City to mark five years since start of pandemic
A remembrance event to mark five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic is set to take place in Worcester.
The town will join the rest of the UK on 8 March to commemorate the national Covid-19 Day of Reflection.
Mayor of Worcester, Mel Allcott, will give a short speech on the steps of the Guildhall at 12:00 GMT on the day, followed by a minute's silence.
The Guildhall will also be illuminated yellow during the week leading up to the Day of Reflection.
Ms Allcott said: "The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound impact on everyone.
"As the years go by since the peak of the pandemic, it may seem as though Covid-19 is becoming a distant memory.
"However, for those who lost loved ones, the National Covid Day of Reflection offers a moment to remember those who passed away."
Residents are also being encouraged to sign an online book of remembrance and leave a message about the loved ones they lost during the pandemic.
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Covid bereaved gather to remember lost loved ones
Wall of daffodils to remember lost loved ones
Day of reflection to mark one year since first lockdown
Worcester City Council
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Health groups urge insurers to cover COVID-19 shots for pregnant women
A pharmacist fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination at a booster shot clinic in October 2021 in San Rafael, Calif. Thirty prominent professional health organizations signed an open letter urging insurers to continue covering vaccinations during pregnancy. () This story originally appeared on Stateline. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is urging insurers to continue covering vaccinations during pregnancy in an open letter signed by 30 prominent professional health organizations. Pregnant patients and their infants are vulnerable to complications from COVID-19. In the letter to payers and insurance companies released this week, ACOG stressed the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations and how they protect babies and pregnant people. It was signed by prominent professional groups including the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Public Health Association. The letter follows U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to eliminate the recommendation for COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy children and healthy pregnant patients, sidestepping an established decision process by scientists. Kennedy, who has made false claims questioning vaccine safety, earlier this week fired all 17 experts on the federal vaccine advisory committee panel, replacing them with eight new members, four of whom have spoken out against vaccines. The Trump administration's moves have alarmed health experts, who worry about coverage and access to the shot amid the agency's dismissal of science. 'We are deeply concerned about the recently adopted HHS policy to no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy,' the letter reads. 'Given the historic gaps in research, investment, and support for women's health, it is essential that all aspects of obstetric and gynecologic care — including COVID-19 vaccination — be grounded in the best available scientific evidence. Studies have shown babies born following a COVID-19 infection during pregnancy have a higher risk of low birth weights, stillbirth and respiratory distress, and data demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Pregnant women who contract COVID-19 are also at higher risk of complications such as blood clots, are more likely to be hospitalized in intensive care units or to need ventilators, and are at a higher risk of death, the letter notes. Payers should make the vaccine available to 'pregnant people without undue utilization management or cost-sharing requirements,' the letter reads. Without insurance, a Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 shot can cost roughly $140 for adults. Following the recommendation rollback, public health officials in some states have emphasized their support of COVID-19 vaccines. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services, for example, said it 'continues to recommend the current COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy and for every person 6 months and older,' noting that newborns 'depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection.' Wisconsin Medicaid will also continue to cover the shot, the department said in a media release. Officials in Georgia also said they expect continued coverage of the shot. In Washington, a spokesperson for the state health agency told local media that the department is advising pregnant people to speak with their provider 'to determine if receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is best for them.' During this year's legislative sessions, at least seven states introduced legislation aiming to ban or limit mRNA vaccines. Instead of using a weakened or dead version of the actual virus to stimulate an immune response, mRNA vaccines use a genetic code created in a laboratory to tell the body's cells to produce a protein that triggers an immune response. The Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use mRNA technology. 'The COVID vaccines were a remarkable scientific accomplishment, and they remain the best tool that we have to prevent severe outcomes associated with COVID infection,' Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, ACOG president, wrote in a statement. 'Ob-gyns know that COVID infection during pregnancy can be incredibly dangerous for our pregnant patients — and we know that the vaccine can protect both them and their infants after birth.' When patients are 'forced to pay out of pocket, or to cover high cost sharing,' he wrote, 'they are less likely to be able to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.' Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@ Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@
Atlantic
an hour ago
- Atlantic
The Most Extreme Voice on RFK Jr.'s New Vaccine Committee
Robert Malone has a history of arguing against the data. He has called for an end to the use of mRNA vaccines for COVID despite the well-established fact that they reduce mortality and severe illness. He has promoted discredited COVID treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, dismissing studies that show they are ineffective against the coronavirus. Recently, he called reports about two girls in West Texas dying from the measles ' misinformation,' even though the doctors who treated the girls were unequivocal in their conclusion. Now Malone will have a leading role in shaping America's vaccine policy. He is one of eight new members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing the 17 former members whom Robert F. Kennedy Jr. relieved of their duties on Monday. The re-formed committee will be responsible for guiding the CDC's vaccine policy, recommending when and by whom vaccines should be used. The doctors and researchers who make up the new ACIP are all, to some degree, ideological allies of Kennedy, who has spent decades undermining public confidence in vaccines. And Malone arguably has the most extreme views of the group. Malone, a physician and an infectious-disease researcher, readily acknowledges that he defies mainstream scientific consensus. Just this week, he wrote in his popular Substack newsletter that readers should embrace the anti-vax label, as