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Covid News Watch
Moderna CEO Bancel’s Golden Parachute Soared by Hundreds of Millions Over the Pandemic + More
Moderna CEO Bancel’s Golden Parachute Soared by Hundreds of Millions Over the Pandemic
Moderna’s board of directors approved a golden parachute for CEO Stephane Bancel worth more than $926 million at the end of last year, up from $9.4 million in 2019 before COVID-19 upended the world order.
The value of Bancel’s so-called change-in-control package has varied as a bulk of it, $922.5 million, is in the biotech company’s stock, which has swung widely over the course of the pandemic along with the company’s progress in making a vaccine to fight it.
Bancel’s exit package also includes a cash severance payment of $1.5 million and a bonus of $2.5 million if the company is sold and he’s terminated.
New Vaccine Findings Pose Tough Questions for Parents of Young Children
For American parents, particularly those with young children, the last couple of months have been dizzying and beyond frustrating.
In early February, federal regulators announced that they would evaluate Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for the youngest children — only to scrap that plan 10 days later, citing doubts about the vaccine’s effectiveness in that age group.
Soon after, scientists reported that the vaccine was only weakly protective against infection with the Omicron variant among children aged 5 to 11 and that it appeared to offer little defense against moderate COVID illness among adolescents aged 12 to 17.
Fortunately, the coming weeks should bring some clarity. Both Pfizer and Moderna plan to report results from trials of their vaccines in young children. The results, if positive, should lead to a new round of regulatory review, perhaps as early as April, that may well allow vaccinations for tens of millions of youngsters.
Lawmakers Push Legislation to Protect Doctors Who Prescribe Ivermectin for COVID. Can They Do That?
USA TODAY via Yahoo!News reported:
As of Thursday, at least 26 states have proposed or passed legislation that would increase patient access to the drug ivermectin, according to a database created by the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Most of the bills attempt to protect doctors who prescribe ivermectin for COVID-19 against disciplinary action from state medical boards and hospitals. The Federation of State Medical Boards said in a statement sent to USA TODAY it opposes any legislation intended to limit a state board’s ability to protect patients.
Other proposed bills seek to make ivermectin available over the counter or by standing order, prohibit pharmacists from refusing to refill ivermectin prescriptions or prohibit medical professionals from providing information that would discourage patients from taking ivermectin for COVID-19.
Health, legal and political experts said states are well within their power to pass many of these bills into law; however, some pieces of legislation may be harder to pass than others.
Pfizer Planning to Submit Data on 4th COVID Shot Soon, While Working on Vaccine for All Variants
Pfizer plans to submit data to the Food and Drug Administration for a fourth COVID shot soon, and it’s working on a vaccine that protects against all coronavirus variants, CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Friday.
“I think we’re going to submit to FDA significant progress of data about the need for a fourth dose, and they need to make their own conclusions, of course, and then CDC also. It’s clear that there is a need in an environment of Omicron to boost the immune response,” Bourla said in an interview on “Squawk Box.”
“We are making a vaccine that covers Omicron and all the other variants. There are so many trials that are going right now, and a lot of them we’ll start reading by the end of the month,” he continued later, adding that he’s optimistic from the preliminary data he’s seen so far.
Vaccinating Kids Has Never Been Easy
Today, with COVID vaccinations stalled and rates in children particularly low, the COVID vaccination campaign has drawn comparisons, usually unfavorable, to that for polio.
But history has a way of flattening lengths of time. Vaccine uptake in children has never been immediately universal — not for polio, not for measles, chickenpox, HPV or any other childhood shot. In the past, vaccines have routinely taken years to go from FDA approval to being mandated in schools to high vaccination rates. COVID vaccines, meanwhile, have been available for kids under 16 for mere months, and only under emergency use.
In this time, the most enthusiastic have gotten their two shots, amounting to some 26% of children ages 5 to 11 and 57% of teens ages 12 to 17. These rates, which are so far below that of adults that they suggest many vaccinated parents aren’t vaccinating their kids yet, have already prompted much hand-wringing for being too low.
COVID Was Declared a Pandemic Two Years Ago and Now We’re Finally Moving on — but Public Health Experts Say It’s Not Over
With war raging between Russia and Ukraine, the world’s battle against the coronavirus has been largely sidelined and the second anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization could easily pass us by.
Of course, the long-lasting impact on many individuals’ mental and physical health is yet to be fully measured or appreciated, with the effects of the virus — whether it be the malingering COVID symptoms or “long COVID” many people are experiencing, or its impact on the brain and body — still being investigated by scientists.
