Login
Covid News Watch
Rand Paul Spars With Fauci Over Money Tied to Vaccines + More
Rand Paul Spars With Fauci Over Money Tied to Vaccines
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci had to testify remotely this week due to his recent COVID diagnosis, but the virus didn’t stop Fauci from his usual sparring with Senator Rand Paul, who went off on the doctor about the federal agency’s financial disclosures.
Testifying in isolation on Thursday, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, answered questions from senators about the ongoing federal pandemic response, re-emphasizing that “our current vaccines have maintained their effectiveness for preventing severe COVID-19.”
During Paul’s turn, the Kentucky Republican berated Fauci, asking the 81-year-old if he could say that he has “not received a royalty from any entity that [he] ever oversaw the distribution of money and research grants.”
COVID Vaccine Injury Plaintiffs Face Long Odds in U.S. Compensation Program
“I thought it would be impossible to deny me.” That’s what Cody Flint, who used to work as a crop duster in Mississippi, said he expected when he filed a claim with an obscure government tribunal that provides compensation for COVID-19 vaccine-related injuries.
Flint, 34, told me that he submitted hundreds of pages of supporting material, including reports from four doctors who attributed his episodes of vertigo, headaches, and partial loss of hearing and eyesight — afflictions that have ended his career as a pilot, at least for now — to a rare side-effect of the Pfizer vaccine.
The feds rejected Flint’s claim on May 25 in a two-page letter that he shared with me. “The compelling, reliable and valid medical and scientific evidence” didn’t prove the vaccine caused his symptoms, an official with the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, or CICP, wrote.
As a layperson, I don’t know if that decision was correct. What I do know is that he is not alone in coming up short at the CICP, which has denied about 90% of petitions since its inception in 2010.
FDA Authorizes Pfizer and Moderna COVID Vaccines for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for use in children as young as six months of age, setting the stage for a government push to make the shots available for the youngest children.
The decision comes less than two days after a panel advising the FDA voted unanimously to recommend authorization, saying their benefits would outweigh any risks for young kids.
The FDA also authorized the Moderna vaccine, which was previously cleared in adults over 18, for older children and adolescents, meaning both vaccines are cleared for all ages over 6 months.
Before families can start to avail themselves of the vaccines, though, an advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs to recommend the shots, too, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must accept the recommendation. The group meets Friday and Saturday when the votes will be held.
Fauci Says COVID Origin Evidence Points ‘Strongly’ Toward ‘Natural Occurrence’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified virtually before a Thursday Senate panel about the illness only a day after announcing he had contracted COVID-19.
Fauci, when asked if there were any breakthroughs in understanding the origin of COVID-19, said that researchers had concluded that it “very, very likely” had its genesis in an animal species.
Fauci acknowledged the prominent theory among the U.S. public that the virus originated out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology via a leak. “We still open up and keep always an open mind about whether this had to do with a virus that was isolated out in the environment and that came into a lab and then had what most people refer to as a ‘lab leak,’” he continued.
While Fauci said that researchers would keep an “open mind,” he also argued that most evidence supported a natural occurrence. Asked whether China would cooperate with investigations into the origin of COVID-19, Fauci deflected and tempered expectations for any meaningful answers.
Why Some Parents Are Skeptical About COVID Vaccines for Young Children
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines for children as young as 6 months. Shots should be available next week, which will provide some parents a long-overdue tool to protect their children from COVID.
It also will likely go unused by most American parents. This latter group, which will likely not seek out a coronavirus vaccine for their young children, deserves closer attention, not least of all because their hesitancy represents a change in how parents make healthcare decisions for their children.
China Says COVID Might Have Originated in U.S., Calls Wuhan Lab Theory Lies
A Chinese state media commentary has hit out at a new report into the origins of COVID-19, which states that a lab leak is still on the table. The article, released on Friday by the Chinese government’s official press agency Xinhua, dismissed any suggestion that the SARS-CoV-2 virus leaked from a Chinese lab, and said the theory had been “concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes.” The report also states that labs elsewhere in the world should be investigated if they’re located near where pre-2020 cases were detected.
