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V-Safe Database Confirms COVID Jab Hazards

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In an October 4, 2022, Fox News interview, civil rights attorney Aaron Siri, legal counsel for the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), shared shocking V-Safe data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after multiple legal demands.

For more than 15 months, the CDC fought to not release any of these data. ICAN had to file two lawsuits and multiple appeals to get the CDC to hand it over, and when you see the data, you understand why.

What Is V-Safe?

By now, many know about the existence of the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), a publicly available database for vaccine adverse event reports, jointly managed by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

V-Safe¹ is another database managed and monitored by the CDC. It’s a voluntary “after vaccination health checker” deployed to collect data on those who got the COVID jab.

Anyone in the United States can enroll in V-Safe, using their smartphone, after receiving any dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Parents can also enroll their underage children to keep tabs on health effects. During the first week after each dose, V-Safe will send you a daily text message asking for details on your health and well-being. After that, check-ins are sent out on an intermittent basis.

What Does V-Safe Show?

So, what does the V-Safe data, which the CDC was so reluctant to release, actually show? Are the COVID jabs as harmless as they’re claimed to be? Far from it.

As detailed by Siri, out of the 10 million people enrolled in V-Safe, 7.7% (770,000 people) required medical care after getting the shot and 25% (2.5 million people) missed work or school or suffered a serious side effect that affected their day-to-day life.

v-safe covid vaccine adverse health impacts

As noted by Siri, these numbers are extraordinary. One of the key messages we were given was that while COVID was not a significant threat to all people, getting the shot would limit the number of hospitalizations, deaths and days missed from work due to infection.

Well, we now see that 25% of those who got the shot ended up missing work or school because of the side effects, and 7.7% needed medical care. That’s staggering, and completely nullifies the CDC’s argument that everyone should get the shot, whether they’re in a high-risk category or not, and whether they’ve already had COVID-19 or not.

Massive Immune Reaction Signal

The V-Safe data also show a massive signal with regard to the jab causing an adverse immune reaction. Four million people, out of the 10 million — 40% — reported joint pain. Two million, or 20%, reported “moderate” joint pain and 400,000, or 4%, classified the pain as “severe.”

As noted by Siri, joint pain is often a sign of an immune reaction and could be cause for concern when it occurs after vaccination, especially when you consider that the shots were supposed to protect the elderly, who already tend to have joint problems.

The V-Safe database also reveals that even though fewer doses of Moderna were registered, it’s mRNA shot accounts for a larger portion of negative effects, compared to Pfizer’s jab.

ICAN has now built a searchable dashboard of this V-Safe data.² In the video below, Albert Benavides (who goes by the name Welcome the Eagle 88), an RCM expert, data analyst and auditor, provides a tour and overview of how to use the dashboard, including some of its strengths and weaknesses.

Video Link

Why Did the CDC Fight to Keep V-Safe Data Hidden?

In an October 5, 2022, Substack article, Steve Kirsch commented on the V-Safe data dump:³

“V-Safe is a voluntary safety monitoring program put in place by the CDC to monitor adverse reactions after people take a vaccine. The V-Safe data shows that 33.1% of the people who got the vaccine suffered from a significant adverse event and 7.7% had to seek professional medical care.

These are extraordinary numbers. They clearly show the vaccines are unsafe, that the CDC deliberately hid this information from the American public, and that the drug companies falsified the data in the trials … the CDC is not protecting the American people. They are protecting the manufacturers of the vaccines.”

As noted by Kirsch, side effects could be either under- or overestimated in V-Safe, or both, as some might ignore V-Safe requests to answer questions, and others may only sign up or be incentivized to fill out the questionnaire if they suffer a problem.

Additionally, the options for reporting a side effect are predefined and very generic, so people might be experiencing effects that didn’t fit any of the predefined categories of injury. Importantly, death is not reportable to V-Safe, as dead people cannot use their phones. So, we have no way of knowing how many of these 10 million registered V-Safe users have died.

However, “Whether the rates in V-Safe is over-reported or under-reported is a red herring,” Kirsch says. “The issue that should concern everyone is the CDC concealed all the V-Safe data from everyone the entire time.”

In addition to spending taxpayer dollars to prevent the release of this information — which we have every right to — the CDC also stopped promoting use of V-Safe around May 2021, mere months into the COVID jab rollout. As noted by Kirsch, this was probably because “it became crystal clear that it was accumulating data that showed the vaccines were unsafe.”

CDC Ignored Clear ‘Death’ Signal

In an October 3, 2022, article,⁴ Kirsch also points out that the formula the CDC uses to trigger safety signals — described in its VAERS standard operating procedures manual⁵ — is “seriously flawed.” Could that be intentional as well?

