189 people globally have contracted the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The US accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cases, numbering 8,933, while four countries in Europe have tallied more than 15,000. In conjunction with the unbridled spread of the monkeypox virus, official COVID-19 cases have reached 589,896,455 internationally, according to the worldometers website, with an official record of 6,438,021 deaths, though estimates of excess deaths place the actual global death toll above 20 million.

ADH Director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said July 5, “Arkansas has been monitoring cases of monkeypox in the U.S. While this news is concerning, monkeypox is not as contagious as other viruses, like COVID-19. We encourage anyone who feels they may have been exposed to monkeypox to please contact their health care provider and be tested.” Despite the claim monkeypox is not as infectious as COVID-19, the state government has done virtually nothing to prevent its spread. They have refused to reinstate mask mandates, while pressing ahead with the full reopening of schools this fall, where both COVID and monkeypox will spread widely in the coming months.

Over the course of the monkeypox outbreak, coronavirus cases in Arkansas have soared. On Thursday, official cases increased by 1,438, while in the last week ADH reported 8,064 new cases, bringing the case count to more than 911,000. This is more than 30 percent of the state’s population! According to health officials, the latest figures show, as of Thursday, more than half of Arkansans are fully immunized, numbering 1,652,249, with another 287,907 partially immunized. But the inoculated populace is not safe, due to waning immunity and the increased dangers of the Omicron BA.5 and future variants.

In the race for Arkansas governor, Republican former White House Adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Democrat Chris Jones have both refused to address COVID-19 or monkeypox. Exposing all the myths that the Democratic Party represents the working class, Jones’ campaign website has said nothing about monkeypox since the first case was reported in Arkansas late last month, as well as COVID-19, despite its soaring rate of infection.

Jones, as have the Democrats as a whole, has pushed for further armaments in Ukraine and supported Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, bringing the world to the brink of World War III. If he were to win, which is highly unlikely, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox pandemics.

If he were to win, the report notes, he would do nothing to address the coronavirus and monkeypox pandemics -- that sounds like an apt description of Joe Biden.

Joe's gone from he would deal with the pandemic to now catching COVID twice in the last weeks and to presenting the White House 'plan' that we'll all get it (I've had, it scarred my lungs) and that's the plan. That's the plan. He and others, in 2020, slammed Donald Trump only to come to power and do even less than Donald did.

And that's COVID -- the pandemic that existed while he was campaigning for the presidency.

Monkeypox has become a US problem on his watch and he's doing damn little.

The public isn't even prepared for this.

The CDC notes:

Monkeypox spreads in a few ways.

Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, often skin-to-skin contact, including:
- Direct contact with monkeypox rash, scabs, or body fluids from a person with monkeypox.
- Touching objects, fabrics (clothing, bedding, or towels), and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox.
- Contact with respiratory secretions.

This direct contact can happen during intimate contact, including:
- Oral, anal, and vaginal sex or touching the genitals (penis, testicles, labia, and vagina) or anus (butthole) of a person with monkeypox.
- Hugging, massage, and kissing.
- Prolonged face-to-face contact.
- Touching fabrics and objects during sex that were used by a person with monkeypox and that have not been disinfected, such as bedding, towels, fetish gear, and sex toys.

A pregnant person can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.

It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.

A person with monkeypox can spread it to others from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks.

Scientists are still researching:

If the virus can be spread when someone has no symptoms
How often monkeypox is spread through respiratory secretions, or when a person with monkeypox symptoms might be more likely to spread the virus through respiratory secretions.
Whether monkeypox can be spread through semen, vaginal fluids, urine, or feces.

Here are some videos.

The more dense the population, the more it's spreading in the US. So, for example, Montana hasn't yet had a case but New York has had 1960 and California has had 1310. (Those are CDC figures.) The virus is spreading in the US. And what's Joe doing to ramp up production on vaccines? Nothing. Georgia is now approaching 750 reported cases.

What's the plan, Joe?

Just going to ignore it and tell everyone they'll end up getting it? Is that plan for every disease now?

