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Vaxxed Fauci Acknowledges COVID Vaccines ‘Don’t Protect Overly Well’ Against Infection + More
Vaxxed Dr. Fauci Acknowledges COVID Vaccines ‘Don’t Protect Overly Well’ Against Infection
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top immunologist in the U.S., acknowledged on Tuesday that vaccines against COVID “don’t protect overly well” against infection but are still necessary.
“One of the things that’s clear from the data [is] that even though vaccines — because of the high degree of transmissibility of this virus — don’t protect overly well, as it were, against infection, they protect quite well against severe disease leading to hospitalization and death,” he said.
Fauci, who recently got the virus despite being vaccinated and boosted, told Fox News that the jabs are still important because they can keep people from getting severely ill.
“My message to people who seem confused because people who are vaccinated get infected — the answer is if you weren’t vaccinated, the likelihood [is] you would have had [a] more severe course than you did have when you were vaccinated,” he said.
Dr. Malone Warns of Immune Imprinting After Fauci Floats Second Booster Shots
Dr. Robert Malone is warning of immune imprinting after Dr. Anthony Fauci signaled his backing for second COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans aged 5 and older.
Immune imprinting refers to a phenomenon whereby initial exposure to a virus strain may prevent the body from producing enough neutralizing antibodies against a new viral strain.
A number of studies have found negative effectiveness among vaccinated groups. That means those who get vaccinated are more likely to get infected.
In some areas, the vaccinated account for a majority of those infected or in hospitals or dying from COVID-19. In Louisiana, for example, 70% of the deaths recorded between June 23 and June 29 were among the vaccinated.
White House: COVID Booster ‘Will Not Preclude’ Shot for Later Variants
People who get boosted for COVID-19 now will still be eligible to get a variant-specific vaccine in the fall, the White House COVID-19 Response Team said Tuesday.
The White House team emphasized that those who have not received the first booster should do it immediately.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha noted that overall, it is up to the FDA and the CDC to confirm that people who get boosted now can do so again in the fall, but that the data so far suggests that “getting vaccinated will not preclude you from getting a variant-specific vaccine later this fall or winter.”
New Yorkers Frustrated as Demand Crashes Monkeypox Vaccine Website
New Yorkers are frustrated with the monkeypox vaccine rollout in the city, as a surge of high demand crashed its booking website.
The rare vaccine is highly sought after as monkeypox cases in New York City continue to rise.
As of July 12, there were 267 people who tested positive for the virus in the city. The city made a bundle of appointments available that same afternoon. However, the website crashed within minutes. Many of those trying to book appointments were met with error messages.
Adapted, Two-Strain Vaccines to Lift COVID Protection — EU Official
Adapted versions of established mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that address two variants in one shot will soon offer people better protection than vaccines that are now available, a European health official said on Wednesday.
Moderna (MRNA.O) and the BioNTech-Pfizer (22UAy.DE) alliance are working on vaccines based on a combination of the original Wuhan virus and an Omicron subvariant.
Referred to as bivalent shots, these are planned for use in the autumn vaccination campaign.
Omicron Subvariants BA.4, BA.5 Dominate U.S. Coronavirus Cases as White House Sticks to Same Strategies
U.S. News & World Report reported:
A pair of highly transmissible Omicron subvariants that quickly changed the U.S. variant scene is not yet prompting any new strategies from the White House.
BA.4 and BA.5 were responsible for more than 81% of new coronavirus cases reported last week, according to updated estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 70% of infections the week prior.
Despite the trends, White House officials on Tuesday insisted the U.S. is prepared for the subvariants and stuck to their usual talking points surrounding vaccines, therapeutics and masks.
AstraZeneca Says COVID Vaccine as Effective as mRNA Shots in Review
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said on Wednesday a review of real-world data showed its COVID-19 vaccine provided equally effective protection against hospitalization and death after two doses as with current mRNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna (MRNA.O).
Coronaviruses Can Survive on Frozen Meat for a Month
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Had COVID? You might want to clean your freezer out. A new study suggests that cousins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can survive on frozen meat and fish for up to 30 days.
The research — prompted by COVID outbreaks in Asia in which packaged meat was suspected as the virus’ source — was conducted on frozen chicken, beef, pork and salmon. The findings were published June 11 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Her team conducted its research without the use of the actual coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Instead, researchers relied on surrogate viruses with similar protein spikes.
Researchers said their findings are significant because SARS-CoV-2 can reproduce in the gut, not just in the respiratory tract where most people feel its effects.
Long COVID Patients Turn to ‘Blood Washing’ Procedure — a BMJ Investigation Shows Patients Spend a Lot to Likely Benefit Little
With long COVID patients becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of available treatments, some have now taken to traveling to Cyprus, Germany and Switzerland for experimental “blood washing,” according to a recent investigation by The BMJ and ITV News.
Over the past year, people experiencing this often debilitating condition have visited private clinics for apheresis, a blood-filtering treatment normally used for patients with lipid disorders, where they are also given anticoagulants, citing the hypothesis that “symptoms of long COVID are caused by small clots in the blood that are blocking the flow of oxygen through capillaries,” wrote Madlen Davies, investigations editor for The BMJ.
South Korea Expands Booster Shots as COVID Cases Creep Up
Health officials in South Korea are expanding booster shots to adults 50 and over as COVID-19 cases creep up again across the country.
South Korea had previously given second booster shots to people who are 60 or older and those with compromised immune systems. Officials are now expanding the eligibility of those shots to people in their 50s and all adults with pre-existing medical conditions. Weeklong quarantines will be maintained for people who test positive.
FDA to Authorize Novavax’s COVID Vaccine + More
FDA to Authorize Novavax’s COVID Vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use as early as Wednesday, two people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO.
The regulatory clearance would likely permit the two-dose vaccine to be given to adults as a primary immunization series, limiting its use in the U.S. since roughly two-thirds of people have already received their initial shots.
But the vaccine — which relies on a protein-based technology used for decades — may appeal to the sliver of the population allergic to components of the messenger RNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, or who are skeptical of those shots’ newer technology.
The FDA declined to comment, and the people with knowledge of the matter cautioned the plan could still change.
‘We Are Going to Get Justice’: Families Unite to Call out Questionable Hospital Protocols That Led to Deaths
The details in the stories of the families whose loved ones died in the hospital due to what they call “death protocols” are strikingly similar.
The patients were all scorned because of their unvaccinated status and were given a combination of sedatives and the antiviral drug remdesivir. The patients were also kept isolated, malnourished and ultimately put on a ventilator before dying.
After death, the families were left in confusion and with inconceivable stories that many don’t believe — stories of chilling administrative cruelty.
The FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation (FFFF) has gathered about 200 of these stories through its COVID-19 Humanity Betrayal Memory Project to build an online database of testimonies for the purpose of surveying accounts of treatment for the sick unvaccinated and prosecuting any cases involving alleged abuse.
Biden Officials Push to Offer Second Booster Shot to All Adults
Biden administration officials are developing a plan to allow all adults to receive a second coronavirus booster shot, pending federal agency sign-offs, as the White House and health experts seek to blunt a virus surge that has sent hospitalizations to their highest levels since March 3.
Currently, a second booster shot is available only to those 50 and older, as well as to those 12 and older who are immunocompromised. But administration officials are concerned by data that suggests immunity wanes within several months of the first booster shot.
Swiftly expanding access to booster shots also would enable people who are boosted now to receive reformulated shots that target newer virus variants, when those become available, probably later this year. In addition, officials want to use vaccine doses that are reaching their expiration dates and would otherwise be discarded.
While the booster plan still needs formal sign-off from regulators and public health officials, it has the backing of White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha and Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, according to five officials who like others interviewed in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan.
Biden Administration to Again Extend the COVID Public-Health Emergency
The U.S. government will once again extend the COVID-19 public health emergency, continuing measures that have given millions of Americans special access to health insurance and telehealth services.
The Department of Health and Human Services has repeatedly renewed the emergency since it was originally declared in January 2020, with the most recent extension set to expire on July 15. The next extension is expected to take effect Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public.
Drug-Resistant Infections and Deaths Among Hospital Patients Grew Amid COVID Pandemic
Years of progress the United States had made in fighting drug-resistant infections were largely erased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with hospital-acquired infections and resulting deaths growing 15% in 2020.
