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Covid News Watch
COVID Origins ‘May Have Been Tied’ to China’s Bioweapons Program: GOP Report + More
COVID Origins ‘May Have Been Tied’ to China’s Bioweapons Program: GOP Report
Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee are alleging in a newly released report that there are “indications” that COVID-19 could be tied to China’s biological weapons research program and “spilled over” to the general human population during an incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The information was released in a minority staff report by members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday night.
Wednesday’s report released by House Republicans also alleges that its investigation “revealed serious shortcomings with both the classified and declassified versions of the Intelligence Community’s,” and states that the omissions “likely skewed the public’s understanding of key issues and deepened mistrust.”
While alleging that COVID’s origins were likely tied to China’s biological weapons research program, the report states, “We have not seen any credible indication that the virus was intentionally, rather than accidentally, released.”
Jim Jordan Outlines Plan of Attack Against Biden Administration
Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio is taking the administration of President Joe Biden to task over the origins of COVID-19.
Jordan and Kentucky Representative James Comer, both Republicans, are leading the charge to probe health experts and officials from the Biden administration about the virus. They’ll call for testimony from dozens of individuals about the matter in January when Republicans formally take control of the House.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform announced the investigation in a statement on Wednesday. The Republican lawmakers have compiled a list of some 40 people, with Dr. Anthony Fauci expected to testify.
”Mounting evidence points to the virus originating from a leak at the Wuhan lab,” he continued. “EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. National Institutes of Health grantee, passed taxpayer funds to the Wuhan lab to conduct gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses — research that may have started the pandemic.”
Fauci Responds to DeSantis’s Call for COVID Vaccine Investigation
Outgoing White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that he “doesn’t have a clue” what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hopes to accomplish by calling for a state grand jury investigation into alleged “crimes” related to COVID-19 vaccines.
DeSantis on Tuesday announced his office had petitioned for a grand jury investigation into alleged “crimes and wrongdoing” against Floridians “related to the development, promotion and distribution” of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The governor also shared plans to establish a Public Health Integrity Committee due to distrust of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), saying “anything they put out, you just assume, at this point, that it’s not worth the paper that it’s printed on.”
“It has been politicized and it has been politicized in a way that has actually cost lives,” Fauci added of the vaccine, calling the COVID-19 virus the “common enemy” that Americans should unite around regardless of party, and in spite of misinformation and disinformation.
Omicron BQ, XBB Subvariants Are a Serious Threat to Boosters and Knock Out Antibody Treatments, Study Finds
The Omicron subvariants that have become dominant in recent months present a serious threat to the effectiveness of the new boosters, render antibody treatments ineffective and could cause a surge of breakthrough infections, according to a new study.
The BQ.1, BQ.1.1, XBB and XBB.1 Omicron subvariants are the most immune evasive variants of COVID-19 to date, according to scientists affiliated with Columbia University and the University of Michigan. These variants, taken together, are currently causing 72% of new infections in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The scientists, in a study published online Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, found that these subvariants are “barely susceptible to neutralization” by the vaccines, including the new Omicron boosters. The immune response of people who were vaccinated and had breakthrough infections with prior Omicron variants also was weaker against the subvariants.
“Together, our findings indicate that BQ and XBB subvariants present serious threats to current COVID-19 vaccines, render inactive all authorized antibodies and may have gained dominance in the population because of their advantage in evading antibodies,” the scientists wrote.
Impaired Taste & Smell After a COVID Infection Linked to Higher Levels of Antibodies
In a new study published in the journal PLOS One, a group of researchers based in the United States found that the odds of developing greater amounts of antibodies to the coronavirus could be two times higher among those who experienced altered smell and taste post-infection.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, loss of smell and taste were identified as one of the key symptoms of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has been reported that loss of smell is experienced by at least 43% up to 62% of people who had COVID-19 and tends to occur in the early stages after catching the virus. Out of this, around 20% might have experienced no other symptom other than an impaired sense of smell.
