The Week in Review provides an overview of the past week’s top health care content, including industry news and trends, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Laboratories news, and upcoming events.

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Industry News

COVID Delta Surge Puts Strain On Minnesota Hospitals: ‘Everybody’s Exhausted’

Minnesota health care leaders say they’re struggling right now with the surge from the COVID-19 delta variant. As hospital beds continue to fill up, the strain on the system is affecting both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. State data shows the surge is smaller as of yet than previous ones during the pandemic. But Kate Mudrey-Wilsman, an ICU nurse at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, says the patients she’s treating are younger than they’ve ever been — and being hospitalized for longer. She says every COVID-19 patient in her ICU is unvaccinated, except one. Via WCCO

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Are Delta Symptoms Different?

We asked experts to describe the most prevalent symptoms they’re seeing right now among people with Covid-19. Via New York Times

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Moderna Completes Submission For Full FDA Approval Of Vaccine

Moderna said Wednesday that it has completed its submission of data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine. The rolling submission of data to the FDA had begun in June, but is now complete. The completed submission comes two days after the FDA announced that it had given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine. Via The Hill

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Mayo Clinic News

Who qualifies for a 3rd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine?

The term booster and 3rd dose are used interchangeably, but Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Melanie Swift says calling it a booster is misleading. People who start getting vaccinated from now on should expect to get a 3rd dose 28 days after their 2nd. According to medical experts, you should get the 3rd dose at the earliest 28 days after your 2nd dose. “There are many vaccines that require multiple doses in order to trigger an immune reaction that is protective. That's called a primary series," Swift said. "Over time, our immunity may wane. It may be years later, but we may need a booster dose. A booster dose is not given to achieve immunity in the first place, it is given to remind your immune system to boost immunity.” Via First Coast News

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Mayo Clinic infectious disease physician applauds FDA's full approval of Pfizer vaccine

An infectious disease physician at Mayo Clinic is applauding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the Pfizer vaccine. Dr. Abinash Virk told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the move should have a "very positive" effect on increasing the number of people willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. "I have personally heard from patients saying they want to wait for the full approval before they get the vaccine," Virk said. "So, this is awesome because more and more people, hopefully, will feel comfortable to come out and get the vaccine so they are at least protected." Virk said the full FDA approval of Pfizer will likely be followed by the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Via KAAL

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How to choose and care for your kid’s masks

Emily Levy, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic, concurred. Levy noted that even health care professionals treating active covid-19 patients only wear N95 masks during procedures such as intubation; otherwise, they are in surgical masks. “An N95 is a medical grade mask. It has never been tested in children for safety or efficacy," Levy says. “We don’t have much safety or efficacy data for children with different facial structures and respiratory patterns [than adults].” This includes the KN95s and KF94s. Although there are many masks that appear to fit children and are called KN95 or KF94, they often have not been regulated by a governing body in the United States. Via Washington Post

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