A special report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 29,400 people died from antimicrobial-resistant infections in 2020. The full number is likely much higher, given that data for half of the 18 pathogens identified as threats are unavailable or delayed.
Nearly 40% of those deaths were among people who got the infection while in the hospital, according to the CDC report.
Emails Confirm Why CDC Changed Definitions of Vaccine, Vaccinated
Newly obtained emails confirm that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its definition for both “vaccine” and “vaccinated” because people were pointing out that definitions didn’t seem to apply to the COVID-19 vaccines.
“The definition of vaccine we have posted is problematic and people are using it to claim the COVID-19 vaccine is not a vaccine based on our own definition,” Alycia Downs, a CDC official, wrote in an email on Aug. 25, 2021, to a colleague.
A flood of inquiries on the definitions was triggered by the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines have been increasingly ineffective against infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, the emails show.
“Our question is how is the CDC and the rest of the world allowed to call the shot a vaccination when it doesn’t even meet your own definition,” one person wrote to the CDC.
If You Were Infected With COVID During the First Omicron Wave, You ‘Really Don’t Have a Lot of Good Protection’ Against the BA.5 Subvariant: Fauci
Those who were infected with COVID-19 during the first Omicron wave won’t have much protection against the latest highly-infectious BA.5 subvariant, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Tuesday White House briefing.
“Omicron as a broad category has been particularly problematic,” Fauci said at the briefing while discussing the new BA.5 variant, which he said currently accounts for 64% of cases in the U.S.
This new variant, he said, “substantially evades” antibodies from both vaccination and prior infection.
Not Again. Another Cruise Ship Has a Major COVID Outbreak
Think you’ve read this article before? Well, you haven’t — not quite. But COVID-19 outbreaks on cruise ships are now such a regular occurrence that you would be forgiven for getting a hefty dose of de ja vu after reading this headline.
Today’s cruise ship outbreak is on the Coral Princess, where over 100 people are currently sick, with many isolating on board the vessel in Brisbane, according to 7NEWSBrisbane. Others are being evacuated to isolate at home or in other accommodations and currently, 1 in 20 people who were aboard the ship are known to have COVID-19.
Many cruise ship companies have instituted vaccination and testing requirements, but with newer COVID-19 variants increasingly able to cause infections even in vaccinated people, these measures seem to be unable to prevent significant outbreaks onboard.
Omicron Subvariants Threaten COVID Resurgence Across U.S.
Health officials are once again raising the alarm about the threat of a resurgence of COVID-19 infections across the country, as concerns grow about the new Omicron subvariant, BA.5, which is now the dominant viral strain in the U.S.
The BA.5 variant, first detected in South Africa earlier this year, is currently estimated to account for more than half — 53.6% — of all new COVID-19 cases in the states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BA.5 appears to have a growth advantage over the original Omicron variant, according to the World Health Organization, and scientists are closely monitoring the increase in reported cases observed in many countries across the globe.
Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population is now living in a county with a high or medium community risk level for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC, federal data shows. About one-third of those people — 31.9% — are living in a high-risk community, while 41.6% are living in a medium-risk county.
As Sixth COVID Wave Hits, Many New Yorkers Shrug It Off
New York City’s COVID-19 test positivity rate is 15%, an intensity not seen since January. Transmission levels of the virus, according to federal guidelines, are high in every borough. Even hospitalizations, while far below previous peaks, are rising again, as the most transmissible Omicron variant yet, BA.5, spreads through the city and nation.
Earlier in the pandemic, such news might have been met with a mix of foreboding and fear. Now, New York is meeting the moment with more of a “meh.” As New York City enters its sixth wave of the virus, few seem inclined to get themselves into high alert mode again.
Not the government. Nor many of the people.
Across the city, many New Yorkers — from the unvaccinated to the boosted — said that neither BA.5’s prevalence nor its worrisome attributes — including its ability to override immunity from past infections and vaccines — had them dramatically rethinking risk.
Moderna Says New Booster More Effective Targeting Now-Dominant BA.5 Variant of COVID
The pharmaceutical company Moderna on Monday announced that the initial tests of its COVID booster specifically targeting the Omicron variant known as BA.5 show it is more effective than previous shots.
“We are very pleased that our bivalent platform continues to demonstrate better performance than the current booster,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.
Researchers collected data from 800 participants in the trial, which tested various formulations of the booster. Moderna said the second formulation of its booster generated “nearly 70% more antibodies effective against BA.5 than a previous version did a month after receipt of the dose,” the Daily Mail reported.
COVID Brain Problems May Stem From Attack on Endothelial Cells — Findings Could Have Implications for Treating Long COVID
Antibodies that attack the endothelial cells lining the brain’s blood vessels may lead to inflammation and neurologic damage in people with COVID-19, a small autopsy study suggested.
All nine COVID patients in the study had multifocal vascular damage with serum proteins leaking into the brain parenchyma, according to Avindra Nath, MD, clinical director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, and co-authors.
This damage was accompanied by widespread endothelial cell activation, Nath and colleagues reported in Brain. Platelet aggregates and microthrombi were found adhering to endothelial cells along vascular lumina, and deposits of immune complexes were found on endothelial cells and platelets.
The findings suggested that COVID-19 triggers the formation of immune complexes activating the classical complement pathway, the researchers noted.
U.S. Orders 3.2 Million Doses of Novavax COVID Vaccine + More
U.S. Orders 3.2 Million Doses of Novavax COVID Vaccine
The U.S. government will get 3.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Novavax Inc. (NVAX.O) once the shot has been authorized by the regulators, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the company said on Monday.
The shot will be made available for free in the country after it gets authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation.
Advisers to the FDA last month voted to recommend that the agency authorize the shot for use in adults.
Novavax is expected to complete all necessary quality testing in the next few weeks, which would support the final release of the shots, HHS said in a statement on Monday.
U.S. FDA Grants Full Approval to Pfizer COVID Vaccine for Ages 12-15
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it has granted full approval to Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents aged between 12 and 15 years.
The vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty for adults, has been available under an emergency use authorization since May 2021 for the 12-15 age group. It will now be sold under the same brand name for adolescents as well.
The FDA said on Friday the full approval follows a rigorous analysis and evaluation of the safety and effectiveness data. The vaccine was approved for use in those aged 16 and older in August last year.
U.S. Has 17M Monkeypox Vaccine Doses Stuck in Denmark as NYC Scrambles to Get Shots Into Arms: ‘Make the Vaccine Available to Everyone’
Nearly 17 million doses of monkeypox vaccine are collecting dust at a manufacturing plant in Denmark instead of being shipped to the U.S. due to a bureaucratic delay, White House officials confirmed Friday, as New Yorkers lined up in droves to get ahold of a shot from the city’s short supply.
The viral disease, which is spreading across the world, primarily among men who have sex with men, causes blister-like rashes, fever and other symptoms.
There are no known U.S. monkeypox deaths, and public health experts have stressed that the virus is less transmissible than COVID-19 — but that hasn’t quelled anxiety in New York City, which has emerged as an early epicenter, with 160 of the country’s roughly 700 cases reported here as of Friday.
About 6,000 monkeypox doses arrived in the city earlier this week, but the local Health Department and a third-party vendor, MedRite, bungled administering the shots, with reports of New Yorkers having their appointments canceled at the last minute due to flagging supply.
Over 10% of COVID Hospitalizations Involve Immunocompromised People — Once Hospitalized, No Mortality Difference Between Vaxxed and Unvaxxed Immunocompromised Patients
Immunocompromised individuals made up 12.2% of all COVID-related hospitalizations, despite accounting for only about 3% of the U.S. population, a CDC report showed.
And once hospitalized, there was no difference in the risk for death between vaccinated and unvaccinated immunocompromised patients, reported Jason Robert Singson, MPH, of the California Emerging Infections Program in Oakland, and colleagues in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Few Young Children Are Getting COVID Vaccines: Data
Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines has been low so far in young children, with a small fraction of those newly eligible for a vaccine receiving one, according to new data.
In a pair of moves in June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines available to children from 6 months to 5 years of age and recommended virtually every child in the age group get vaccinated.
But parents have been hesitant to get their child a vaccine, according to the newly released data. Just 1.3% of eligible children under 5 have received one or two doses of a vaccine, data from the CDC show. In many states, meanwhile, the percentage of young children getting a shot is under 1%, according to an Epoch Times analysis.
Taken together, the statistics underline the difficulty health authorities will have in getting babies and toddlers vaccinated with shots that have proven much worse than originally promoted.
Judge Throws out Missouri AG’s COVID Suit Against China
A federal judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit by Missouri Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt that blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh said in his 38-page ruling that in this case, federal rules prohibit a sovereign foreign entity from being sued in American courts. The judge noted earlier in the opinion that the civil suit against China is one of many filed “amidst the wreckage of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Schmitt’s office said it would appeal the ruling.
The complaint filed in April 2020 alleges that Chinese officials are “responsible for the enormous death, suffering and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians.” Schmitt said the Chinese government lied about the dangers of the virus and didn’t do enough to slow its spread.
New Coronavirus Mutant Raises Concerns in India and Beyond
The quickly changing coronavirus has spawned yet another super contagious Omicron mutant that’s worrying scientists as it gains ground in India and pops up in numerous other countries, including the United States.
Scientists say the variant — called BA.2.75 — may be able to spread rapidly and get around immunity from vaccines and previous infection. It’s unclear whether it could cause more serious disease than other Omicron variants, including the globally prominent BA.5.
The latest mutant has been spotted in several distant states in India, and appears to be spreading faster than other variants there, said Lipi Thukral, a scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi.
It’s also been detected in about 10 other countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. Two cases were recently identified on the West Coast of the U.S., and Helix identified a third U.S. case last week.
EU Backs Second COVID Booster for Over-60s, Before Variant-Adapted Vaccines Are Ready
European Union health agencies on Monday recommended a second COVID-19 booster for everyone over 60, as well as medically vulnerable people, amid a new rise in infections and hospitalizations across Europe.
EU health agencies have since April recommended a second booster only for those older than 80 and the most vulnerable.
The new recommendation is expected to facilitate national decisions to speed up vaccination campaigns, which have been slowing to nearly a halt in recent months.
Shanghai Identifies New COVID Omicron Subvariant
The city of Shanghai has discovered a COVID-19 case involving a new subvariant Omicron BA.5.2.1, an official told a briefing on Sunday, signaling the complications China faces to keep up with new mutations as it pursues its “zero-COVID” policy.
The case, found in the financial district of Pudong on July 8, was linked with a case from overseas, said Zhao Dandan, vice-director of the city’s health commission.
Shanghai, in eastern China, emerged from a lockdown lasting around two months at the start of June, but it has continued to impose tough restrictions, locking down buildings and compounds as soon as new potential transmission chains emerge.
Zhao said residents in several major Shanghai districts would undergo two rounds of COVID tests, from July 12-14, in a bid to bring potential new outbreaks under control.
U.S. to Ship 144,000 More Monkeypox Shots and Expand Testing as Cases Top 700 + More
U.S. to Ship 144,000 More Monkeypox Shots and Expand Testing as Cases Top 700
The U.S. is stepping up its efforts to address the snowballing monkeypox outbreak — the country’s largest to date by far, with 700 confirmed cases.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday that it will distribute 144,000 doses of the two-shot Jynneos vaccine, which is approved for monkeypox and smallpox, to cities and states starting Monday. That’s on top of 56,000 doses the department made available last week, of which 41,000 have been delivered.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced Wednesday that Labcorp has begun testing for monkeypox at its main lab in North Carolina, which can accept samples from across the country. Labcorp expects to be able to perform up to 10,000 tests a week, the CDC said, which would double the country’s testing capacity.
HHS has vowed to distribute 1.9 million doses in total this year, followed by 2.2 million more in the first half of next year.
Uruguay Suspends COVID Vaccination for Children Under 13
Uruguay stopped administering coronavirus vaccine to children under age 13 after a judge ordered on Thursday that all inoculations in that age group halt until officials present documents relating to contracts signed with vaccine manufacturers.
Judge Alejandro Recarey issued the injunction under a petition filed by a lawyer who represents a group of anti-vaccine activists, who have demanded that contracts with vaccine manufacturers be made public.
NYC Mayor Adams Promises ‘New Weapons’ in Fight Against Latest COVID Surge, Defends Dropping Color-Coded Alert System
Mayor Adams vowed Thursday to replace his administration’s color-coded coronavirus alert system with a set of “new weapons” in the face of yet another wave of COVID cases descending upon New York City.
Speaking at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Hospital, a COVID-19 epicenter in the early days of the pandemic, Adams said the color-coded system is not effective against the city’s current surge in infections.
Adams did not elaborate on what shape the “new weapons” will take or how soon to expect them. But he said he plans on “bringing in experts from all across the globe” to help devise them.
Throughout New York State, there has been a sharp uptick in cases over the past few weeks due to BA.5, a highly contagious subvariant of the Omicron COVID-19 strain that appears exceedingly capable of infecting fully vaccinated people.
Slow Pace for Youngest Kids Getting COVID Vaccine Doses
Nearly 300,000 children under 5 have received COVID-19 shots in the two weeks since they became available, a slower pace than for older groups. But the White House says that was expected for the eligible U.S. population of about 18 million kids.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was to publish initial data on shots for the age group later Thursday, reflecting doses administered since regulators authorized them on June 18. The first vaccinations didn’t begin until several days later because the doses had to be shipped to doctors’ offices and pharmacies.
‘Headed in a Bad Direction’: Omicron Variant May Bring Second-Largest U.S. COVID Wave
The BA.5 version of COVID-19 has become the majority variant of the virus in America in a matter of weeks, in a troubling development that comes amid what may already be America’s second-largest wave of the pandemic.
It also comes at a time when much of the U.S. has relaxed nearly all COVID restrictions in public and life has largely returned to normal.
As BA.5, one of the Omicron sub-variants, begins buffeting the U.S., “we’re headed in a bad direction,” said Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. “We’ve seen it coming for a while … We’ve seen it go pretty unabated.”
Let’s Call Monkeypox What It Is: A Pandemic
It is time for the global public health community to recognize a growing reality: Monkeypox is now a pandemic. And unless we declare an emergency and act quickly to combat it, we risk repeating the same mistakes we made with our COVID-19 battle.
No longer contained to a single continent or found only among travelers, the monkeypox virus is undergoing community transmission in dozens of countries worldwide and spreading unchecked at an alarming rate.
Yet despite the growing number of cases, the World Health Organization has largely played down the outbreak. On June 24, the agency failed to declare a public health emergency — just as it repeatedly failed to issue emergency and pandemic declarations for the coronavirus, until finally declaring a pandemic in March of 2020.
South Africa’s Afrigen Partners With U.S. on mRNA Vaccine Research
South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics Limited said on Friday that it will collaborate with U.S. government researchers to develop mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.
The agreement will enable the sharing of scientific expertise, technical skills and materials with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help Afrigen produce mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and other diseases, said the Cape Town-based biotech start-up.
mRNA is the technology used for COVID-19 shots by market leaders such as Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) and Moderna Inc. (MRNA.O). Both have declined international requests to share their technology and expertise, citing the complexity of the manufacturing process.
The Fourth COVID Vaccine Dose May Not Be Enough to Curb New Omicron Sub-Variants. Here’s Why.
Australians aged 30 and above will be eligible to receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose from Monday in an attempt to grapple with a new wave of Omicron sub-variants during winter.
The federal government has accepted the advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) that people aged between 50 to 64 are “highly recommended” to receive the fourth so-called “winter dose.”
But ATAGI has warned that even its recommendation for more Australians to receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine “is expected to be limited” in its effect on curbing the virus outbreak.
“[The sub-variants] are worse actors in terms of being more able to get around our immune system and they’re more transmissible, and they’re easier to catch, even if you’ve had a vaccine or had COVID,” said Nancy Baxter, Head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne.
Millions in COVID Funds yet to Be Distributed to Workers
A $34 million state fund created by Connecticut lawmakers last year to provide financial help to qualified essential workers has remained mostly untouched, Comptroller Natalie Braswell said Thursday.
The program aims to help those who lost wages and faced out-of-pocket medical expenses and burial costs due to COVID-19.