Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 10-08-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for October 8th, 2021.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>With the number of those killed by COVID having surpassed 700,000, among that number is a bonus tragedy. A study shows the number of children in the U.S. who were made orphans or partial orphans by the pandemic is larger than first believed. More than 120,000 lost a primary guardian or caregiver. Black and Hispanic children have experienced this the most.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Finland joined Sweden and Denmark in halting the use of Moderna’s vaccine as a precautionary measure for men born in 1991 and later. This because of concerns about reports of possible rare cardiovascular side effects like myocarditis and pericarditis. Finland will give those young citizens the Pfizer vaccine instead.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Is the pandemic leading to diplomacy? The World Health Organization has shipped COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea. It’s the kind of help that isolated nation rarely accepts. Those supplies are still sitting in quarantine at a seaport, but still. North Korea had severely restricted cross-border traffic and trade for the past two years despite an already crippled economy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>We told you yesterday about how police officers are among the most reluctant profession to get vaccinated. Well New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio doesn’t care. He’s considering expanding his mandates on teachers and school employees to police officers, firefighters, and correction officers. The Mayor called them the “other pieces of the puzzle.” </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It’s widely considered unethical to refuse to treat someone because they smoke. But a Colorado woman is being denied a kidney transplant unless she gets vaccinated. The 56-year-old may not last long without the surgery and is quite confused that her hospital is so insistent on protecting her from COVID, that they’re willing to watch her die from her kidney condition. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In the United States cases were down 23%, deaths are down 13%, a