In July 2021, Matthew Crawford published a three-part series^6,7,8 on how the CDC was hiding safety signals. In August 2021, Kirsch also informed the agency of these problems, but was, of course, ignored. Still, “even using their own flawed formula, ‘death’ should have triggered a signal,” he writes. Yet the CDC did not notify the public of what they’d found. Here’s an excerpt from Kirsch article:⁹

“If you want objective proof of total ineptitude by the CDC and the medical community in monitoring the safety of the COVID vaccines, this is the article you’ve been waiting for. We use their numbers and their own algorithm and show that it should have triggered a safety signal for ‘death.’

There is no way they can argue their way out of this one … We need look no further than the vaccine safety signal monitoring formula¹⁰ used by the CDC to prove our point …

The formula the CDC uses for generating safety signals is fundamentally flawed; a ‘bad’ vaccine with lots of adverse events will ‘mask’ large numbers of important safety signals … Let me summarize the key points for you in a nutshell:

PRR [proportional reporting ratio] is defined on page 16 in the CDC document¹¹ as follows …

calculation of proportional reporting ratio

A ‘safety signal’ is defined on page 16 in the CDC document as a PRR of at least 2, chi-squared statistic of at least 4, and 3 or more cases of the AE [adverse event] following receipt of the specific vaccine of interest. This is the famous ‘and clause.’ Here it is from the document:

Only someone who is incompetent or is deliberately trying to make the vaccines look safe would use the word ‘and‘ in the definition of a safety signal. Using ‘and’ means that if any one of the conditions isn’t satisfied, no safety signal will be generated. As noted below, the PRR will rarely trigger which virtually guarantees that most events generated by an unsafe vaccine will never get flagged.

The PRR value for the COVID vaccines will rarely exceed 1 because there are so many adverse events from the COVID vaccine because it is so dangerous (i.e., B in the formula is a huge number) so the numerator is always near zero. Hence, the ‘safety signal’ is rarely triggered because the vaccine is so dangerous.”

A Fictitious Example

Using a fictitious vaccine as the example, Kirsch goes on to explain how an exceptionally dangerous vaccine will fly under the radar and not get flagged, thanks to the CDC’s flawed formula:¹²

“Suppose we have the world’s most dangerous vaccine that causes adverse events in everyone who gets it and generates 25,000 different adverse events, and each adverse event has 1,000 instances.

That means that the numerator is 1,000/25,000,000 which is just 40 events per million reported events. Now let’s look at actuals for something like deaths. For all other vaccines, there are 6,200 deaths and 1 million adverse events total.

Since 40 per million is less than 6,200 deaths per million, we are not even close to generating a safety signal for deaths from our hypothetical vaccine which killed 1,000 people in a year … The point is that a dangerous vaccine can look very ‘safe’ using the PRR formula.”

Calculating Death Signal for COVID Jab

Next, Kirsch calculates the PRR (proportional reporting ratio) for death for the COVID jab, using VAERS data and the CDC’s definitions and formula.

As of December 31, 2019, there were 6,157 deaths and 918,717 adverse events total for all vaccines other than the COVID shot. As of September 23, 2022, there were 31,214 deaths and 1.4 million adverse events total for the COVID jabs. Here’s the formula as explained by Kirsch:¹³

“PRR = (31,214/1.4e6) / (6,157/918,717) = 3.32, which exceeds the required threshold of 2. In other words, the COVID vaccine is so deadly that even with all the adverse events generated by the vaccine, the death signal did not get drowned out!

But there is still the chi-square test. Chi-square test results were 18,549 for ‘death,’ which greatly exceeds the required threshold of 4. The CDC chi-square test is clearly satisfied for the COVID vaccine. Because the death signal is so huge, it even survived the PRR test.

This means that even using the CDCs own erroneous … formula, all three criteria were satisfied:

1. PRR>2 [PRR greater than 2]: It was 3.32

2. Chi-square>2 [Chi-square greater than 2]: It was 18,549

3. 3 or more reports: There were over 31,214 death reports received by VAERS … which is more than 3

A safety signal should have been generated but wasn’t. Why not? … Does anyone care? Hundreds of thousands of American lives have been lost due to the inability of the CDC to deploy their own flawed safety signal analysis …

It’s been known since at least 2004 that using reporting odds ratio (ROR) is a better estimate of relative risk than PRR.¹⁴ I don’t know why the CDC doesn’t use it.”

CDC Cannot Claim It Didn’t Know

The CDC is responsible for monitoring both VAERS and V-Safe, and between these two databases, there’s no possible way they could ever say they didn’t know the shots were harming and killing millions of Americans.