The White House released the following b.s. yesterday:

Combatting the monkeypox outbreak is a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. Today, as part of the Administration’s comprehensive effort to mitigate the spread of monkeypox, the Administration announced that it has taken action to increase the number of vaccine doses available by up to five times through an alternative dosing regimen. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced it is granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered intradermally. Because intradermal administration requires a smaller dose, this change allows the number of available doses to increase by as much as five-fold while continuing to ensure the vaccine meets high standards for safety and quality.

The White House National Monkeypox Response team today outlined its plan to implement this approach and ensure providers and public health officials put the alternative dosing regimen into practice.

Today’s announcements include:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Section 564 declaration, allowing FDA to use its authority to allow health care providers to administer up to five times the number of vaccine doses per vial of JYNNEOS vaccine.
Following last week’s public health emergency declaration, today HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a determination under the Section 564 declaration of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows for emergency use authorization of vaccines to prevent monkeypox and prevent severe disease from the virus. This action paves the way for the federal government to get up to five times the amount of doses administered out of a single vial of the JYNNEOS vaccine.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell requested that the Secretary issue the Section 564 determination and last week’s public health emergency declaration. This declaration allows HHS to take emergency measures based on the information currently available about the monkeypox virus.

FDA subsequently granted Emergency Use Authorization for the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered intradermally – enabling the current vaccine supply to increase five-fold without sacrificing safety and quality.
Today, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization allowing healthcare providers to use an alternative dosing regimen of the JYNNEOS Vaccine to expand the total number of doses available for use by up to five-fold. The EUA now allows for 0.1ml of the JYNNEOS vaccine to be administered between layers of the skin (intradermally), as opposed to 0.5ml of the vaccine that is administered under the skin (subcutaneously). Data from a 2015 clinical study of the JYNNEOS vaccine prior to its approval, published in a peer-reviewed journal, demonstrated that a fifth of the dose, when given intradermally on the same two-dose schedule as currently administered, produced an immune response that was similar to subcutaneous dosing – meaning individuals in both groups responded to vaccination in a similar way. Additionally, data shows the intradermal administration of other vaccines such as influenza and hepatitis B, is safe and effective for immunocompromised individuals, such as people with HIV. JYNNEOS has been tested in individuals with immunocompromising conditions and has found to be safe and effective in the trials that were performed to support approval. Two doses of the vaccine given 28 days apart will still be needed. Individuals who received their first dose subcutaneously can receive their second dose intradermally or subcutaneously.

The administration requires a different type of needle than the current vaccine administration, similar to the administration for a tuberculin skin tests (or PPD) or intradermal allergy tests. As part of the Administration’s comprehensive monkeypox response effort, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will conduct trainings and outreach to clinicians, public health officials, providers, and patients to make sure jurisdictions can effectively administer the vaccine using this alternative dosing regimen.

The FDA also authorized use of the vaccine, using the standard dosing route, in individuals younger than 18 years of age determined to be at high risk of monkeypox infection.

The White House National Monkeypox Outbreak Response team will oversee the prompt and coordinated implementation of this strategy by HHS, CDC, FDA, and state and local health officials.
Since the start of the outbreak, HHS has distributed more than 670,000 JYNNEOS vaccines to states and jurisdictions from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). In addition, the SNS is preparing to distribute approximately 400,000 additional vials to states and jurisdictions as part of the next phase of the national vaccine strategy. Jurisdictions that administer 90% of their current vaccine supply may request additional doses sooner. Because of today’s announcement, the 400,000 vials of vaccine in the SNS’s inventory that have been allocated but not yet distributed hold the potential to provide up to 2 million doses using intradermal administration. Additionally, vaccines that have been received by jurisdictions, but not yet administered, are eligible for intradermal administration.

In order to quickly and effectively implement this approach to increase JYNNEOS vaccine dose supply five-fold, the Biden-Harris Administration is launching a robust effort to train health care workers and providers on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine intradermally.