To gain a better understanding of how people with altered smell and taste might have developed antibodies after a COVID-19 infection, the researchers enrolled 309 patients who are a part of the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center convalescent plasma trials. All of them had been diagnosed with COVID-19 recently when the trial had begun in 2020. The participants’ median age was 39 years. More than 60% of them were white women. Around 64% of them reported a loss of smell and/or loss of taste.
“Results from our study suggest that loss of smell and taste during COVID-19 infection are strong predictive factors for a robust immunologic response. Additional research is needed to address the durability of seropositivity among these individuals,” the researchers concluded.
Australian Cardiologist Calls to Halt mRNA COVID Vaccines, Citing Heart Damage
Eighteen-year-old Australian Monica Eskandar couldn’t wait to take her end-of-the-year exams. Instead, Eskandar was rushed to the hospital with severe chest pains. The pain, according to reporting by MSN.com, started just hours after she received a COVID-19 vaccine. Doctors diagnosed Eskandar with COVID-related pericarditis. Pericarditis is a condition that involves inflammation of the tissues lining the heart.
After witnessing as many as 70 cases of vaccine-related heart conditions similar to Eskandar’s, Australian Cardiologist Dr. Ross Walker is now saying publicly that he believes there should be a ban on the use of mRNA booster vaccines.
According to Walker, the mRNA vaccines are “very pro-inflammatory.” He contended that The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization should never have mandated mRNA vaccines.
“I’ve seen many people getting vaccine reactions, who get symptoms for about three to six months afterward,” Walker told the Daily Mail Australia. “I’ve seen 60-70 patients in my own practice over the past 12 months who have had similar reactions,” he said. Those reactions have included shortness of breath, heart palpitations and chest pain, he continued.
Biden Administration Makes at-Home COVID Tests Available for Free Again This Winter
The Biden administration is making rapid COVID tests available for free again this winter through a limited round of ordering.
Households can now order a total of four rapid COVID tests for free at COVIDTests.gov. Orders will start shipping next week, just days before families gather for the Christmas holiday, and deliveries will continue in the following weeks, according to the White House.
The Biden administration shut down the free at-home COVID test program in September because Congress did not pass additional funding to replenish the U.S. stockpile.
The White House decided to shift existing money to buy more tests and relaunch the popular program as COVID cases started increasing again, a senior administration official told reporters during a call Wednesday evening.
COVID Is Here to Stay, but Global Emergency Could End Next Year, WHO Chief Says
As the U.S. appears to be heading into another dreaded winter wave of COVID-19 infections, the World Health Organization is looking further ahead — and finding hope for the end of the global health emergency.
In a press conference on Wednesday in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that discussion of the criteria for declaring the end of the pandemic would begin in January when the agency’s Emergency Committee will meet.
“We’re hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency,” Tedros said. But he added plenty of caveats. “Of course, this virus will not go away. It’s here to stay, and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses including influenza and RSV, both of which are now circulating intensely in many countries.”
Despite Unclear Effectiveness, Kanpō in Short Supply Amid COVID Wave
As Japan faces yet another wave of COVID-19 infections ahead of the New Year’s holiday season, there’s been a shortage of traditional Chinese kanpō medicine that doctors sometimes prescribe to patients.
A recent study in Japan that examined the effects of kanpō on COVID-19 symptoms may further heighten their demand. The research, conducted by Tohoku University and published in November, led some domestic media to report its positive findings. But a closer look at the results shows that its effectiveness appears to be limited.
Kanpō medicine is widely used at Japanese clinics and hospitals, where doctors trained in Western medicine write prescriptions for it depending on the patient’s symptoms, which could range from a stuffy nose, throat pain or cough. Kanpō, based on ancient Chinese herbal medicine and administered in granule form, is covered by the public health insurance program.
The two kanpō formulas were kakkontō — which contains kudzu root — often used to relieve early cold symptoms such as headache and fever, and shō-saiko-tō-ka-kikyō-sekkō — which contains a mix of herbs including mineral gypsum and bupleurum roots — used to relieve throat pain and swelling.
‘Pure and Deadly Greed’: Lawmakers Slam Pfizer’s 400% Price Hike on COVID Shots + More
‘Pure and Deadly Greed’: Lawmakers Slam Pfizer’s 400% Price Hike on COVID Shots
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senator-elect Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a scathing letter to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla this week over the company’s plan to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccines by 400% next year when it enters the commercial market.
“We urge you to back off from your proposed price increases and ensure COVID-19 vaccines are reasonably priced and accessible to people across the United States,” they wrote, while also requesting information about the company’s revenue and profits.
In October, Pfizer revealed plans to sell its COVID-19 vaccine for somewhere between $110 and $130 next year. Most recently, the U.S. government paid only about $30 per dose. The planned price hike is higher than the $50 price point that some financial analysts had expected Pfizer would set upon entry into the commercial market. It’s a whopping 10,000% markup from the vaccine’s estimated cost of manufacturing.
Warren and Welch called Pfizer’s price hike “pure and deadly greed” and accused the company of “unseemly profiteering.” They noted that before Pfizer reaped billions in profits during the pandemic, it benefited from federal support, including building its vaccine from foundational research conducted at the National Institutes of Health, plus receiving a $1.95 billion advance-purchase agreement via the government’s Operation Warp Speed.
Two Years After COVID Vaccines Rolled Out, Researchers Are Calling for Newer, Better Options
Two years after the first COVID shots went into arms, a growing chorus of researchers is calling for a new generation of vaccines that provide broader and more long-term protection against the disease.
The U.S. is currently recording around 430 COVID deaths per day, on average, according to NBC News’ tally. That includes many people who received at least two COVID shots: Six in 10 adults who died of COVID in August were vaccinated or boosted, according to a report by KFF, a nonprofit health think tank. And for the most part, vaccinated people don’t avoid infections or reinfections anymore.
In particular, researchers think sprays or drops given through the nose or mouth could do a better job of stopping transmission. They also hope that vaccines that target multiple parts of the virus or several variants at once could reduce the need for continuous boosters.
Globally, 117 intranasal COVID vaccines are in development or have been rolled out, according to an analysis provided to NBC News by Airfinity, a health analytics company. Five have been approved in at least one country — two in China and one each in India, Iran and Russia — and 20 more have entered clinical trials. The majority rely on traditional vaccine platforms, not mRNA.
U.S. to Pay Pfizer Nearly $2 Billion for More Paxlovid Courses in 2023
The U.S. government agreed to pay Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) nearly $2 billion for an additional 3.7 million courses of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid, the company said on Tuesday.
The new purchase supplements the 20 million courses previously bought by the United States and delivery is planned by early 2023, Pfizer said in a statement.
The Biden administration previously agreed to pay around $10.6 billion — roughly $530 per treatment course — for the first 20 million courses ordered. The government is paying around the same amount per course under the new contract.
Roche Teams up With Pfizer on COVID Awareness Campaign
Roche Holding (ROG.S) has teamed up with Pfizer (PFE.N) on a U.S. campaign to boost awareness of COVID-19 testing and treatment, the Swiss drugmaker said on Wednesday.
The Pilot COVID-19 At-Home Test, distributed in the United States by Roche and made by SD Biosensor Inc (137310.KS), will now include a QR code that directs people to a website where they can learn more about COVID-19, including health authorities’ guidance on testing and treatment options, it said in a statement.
Biden Admin Extends Pandemic-Era Flexibilities on Opioid Use Treatments
The Biden administration is moving to make permanent the pandemic rules that allowed take-home drugs to help fight opioid addiction.
Why it matters: The proposed rule from HHS would make it easier for patients with opioid use disorder to access drugs like methadone for home use and for providers to prescribe them via telehealth for patients with opioid use disorder.