The CDC also has access to other databases, including the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED), which (before it was intentionally altered¹⁵) showed massive increases in debilitating and lethal conditions, including a tripling of cancer cases.¹⁶

The findings in these databases have never been brought forward during any of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meetings or the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) meetings, at which members have repeatedly voted to authorize the jabs to people of all ages, including infants and pregnant women.

If the CDC was in fact monitoring these databases, as required, there’s simply no way they could have continued to authorize these shots based on the data. Is that why these data were never reviewed? Probably. ACIP and VRBPAC members, for whatever reason, simply didn’t want to know the truth. But the CDC has known all along, and there’s no excuse for not sharing and acting on that data.

Help Spread the Word

The media are ignoring all of this — the V-Safe data and the CDC’s failure to act on a clear safety signal (and the signal being death, of all things!), even when using a formula that was flawed from the start. So, spread the word. Everyone needs to know these facts. It’s not speculation, it’s the CDC’s own data.

The CDC needs to explain why they spent our tax dollars to fight the release of the V-Safe data for 15 months, and why they didn’t halt the shots when a “death” signal was evident. The mainstream press, members of Congress, the medical community and Universities also need to explain why they refuse to investigate these CDC data. To that end, here are a few suggestions for how you can help:

Support Sen. Ron Johnson, currently the only senator willing to investigate the truth of the COVID jabs.

Write or call your members of Congress and ask them to investigate the CDC’s safety monitoring. As noted by Kirsch, “You simply cannot have a safety agency not be able to monitor safety.”

Contact your local newspaper and urge them to investigate and report on the V-Safe data, the VAERS data and the CDC’s failure to act when a safety signal was detected.

Share the data on social media and ask why no one in the media, Congress, academia or medical community is investigating these matters.

Share this information with your doctor and members of the medical community.

Also share it with university administrators, and ask them to explain how and why, in light of these facts, they are still mandating COVID shots for their students.

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Why Coffee Affects Metabolism

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Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola
Fact Checked

October 18, 2022Download PDF
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How COVID-19 Is Lowering Life Expectancies Around the World

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COVID-19 has caused an inordinate number of deaths around the world so far, causing life-expectancies to plunge. Historically, countries have recovered from other so-called “mortality shocks,” such as the 1918 flu and two world wars, within one to two years. But the shock of the pandemic is enduring in many places.

A study published Oct. 17 in Nature Human Behavior reviewed life-expectancy trends in 29 countries during 2021, building on previous data the scientists had analyzed from 2020, and found that COVID-19 continued to account for most life-expectancy losses in 2021. But those life-expectancy losses from the pandemic are dissipating in some countries with relatively high rates of vaccination and infection-derived immunity, which both contribute to lower COVID-19 deaths. Four countries in western Europe—Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Sweden—have fully restored their population’s life expectancy back to pre-pandemic levels, and four others have nearly done so, while other countries did not experience additional losses in 2020 compared to 2021. But the U.S. and 11 countries, including many in eastern Europe, continue to record excess mortality.

“We found it was indeed possible for nations to recover from drastic and historic life-expectancy losses,” says Jonas Scholey, research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for demographic research and co-author of the paper. “But within our sample, it was not the norm.”

The reasons for disparities among the countries, not surprisingly, has to do with how resilient their health-care systems are at bouncing back from the burden of caring for COVID-19 patients. It also relates to the countries’ underlying health trends that had been in place before the pandemic.

Since COVID-19 hit people ages 60 and older particularly hard, the countries that recovered best were those that lowered excess mortality among this population most quickly, through successful vaccination campaigns and the capacity to provide antiviral treatments and intensive care. Belgium, which showed the most impressive recovery out of any country studied, was particularly strong in these areas; for people 60 and older, life-expectancy rates dropped about a year in 2020 but went up by about 10 months in 2021, nearly returning to 2019 levels.

The U.S. also improved mortality rates among the elderly in 2021, but those gains were offset by increases in deaths among younger populations, including from gun violence and opioid overdoses. On top of deaths caused by COVID-19, deaths related to other chronic conditions, such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes, also continued to increase, keeping mortality among working-age populations high. Overall, life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by more than two years during the pandemic compared to 2019 levels.

In eastern Europe, persistent losses in life expectancy are likely due to fractured health-care systems that still have not recovered from the overwhelming impact of the pandemic, says Scholey. “I’m not at all optimistic about how fast health-care systems can regenerate from the shock they had to absorb over the past 2.5 years,” he says. “By that I mean people in the health care system as well; some have resigned and others suffer from burnout, and this has an effect on what health systems can do.” Many countries in eastern Europe showed deeper life-expectancy losses in 2021 than in 2020; the populations of Bulgaria and Slovakia, for example, both lost about two years in 2021 due to COVID-19, which is higher than the 18-month and 9-month deficits they recorded, respectively, in 2020.