There are still many unanswered questions over COVID too, the biggest one being: Where did the virus come from?
While major global economies reopen and many nations are now learning to “live” with the virus, public health experts are keen to stress that the pandemic is not over yet.
Scientists Say We Need Universal Coronavirus Vaccines, but Will They Arrive in Time?
Over the last several months, the COVID pandemic has become an exercise of vaccination whack-a-mole.
A variant arises, and the vaccine manufacturers figure out how to tweak their product to address it — but not quickly enough. New variants keep arising, making the variant-specific shots outdated before we even get a chance to use them.
But what if scientists could develop one universal vaccine that could address all variants? That work is underway at academic labs and biotech firms, including several in Boston, and in recent months, progress has picked up speed.
Justice Dept. Names Prosecutor to Go After Pandemic Fraud
The Justice Department named a chief prosecutor for pandemic fraud Thursday, following through on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union promise to go after criminals who stole billions in relief money.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Kevin Chambers, an associate deputy attorney general, will lead criminal and civil enforcement efforts targeting pandemic-related fraud. Monaco on Thursday convened the department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes nearly 30 agencies that administer and oversee pandemic relief funding.
The Justice Department has already taken enforcement actions related to more than $8 billion in suspected pandemic fraud, Monaco and Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday. That includes bringing charges in more than 1,000 criminal cases involving losses in excess of $1.1 billion, opening civil cases against over 1,800 individuals and businesses for alleged fraud involving more than $6 billion in loans, and seizing more than $1.2 billion in relief funds.
Thirteen Governors Want the Federal Public Health Emergency Extended Beyond April
Thirteen Democratic state governors wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra this week, urging him to extend the country’s public health emergency declaration for at least another three months beyond its scheduled expiration in April.
The governors said Tuesday that they need much more time to prepare before the emergency ends. Their states have been providing a number of services and benefits during the pandemic that relies on federal resources, and those things “will take significant time to thoughtfully ramp down, phase out, or, in some cases, extend permanently,” the letter says.
How the Pandemic May Fundamentally Change the Healthcare System
Exactly two years ago, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic and much of American life began grinding to a halt.
That’s when the healthcare system, which has never been known for its quickness, sped up. The industry was forced to adapt, delivering virtual care and services outside of hospitals on the fly. Yet, the years-long pandemic has exposed decades-old cracks in the system, and galvanized efforts to fix them.
Today, as coronavirus cases plummet and President Biden says Americans can begin resuming their normal lives, we explore how the pandemic could fundamentally alter the healthcare system for good. What changes are here to stay — and what barriers are standing in the way?
Speculative and Misinformed: Govt on Lancet’s Report on High COVID Mortality in India
The Centre on Friday termed as “speculative and misinformed” a new study that claimed that India’s estimated cumulative excess COVID deaths between January 2020 and December 2021 was around eight times higher than reported.
The Lancet reported on Thursday that although excess mortality rates due to COVID among Indian states are not the highest in the world, because of India’s large population, the country accounted for around 22.3% of global excess deaths as of December 31, 2021.
The documented deaths due to COVID-19 in India over that period was around 489,000, the Lancet said in its paper entitled ‘Estimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020-21.’ It said India’s estimated cumulative excess deaths due to COVID-19 between the period were the highest in the world at 4.07 million.
The Union Health Ministry reacted strongly to the study and termed it “speculative and misinformed.” In a statement, the ministry said the study provided estimates of all-cause excess mortality for a number of countries based on a mathematical modeling exercise.
COVID Claims Husband and Wife, Both Were Vaxxed, Boosted + More
‘One Last Christmas’: After Six Decades Together COVID Claims Husband and Wife in Same Week
From the moment they met to their final days in hospital together, Jeannette and Michael Ryan’s relationship was a love story. For six decades they were dedicated to each other, and both tested positive to COVID-19 on New Year’s Eve.
They were admitted to a hospital in the regional Victorian city of Shepparton 10 days later. Michael was 84 years of age when he passed away on Jan. 15. His wife followed him exactly a week later, aged 82.
Their children pushed the couple to protect themselves from the virus before the vaccine arrived, and only go into town for essential shopping. “They begrudgingly listened to what we said and they agreed with it,” daughter Joanne says.
“But they knew that time was marching on for them. So they waited like we’d ask them to be vaccinated. They waited until they’d had the booster. And then their feelings were … ‘We need to see our family. We are getting older and we are getting frailer. And we can’t wait any longer’.”