Such lab investigations could include examining biosafety measures, finding out whether there were any occupational illnesses before the recognized start of the pandemic and looking at whether SARS-like coronaviruses were being engineered.
In response to the report, the Xinhua article pointed to the WHO’s inconclusive 2021 origins report that referred to a lab-leak scenario as “extremely unlikely,” and the article also pushed a theory that COVID could actually have originated in the U.S.
It said the U.S. had been a “terrible bookkeeper” of its own early COVID outbreak and claimed that the Fort Detrick base in Maryland and biolabs at the University of North Carolina “have long been engaged in coronavirus research and modification.”
How Vaccine Immunity, Prior Infection Hold up Against BA.2 — Qatar Data Show Strong Protection Against Severe Outcomes With Just About Any Type of Immunity
Protection against symptomatic BA.1 or BA.2 COVID-19 infection was similar between individuals who received three doses of an mRNA vaccine and those who had either a prior infection or some form of hybrid immunity, a national case-control study from Qatar found.
Against severe disease from either of the two Omicron subvariants, effectiveness was strong across the different types of immunity, at 70% or higher, reported Laith Abu-Raddad, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Doha, and colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicine.
An analysis of effectiveness based on the time since infection or vaccination “showed rapidly waning vaccine protection after the second and third doses but slowly waning protection from previous infection,” the group highlighted.
Omicron May Be Less Likely to Cause Long COVID Than Prior Variants, Study Suggests
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears less likely than Delta to lead to long COVID, according to British researchers.
But because Omicron is much more contagious than previous variants, the enormous number of people who have been infected since it began spreading in the winter means there will still be many who are struggling with long-lasting symptoms, such as brain fog, headaches and debilitating fatigue.
The new research, which was published Thursday in The Lancet, is an observational analysis of people who signed up for a smartphone app-led project called the ZOE Covid Study. Users regularly report any COVID symptoms, vaccination status and other demographic information.
Since the app’s launch in March 2020, approximately 4.7 million people, most of whom reside in the U.K., have signed on.
Congressional COVID Funding Deal Appears ‘Dead’ After GOP Criticism
A congressional deal for billions of dollars in additional coronavirus funding appeared all but dead Thursday after Senate Republicans accused the White House of being dishonest about the nation’s pandemic funding needs.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who brought the Senate close to a bipartisan $10 billion COVID funding deal in March, said the Biden administration had provided “patently false” information about its inability to buy additional vaccines, treatments and supplies. He cited a newly announced White House plan to repurpose some existing funds to cover the country’s most pressing vaccine and treatment needs.
“I hope that there’s an appreciation that for the administration to say they could not purchase these things, and then after several months, divert some funds and then purchase them is unacceptable, and makes our ability to work together … very much shaken to the core,” Romney said at a Senate health committee hearing Thursday, noting the White House had repeatedly claimed it had exhausted COVID funding and could not redirect other spending.
Canada Has a Massive Surplus of Unused Ventilators
More than half of the 40,000 ventilators the Canadian government ordered early in the pandemic are now sitting unused in the federal emergency stockpile. Just over 2,000 of the ventilators have been deployed, either in Canada or abroad. Ottawa is now working to cancel orders for ventilators that have yet to be delivered but won’t say how much it has paid for the machines.
In the spring of 2020, Canada rushed to shore up supplies of medical and personal protective equipment as COVID-19 case numbers climbed.
In response to the crisis, the federal government quickly ordered just over 40,000 ventilators at a cost of C$1.1 billion, the vast majority from Canadian manufacturers that started building the life-saving machines from scratch.
At the time, it was billed as a success story for Canadian ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. By May 2021, more than 27,000 ventilators had been delivered. But the worst-case pandemic scenarios never came to pass, and most of the machines were never needed.
Moderna to Study Its COVID Vaccine in Babies as Young as 3 Months + More
Moderna to Study Its COVID Vaccine in Babies as Young as 3 Months
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Moderna Inc. is planning to test its COVID-19 vaccine in babies 3 months to 6 months old, the youngest age group studied to date.
The Cambridge, Mass., company said Wednesday it is in the final stages of planning the study, to be called BabyCove, and expected to begin enrolling as many as 700 babies in September.
Florida Is the Only State to Skip Pre-Ordering COVID Vaccines for Kids
Florida is the only state in the nation that has not placed an order with the federal government for doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for young children, saying the distribution process is “convoluted.”
The Florida Department of Health, through a statement, said Wednesday that it did not place an order with the federal government for vaccine doses for kids five and under in part because it doesn’t advise all children get vaccinated. The deadline for placing a pre-order was Tuesday and 49 other states met the cutoff date.
Florida’s Department of Health is led by state Surgeon General Joe Ladapo, an outspoken skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine. Ladapo has been voicing concerns about the safety of the vaccines since the first doses were made available. Ladapo joined 20 other doctors in signing a petition in July 2021 urging the FDA not to give the Pfizer vaccine its final approval without years of studies and clinical trials.
Explainer: What to Know About COVID Vaccines for Young Children
A panel of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday unanimously voted to recommend Moderna Inc.’s (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine for children under 6 years old and Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE’s (22UAy.DE) for children under 5.
Moderna’s vaccine was estimated to be 50.6% effective at preventing symptomatic infections among children 6 months to under 2 years old and 36.8% effective at doing so in children ages 2 to 6 in a clinical trial of over 5,000 subjects.
It is not yet known how effective the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is at preventing infection in people under age 5 because of the low number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases among the children in its trial. An early analysis based on 10 symptomatic COVID-19 cases suggested a vaccine efficacy of 80.3% in this group. Once 21 children in the trial contract symptomatic COVID-19, the companies can finalize the vaccine’s efficacy.
Biden Administration Sued Over Records on Withholding COVID Treatment From Florida
A watchdog seeking records from President Joe Biden’s administration on the rationing of a key COVID-19 treatment is suing the government for not providing the records in a timely manner.
The Functional Government Initiative (FGI) is seeking records that will shed light on why the administration cut shipments of monoclonal antibodies to Florida and other states in 2021 into 2022.
But the Department of Health and Human Services and two subagencies — the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — haven’t complied with legal requirements outlined in the Freedom of Information Act, the watchdog says, prompting a lawsuit in federal court.
“The only way we’re going to be able to obtain these documents is through a lawsuit and that’s why we are suing HHS, NIH and NIAID,” Peter McGinnis, a spokesman for FGI, told The Epoch Times.
Dr. Anthony Fauci Tests Positive for COVID
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, has tested positive for COVID-19, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said in a statement Wednesday.
Fauci, 81, has directed the institute since 1984. He is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots. His positive result came from a rapid test.
‘Part of a New Normal’: COVID Reinfections Are Here to Stay
In 2020, COVID reinfections were considered rare. In 2021, breakthrough infections in vaccinated individuals could occur, but again, the risk was low. In 2022, that’s no longer the case for either. As more immune-dodging coronavirus variants emerge, reinfections and breakthrough infections appear increasingly normal.
The United States isn’t currently tracking COVID reinfections. However, U.K. researchers have found that the risk of reinfection was eight times higher during the Omicron wave than it was in last year’s Delta wave.
“I would not be surprised if we see people get infected more than once per year,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said in an interview with NBC News last week, though he added that he feels optimistic that it will eventually settle into becoming just a seasonal occurrence, like the flu. (Fauci, who has received two vaccine boosters, himself tested positive for COVID on Wednesday, saying he has mild symptoms.)
Rapid COVID Tests Give Many False Negatives, but That Might Mean You’re Not Contagious
In early January, more than 700 Stanford University athletes took rapid COVID tests upon returning to the campus. Those who tested negative — and some who tested positive — were also given PCR tests. The students were all participants in an experiment run by the Stanford University School of Medicine, which assessed the accuracy of BinaxNOW rapid tests.
The results, published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, showed that the rapid tests caught 63% of positive cases, meaning they produced quite a few false negatives. The accuracy varied significantly depending on whether the infected athletes had symptoms. The tests caught 78% of symptomatic cases but 39% among asymptomatic athletes.
False positives weren’t a problem though: The tests were accurate in nearly 100% of cases in which athletes did not have COVID. “I do think that the viral load is the big issue here,” said Dr. Calvin Hwang, the study’s lead author and a clinical assistant professor at Stanford. Viral load refers to the amount of virus in a person’s body.
“Only the people shedding the most virus are going to be positive with a rapid test, but those are the people you especially want to identify because they’re the most infectious,” said Dr. Sheldon Campbell, an associate professor of laboratory medicine at the Yale School of Medicine who wasn’t involved in the research.
Flu Shots Lag in States With Low COVID Vaccine Uptake
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Adult flu shots have slumped in states with low COVID-19 vaccination rates, suggesting that COVID-19 vaccination behavior may have spilled over to flu-vaccine behavior, new research indicates.
University of California, Los Angeles researchers point to declining trust in public health agencies caused by controversy over COVID-19 vaccines as a possible reason for the falloff in flu vaccination.
Flu shot rates in the second flu season of the pandemic (2021-2022) — when COVID-19 vaccines were widely available — fell from about 44% to around 39% in states with below-average rates of COVID-19 vaccination.
Camp Counselors Receive Mental Health Training in NH
Counselors are being trained to recognize signs of mental health struggles in campers under a new initiative in New Hampshire to make summer camp more accessible, New Hampshire officials said.
The state’s education commissioner, Frank Edelblut said the new program, funded by federal COVID-19 relief aid, has partnered with 10 staff members from mental health facilities across the state to work with camps in the community, WMUR-TV reported Tuesday.
Biden to Unveil Plan for Next Pandemic While Seeking $88 Billion in Funds + More
Biden to Unveil Plan for Next Pandemic While Seeking $88 Billion in Funds
The Biden administration is preparing a new defense strategy against pandemics and other biological threats that applies lessons from COVID-19 and puts the White House at the center of any future U.S. response.
Research suggests there’s a 50/50 chance of another COVID-like pandemic — or one that is more deadly — over the next 25 years, according to a senior administration official who spoke under the condition of anonymity as the strategy isn’t yet public, and the administration’s plan is the result of more than a year of work by U.S. national security and public health experts to improve the nation’s framework for preparedness, response and recovery.
As soon as this month, the administration is expected to release a National Biodefense Strategy that will outline its approach to facing biological threats to humans, animals, environments and crops, according to people familiar with the matter.
The plan, along with $88.2 billion in funding the president is seeking, would shift how the government handles pandemic preparedness by more clearly describing responsibilities, goals and deadlines — an attempt to avoid the confusion and agency infighting that plagued the U.S. pandemic response.
Florida Surgeon General Ladapo Opposes COVID Vaccine for Young Children
As the federal Food and Drug Administration weighs approval of COVID-19 vaccinations for children under age 5, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is opposed to the potential change.
The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is slated to meet Wednesday to discuss amending emergency-use authorizations for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children as young as 6 months old.
Ladapo, who has long criticized vaccination requirements for adults, said Tuesday he would not support vaccinating young children against the coronavirus.
FDA Advisers Vote in Favor of Authorizing Moderna COVID Vaccine for Ages 6-17
Vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided unanimously Tuesday in favor of expanding the emergency use authorization of Moderna‘s COVID-19 vaccine to include older children and teens, ages 6 to 17, saying it would offer more benefits than risks.
All 22 members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted “yes” in response to two questions of whether the benefits of the vaccine — when given as two 100-microgram doses for ages 12 to 17 and two 50-microgram doses for ages 6 to 11 — outweigh its risks, based on the available scientific evidence.
The FDA, which typically follows the committee’s decisions, will now decide whether to authorize the vaccine for emergency use in these age groups. The Moderna vaccine is already authorized for adults.
However, shots can’t be given until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s own vaccine advisers have voted on whether to recommend them and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has signed off on the recommendation.
Study on Child Hepatitis Cases Points to Prior COVID Infection, but Experts Say Too Soon to Know
A new study points to prior COVID-19 infection as a possible culprit for the global wave of severe hepatitis cases among children — though experts caution the true cause is still a medical mystery.
Researchers in Israel added evidence for the theory in a small study published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, suggesting some children might develop liver inflammation in the weeks after recovering from a mild COVID-19 infection.
While the root cause of the pediatric hepatitis outbreak is still unknown, experts say the leading theories include COVID-19 infection, infection with a common cold virus or an interplay between the two infections, according to Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatric hospitalist at Stanford Health and an ABC News medical contributor.
In a new twist, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis published Tuesday found that there may not be a spike in cases at all — at least not in the United States. CDC scientists said the number of severe hepatitis cases observed in recent weeks is relatively consistent with pre-pandemic levels, but urged public health authorities to continue to monitor the situation.
Pfizer Stops Enrollment in Paxlovid Trial in Standard-Risk Population
Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) said on Tuesday it would halt enrollment in a trial for its COVID-19 antiviral drug, Paxlovid, in standard-risk patients after a study revealed the treatment was not effective in reducing symptoms in that group.
The new data, however, showed a 51% relative risk reduction in standard-risk groups, which the company said was not statistically significant. The standard-risk population usually includes people who do not have health conditions that put them at risk of severe disease and who can recover without the drug.
Pfizer said it will include the new data in the company’s upcoming application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking full approval for the drug’s use in high-risk groups.
Data from a study in Israel earlier this month showed the drug reduces COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients 65 years and older, but was not found to prevent severe illness among younger adults.
‘Something Has to Change’: Healthcare Workers Who Cared for Us During COVID Are Burning Out
One of my greatest sources of inspiration and hope during the pandemic has been the courage and dedication of health workers. Their fierce commitment to care for us, despite the dangers to themselves and their loved ones, deserves our lasting appreciation and support.
This is why it is so troubling that these days when I visit a hospital, clinic or health department and ask staff how they’re doing, they use words like exhausted, traumatized, helpless and heartbroken. Even before the pandemic, more than half of nurses and physicians, including trainees, reported feeling burned out.
COVID-19 has been a fully and uniquely traumatic experience for the health workforce and for their families. Burnout has reached crisis proportions among front-line clinical staff in hospitals and clinics. More than 50% of public health workers have reported symptoms of at least one mental health condition, like anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.
Why so Many Long COVID Patients Are Reporting Suicidal Thoughts
Last year, Diana Berrent — the founder of Survivor Corps, a Long COVID support group — asked the group’s members if they’d ever had thoughts of suicide since developing Long COVID. About 18% of people who responded said they had, a number much higher than the 4% of the general U.S. adult population that has experienced recent suicidal thoughts.
A few weeks ago, Berrent posed the same question to current members of her group. This time, of the nearly 200 people who responded, 45% said they’d contemplated suicide.
While her poll was small and informal, the results point to a serious problem. “People are suffering in a way that I don’t think the general public understands,” Berrent says. “Not only are people mourning the life that they thought they were going to have, but they are also in excruciating pain with no answers.”
The statistics around Long COVID and mental health are striking. A report published in eClinical Medicine last year found that about 88% of Long COVID patients experienced some form of mood or emotional issue during the first seven months of their illnesses.
Newest Omicron COVID Lineages Gaining Ground in United States
We’re still in the Age of Omicron, but the face of it keeps changing.
The United States appears to be in the midst of another biological baton pass between COVID-19 variants. The Omicron lineage BA.2 and its spinoff, BA.2.12.1, drove cases this spring, building into waves of infections in places like the Northeast and parts of California. Now, two other forms of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, are eating into the BA.2 group’s dominance.
More than 1 in 5 COVID-19 infections last week were caused by BA.4 and BA.5, according to updated estimates posted Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 13% the week prior. The rest of the cases are from the BA.2 lineages.
BA.4 and BA.5 are picking up speed because they’re able to evade the body’s antibody response even more so than other variants, meaning they’re very good at establishing infections in people who have some level of protection.
How Months-Long COVID Infections Could Seed Dangerous New Variants
Virologist Sissy Sonnleitner tracks nearly every COVID-19 case in Austria’s rugged eastern Tyrol region. So, when one woman there kept testing positive for months on end, Sonnleitner was determined to work out what was going on.
Before becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 in late 2020, the woman, who was in her 60s, had been taking immune-suppressing drugs to treat a lymphoma relapse. The COVID-19 infection lingered for more than seven months, causing relatively mild symptoms, including fatigue and a cough.
Sonnleitner, who is based at a microbiology facility in Außervillgraten, Austria, and her colleagues collected more than two dozen viral samples from the woman over time and found through genetic sequencing that it had picked up about 22 mutations (see ‘Tracking spike’s evolution’).
Roughly half of them would be seen again in the heavily mutated Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 that surged around the globe months later. “When Omicron was found, we had a great moment of surprise,” Sonnleitner says. “We already had those mutations in our variant.”
Great Plains Zoo Vaccinating Animals for the Coronavirus
The Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls is in the process of vaccinating its most susceptible animals against the coronavirus.
A global animal health company, Zoetis, has developed an experimental vaccine for COVID-19 and is working with zoos across the country to distribute its limited supply to vaccinate the most at-risk species as soon as possible.
Great Plains veterinary staff worked closely with zookeepers to deliver the first dose of the vaccine to many of the species considered at risk, including primates and large cats. Zoo officials have administered 57 vaccine shots in just over a week. All animals that received the first dose, will get a second dose in about three weeks, KSFY-TV reported.
FDA Advisers Weigh Moderna COVID Vaccine Heart Risk for Young Men + More
U.S. FDA Advisers Weigh Moderna COVID Vaccine Heart Risk for Young Men
Moderna‘s (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine may have a higher risk of heart inflammation in young men than the Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech (22UAy.DE) shot, according to data presented on Tuesday to U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers weighing its use for those aged 6 to 17.
An FDA official told the expert panel that while the data showed a higher risk for the Moderna shot, the findings were not consistent across various safety databases and were not statistically significant, meaning they might be due to chance.
There have long been concerns that the Moderna shot, which is given at a higher dose than the Pfizer/BioNtech shot, may cause myocarditis and pericarditis at higher rates.
Lessons From Earlier Pandemics: Vaccine Panel Must Discuss Imprinting Among Infants and Toddlers
This week, when the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee considers approving the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for infants and toddlers, the issue of imprinting may not be on the agenda. But it should be, given lessons from the Russian pandemic of 1889, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the Hong Kong flu of 1968, the swine flu pandemic of 1957, and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Immune imprinting results from exposure to proteins or other biological structures of viruses, like those found in SARS-CoV-2, that allow the virus to penetrate host cells and cause infection.
Imprinting may come directly from an acute infection or indirectly through vaccination. It can result in reduced — or enhanced — responses to future variants with unknown clinical consequences. The former is beneficial, the latter is not.
The immune systems of infants and toddlers — the targets of the latest COVID-19 vaccination approval — are immature and developing. If an immature immune system is immunologically imprinted, either by acute infection from the currently circulating viral variant or by a COVID-19 vaccine based on the original, wild-type variant that is no longer in circulation, it may fail to develop appropriate defenses when confronted — even years later — by a COVID variant or another totally different pathogen.
Canada’s Trudeau Gets COVID for Second Time This Year, Says He’s Grateful to Be Vaccinated, Boosted
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is back in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time this year — and insisting it would be worse if he was not vaccinated and boosted.
Trudeau, who went into isolation in January, just as the nation’s truckers converged on Ottawa to protest his government’s strict vaccine mandates, announced his latest positive test Monday. He said he was feeling “okay,” and expressed gratitude that he was vaccinated.
Although the COVID vaccines were originally advertised as providing significant protection from infection, many media outlets now say they are “primarily designed to keep those who become infected from falling seriously ill,” according to The Associated Press.
COVID Reinfections Set to Spike in U.S. As New Variants Evade Immunity
If you’re anything like the majority of Americans — an estimated 60-plus-percent of them, according to government data — you’ve already had COVID-19.
The question now is whether you’re ready to get infected again — this time by a new subvariant that not only sidesteps some of your existing immunity but may also be more resistant to key treatments.
Once upon a time, reinfection was rare; some scientists even suspected that natural immunity from a prior case of COVID would shield most people from ever getting infected again. But Delta cracked that immunity wall, and Omicron BA.1 breached it, propelling infection rates — including breakthrough infections — to record highs.
Amid a National Crisis in Youth Mental Health, Surgeon General Says Kids Need to Be Part of the Solution
Facing a growing mental health crisis among America’s teens and young adults, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says the problem is not something adults can fix alone.
After declaring a national advisory on the youth mental health crisis late last year, Murthy is now participating in a two-day conference called the Youth Mental Wellness Now! Summit, hosted by The California Endowment.
The purpose of the youth-led summit is to create a national movement around youth mental health led by young people through the sharing of stories and to galvanize organizations to commit to support. They have concrete commitments in excess of $255 million.
Murthy blames the youth mental health crisis on loneliness, isolation, economic hardship, uncertainty, and online and offline bullying, which were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Other existential challenges like climate change, racism and violence in the community have also caused youth to lose hope.
One-Third in New Poll Say Most People Around Them Have Moved Past Pandemic, but They Haven’t
More than a third of Americans say in a poll released Tuesday that they have not moved past the pandemic but believe others around them have, indicating a possible rift in how people are viewing COVID-19.
The new Axios-Ipsos poll found that 35% of respondents said they believe people around them have moved past COVID-19 while they themselves have not. While 42% say they have returned to what their lives were like before the pandemic, 33% say returning to their normal pre–COVID-19 lives will never happen or will take over a year.
The survey also found that respondents who are vaccinated are less likely to believe the pandemic has ended (22%), compared to those who have not received their shots (55%).
Can These Drugs Stop a COVID Infection in Its Tracks? Seattle Researchers Are on the Forefront of New Treatments
In a small research center nestled near the heart of Seattle’s South Lake Union, Dr. Elizabeth Duke has been testing medicines to arm us in the fight against COVID-19.
Since the pandemic began, Duke and other infectious disease experts have led trial after trial at UW Medicine and, more recently, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s COVID-19 clinical research center, which was developed in October 2020 to treat outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID.
The trials take time — and data analysis often takes longer — but as new virus variants emerge and the pandemic presses on, the clinic has remained at the forefront for testing many of the country’s newest COVID therapeutics.
Now, Duke and her team are in the middle of taking a significant next step in the world of COVID drugs: figuring out how to prevent virus infections from happening in the first place.
U.K. Doctors With Long COVID Say They Have Been Denied Disability Benefits
Doctors who worked on the frontline during the pandemic and have been left with long COVID say they have been denied financial support by the U.K. government, with some left with little option but to sell their house.
Months or even years after an initial COVID infection some people continue to have symptoms, from fatigue to brain fog. According to the Office for National Statistics, as of May 1, an estimated 2 million people in the U.K. reported having long COVID, as the condition is known.
Now healthcare staff in the U.K. have told the Guardian that despite being left with serious impairments as a result of long COVID, they have been turned down for personal independence payment (Pip), a non-means-tested benefit helping people with the extra living costs of their chronic illness or disability.
EU States Step up Pressure on Pfizer to Cut Unneeded COVID Vaccine Supplies
European Union governments are intensifying pressure on Pfizer (PFE.N) and other COVID-19 vaccine makers to renegotiate contracts, warning millions of shots that are no longer needed could go to waste, according to EU officials and a document.
During the most acute phase of the pandemic, the European Commission and EU governments agreed to buy huge volumes of vaccines, mostly from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech (22UAy.DE), amid fears of insufficient supplies.
But with the pandemic abating in Europe and amid a marked slowdown in vaccinations, many countries are now urging tweaks to contracts to reduce supplies and consequently cut their spending on vaccines.
World Bank Approves $474 Million Loan to South Africa for COVID Vaccines
The World Bank has approved a loan of 454.4 million euros ($474.4 million) to help South Africa fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases, the bank and South Africa’s National Treasury said in a statement.
South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent, with over 3.9 million confirmed cases and more than 101,000 deaths. It initially struggled to secure vaccines due to limited supplies and protracted negotiations, but it is now well-supplied with doses.
As of Monday, just over 50% of South Africa’s adult population of around 40 million people had received at least one vaccine dose. In recent months the vaccination campaign has slowed, despite efforts to boost takeup.