It’s still too early to determine how big an impact the pandemic will have on life-expectancy long term. It’s also impossible at this point to assess the impact of delayed health care for conditions like cancer and heart disease, which may have an eventual effect on mortality. Experts expect the consequences of people skipping or not getting treatments because of COVID-19 to emerge in mortality and life-expectancy trends in the next few years.

Still, with more of the world’s population now vaccinated, it’s possible that in the coming year, some of the life-expectancy losses in countries could begin to reverse, says Scholey. “I am cautiously optimistic that the excess deaths this winter [from COVID-19] won’t be as pronounced in many countries as they have been over the last two years. But with a virus as unpredictable as SARS-CoV-2, “we’ll have to see.”

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Scones | Mark’s Daily Apple

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pumpkin scones with frosting There’s nothing better than enjoying a fresh scone with your morning coffee or tea. Since fall is now in full swing it’s only appropriate that even morning scones have a hint of pumpkin. Not only does pumpkin mix well with spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamon but there are also numerous health benefits to pumpkin. Plus, this recipe for pumpkin scones calls for almond flour, making it gluten-free. If you’re looking for more texture, add chopped nuts to the scone dough like pecans or walnuts.

How to make gluten-free pumpkin scones

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, combine the milk and vinegar and let rest for about 5 minutes. While you’re waiting combine the almond flour, 5.5 tablespoons of tapioca, sugar, coconut flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and cut the butter into the flour mixture using a fork or pastry cutter. In the end, the butter should be in very tiny pieces incorporated into the flour and the resulting flour should look like crumbly sand.

bowl of almond flour mixed with butter

Add the milk mixture, pumpkin and vanilla to the bowl and mix together with a spatula or spoon until just combined. Let the dough rest for 2-3 minutes. Place a piece of parchment or a silicone mat on a sheet pan and sprinkle the remaining tapioca starch on it. Scoop the dough out on the pan and form it into a ball. Form the dough into a flattened round disk about an inch or so thick. Use a large knife to cut the disk into 6 or 8 sections.

Dough for pumpkin scones on parchment

Place the pan in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and use a knife to cut deeper into the slices. Place the pan back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven again and use the knife to carefully separate the cut sections so each scone is a separate triangle so each side of the scone can be exposed to the heat in the oven. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until the undersides of the scones are slightly golden. Let the scones cool before handling them.

Unfrosted pumpkin scones

Enjoy the scones as is, or drizzle them with your choice of melted coconut butter mixed with stevia or monkfruit drops, or an icing made from powdered sugar or sugar substitute like powdered erythritol and milk.

gluten free pumpkin scones

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Description

There’s nothing better than enjoying a fresh scone with your morning coffee or tea. Since fall is now in full swing it’s only appropriate that even morning scones have a hint of pumpkin.

1 1/3 cup fine almond flour

6 Tbsp tapioca starch

5.5 Tbsp coconut sugar (or you can use any granulated sugar substitute)

2.5 Tbsp coconut flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

Pinch of salt

5 Tbsp very cold salted butter, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup milk of choice

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the milk and vinegar and let rest for about 5 minutes.
Combine the almond flour, 5.5 tablespoons of tapioca, sugar, coconut flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and cut the butter into the flour mixture using a fork or pastry cutter. In the end, the butter should be in very tiny pieces incorporated into the flour and the resulting flour should look like crumbly sand.
Add the milk mixture, pumpkin and vanilla to the bowl and mix together with a spatula or spoon until just combined. Let the dough rest for 2-3 minutes.
Place a piece of parchment or a silicone mat on a sheet pan and sprinkle the remaining tapioca starch on it. Scoop the dough out on the pan and form it into a ball. Form the dough into a flattened round disk about an inch or so thick. Use a large knife to cut the disk into 6 or 8 sections.
Place the pan in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and use a knife to cut deeper into the slices. Place the pan back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven again and use the knife to carefully separate the cut sections so each scone is a separate triangle so each side of the scone can be exposed to the heat in the oven.
Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until the undersides of the scones are slightly golden. Let the scones cool before handling them.
Enjoy the scones as is, or drizzle them with your choice of melted coconut butter mixed with stevia or monkfruit drops, or an icing made from powdered sugar or sugar substitute like powdered erythritol and milk.

Notes

To reduce the carb count, use a granulated sugar substitute in lieu of the coconut sugar. Brown sugar swerve is a good option.

For more texture, add chopped nuts to the scone dough like pecans or walnuts.

To make a sugar icing, sift about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar or powdered sugar substitute (powdered erythritol, swerve or lakanto monkfruit sweetener) into a bowl and add in your milk of choice 1/2 teaspoon at a time until a thin paste forms. Drizzle all over the scones.

