Sun Bay Photo Contest September 29, 2023 - October 5, 2023 The Sun Bay Paper Page 10 This week’s selection was taken by Carol Matthews “Here is a beach shot of the Ruddy Turnstone from Lovers Key. This is a shorebird that looks almost like a calico cat. The Ruddy Turnstone's orange legs and uniquely patterned black and white head and chest make them easy to pick out of a crowd. Their wing pattern is beautiful in flight!” Simple contest rules: 1) Photo must be taken in Lee, Collier, or Charlotte County. 2) Photo must include location where the photo was taken. Include your full name and phone number in your email. 3) You can only submit photos you yourself have taken and have full rights to. It must have been previously unpublished and by submitting any photo, you are giving Sun Bay Paper full rights to publish in print and on the Internet. Send to: production@sunbaypaper.com. Photos taken in the highest resolution will look crisper and cleaner, so we suggest you take them in the best resolution your camera allows. Winners will be awarded Bragging Rights, knowing they won amongst all the entries that week. We save unused submissions for future consideration, but if you didn’t win, you can always submit another! FDAAccused of Going "Rogue" Over New COVID-19 Boosters By Sun Bay Paper Staff Virologist Dr. Robert Malone has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), accusing the agency of deviating from its own rules and regulations by recommending new COVID-19 boosters with limited clinical trial data regarding their efficacy and safety. In a recent interview, Dr. Malone described the FDA's actions as going "rogue." Dr. Malone's comments came on the same day the FDA cleared new COVID-19 vaccines to address waning vaccine effectiveness. He argued that the absence of human clinical trial data demonstrating the effectiveness and safety of these updated vaccines should have prevented their approval. According to Dr. Malone, the FDA authorized the new vaccines based on the premise that "neutralizing antibodies as detected in mice and their cross-reactivity are correlative protection," which he labeled as a falsehood since there are no established correlates of protection for SARS-CoV-2. The FDA approved Moderna’s and Pfizer’s new mRNA vaccines on September 11 without analyzing data from human trials. The agency stated that its decision was supported by its assessment of “manufacturing data” from vaccine producers and “non-clinical immune response data on the updated formulations.” It argued that the benefit-risk profile of earlier vaccine versions is well understood and that the new vaccines are a good match for current COVID-19 variants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended these new vaccines on September 12, urging almost all Americans to get them, including children as young as six months old. The new vaccines target the XBB.1.5 sub-type of the Omicron variant, although this subvariant has largely been replaced by newer strains of the virus. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida's Surgeon General, expressed concern about the limited data and suggested people might be better off without the new shots. He pointed to studies showing the waning effectiveness of previous vaccines over time and raised questions about their safety. CDC Director Mandy Cohen defended the vaccines as effective tools against the virus and stated that they had undergone extensive clinical trials and monitoring for safety. However, critics, including some doctors, have questioned the need for these boosters in younger, healthy individuals. Dr. Ladapo encouraged people to make decisions based on their own judgment and truth, emphasizing the importance of listening to their intuition. A study from January to July 2023 found that individuals who received new COVID-19 booster shots in California state prisons were more likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who did not receive the boosters. The infection rate among the booster-receiving group was 3.2%, higher than the 2.7% among the unvaccinated. The CDC also recently conceded that the new BA.2.86 strain could cause infections even in individuals previously vaccinated against COVID-19. The agency expressed concerns about the variant's mutations potentially enabling greater evasion of existing immunity from vaccines and prior infections compared to previous variants.
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