Vaccine Researcher Who Developed Tinnitus After COVID Shot Calls for Further Study
A little more than a year ago, Gregory Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, was driving back from the hospital after receiving his second COVID shot when he nearly veered out of his lane. “It was like someone suddenly blew a dog whistle in my ear,” Poland told MedPage Today. “It has been pretty much unrelenting.”
Since then, Poland said he has been experiencing what he describes as life-altering tinnitus, or ringing in the ear. It occurs in both ears, but is worse in the left than in the right. Poland realizes his life may never be the same, and that many others may be grappling with the same reality. He continues to receive emails from other individuals across the country and around the world who say they have also developed tinnitus after COVID vaccination.
Poland believes there may be tens of thousands of people affected in the U.S. and potentially millions worldwide. He feels strongly that more research should be done to determine what caused these symptoms and what can be done to help people desperate for relief.
House Passes $1.5 Trillion Spending Plan With Ukraine Aid, Without COVID Relief
The House of Representatives approved a bipartisan $1.5 trillion spending bill that was stripped of funds originally earmarked to fight the coronavirus pandemic while sending billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine.
The passage of the measure marked the first time Democrats were able to largely shape a spending package during President Biden’s term, but the White House was incensed that the House majority dropped a $15.6 billion pandemic aid package to save the bill.
White House Warns of ‘Severe’ Hit to COVID Response After Funding Dropped
The White House on Wednesday warned of “severe consequences” for the country’s COVID-19 response after Congress stripped funding to fight the virus out of a government funding package.
The Biden administration warned that without the additional funding, testing capacity will start declining this month, potentially requiring months of ramp-up if a new variant causes another surge. “Simply put, failing to take action now will have severe consequences for the American people,” a White House official said Wednesday.
The $15.6 billion to fight COVID-19, already less than the White House request, was removed from the must-pass government funding bill earlier on Wednesday, though, amid a partisan fight.
Number of COVID Deaths in Mass. Will Drop Under State’s New Counting Method
The official count of COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts will decline by about 3,700 under a new surveillance system that state health leaders say more accurately captures the true toll from the virus.
The new system will narrow the state’s definition of who died of COVID. Currently, Massachusetts records anyone who died within 60 days of a COVID diagnosis as having died from COVID, unless it is clear the person died from another cause, such as a traumatic accident.
COVID Treatment Sotrovimab Can Cause Drug-Resistant Mutation, Study Finds
Australian virologists have uncovered a drug-resistant mutation in the COVID-19 virus associated with the drug sotrovimab and say without the monitoring of patients given the treatment the mutated virus could spread in the community.
The world-first findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, are the result of an analysis of the first 100 patients in western Sydney during the Delta outbreak in 2021 to be given sotrovimab.
Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody that is available in many countries to treat vulnerable patients who are at risk of severe disease and death due to COVID-19 infection. Sotrovimab must be administered via infusion within the first five days of COVID-19 infection, and prevents COVID-19 symptoms from becoming severe. It is one of the few human-engineered monoclonal antibodies that can target Omicron.
Detroit Parents More Hesitant of COVID Vaccine Than Non-Parents
Studies show that Detroit parents are less likely to vaccinate themselves, than Detroiters who are not parents, leading to low vaccination rates in kids.
That’s according to a new study out of the University of Michigan, which reported a strong link between a parent’s vaccination status and the vaccination status of their kids. The survey was administered by the Detroit Metro Area Communities (DMACS), and says that less than 50% of adults in Detroit with kids under the age of 18, reported having been vaccinated, compared to 75% of adults without kids.
COVID Vaccines May Be Enhancing Disease: Malone
COVID-19 vaccines may be causing enhanced disease because they target an old version of the coronavirus, Dr. Robert Malone says.
“The data are showing that vaccination can actually increase the risk of being infected with the Omicron version of this virus,” Malone told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.
Malone was referring to how in some areas, including Scotland and New Zealand, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are more likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine than not.
Nearly 50% of Women Consider Themselves ‘Very Ambitious’ as They Regain Jobs Lost During the Pandemic
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on women in the workplace. In fact, two years into the crisis, the National Women’s Law Center reports that 1.1 million women are still missing from the labor force.
Women’s economic future has looked grim throughout the pandemic — but despite this downturn, more women are eager to advance in their careers, rejoin the workforce and pursue new opportunities than last year.
Nearly 50% of women consider themselves “very ambitious” and are optimistic about their career growth, according to CNBC and Momentive’s new Women at Work survey.