To make a coconut butter icing, melt your coconut butter, then add drops of stevia or monkfruit sweetener to taste. Drizzle the melted coconut butter all over the scones.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
Calories: 327.5
Sugar: 12.7g
Sodium: 245.9mg
Fat: 23.3g
Saturated Fat: 7.5g
Trans Fat: 0.39g
Carbohydrates: 27.2g
Fiber: 4.3g
Protein: 6.3g
Cholesterol: 25.4mg
Net Carbs: 22.83g

Keywords: gluten free pumpkin scones

About the Author

A food blogger, recipe developer, and personal chef based in Missouri, Priscilla specializes in low-carb, Paleo, gluten-free, keto, vegetarian, and low FODMAP cooking. See what she’s cooking on Priscilla Cooks, and follow her food adventures on Instagram and Pinterest.

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Watch Devin Burger Make a 1,100-Pound Silver Dollar Deadlift Look Easy

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On Sept. 3, 2022, athlete Devin Burger showed off his strength by completing a 498.9-kilogram (1,100-pound) Silver Dollar deadlift during the United States Strongest (USS) Texas Strongest Veteran competition. According to Burger’s Instagram profile and the official results, the massive Silver Dollar deadlift is a Texas State record for an 18-inch deadlift in the under-275-kilogram weight class. Burger wore knee sleeves, a lifting belt, and utilized lifting straps to help him with this deadlift.

Given the ease with which Burger seemingly completes his pull, the athlete could vault himself up the Silver Dollar deadlift annals soon enough. That’s because his achievement compares well with his peers. If Burger had competed and managed his pull during the recent 2022 World Deadlift Council (WDC) World Silver Dollar Championships, his 1,100-pound milestone would’ve ranked fifth among all his peers. Ben Thompson set a then-World Record of 577.2 kilograms (1,272.5 pounds) during the contest in a first-place performance.

Notably, the Silver Dollar record has changed several times in the 2022 calendar year.

Thompson’s record from mid-May 2022 eclipsed Sean Hayes’ former record mark, who pulled 560 kilograms (1,235-pound) Silver dollar deadlift during the 2022 Strongman Corporation Canada King & Queen Of The Throne contest. Hayes had previously surpassed Anthony Pernice’s past figure of 550 kilograms (1,212 pounds) from the 2020 USS Farm Strong Record Breaker. Estonian Strongman Rauno Heinla captured the current World Record with a pull of 579.7 kilograms (1,278 pounds) at the 2022 Silver Dollar Deadlift Estonian Championship in early June.

Burger has a long way to go before he can start challenging the new record. However, given the context, he seems to be on the right track.

Though he competes on a domestic level, at the time of this writing, Burger does not appear to possess any significant international competitive strongman experience. A general perusal of Burger’s social media showcases the athlete performing and training various traditional strongman staples like the Log Press and Atlas Stones.

When he’s not preparing for strongman competition, Burger spends much of his time working as a certified personal trainer. The athlete appears to run his own independent business entitled “Camp Gladiator,” where he offers coaching centered around a prospective person’s nutrition and fitness. According to his Instagram bio, Burger characterizes his personal training as a means to “help normal people with health and fitness.”

At the time of this article’s publication, Burger doesn’t have any pending strongman contests on his plate. With his Silver Dollar deadlift feat in mind, the athlete might be someone to watch in the future.

Featured image: @thegainzfairy on Instagram

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COVID-19 Variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1: What to Know

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With another potential COVID-19 surge looming, experts are turning their attention to a pair of new variants that are steadily spreading: BQ.1 and BQ.1.1.

Both BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 descended from BA.5, an Omicron subvariant that currently accounts for about 68% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But BA.5’s relatives are quickly gaining ground. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 each accounted for 5.7% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. during the week ending Oct. 15, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Combined, that’s about 11% of new cases nationwide. In New York and New Jersey, the total proportion was closer to 20%. A few weeks ago, these variants barely showed up on the CDC’s tracker, which suggests they’re able to spread fast.

Of the two, BQ.1.1 is more concerning, says Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a close watcher of COVID-19 research. Both have a number of mutations relative to BA.5, but BQ.1.1 is “just riddled with troublesome mutations” that could “pose a threat to our immune system’s response,” Topol says.

If there’s any good news about BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, it’s related to vaccination. The new Omicron-specific boosters were designed to target BA.4 and BA.5, and preliminary research suggests they stoke an effective immune response. Since BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are both related to BA.5, the new shots will “almost certainly” provide some cross protection, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News. That’s yet another reason to get boosted, which less than 10% of eligible Americans have reportedly done so far.

It’s too soon to say exactly how the bivalent boosters will work against newer strains like these, but Topol encourages anyone eligible to get one. “That’s the best thing you can do right now to arm up against any of these new variants,” Topol says. “Just keep your immune system as primed and ready as possible.”

