Covid News Watch
Americans Deserve the Truth About the Overcounting of COVID Deaths + More
Americans Deserve the Truth About the Overcounting of COVID Deaths
Los Angeles Daily News reported:
For nearly three years, we have lived under a regime of “health officer orders,” accompanied by piles of data telling us the precise number of “cases” and “deaths due to COVID.” Analytical creations to count “transmission” and “community spread” were formulated to explain the supposed need to impose unprecedented restrictions on the population.
The “emergency,” which was said to be justified by the risk that hospitals would be overwhelmed, has continued for years longer than any credible threat that hospitals might be overwhelmed. Throughout it all, the public was told continuously that people are dying in frightening numbers “due to COVID.”
CNN medical analyst and Washington Post columnist Dr. Leana Wen was one of the most alarmist COVID “experts” throughout the pandemic, consistently arguing for the tightest restrictions on freedom and the nastiest treatment of people who chose not to receive the emergency-use-authorized vaccines. So it was something of a news event when she wrote a recent column titled, “We are overcounting COVID deaths and hospitalizations. That’s a problem.”
Massachusetts took additional measures to determine how many hospitalized patients “with” COVID were there “due to” COVID. The state requires hospitals to report how many COVID-positive patients receive a particular drug, dexamethasone, which is a standard treatment for the type of lung inflammation induced by COVID. The result? Only about 30% of patients hospitalized “with” COVID were hospitalized “for” COVID.
CDC Aware of Reports of ‘Debilitating Illnesses’ After COVID Vaccination: Official
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials are aware of reports of long-lasting problems following COVID-19 vaccination, an official recently disclosed. “With respect to reports of people experiencing debilitating illnesses, we are aware of these reports of people experiencing long-lasting health problems following COVID vaccination,” Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, director of the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office, said on Jan. 26.
Shimabukuro was speaking during a Jan. 26 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meeting that discussed COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Dr. Hayley Gans, a pediatrics professor at Stanford University Medical Center, had asked how federal authorities were tracking problems that have cropped up after vaccination and might not be “amenable” to rapid cycle analysis, or one way of monitoring vaccine safety.
Shimabukuro’s comments are unusual among federal officials, who have been reluctant to connect adverse events with the COVID-19 vaccines. U.S. officials have only acknowledged a handful of serious adverse events as being caused by one or more COVID-19 vaccines.
Vaccine Makers Kept $1.4 Billion in Prepayments for Canceled COVID Shots for the World’s Poor
The New York Times via Yahoo!Finance reported:
As global demand for COVID-19 vaccines dries up, the program responsible for vaccinating the world’s poor has been urgently negotiating to try to get out of its deals with pharmaceutical companies for shots it no longer needs.
Drug companies have so far declined to refund $1.4 billion in advance payments for now-canceled doses, according to confidential documents obtained by The New York Times.
Gavi, the international immunization organization that bought the shots on behalf of the global COVID vaccination program, COVAX, has said little publicly about the costs of canceling the orders. But Gavi’s financial documents show the organization has been trying to stanch the financial damage. If it cannot strike a more favorable agreement with another company, Johnson & Johnson, it could have to pay still more.
The vaccine-makers have brought in more than $13 billion from the shots that have been distributed through COVAX. Under the contracts, the companies are not obligated to return the prepayments Gavi gave them to reserve vaccines that were ultimately canceled.
House Republicans Pass Bill to End COVID Public Health Emergency
House Republicans passed a bill on Tuesday to end the COVID-19 public health emergency, moving ahead with the legislation despite the Biden administration announcing one day earlier that the declaration would end in May.
The legislation — titled the Pandemic is Over Act — passed in a 220-210 party-line vote.
The measure, which stretches two pages, would terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency on the day it is enacted. The Trump administration implemented the declaration in January 2020 and it has remained in place since.
The bill, however, is unlikely to move in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said the bill would “abruptly and irresponsibly end the COVID-19 public health emergency virtually overnight.”
Pfizer Sees Steep 2023 Fall in COVID Sales, Aims to Bolster Pipeline
Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) on Tuesday forecast a bigger-than-expected drop in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment for 2023, intensifying investor concerns over demand for the products as governments cut orders and work through inventories.
Chief Executive Albert Bourla said that 2023 should be a “transition year” for Pfizer’s COVID products, before potentially returning to growth in 2024.
Pfizer’s total annual sales crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time in 2022, driven by the more than $56 billion in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and Paxlovid antiviral treatment. It expects total 2023 revenue of $67 billion to $71 billion.
The company launched five new products last year and hopes to introduce as many as 14 more over the next year and a half, including a vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and an mRNA flu vaccine.
Colorado Doc Put on Probation for Ivermectin Prescriptions — Scott Rollins, MD, and the State Medical Board Reached an Agreement on ‘Unprofessional Conduct’
The Colorado Medical Board put a family medicine physician’s license on probation after he admitted to prescribing ivermectin for COVID-19 without properly informing patients of the drug’s risks or discussing the FDA-approved treatments for the disease.
Scott Rollins, MD, who practices in Grand Junction, and the board reached an agreement on the matter late last month, according to an online records search through the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies’ Division of Professions and Occupations.
The agreement specifically referred to three patients — unnamed and listed as Patients 1-3 — for whom Rollins did not perform or did not document the performance of clinical assessments, and did not discuss or document the discussion of several factors related to the prescription of the antiparasitic drug for the treatment and prevention of COVID.
Rollins’ license was placed on indefinite probation until his successful completion of a medical record-keeping seminar from the Center for Personalized Education for Physicians, which he completed in September 2022, as well as a 6-month follow-up program to be completed within a year of the agreement.
COVID Emergency’s End Will Mean New Costs, Hassles
The White House’s announcement that it will end the COVID-19 public health emergency — and a separate COVID national emergency — on May 11 will mean new costs and more hassles for Americans seeking healthcare.
It will also affect those receiving government nutrition assistance and could make it easier for immigrants to request asylum.
The end of the emergency also reinforces the conclusion President Joe Biden expressed last September, that most Americans have moved on from the pandemic despite the toll of more than a million lives, and that they have accepted the risks that come with the disease.
Many will have to pay for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. People without health insurance will have to pay out of pocket, while those with private plans could see more costs depending on the terms of their insurance. Insurers typically cover the costs of preventive care, such as vaccines, but often charge deductibles or require cost-sharing for drugs.
A Scientist Is Using AI to Design a Nasal Spray That Could Protect Us From the Flu, COVID and Colds
A prominent researcher has designed a nasal spray that he hopes will protect people from getting sick with COVID-19. For him, it’s an early step toward his ultimate goal of crafting a virus-fighting cocktail that could work against several common infections.
The spray, in development by David Baker at the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, aims to block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and activating the immune system in the first place. Baker’s lab plans to start early human testing of the nasal spray later this year to make sure it’s safe and test its efficacy. The lab has reported promising results in mice.
To be clear, Baker’s spray is different from a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight off an invading pathogen. Baker’s spray contains proteins designed to stick to the parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that it uses to enter human cells, rendering them inert.
The spray will need to prove itself in several successively larger clinical trials before it becomes available more broadly, a process that typically takes years. Even if it wins approval, Baker said there’s not yet a viable business model for this kind of therapeutic — another hurdle that will need to be overcome.
Public Health Emergency for Mpox Officially Ends
The public health emergency for the mpox outbreak that began last year is officially ending as of Tuesday, with the number of reported cases continuing to dwindle and advocacy groups declaring the emergency’s conclusion a victory for the LGBTQ community.
The Biden administration announced in December that it was not expecting to renew the public health emergency (PHE) for mpox, previously referred to as monkeypox, that was first declared in August 2022. The PHE was renewed once in November.
The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the seven-day moving average for mpox cases to be three, a steep drop from when cases peaked in August with more than 400 being reported daily on average.
As of the most recent CDC data, about 1.18 million doses of smallpox vaccines were administered during the monkeypox outbreak.
Pfizer and Moderna Quadrupling Price of COVID Vaccine Raises Concerns + More
Pfizer and Moderna Quadrupling Price of COVID Vaccine Raises Concerns
U.S. and U.K. lawmakers have written to pharmaceutical companies producing the COVID-19 vaccine calling for them to refrain from drastically raising the price of the jab.
Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna, told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month that the company plans to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to between $110 and $130 a dose. Its current booster shot reportedly cost the U.S. government around $26 a dose, whereas the original vaccine was between $15 and $16.
The move comes after Pfizer announced a plan to quadruple the cost of its own COVID-19 vaccine to the same price range, citing weaker demand while it maintained cheaper contracts with developing nations. Market analysts told Reuters at the time that the move would lead to competitors hiking their own prices.
The proposed price increases have caused concern in both the U.S. and the U.K. Elizabeth Warren and Peter Welch, both Democrat senators, wrote to Bancel on January 24 to question Moderna’s “greed.” The price hike may put the U.S. vaccination program’s progress “at risk.”
Four U.K. Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum recently wrote to Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, expressing concern over its impacts on the National Health Service, and asking him to confirm that the cost of the vaccine will not rise in the U.K.
The COVID Pandemic Drives Pfizer’s 2022 Revenue to a Record $100 Billion
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic propelled pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s earnings to a record $100 billion last year, almost $57 billion of which was driven by its vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid.
The vaccine accounted for $37.8 billion, up just 3% from 2021, of Pfizer’s total sales as demand for the shots slowed. But sales of its blockbuster antiviral treatment made up for that softening, surging to $18.9 billion in 2022, the first full year that Paxlovid was on the market.
Pfizer told investors to expect revenue to decline in 2023 by as much as 33% to between $67 billion and $71 billion as the world emerges from the pandemic and demand for its blockbuster COVID drugs slows.
Biden Administration Plans to End COVID Public Health Emergency in May
The Biden administration on Monday announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has been in place since January 2020, is set to end on May 11.
Since it was first declared on Jan. 31, 2020, by former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, the national PHE has been renewed 12 times under two different administrations. The most recent renewal was declared on Jan. 11.
“To be clear, the continuation of these emergency declarations until May 11 does not impose any restriction at all on individual conduct with regard to COVID-19,” the Office of Management and Budget said in its statement. “They do not impose mask mandates or vaccine mandates. They do not restrict school or business operations. They do not require the use of any medicines or tests in response to cases of COVID-19.”
U.S. Watchdog Identifies $5.4 Billion in Potentially Fraudulent COVID Loans
The U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Monday.
The watchdog, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), said it “identified 69,323 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID-19 EIDL) program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).”
The loans were disbursed between April 2020 and October 2022, the watchdog said in its report, which comes ahead of a scheduled Wednesday hearing by the Republican-led House of Representatives Oversight Committee on fraud in pandemic spending.
Rep. Katie Porter Says ‘Two Manufacturers Control 97%’ of COVID Vaccine Market
Rep. Katie Porter (D-California) had some choice words about pharmaceutical companies when it comes to the choice of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a recent speech to her Congressional colleagues, she referred to the recent revelation that Pfizer and Moderna may raise the roof on COVID-19 mRNA vaccine prices four-fold up to the $110 to $130 per dose range, which I’ve covered for Forbes. She called it “jacking up the price tag on public health,” which probably wasn’t referring to anyone’s muscles.
And for anyone who may say something like “not to worry, the free market will determine prices,” she then explained, “Just two vaccine manufacturers control 97% of the market. They will not compete because they do not have to.” Yeah, two may be better than one, according to that 2009 song from Boys Like Girls. But two certainly ain’t a lot of competition.
Pandemic at a Tipping Point: WHO
U.S. News & World Report reported:
The pandemic has reached a “transition point,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday. Still, that doesn’t mean the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) designation declared by the WHO in January 2020 is over yet.
The organization’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee met last week to discuss COVID-19, saying in a statement released Monday that it urged WHO to propose “alternative mechanisms to maintain the global and national focus on COVID-19 after the PHEIC is terminated.”
The advisory committee said there was little doubt that the virus would remain a permanently established pathogen in humans and animals for the foreseeable future, even as higher levels of immunity from infection or vaccination might limit its impact on illness and death.
Long COVID Has an ‘Underappreciated’ Role in Labor Shortage, Study Finds
Long COVID is keeping people out of work and may reduce on-the-job productivity for others, contributing to a labor shortage and weighing on the U.S. economy at large, according to a new study.
Long COVID — also known as long-haul COVID, post-COVID or post-acute COVID syndrome — is a chronic illness that results from a COVID-19 infection. Its potential symptoms number in the hundreds and, for some, can be debilitating and persist for years.
About 18% of people with long COVID hadn’t returned to work for more than a year after contracting COVID, according to a recent study by the New York State Insurance Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer. Of this share, more than 3 in 4 were under 60 years old.
Another 40% returned to work within 60 days of infection but were still receiving medical treatment — presenting challenges such as reduced hours, lower productivity and other workplace accommodations, NYSIF said.
More Than 1,000 New Brunswickers Report Adverse Reactions to COVID Vaccines + More
More Than 1,000 New Brunswickers Report Adverse Reactions to COVID Vaccines
More than 1,000 New Brunswickers have had an adverse reaction after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than a quarter of them were considered “serious,” according to the Department of Health.
Spokesperson Adam Bowie did not provide any information about the nature of the reactions, but the Public Health Agency of Canada defines an adverse event as “any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunization.” It isn’t necessarily causally related to the vaccine.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported a possible link between ischemic strokes in people aged 65 and older and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, which is designed to target the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Novavax Jumps After Pledging to Update Its COVID Shot; Pfizer, Moderna Slip
Investor’s Business Daily reported:
Novavax (NVAX) plans to update its COVID shot for new variants, and NVAX stock outperformed its vaccine rivals on Friday.
The decision follows an advisory committee meeting at the Food and Drug Administration. A panel of independent experts voted unanimously in support of yearly COVID booster shots. They also voted to harmonize strain selection among vaccine makers. This would put Pfizer (PFE) with partner BioNTech (BNTX), Moderna (MRNA) and Novavax on the same page when it comes to selecting the right targets for their updated boosters.
The panelists favored an aggressive timeline for strain selection to booster launch. Experts would pick the strain target in May or June with the goal of launching the updated boosters in September. “These timelines favor mRNA (messenger RNA) manufacturers, given their speed advantage,” SVB Securities analyst Daina Graybosch said in a note to clients.
Pfizer Denies Conducting COVID Gain-of-Function Research in Delayed Response to Veritas Video
Pfizer denied it conducts gain-of-function research on COVID-19 in a long-awaited but indirect response to a bombshell Project Veritas hidden camera sting that captured a company official describing either proposed or ongoing experiments by the pharmaceutical firm.
The company statement, released late Friday, did not mention the Project Veritas video, which was posted Wednesday evening and has received over 20 million views despite being banned from YouTube. In that video, a man identified as Jordon Walker, Pfizer’s director of research and development, strategic operations-mRNA scientific planner, divulges that the company has considered mutating COVID-19 through “directed evolution” in monkeys to develop new vaccines.
Pfizer’s statement goes on to describe the research it acknowledges conducting. Pfizer said the research usually involves only computer simulations, but added that “in a limited number of cases when a full virus does not contain any known gain-of-function mutations, such virus may be engineered to enable the assessment of antiviral activity in cells.”
Critics accused Pfizer of dissembling and said that what the company acknowledged in its statement is effectively gain-of-function research.
Plan for More Oversight of Pathogen-Related Research Passes Hurdle — Proposed Recommendations Approved by Federal Advisors, to Head to NIH for Review
On Friday, federal advisors endorsed new recommendations for improving the biosecurity oversight of scientific research involving potential pandemic-causing pathogens.
The board of directors of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) voted to approve a proposed framework requiring federal departments to review any research that could potentially enhance the transmissibility or virulence of a pathogen.
To accomplish this, the committees that drafted the report suggested expanding the definition of potential pandemic pathogens (PPP) to include any moderately or highly transmissible or virulent pathogen capable of spreading uncontrollably in human populations or causing significant morbidity or mortality in humans.
Sen. Ron Johnson Questions FAA Over COVID ‘Vaccine Adverse Events’ Among Pilots
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday asking if the agency would investigate reports from pilots who have claimed they had an adverse response to COVID vaccination.
Johnson, a strong opponent of vaccine mandates, asked in the letter for more information about recent medical testing decisions from the FAA and if it was aware of any adverse events related to COVID vaccination. The letter was sent to Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen and Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup.
“The vaccine injured deserve to be seen, heard & believed,” Johnson said on Twitter. “@FAANews — are you aware of the COVID-19 vaccine injuries in the aviation industry?”
Johnson’s letter also included a list of five pilots who he said had adverse events related to COVID vaccination. The reported reactions of the pilots included erratic heart rate, chest pain and high blood pressure.
How COVID May Have Enhanced the Status of Preprint Studies
COVID-19 changed the way public policy experts, the healthcare industry and journalists covering the pandemic weighed the value of clinical studies that had not yet been peer-reviewed, a new analysis found.
The peer-review process used by major publications like the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association takes “a median time of 186 days from preprint to publication,” according to a study published today in JAMA Network that examines the reliability of preprint studies.
That’s more than half a year. For a COVID-19 variant, six months is a lifetime, or at least it’s a span in which a virus variant can go from being dominant to being usurped by another iteration.
Many peer-reviewed studies about Delta came out when Omicron began taking over. Then came the sub-subvariants of Omicron, a list that keeps growing.
Long COVID Might Teach Us How to Prevent Alzheimer’s
Science is starting to uncover an unnerving fact about viruses: Some might affect our brains over the long haul. It came as a shock that SARS-CoV-2 can lead to lingering neurological problems — a post-viral syndrome we call long COVID. But the phenomenon might not be unique to this virus.
Scientists are finding links between common viruses such as influenza and brain diseases like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS. Researchers are hoping that identifying a viral link might finally allow scientists to figure out what causes these mysterious, deadly ailments and develop new treatments.
China Approves Two Domestically Developed COVID Drugs
China has approved two domestically developed oral medicines for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, the National Medical Products Administration said on Sunday.
The drugs, used for treating adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections, have been developed by Simcere Pharmaceutical Group <2096. HK> and a unit of Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co Ltd (688180.SS), the administration said in a statement on its website.
CDC Still Looking at Potential Stroke Risk From Pfizer Bivalent COVID Shot + More
U.S. CDC Still Looking at Potential Stroke Risk From Pfizer Bivalent COVID Shot
New data from one U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) database shows a possible stroke risk link for older adults who received an updated Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 booster shot, but the signal is weaker than what the agency had flagged earlier in January, health officials said on Thursday. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they had not detected a link between the shots and strokes in two other safety monitoring databases.
The new data was presented at a meeting of outside experts that advise the FDA on vaccine policy.
Dr. Nicola Klein of healthcare company Kaiser Permanente, which maintains Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) data for the CDC, said the rate of strokes observed in the database had slowed in recent weeks, but the signal was still statistically significant, meaning likely not by chance.
Most of the confirmed cases had also received a flu vaccine at the same time, which might be a factor, she said. FDA scientist Richard Forshee said the agency plans to study whether there is any increased risk of stroke from receiving the two shots at the same time.
FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which COVID Shots and When
At a meeting to simplify the nation’s COVID vaccination policy, the FDA’s panel of experts could agree on only one thing: Information is woefully lacking about how often different groups of Americans need to be vaccinated. That data gap has contributed to widespread skepticism, under vaccination and ultimately unnecessary deaths from COVID-19.
The committee voted unanimously Thursday to support the FDA’s proposal for all vaccine makers to adopt the same strain of the virus when making changes in their vaccines and suggested they might meet in May or June to select a strain for the vaccines that would be rolled out this fall.
However, the panel members disagreed with the FDA’s proposal that everyone get at least one shot a year, saying more information was needed to make such a declaration. Several panelists noted that in recent studies, only about a third of people hospitalized with a positive COVID test actually were there because of COVID illness. That’s because everyone entering a hospital is tested for COVID, so deaths of patients with incidental infections are counted as COVID deaths even when it isn’t the cause.
“We need the CDC to tell us exactly who is getting hospitalized and dying of this virus — the ages, vulnerability, the type of immune compromise and whether they were treated with antivirals. And we need immunological data to indicate who’s at risk,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Only then can we decide who gets vaccinated with what and when.”
FDA Quietly Changes End Date for Study of Heart Inflammation After Pfizer COVID Vaccination
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has changed the end date for a key study on post-vaccination heart inflammation without notifying the public.
Pfizer was supposed to complete a study on the occurrence of subclinical myocarditis, or heart inflammation, after receipt of its COVID-19 vaccine. The completion date was listed by the FDA in 2021 as June 20, 2022. Pfizer was also supposed to submit the results of the study to the FDA by the end of 2022 as part of a list of requirements the FDA imposed as a condition of approving Pfizer’s jab.
But after the deadline passed, the FDA quietly changed the date. Under a list of postmarketing requirements for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the FDA now says the same study has an “original projected completion date” of June 30, 2023. The current status of the study is listed as “pending.”