Intradermal administration of vaccine is currently used by providers across the country, particularly when administering tuberculosis skin tests (in the forearm) and intradermal allergy tests, and providers currently have the supplies needed to administer the vaccine in this way. Nonetheless, the Administration will actively engage providers and clinicians to ensure they are prepared to use this approach for most adults who need JYNNEOS vaccine.

CDC is releasing interim clinical guidance and a Dear Colleague Letter from FDA to public health officials, and will be hosting trainings and webinars to support the transition to intradermal administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a robust plan to communicate with and train public health professionals and providers to quickly implement the intradermal vaccine administration strategy.

Beginning today, the CDC is releasing:

Interim clinical considerations on its website, with relevant guidance on how to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine intradermally. The “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of JYNNEOS and ACAM2000 Vaccines during the 2022 U.S. Monkeypox Outbreak” document includes an overview of monkeypox vaccines, vaccination strategies and post-exposure prophylaxis, and planning considerations for health departments including health equity. In addition, it provides interim guidance for use of JYNNEOS or ACAM2000 vaccines, including the schedule and dosing regimens that can be considered, dosing intervals, vaccine administration, evidence quality, pre- and post-vaccination counseling, and contraindications and precautions.
Supporting documents including FAQs for providers and the general public about monkeypox vaccines
Related resources for providers, including template standing orders and preparation and administration summary documents.
A video to help train health care providers and medical professionals immediately on intradermal vaccine administration.
CDC is making experts and clinicians available this afternoon to answer questions on intradermal administration.
CDC also plans to communicate with tens of thousands of public health officials and healthcare providers through a Clinical Outreach and Communications Activity (COCA), and will hold webinars and training sessions online and on the ground in communities where the outbreak is most severe.

Vaccines will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, and HHS will be reviewing existing allocations and future vaccine distribution timelines to reflect the increased number of doses now available.
Vaccine vials shipped from the supplier, the SNS, and jurisdictions will continue to be shipped as 0.5ml vials, from which healthcare providers can withdraw 0.5ml for a single subcutaneous dose or 0.1ml for an intradermal dose.

Currently, the SNS has approximately 400,000 vials of JYNNEOS ready for distribution, totaling up to 2 million doses if administered by the intradermal route. Jurisdictions can order additional vaccine supply starting on August 15^th or when they have used 90% of their current vaccine allotment. Jurisdictions can also continue to administer the vaccine subcutaneously while they are training medical professionals on the alternative dosing regimen for administration of the vaccine, and for individuals who still need the standard subcutaneous regimen, like children and adolescents.

In light of today’s announcements and the anticipated increase in JYNNEOS vaccine supply, CDC and ASPR are reviewing the current allocation and distribution timeline for vaccines. The goal of revised allocation or distribution strategies will be to ensure jurisdictions have sufficient vaccine supply to implement a two-dose strategy using intradermal application, and to ensure that jurisdictions aren’t receiving more vaccine than they can store or use in a given time period.

ASPR will proceed with procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, totaling over 25 million additional doses that will be available in the United States.
Even with the alternative vaccine administration, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) will proceed with its procurement of 5.5 million vials of vaccine, which, factoring in the alternative dosing regimen, represents as much as 25 million doses that will become in the United States, in addition to current vaccine supply.

The Biden-Harris Administration will also continue to work to accelerate vaccine production and distribution. Last week, the Administration announced that 150,000 vials – totaling up to 750,000 doses administered intradermally – will arrive in the United States and be available for distribution in September, two months earlier than originally planned.

Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to combat the monkeypox outbreak and protect those at risk of contracting the virus. Since the first known cases in the United States, the Administration has developed a robust and agile strategy to expand and accelerate the production and distribution of vaccines, increased testing capacity from 6,000 tests per week to 80,000 tests per week, made treatments more accessible, and communicated on an ongoing basis with public health officials, state and local leaders, and individuals most impacted by the virus to date, including the LGBTQI+ community.

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So the 'plan' is to take 400,00 shots and divide them by five and then claim that's 2 million shots! And, hey, this 'plan' is based on a peer review study from 2015. One study. From 2015. Seven years ago. Monkeypox has been a global issue for many years. Is there a reason this ONE peer reviewed study didn't prompt changes seven years ago when it was published? Maybe because further studies were needed? And now US citizens will be the lab monkeys?