Before the COVID-era changes, federal regulations often required those seeking treatment to go in person daily to receive medication, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
China Says Spread of COVID ‘Impossible’ to Track as Infections Soar in Beijing
The spread of COVID-19 in China is now “impossible” to track, the country’s health authorities have said, announcing they have stopped recording asymptomatic cases in their daily tallies.
The admission comes amid soaring presentations to hospitals and clinics as COVID-19 spreads rapidly through the population in the wake of the sudden removal of strict pandemic measures. Authorities have urged people not to seek emergency healthcare unless necessary and announced the rollout of second boosters to elderly and vulnerable people.
China to Roll Out Second COVID Vaccine Booster for High-Risk Groups, Elderly
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) will roll out the second COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for high-risk groups and elderly people over 60 years old, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The time gap between the first and second booster shots will be six months, NHC said, adding people who can take the second booster shot will include those with severe existing diseases and those with low immunity.
Right before drastically easing its stringent COVID-19 prevention measures earlier this month, China has pushed to speed up vaccinations for those aged above 60 years.
DeSantis Seeks Grand Jury Investigation of COVID Vaccines + More
DeSantis Seeks Grand Jury Investigation of COVID Vaccines
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he plans to petition the state’s Supreme Court to convene a grand jury to investigate “any and all wrongdoing” with respect to the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Republican governor, who is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024, gave no specifics on what wrongdoing the panel would investigate but suggested it would be in part aimed at jogging loose more information about the vaccines.
He made the announcement following a roundtable with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and a panel of scientists and physicians, in which some discussion centered on the fact that pharmaceutical companies have not provided their data on the COVID-19 vaccines to independent researchers.
“We’ll be able to get the data whether they want to give it or not,” DeSantis said. “In Florida, it is illegal to mislead and misrepresent, especially when you are talking about the efficacy of a drug.”
Pfizer Sees $10 Billion-$15 Billion in Potential Revenue From mRNA Vaccines by 2030
Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) said on Monday that annual revenue from its mRNA vaccine portfolio could reach $10 billion to $15 billion by 2030, alleviating fears of a sharp hit to its topline from an expected decline in COVID vaccine demand and patent expirations.
Shares of the New York City-based company rose nearly 2% to $52.59 during afternoon trade and helped lift U.S. stock indexes higher.
The company’s revenue is expected to top $100 billion this year — more than double the pre-pandemic level — helped by strong demand for its COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment Paxlovid.
The company has been investing heavily into its mRNA pipeline and said the manufacturing capacity for Comirnaty, its COVID-19 vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE, leaves it uniquely positioned to deliver other mRNA shots globally.
POTS, a Debilitating Heart Condition, Is Linked to COVID and, to a Lesser Degree, Vaccines
Research published Monday has confirmed a link between a COVID infection and a debilitating heart condition called POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, that has been diagnosed in some patients with long COVID.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, are in line with earlier reports from physicians that COVID may trigger POTS, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system often characterized by a rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, fainting and lightheadedness.
POTS was also linked, to a lesser degree, to COVID vaccination with an mRNA vaccine, according to the new study.
Lead study author Dr. Alan Kwan, a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said the study has limitations, including that the results were based on patient data from a single health system. He also said that the link between POTS and COVID vaccination needs to be confirmed with further studies.
People Died From mRNA-Vaccine-Damaged Hearts, New Peer-Reviewed German Study Provides Direct Evidence
Medical pathologists from Heidelberg University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany have published direct evidence showing how people found dead after mRNA vaccination died.
As this team of six scientists explore in their study, these mRNA-vaccinated patients suffered from heart damage because their hearts were attacked by their own immune cells. This autoimmune attack on their own heart cells then leads to their damaged hearts beating so many times per second that, once the tachycardia unexpectedly started, they died in minutes.
The article, “Autopsy-based histopathological characterization of myocarditis after anti-SARS-CoV-2-vaccination,” was published on Nov. 27, 2022, in the journal Clinical Research in Cardiology, the official journal of the German Cardiac Society. The research team autopsied 25 victims of different ages who were found dead at home within 28 days of vaccination. They looked at their heart tissue under the microscope to find out why these people died of cardiac rhythmic disruption when they had no apparent underlying heart disease.
In the authors’ own words: “Our findings establish the histological phenotype of lethal vaccination-associated myocarditis.” Histological phenotype means direct observation of microscopic tissue.
Two Decades After 9/11 Inquiry, a Similar Plan for COVID Stalls in Congress
The United States is climbing out of a different crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed vastly more people than the Sept. 11 attacks and set off a global economic crisis. But some experts in biodefense and public health fear that the opportunity for a national reckoning with COVID-19 is slipping away — and with it, a chance to build on lessons learned during the pandemic.
Bipartisan legislation to create a Sept. 11-style independent panel to investigate the pandemic response by both the Trump and Biden administrations appears stalled on Capitol Hill, despite a 20-2 vote in favor of the measure by the Senate health committee. Backers say their last hope for passage is to tack it onto an upcoming spending bill, the final major must-pass piece of legislation of the current Congress.
The commission would be created as part of a sprawling bill called the PREVENT Pandemics Act. The measure would also make the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a Senate-confirmed position and take other steps to improve pandemic preparedness, including increasing coordination among public health agencies and addressing supply chain deficiencies.
No Insurance Coverage for Business COVID Losses, Says Ohio Top Court
Ohio’s highest court on Monday became the latest state supreme court to conclude that businesses’ insurance policies do not cover losses they suffered after being forced to curtail operations during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Ohio Supreme Court on a 5-1 vote ruled that Cincinnati Insurance Co was not obligated to cover the losses sustained by an operator of an audiology practice because the coronavirus did not cause any direct physical loss or damage to its property.
The business contended that it suffered a direct physical loss or damage to property as defined by its “all-risk” commercial insurance policy after it was forced to cease almost all operations for the first several weeks of the pandemic.
Why Special Flu Shots Are Recommended for Those 65 and Older
For many years, people 65 or older have had the option to get a flu shot specially formulated for them. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declined to recommend that older adults get these shots instead of the standard flu shot options. This flu season, that changed.
The CDC is now recommending that people 65 or older try to find one of these specially formulated vaccines. The season has already begun, so if you haven’t gotten your flu vaccine yet, the time is now. And if you’re 65 or older, you should try to find one of these three shots: Fluzone High-Dose, Fluad or Flublok. Here’s why. Vaccines with “quadrivalent” in their names provide protection against four different strains of influenza.
Experimental mRNA Cancer Vaccine With Immunotherapy Reduces Risk of Melanoma Returning, Preliminary Study Finds
An experimental personalized mRNA vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy Keytruda reduced the risk of recurrence or death from melanoma in patients who had already had surgery, Moderna and Merck said Tuesday.
The randomized trial included 157 patients with stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma who had already had surgery. Some patients received nine doses of the experimental cancer vaccine made by Moderna and the immunotherapy made by Merck every three weeks for about a year, and some received only the immunotherapy. Treatment with the experimental vaccine in combination with the immunotherapy reduced the risk of cancer recurrence or death by 44% compared with the immunotherapy alone, the companies said.
The preliminary results of a Phase 2b trial were shared in a news release and have not been peer-reviewed or published. The companies said they will publish the full data in the future and share results at an upcoming conference.
The companies said they will initiate a Phase 3 study in melanoma patients next year and will study additional tumor types.
China Health App Starts Online Sales of Pfizer’s Paxlovid for COVID Treatment
A Chinese healthcare platform has started selling Pfizer‘s (PFE.N) oral COVID treatment pill Paxlovid in what appears to be the first retail sale of the drug in the country, as China braces for a surge in COVID patients.
The medication sold out just over half an hour after the listing was reported in the media, the platform’s customer service said, underscoring surging demand for COVID and flu medicines in China.
Japan’s Meiji Holdings Says Drug Unit Started Late-Stage Trial for COVID Vaccine
Japan’s Meiji Holdings Co. (2269.T) said on Tuesday its drug subsidiary had started a Phase III trial of an mRNA-based vaccine for COVID-19.
Meiji Seika Pharma had started the late-stage trial among 780 subjects in Japan, with the test period running from November to April 2024, Meiji said in a statement.
The trial will test the effectiveness of the vaccine, developed by U.S.-based Arcturus Therapeutics Inc, in comparison with the mRNA shot developed by Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE).
Teen Denied Kidney Transplant Because She’s Not Vaccinated for COVID, Say Parents + More
Teen Denied Kidney Transplant Because She’s Not Vaccinated for COVID, Say Parents
Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday morning to discuss the dire medical dilemma their family is facing, the parents of a teenage girl who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 revealed that their daughter has been unable to move forward with the kidney transplant she needs at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.
Chrissy Hicks, the mom of 14-year-old Yulia Hicks, recounted her exchange about the issue with a medical official. “I said, ‘So basically you’re telling us if she does not get the vaccine, then she’s not getting a transplant,'” Chrissy Hicks said. “And [the medical employee] said, ‘Yes, that is the one thing that is holding us up.’”
Chrissy and Lee Hicks of North Carolina adopted their daughter Yulia from Ukraine nearly two years ago. The girl suffers from a rare degenerative kidney condition known as Senior Loken Syndrome, which requires a transplant, according to reports. Though she is not vaccinated against COVID, she has had the coronavirus — so the parents believe she’s protected by natural immunities.
Chrissy Hicks also said on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” “We have retained a lawyer … to help us fight Duke [Hospital].”
Many hospital systems around the country either recommend or require that patients on transplant lists be fully vaccinated prior to transplantation.
Amid Pathetic Uptake, FDA Green Lights Confusing COVID Vaccine Update for Kids <5
The Food and Drug Administration has greenlit updated COVID-19 vaccine doses for children under the age of 5, but the change to the authorized vaccination regimens is far from straightforward. This may further hamstring efforts to vaccinate the youngest Americans, which are already off to an abysmal start.
After months of availability, only about 3% of infants and toddlers 6 months to 2 years old have completed a primary series. Just 6.5% have gotten at least one shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For those aged 2 to 4 years, just under 5% have completed a primary series, with 9% having gotten at least one dose.
This week’s update “won’t have a lot of real-world impact,” Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, told the Washington Post Thursday. “It’s like arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.”
China’s Top Medical Advisor Says Omicron No More Dangerous Than the Flu
About a year ago, the nation was on the verge of another lockdown when a tidal wave of Omicron infections prompted those who use masks alone … in their car … with their windows down, to hyperventilate that COVID is about to kill several million more Americans, and anyone who suggested that this was nothing more than the flu was promptly suspended from Twitter most likely by this guy, er gal: Melissa Ingle.
So it was with great shock that we read today that once again, all those “conspiracy theorists” were dead on: according to Chinese officials, who have continued to downplay the risks of COVID-19 as the country’s idiotic COVID-zero restrictions are further eased after the economy ground to a halt following two years of lockdowns, with a top medical adviser saying the fatality rate from the Omicron variant of the virus is in line with influenza.
The death rate from Omicron is around 0.1%, similar to the common flu, and the infection rarely reaches the lungs, Zhong Nanshan was quoted in an interview with the state news agency Xinhua. Most people recover from the variant within seven to 10 days, he said.
Zhong’s comments follow the government’s latest line on the coronavirus, which — two weeks after sporadic violent protests nearly sunk the Xi regime — has been suddenly talking down the disease’s dangers as China moves toward exiting its COVID-zero policy.
Study Finds Prejudice Against COVID Unvaccinated Around the World
People who have received COVID-19 vaccines express discriminatory attitudes toward unvaccinated people, a new study of over 15,000 citizens of 21 countries across the world suggests.
To measure COVID-19 vaccination status-based prejudice, researchers asked some 15,233 people how they feel if close relatives of theirs are going to marry a vaccinated or unvaccinated person — a question that has long been used in surveys on discrimination along racial, ethnic or partisan lines.
Across six countries — Germany, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa and the United Kingdom — selected to represent both affluent Western and developing non-Western nations, the unvaccinated were found to be disliked among vaccinated people (14 percentage points) as much as people with drug addiction (15 percentage points), and significantly more so than people who had been in prison (10 percentage points), atheists (7 percentage points) or people with mental illness (6 percentage points).
By contrast, researchers found that the unvaccinated respondents on average showed almost no discriminatory attitudes toward the vaccinated.
Book About ‘War on Ivermectin’ Distributed by Major Publishing House — ‘Infuriating to See Misinformation Mongers Being Taken Seriously’
Pierre Kory, MD, one of the most vocal proponents of ivermectin for COVID-19, has the support of Simon & Schuster, with the leading publishing house slated to distribute his upcoming book, which claims the widely discredited drug “saved millions.”
Slated for release in February 2023, The War on Ivermectin: The Medicine That Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the COVID Pandemic, documents the critical care physician’s efforts to push for ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment protocols, and what he calls a corrupt and concerted effort from the medical establishment to deny its efficacy.
Omicron Subvariants That More Easily Dodge Immunity Are Causing More Than 70% of U.S. Infections
The most immune-evasive Omicron subvariants yet are now causing more than 70% of new infections in the U.S., as millions of Americans prepare to travel and gather with family for the holidays.
The BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants taken together are now responsible for 68% of new cases, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The XBB subvariant is causing 4.7% of new COVID infections.
Scientists, in several independent studies, have described the BQ and XBB subvariants as more adept at evading immunity from vaccination and infection than prior versions of the virus.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Another COVID Surge
Here we go again: For the first time in several months, another wave seems to be on the horizon in the United States. In the past two weeks, reported cases have increased by 53%, and hospitalizations have risen by 31%. Virus levels in wastewater, which can provide an advance warning of spread, are following a similar trajectory.
Winter has ushered in some of the pandemic’s worst moments. Last year, Omicron’s unwanted arrival led to a level of mass infection across the country that we had not previously seen. The good news this year is that the current rise will almost certainly not be as bad as last year’s.
But beyond that, experts told me, we don’t know much about what will happen next. We could be in for any type of surge — big or small, long or short, national or regional. The only certain thing is that cases and hospitalizations are rising, and that’s not good.
Biden’s Potential First Veto
House Republicans may soon force President Biden to issue his first veto — over a measure to terminate the national emergency declaration for COVID.
Why it matters: The emergency declaration has served as the basis for the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan and also allows for increased flexibilities for health insurance and Medicaid.
What we’re hearing: Once they officially retake the House majority, Republicans plan to hold a vote on a joint resolution that would rescind the emergency declaration, senior GOP aides said.
The other side: Biden said months ago that the pandemic is over — but the White House said last month Biden would veto the resolution if it came to his desk.
China Finally Approves an mRNA COVID Vaccine — but Only for Some Foreigners
Two years after the first countries approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine for domestic use, China will finally allow the mRNA vaccine to be used domestically — but there’s a catch.
On Friday, China confirmed in a press briefing that it would let German nationals receive the BioNTech COVID vaccine, which uses mRNA technology, in exchange for German health authorities on Wednesday approving China’s Sinovac jab for Chinese nationals living in Germany.
The statement from China’s foreign ministry clarifies an earlier announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his trip to Beijing that BioNTech would be made available to foreign nationals in China.
But Beijing’s decision to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for a sliver of China’s population highlights the country’s uneasy relationship with mRNA vaccines and shots developed overseas as Beijing embarks on an exit from its tough COVID-zero policy, which will likely cause a massive outbreak.