More research is needed about BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, but a study posted online in October (which has not yet been peer-reviewed) warned that “current herd immunity and BA.5 vaccine boosters may not provide sufficiently broad protection against infection” as the virus continues to evolve. The researchers found that BQ.1.1 is able to evade antibodies from past BA.5 infections, which suggests it may also be able to dodge protection from vaccines. The study also found that monoclonal antibody drugs—including Evusheld, which is used to protect people who are immunocompromised and do not respond well to COVID-19 vaccines—are less effective against BQ.1.1, compared to earlier strains of the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recently warned health care providers that Evusheld may not neutralize all variants of SARS-CoV-2.

While vaccines and boosters are currently the best tools we have to fight COVID-19, the emergence of the BQ variants is further proof that they’re not enough to fully shield people from sickness. If an evasive variant like BQ.1 or BQ.1.1 spreads widely this winter, and some lines of defense are rendered less effective, other precautions like masking and avoiding crowded indoor areas may be necessary to protect against infection.

19-Year-Old Powerlifter Sam Sikora (105KG) Scores 4 Personal Competition Records

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Sam Sikora started competitive powerlifting roughly a year ago, in March 2021. With a mix of learning experiences and great flourishes, it seems the 19-year-old athlete is only improving. His latest performance might be something to put a pin in for the future.

On Oct. 15, 2022, Sikora shared a post on his Instagram detailing his complete performance at the 2022 Powerlifting America (AMP) Elite Season Classic. (Note: The contest occurred on the same day in Kenmore, NY.) In a first-place outing in the Men’s Raw Junior 105-kilogram weight class, Sikora logged a personal record (PR) on each of his staple lifts, eventually finishing with a 712.5-kilogram (1,570.8-pound) raw PR total.

Notably, the entirety of Sikora’s performance saw the athlete successfully lock out all nine attempts (three each, respectively) on his squat, bench press, and deadlift. Sikora wore a lifting belt for each lift and had additional wrist wraps on during his squat and bench press.

Here’s a complete overview of Sikora’s performance at the 2022 AMP Elite Season Classic:

Sam Sikora (105KG) Junior | 2022 AMP Elite Season Classic Top Stats

Squat — 275 kilograms (606.3 pounds)
Bench Press — 167.5 kilograms (369.3 pounds)
Deadlift — 270 kilograms (595.2 pounds)
Total — 712.5 kilograms (1,570.8 pounds)

In what might be Sikora’s best showing to date, the athlete shattered each of his previous raw all-time competition bests. According to Open Powerlifting, his new top squat is 25 kilograms (55.2 pounds) more than his past top mark. His top bench press is 22.4 kilograms (50 pounds) more than his previous best figure. His top deadlift is 15.1 pounds more than his past competition PR. Finally, Sikora’s total is an astonishing 62.5 kilograms (138 pounds) more than his best ever.

Each of these previous marks was from the 2022 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Teen Nationals in late March 2022, showcasing how far Sikora has come with his strength and training in roughly half a year’s time. In Sikora’s Instagram post, the athlete detailed that the lead-up to the 2022 AMP Elite Season Classic was his “first perfect prep” since his competitive debut and that he had “no failures.” He has the results to show for it.

Here’s a rundown of the complete results from Sikora’s career to date:

Sam Sikora | Complete Career Results

2021 USAPL Madness Open — Fifth place (Open); First place (Teen)
2021 USAPL High School and Teen National Championships (Varsity) — 16th place
2021 USAPL Michigan State Championships — 10th place (Open); First place (Teen)
2022 USAPL Teen Nationals (Teen) — Eighth place

Sikora is wasting no time preparing for his next contest. The athlete wrote that he next plans to compete in the 2023 AMP High School Nationals. Those will take place on March 31-April 2, 2023, in Scranton, PA. Judging by how he fared with time between his last competition, the ascending Sikora may well shatter his competition bests once more come next year.

Featured image: @samsikk on Instagram

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Hearing Aids Are Now Sold Over the Counter: What to Know

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On Oct. 17, hearing aids approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) became available over the counter for the first time, for potentially thousands of dollars less than prescription hearing aids. Many experts are hopeful that opening the market up will spur the creation of innovative new devices, bring down costs, and encourage hearing-aid use in a country where only a fraction of older adults who are hard of hearing use hearing aids.

What do these expanded options mean for people who are thinking about buying a hearing aid? For now, experts say there’s still a lot we don’t know—including which devices will be announced in the coming months and how much prices may fluctuate on the new market. However, over-the-counter hearing aids could make a big difference in your life if you have mild or moderate hearing loss. Here’s what you need to know.

