Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 10-12-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for October 12th, 2021.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Merck asked U.S. regulators yesterday to authorize the pill it has for treating COVID. If they hear what they want to hear from the FDA, and that could happen in a few weeks, that’d be the first pill shown to treat the illness. There are other drugs, but they require an IV or injection. Merck said earlier this month the pill cut hospitalizations and deaths by half among patients with early symptoms.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile AstraZeneca's antibody cocktail against COVID, already shown to work as a preventative shot in the non-infected, was also shown to save lives and prevent severe disease when used as treatment within a week of first symptoms.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Two new studies indicate pregnant women who develop Covid symptoms risk emergency complications and additional problems, and the disease puts their babies at risk. Of the 100 Covid-positive moms who delivered babies between March and September of 2020 at one Texas hospital, 58% of those with symptomatic infections delivered in emergency circumstances. For those with an asymptomatic case, 46% did.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It’s a sure way to fight Covid…sue people. A parent in southern Wisconsin has sued their school district after her son got Covid-19 from a classmate. She’s upset the board removed a student mask requirement and other Covid-19 mitigation measures in May. Her son, who was wearing a mask, sat next to a kid who had symptoms and was infected regardless. The suit calls for the district to comply with CDC guidelines.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Do you habitually smoke weed? Never mind, you don’t have to tell me. But you should know a study from an arm of the National Institutes of Health says the risk of getting a coronavirus breakthrough infection in the U.S. may be 7.8% higher among those who habitually smoke weed. The risk is also there, but a little lower, for those with tobacco use disorder.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In the United States cases were