he has done, and oppose 'the madness of the vaccine mania that has swept public health and government.' (This was only a day before Kennedy pledged that the new ACIP members would not be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.') He is also openly conspiratorial. In his best-selling book, Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming, Malone alleges that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's grants to news publications (including The Atlantic) were payments 'to smear' vaccine critics, and accuses Anthony Fauci of fearmongering to amass power. Last fall, Malone and his wife, Jill, released a follow-up, PsyWar, making the case that the U.S. government is engaged in a vague but diabolical program of psychological warfare against its own citizens. According to the Malones, the CIA, FBI, and Defense Department, along with a 'censorship-industrial complex,' have granted the U.S. government 'reality-bending information control capabilities.' (They also claim that 'sexual favors are routinely exchanged to seal short-term alliances, both within agencies and between contractors and 'Govies.'') They envision this corruption spawning a postapocalyptic future in which guns, ammo, horses, and 'a well-developed network of like-minded friends' might be necessary for survival. Malone, who lives on a horse farm in Virginia, appears to be already well prepared. Listen: How fragile is our vaccine infrastructure? Malone's rise to contrarian glory began in the summer of 2021, when public-health officials were urging hesitant Americans to roll up their sleeves for the new, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. Back in the 1980s, Malone had conducted research on delivering RNA and DNA into cells, which, he and his co-authors suggested in a 1990 paper, 'may provide alternative approaches to vaccine development.' That early work lent credibility to his dire warnings that the COVID shots hadn't been adequately tested, as perhaps did his grandfatherly beard and professorial demeanor. His popularity grew with appearances on Tucker Carlson's and Glenn Beck's shows, where he questioned the safety and effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines while touting—and, critics said, overstating—his own role in the development of the underlying technology. It was Malone's conspiratorial musings on The Joe Rogan Experience that prompted several famous musicians, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, to pull their music from Spotify in protest of the platform's contract with Rogan. Today, Malone's newsletter, where he shares his anti-vaccine claims and often praises Kennedy, has more than 350,000 subscribers. Kennedy and Malone have long been intertwined. Kennedy wrote the foreword to Lies My Gov't Told Me and wrote an endorsement for PsyWar, alleging that the same techniques that the Malones described shaped public reaction to the assassinations of his father and uncle. Kennedy's 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci —which alleges that the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases spread corruption and fraud—is dedicated to Malone, among others. Since Kennedy was appointed as Health and Human Services secretary, many of his allies in the anti-vaccine world have accused him of moderating his views to be more palatable to lawmakers. But among anti-vaccine activists, Malone's appointment to the advisory board was taken as evidence that Kennedy remains on their side. Public-health experts, by contrast, are horrified. 'I think that the scientific and medical community won't trust this committee, and for good reason,' Paul Offit, a pediatrician and former member of the advisory group, told me. He's heard from fellow public-health experts who are considering forming their own committees to weigh the evidence, 'because they won't trust the conclusions of these people.' Sean O'Leary, the American Academy of Pediatrics' liaison to ACIP, told me he was 'deeply concerned' with RFK's decision to entirely remake the committee. 'This maneuver really endangers public health. It endangers children,' he said. He worries that it will lead to disease, suffering, and death among adults and children alike. (Neither Malone nor HHS responded to requests for comment. On X, Malone promised to 'do my best to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.') Malone's appointment is perhaps the strongest sign yet of Kennedy's willingness to appoint ideological crusaders into powerful government roles. ACIP's recommendations are nonbinding, but historically, the CDC has almost always hewn to them. The committee's verdicts will help determine which vaccines insurance companies and the federal government pay for, decisions that will inevitably shape countless Americans' immunization habits. Malone's new role requires in-depth, good-faith examinations of scientific evidence. But he has already earned a reputation for rejecting it.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Axelrod on RFK Jr.'s vaccine moves: ‘Genuine catastrophe in the making'
Democratic political strategist David Axelrod on Friday condemned changes Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made to a key vaccine advisory committee. Kennedy earlier this week fired all 17 members of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with eight of his own picks, a significant downsizing for the independent, expert panel that provides guidance on vaccine recommendations. Some of the eight are known for spreading vaccine misinformation. 'This is a genuine catastrophe in the making,' Axelrod said in a post on X. 'Vaccines have eradicated diseases that ravaged mankind since the beginning of recorded history. Now one twisted ideologue in a position of power threatens to take us backward. God help us all!' he added. Kennedy has lauded the new ACIP appointees as a team educated and capable advisors. 'The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America's most accomplished physicians. All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,' he wrote in a post on X. The new members are set to meet on June 25 to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine in addition to reviewing safety and efficacy data for the current immunization schedule. Kennedy has frequently promoted vaccine misinformation prior to taking on his Cabinet role and recently ended the CDC's recommendation that pregnant women and healthy children receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Critics have railed against the secretary for rushing to usher in a new standard for vaccines post-pandemic amid a nationwide measles outbreak. 'These actions collectively restrict access to a vital tool for saving lives and undermine confidence in our health systems,' former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, wrote in an op-ed published by Time. 'The major flaw in the new vaccine framework is its narrow assessment of risk. Although the immediate dangers of COVID-19 have lessened, it remains a leading cause of death and hospitalization, claiming nearly 50,000 lives in the U.S. in 2024 — more than breast cancer or car accidents,' he added. Kennedy himself said his views on vaccines were 'irrelevant,' while testifying at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on May 14. 'I don't want to seem like I'm being evasive, but I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me,' he told lawmakers, after being asked whether he would vaccinate his own children today against measles.