When will over-the-counter hearing aids be available at stores?

The first over-the-counter hearing aids are available online and in-person at some stores, including pharmacies like Walgreens, beginning this week.

Walmart announced on Oct. 17 that hearing aids will be available at its website, at Walmart Vision Centers in certain states (although the company plans to eventually offer these services nationwide) and at more than 400 Sam’s Club Hearing Aid Center locations.

More stores are expected to announce that they’ll be carrying over-the-counter hearing aids in the coming weeks. Best Buy, for instance, announced on Oct. 17 that it will open hearing centers in 300 stores by the end of the month. Best Buy customers can also use an online hearing assessment tool and buy their products online.

Should I buy an over-the-counter hearing aid?

Over-the-counter hearing aids are intended for people with mild to moderate hearing loss, so the first step is determining whether you are eligible for one.

People with mild or moderate hearing loss tend to have difficulty hearing when talking with people in a group or when there’s background noise, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. Another sign is needing to turn the volume up on the television or phone. A signal of more severe hearing loss is finding it difficult to hear when you’re having a one-on-one conversation with someone in a quiet environment. For more guidance, the Hearing Loss Association of America has a helpful checklist of potential signs.

An audiologist can help you to determine your level of hearing loss, says Nicholas Reed, an audiologist at Johns Hopkins University. These tests, unlike hearing-aid fittings, are also typically covered by insurance. Other tests are available through apps, including SonicCloud. Reed says hearing tests can be helpful, as people tend to be bad at sensing how much their hearing has changed. “Hearing loss happens really slowly, really insidiously,” he says. “And the truth is, your brain is good at not picking up those kinds of changes.”

People who are more tech-savvy may also be better equipped to buy an over-the-counter hearing aid, since the devices require tinkering to get the fit and levels right, says Dr. Catherine Palmer, director of audiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

If you’re not, Reed suggests considering bringing your over-the-counter device to an audiologist to get some help using it. “It’s easy to set yourself on the wrong path,” says Reed. “If you’re at all confused or not super tech savvy, an audiologist could help.”

How much do over-the-counter hearing aids cost? What about prescription hearing aids?

The cost of hearing aids can vary dramatically. Over-the-counter hearing aids can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands.

Hearing aids that require a prescription typically cost a few thousand dollars on average for a pair, according to the FDA, although that price is often bundled with other services, including the cost of having the device fitted by an audiologist.

Are over-the-counter hearing aids covered by insurance?

Medicare does not cover hearing aids or hearing aid fittings, although some Medicare Advantage plans offer some coverage. Some private insurance companies cover hearing aids, but not all. Check with your insurance provider to see if you’re covered under your individual plan.

Are more expensive hearing aids always better than cheaper ones?

More expensive hearing aids may come with specialized features, such as being smaller in size and having a smoother user experience, says Reed. However, now that over-the-counter hearing aids have been FDA approved, Reed says that buyers can feel reassured that the products are held to a standard, and less-expensive hearing aids should be able to fit your basic needs if you have moderate or mild hearing loss. If you’re not that comfortable with technology, Reed says, you might even be happier with a simpler (and less pricey) device. “There’s almost no evidence that cost is related to outcomes,” says Reed.

How should I choose an over-the-counter hearing aid?

Hearing is a bit like a “fingerprint,” says Reed. That means hearing loss is a little bit different for everyone—and that hearing aids won’t work the same for everyone.

Over-the-counter hearing aids come in two main types, says Palmer. The first is a self-fitting device, which users typically modify by connecting the device to an application on their smartphone, and then tuning it by listening to sounds. To operate the other type—called a simple modifier—users can manually control volume and sometimes the bass and treble of sounds.

It’s important to buy a device with a warranty so that you can return it if the device doesn’t work for you or your lifestyle, Palmer says. “Until the person uses the device, they will not know if it will meet their needs,” she says. Under the FDA regulation, the packaging must state if your device can be returned. Reed also suggests checking whether the device comes with robust customer support, which can help you learn to use the device and address any problems.

How to Manage MS with Exercise and Eating Well

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By Laura Wells, as told to Rachel Reiff Ellis

When I was diagnosed with MS at 39, I would say my focus on my health was sporadic. I had young kids at the time, and my diet and exercise habits were all over the place. Before kids, I’d jog a few times a week, or get on the treadmill or bike. I’d also work in some weight training. But after the kids came along, I no longer did much regular physical activity. I was focused more on my kids’ schedules and needs than my own.

Once the kids were older, I began to have more time and attention for healthy eating, but my worsening MS symptoms were a real barrier to moving my body the way I once could. Because of my fatigue and balance issues, I could no longer jog or even go for long walks. So I started trying to figure out what I could do for myself. I decided to turn to yoga — something I used to do years ago.

