New survey on vaccine mandates, antidepressant Fluvoxamine could treat COVID-19

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released the results of a new survey on vaccines and vaccine mandates Thursday. The key findings included information regarding children and vaccines:

• 27% of parents of 5-11-year-olds are eager to get their kid or kids vaccinated as soon as a vaccine is available.
• 31% of parents say they will definitely not have their 12-17-year-olds get vaccinated.
• 30% of parents say they will definitely not have their 5-11-year-olds get vaccinated.

“Parents’ main concerns when it comes to vaccinating their younger children ages 5-11 have to do with potential unknown long-term effects and serious side effects of the vaccine, including two-thirds who are concerned the vaccine may affect their child’s future fertility,” KFF said. “With talk of possible school vaccine mandates, over half (53%) of parents are worried their child may be required to get vaccinated for COVID-19 even if they don’t want them to.”

The survey also took a look at vaccine mandates in the workplace. Here’s part of what they found:

• 25% of workers say their employer has required them to get the COVID-19 vaccine, up 16 percentage points since June.
• 37% of unvaccinated workers (5% of adults overall) say they would leave their job if their employer required them to get a vaccine or get tested weekly.
• 70% of unvaccinated workers (9% of all adults) would leave if weekly testing is not an option.

The results of the survey on vaccine mandates were released a day after a new study found cheap antidepressants reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19. That study was published in the journal Lancet Global Health.

Researchers tested fluvoxamine in nearly 1,500 Brazilians. About half of those got fluvoxamine, with the rest getting a dummy pill. In the group that took the drug, 11% needed hospitalization or an extended ER stay, compared to 16% of those on dummy pills.

Fluvoxamine would cost $4 for a course of COVID-19 treatment. By comparison, antibody IV treatments cost about $2,000 and Merck’s experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 is about $700 per course.

Researchers have shared the results with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and they hope for a World Health Organization recommendation. Some experts predict fluvoxamine could be a part of various treatments that will eventually be used in combination to fight COVID-19.