This isn't a plan. A plan is, "We're ramping up production of vaccines and these are our target dates for the production and these are our target dates for giving the immunizations."

Joe has no plan. He has no vision. He's a senile old man approaching the end of his life and apparently determined to take the country out with him.

There is no excuse for the White House's refusal to increase production. They have the powers to do so and they have the money to do so. Joe is doing nothing. If monkeypox, in the coming months, gets worse -- as many suspect it will -- then he's going to have to receive the scorn he gave Donald Trump and then some. Joe is AWOL on this issue. It's happening on his watch and his answer is to dilute the vaccine and this 'plan' is based on one clinical study. From seven years ago.

Joe's lucky that he's in the US and not Iraq. In Iraq, as Charlie Metcalfe (GUARDIAN) details, they take medicine a litle more personally:

Maryam Ali had just walked into the neurosurgery on-call room when a man grabbed her, shoved her to the ground and put a knife in her back.

Hospital security guards shut the facility down and arrested the man. With unusual fortune, Ali says, the CCTV camera covering the ward was working.

“I remember saying I thought I was going to die,” she said. “I was in complete shock. I cursed the day I became a doctor.”

Ali, 27, was in the second year of her postgraduate medical residency at Baghdad’s Ghazi Al-Hariri hospital when the attack happened in January 2021. Her attacker was caught and jailed but Ali has since, like many Iraqi doctors, considered leaving the country.

A recent survey of Baghdad doctors found that 87% experienced violence in the preceding six months. The majority said violence had increased since the beginning of the pandemic, and three-quarters of the attacks were perpetrated by patients and their families.

Meanwhile Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) reports:

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday said that there will be no dissolution of the parliament or early elections without the return of the legislature to holding sessions, following calls from longtime political rival Muqtada al-Sadr for a snap parliamentary vote.

Influential Shiite leader Sadr on Wednesday called for the dissolution of the current legislature and holding snap parliamentary elections in Iraq amidst demonstrations and a sit-in at the Iraqi parliament building by his supporters in protest of the Coordination’s Framework prime minister pick.

“No dissolution of the parliament, or a change in the system, or early elections without the return of the Council [of Representatives] to holding sessions. For it [the parliament] is the one who discusses these demands, and what it decides, we will follow,” said Maliki in a televised video statement on Monday evening.

Maliki stressed that Iraq is a country of many components and that “no will shall be imposed upon it” unless it is one that reflects the entirety of the Iraqi people.

The Parliament would have to vote to dissolve itself. On that, Nouri is correct. That said, he has a long history of statements -- and promises -- that are never what they appear. The Erbil Agreement is only the most prominent. The legal contract brokered by the US government gave Nouri a second term after the 2010 vote didn't. It overturned the votes of the Iraqi people -- one of the reasons voting has fallen off with each election cycle in Iraq. Now how did Nouri get what he wanted?

By promising others that they would get certain things. Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya won the election. The Erbil Agrement promised Iraqiya a governmental position. That position was never created -- let alone given to Allawi. The Kurds? They were promised the implementation of Article 140 and they were stupid enough to believe it.

Stupid enough?

The Iraqi Constitution demanded that Nouri implement that in his first term. He didn't. But they thought that because he swore it would happen in his second term that things had changed?

He never implemented.

He never honored The Erbil Agreement. He used it to get a second term and then he ignored it. His spokespweron said, months after it was signed, that it wasn't legal and Nouri wasn't bound by it.

And the White House said . . . nothing. Despite Barack Obama placing a phone call to Ayad Allawi and telling him -- to get Allawi and his MPs back into Parliament so Nouri could be named prime minister-designate -- that the US stood firmly and fully behind The Erbil Agreement.

So anything Nouri says or does should always be suspect. He is correct. The Parliament would need to come back into session to vote to dismantle the current government. But that doesn't mean that if the Parliament comes back into session it will vote to dissolve.

The following sites updated: