As New Yorkers Emerge From Pandemic, So Do Rodents; Bill Allowing Preteen Vaccines Without Parental OK Advances, and other C-Virus related stories

Richard Drew—AP

As New Yorkers Emerge From Pandemic, So Do Rodents:

They crawled to the surface as the coronavirus pandemic roiled New York City, scurrying out of subterranean nests into the open air, feasting on a smorgasbord of scraps in streets, parks and mounds of curbside garbage. As diners shunned the indoors for outdoor dining, so did the city’s rats.

Now city data suggests that sightings are more frequent than they’ve been in a decade.

Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings to the city’s 311 service request line. That’s up from about 6,150 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

In each of the first four months of 2022, the number of sightings was the highest recorded since at least 2010, the first year online records are available. By comparison, there were about 10,500 sightings in all of 2010 and 25,000 such reports in all of last year (sightings are most frequent during warm months).

Whether the rat population has increased is up for debate, but the pandemic might have made the situation more visible.

With more people spending time outdoors as temperatures grow warmer, will rat sightings further surge? --->READ MORE HERE

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File 

Bill allowing preteen vaccines without parental OK advances:

A California measure that would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent, including against the coronavirus, cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday.

If the proposal becomes law, California would allow the youngest age group of any state to be vaccinated without parental permission.

Minors age 12 to 17 in California currently cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardians, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. California state law already allows people 12 and older to consent to the Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.

The bill that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee would lift the parental requirement for that age group for any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener said his bill “will empower teenagers to protect their own health by getting vaccinated,” but it was opposed by dozens of people who called into the committee hearing for well over an hour. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

'Overwhelming' exhaustion: COVID leaves 66% of working parents burnt out, study suggests

Sweden saw fewer COVID-19 deaths than majority of Europe

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

If you like what you see, please "Like" and/or Follow us on FACEBOOK here, GETTR here, and TWITTER here.