The study is one of nine Pfizer was to complete to examine post-vaccination adverse events. The study is designed to “prospectively assess the incidence of subclinical myocarditis” after receipt of a third dose, or a booster, in people aged 16 to 30.
Rubio Sends Letter Demanding Answers From Pfizer Over Project Veritas Video
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to Pfizer this week demanding answers after an undercover sting video was published by Project Veritas this week that allegedly showed an official at the company claiming that it was involved in controversial research related to vaccines.
The 10-minute video, which has been viewed nearly 20 million times, shows a man identified as Jordon Trishton Walker, Pfizer’s director of research and development, strategic operations-mRNA scientific planner, claiming that the company is “exploring” ways to “mutate” coronaviruses so they can “create — preemptively develop new vaccines.”
Rubio responded to the video by sending a letter to Dr. Albert Bourla, chief executive officer and chairman of Pfizer Inc.
“I write in response to troubling reports on Pfizer’s intention to mutate the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) virus through gain-of-function, or ‘directed evolution,’ as detailed by Pfizer Director of Research and Development, Jordan Walker,” Rubio said in his letter. “As has been proven time and time again, attempts to mutate a virus, particularly one as potent as COVID, are dangerous. If the claims detailed in the video are true, Pfizer has put its desire for profit over the concern of national and global health and must hold itself accountable.”
Omicron Sub-Variant XBB.1.5 Accounts for 61.3% of U.S. COVID Cases — CDC
The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 has likely become the dominant variant in the United States, accounting for 61.3% of COVID cases in the week ended Jan. 28, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.
XBB.1.5, which is currently the most transmissible variant, is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October. The now-dominant XBB-related subvariants are derived from the BA.2 version of Omicron.
The Flu-ification of COVID Policy Is Almost Complete
For all the legwork that public-health experts have done over the past few years to quash comparisons between COVID-19 and the flu, there sure seems to be a lot of effort nowadays to equate the two. In an advisory meeting, the FDA signaled its intention to start doling out COVID vaccines just like flu shots: once a year in autumn, for just about everyone, ad infinitum.
Whatever the brand, primary-series shots and boosters (which might no longer be called “boosters”) will guard against the same variants, making them interchangeable. Doses will no longer be counted numerically. “This will be a fundamental transition,” says Jason Schwartz, a vaccine policy expert at Yale — the biggest change to the COVID-vaccination regimen since it debuted.
Hints of the annual approach have been dropping, not so subtly, for years. Even in the spring of 2021, Pfizer’s CEO was floating the idea of yearly shots; Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, teased it throughout 2022.
This past September, Joe Biden officially endorsed it as “a new phase in our COVID-19 response,” and Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID czar, memorably highlighted the convenience of combining a flu shot and a COVID shot into a single appointment: “I really believe this is why God gave us two arms.”
South Dakota Senate Suspends Lawmaker After Vaccine Exchange
The South Dakota Senate on Thursday suspended a Republican state senator in a rare move that stripped the lawmaker of all legislative power while keeping the allegations against her a secret.
Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, who is among a group of right-wing Statehouse Republicans, told reporters earlier Thursday that she was being punished following an exchange she had with a legislative aide about vaccinations.
Sen. Michael Rohl, the Republican lawmaker who initiated the motion to suspend Frye-Mueller, said in a statement that it was based on “serious allegations” and had been made to ensure the Legislature was creating a safe work environment for employees. He likened the Senate’s suspension to the move a business owner or human resources department would make when allegations are raised.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 27-6 to form a committee to investigate Frye-Mueller’s conduct and in the meantime suspend her from voting or holding other rights of an elected official. Republican legislative leaders refused to comment Thursday on the allegations that led to them suspending the Senate rules and stripping their colleague of her ability to represent her constituents.
Exclusive: EU May Pay More for Pfizer COVID Shots in Return for Lower Volume
Brussels is discussing with Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) the possibility of reducing the up to 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses the EU has committed to buy this year in return for a higher price, a source with knowledge of the talks said.
Also on the table is an extension of the deadline for delivery, possibly to the second half of 2024, the source said. They declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.
The negotiations are ongoing, and it is not clear what the final outcome may be. The talks come amid a global glut of COVID-19 shots and relate to the biggest contract for vaccines of all those signed by the EU while the pandemic raged.