I started by going to classes twice a week, but even that got hard for me, because keeping myself steady is so challenging. I was constantly worried that I might fall over and embarrass myself trying to do a Standing Warrior pose. And then I discovered one-on-one sessions. My instructor was so good about modifying any pose I needed help with. She’d show me how to use a wall or chair for support. These changes in my yoga practice meant I could do a little bit of exercise daily, which has turned out to be an important key to my well-being.

When I challenge my body to do small spurts of intentional movement every day, it keeps me stronger both mentally and physically. It’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole thinking about all the things you can’t do when you have MS. So if I can do even just 15 to 20 minutes of yoga a day, it can go a long way.

I’m also fortunate that I live in an area with access to a physical therapist who specializes in MS. She’s been amazing at showing me exercises that can strengthen the weak parts of my legs and help me work on my stability.

When it comes to healthy eating habits, my philosophy has always been everything in moderation. I know a lot of people who have tried special diets, but I just try to fill my plate with a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and eat fewer packaged and processed foods. My downfall is my sweet tooth, which I’ve always had. And sugar causes inflammation, which can ramp up MS symptoms. But being aware of how foods make me feel helps a lot. I know that I feel better when I eat a salad for lunch instead of something carb-filled. So I try not to overdo it in any unhealthy category.

It’s funny, because while MS has worsened my physical balance, it’s forced me to find balance in my day-to-day life. I’ve always been someone who feels guilty if I’m not doing or helping, or being productive. But it’s become clear that it’s not only OK to relax, it’s necessary. Fatigue is one of the main symptoms of MS, and being more mindful of my activity levels is one of the ways I keep my stress low and help manage that symptom.

It’s no longer an option for me to stay up too late at night or pack my schedule so full that I don’t have downtime. If I don’t take time to sit still and read or listen to music, go for a relaxing stroll, or take a nap, I won’t be able to function. My brain will simply hit a wall. I call it “pea soup brain.” Now, I’m really good about going to bed at the same time every night, and taking a nap every single day. Not a long nap — just enough so my body can finish the rest of the day strong. I’ve learned that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else.

I’ve also found that it’s important to celebrate small successes. The more I can embrace who I am and what I’m able to achieve, the better my mental outlook. If I’m able to do one more set of leg-strengthening exercises today than I was yesterday, that’s cause for celebration. It may not look like much to anybody else. But to me, it’s an accomplishment.

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Can I Drink Alcohol if I Have MS?

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When it comes to your multiple sclerosis (MS), you want to do what’s best for your body. But you wonder about alcohol. Is it OK to enjoy a drink from time to time? Or is alcohol completely off the table? The answer is a little more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Don’t Overdo It

“For most people with MS, the answer is to use alcohol in moderation,” says Jennifer Graves, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurosciences and director of the Neuroimmunology Research Program at the University of California, San Diego.

According to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, that means no more than one drink a day if you’re a woman or two if you’re a man.

“Regularly having several drinks could worsen neurological damage and function for patients living with MS, but a glass of wine or single beer at dinner is unlikely to cause significant issues,” says Graves.

Alcohol is neither all good nor all bad. For example, the antioxidants and flavonoids in red wine may actually lower your risk of heart disease, which is a concern when you have MS. But this isn’t a reason to start drinking if you don’t already. These compounds are in other food and drink, says Graves.

And in case you’re wondering if past alcohol use may have caused your MS, set your worries aside.

“Based on data available, that’s unlikely,” says Graves.

Alcohol’s Effect on MS Symptoms

If you do decide to enjoy an occasional glass of wine or beer, know that it could ramp up certain symptoms of MS. Even one drink can make issues like unsteadiness worse.

“If you have a lot of trouble with balance, thinking, or memory symptoms from MS, it may be better to avoid alcohol altogether,” says Graves.

Alcohol can also lead to sleep problems and worsen bladder symptoms. You also raise your risk of other conditions when you drink alcohol, especially if you drink too much. Your chances of certain cancers, high cholesterol, and stroke go up. Some of these conditions can make your MS worse overall, says Graves, so doing what you can to keep them from happening is important.

Several medications used to treat MS symptoms like pain, headache, insomnia, and depression don’t mix well with alcohol. “Combining these medications with drinks could lead to excessive sedation and health risks,” says Graves.

Be sure to ask your doctor how your specific treatments might act with alcohol so you know what to look for.

Short and Sweet

Remember that everyone with MS is different. Have an honest conversation with your doctor about your habits so you can make smart decisions for yourself.

It’s likely fine for you to celebrate with a glass of bubbly, add a nice red to your meal, or enjoy a beer while you watch the game. Just know your limits and try your best to stay within them.

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