Unable to Sue, Michigan Woman Files Claim in Her Mom’s COVID Vaccine-Related Death + More
Unable to Sue, Michigan Woman Files Claim in Her Mom’s COVID Vaccine-Related Death
Tatum Strieter-Byron is asking the federal government to compensate her for her mother Sandra Jacobs’ death in April of a confirmed complication of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. “This is about the fact that there was wrongdoing that took place, and we are going to hold them accountable,” Strieter-Byron of Clinton said last week.
Strieter-Byron received confirmation Monday her claim to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program has been received. It was established because COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and others are granted liability protections through the Public Readiness Emergency Preparedness Act, enacted in 2005.
In 2020, the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary invoked the act and declared COVID-19 a public health emergency, warranting Johnson & Johnson and others immunity from lawsuits. The only exception is death or serious physical injury caused by “willful misconduct.” The protections, unless amended or rescinded, extend through Oct. 1, 2024.
Pfizer Launches Trial to Test COVID Pill in Children
Pfizer announced Wednesday that it has started a clinical trial testing its COVID-19 antiviral pill in children as young as 6. The drugmaker said it aims to enroll approximately 140 participants in the trial, which will look at whether the drug, called Paxlovid, can safely treat COVID in children who are at risk of becoming severely ill.
Paxlovid has already been authorized for people ages 12 and older.
The company also said it expects to enroll children under age 6 once its scientists have finished developing an appropriate formulation of the pill for that age group.
CDC Needs Serious Scrutiny to Restore Americans’ Trust in Science
Polling last summer showed that many Americans have lost faith in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC). Only 32% of respondents in an August Gallup poll said they believed the CDC was communicating a clear path to prevent COVID infection. Pew data from January showed 60% of respondents found CDC recommendations confusing.
While the CDC was losing credibility, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s watchdog, was quietly investigating the agency’s handling of the COVID crisis. On Jan. 27, the GAO delivered a rare “high-risk” rating to the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically citing the CDC’s poor data management and ineffective messaging. These findings added fuel to congressional proposals to set up an independent COVID commission to examine the CDC’s performance.
New Florida Department of Health Guidance Says COVID Vaccine ‘May Not Benefit’ Healthy 5- to 17-Year-Olds
The Florida Department of Health released new guidance Tuesday that says healthy children between the ages of 5 to 17 do not need to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Florida is the first state to break from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations that everyone age 5 and older receive the vaccine.
The guidance released Tuesday says that the risks of the vaccine outweigh its benefits in children who don’t have underlying health conditions. It cites reports of increased incidence of myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle — in 16- and 17-year-olds who got the COVID-19 vaccine.
WA Advisory Group Recommends Against Adding COVID Vaccine to School-Required Immunizations
A state advisory group has decided against recommending a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students in K-12 schools, leaving one more step before a final decision is made on the matter next month.
The question of whether Washington students should be required to get a COVID vaccine has divided many school communities over the past year, with some citing a desire to make schools safer and others concerned about a lack of reliable vaccine data for younger kids.
Two Years Ago, I Warned You About The Coming Pandemic; Today I Am Warning You About The Fallout From Ukraine
In February 2020 — two years ago last month — I wrote a column for Forbes entitled “Stop Lying To Yourself About The Coronavirus.”
In my piece, I warned that global supply chains would be disrupted, that economies would be put under enormous stress, and that every business would have to deal with the impact of what was not yet even recognized as a pandemic.
Today, the same thing is happening. This time, the reality that leaders are struggling to face up to is the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an unmitigated disaster — one that is only just beginning to unfold, and one which will have serious and far-reaching consequences for every country and for every company in the world.
NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Chokshi Says COVID Pandemic Has Left U.S. With New Epidemic of Loneliness
As another COVID-19 wave recedes across the country, the full toll of the pandemic on our emotional health is becoming clearer.
Ask someone if they feel disconnected or isolated, and chances are pretty good, regardless of their age, occupation, background, or economic status, that they’ll say yes — and that they’ve never been asked the question before.
According to the latest New York City citywide health surveys, 57% of residents felt lonely some of the time or often, and 67% felt socially isolated in the prior four weeks. Only a third of respondents said they could count on someone for emotional support. And at the same time, one in five respondents reported symptoms of depression.
Funding Bill Includes $15 Billion for COVID, Less Than Earlier Requests
The government funding bill released early Wednesday morning includes $15.6 billion to fight COVID-19 after a battle over the spending, an amount lower than the Biden administration’s original requests.
Much of the funding will go toward the purchase of additional treatment pills and monoclonal antibodies, supplies of which the administration had warned would run out without new money. Some funding, $750 million, will go toward developing vaccines to fight new variants.
An additional $5 billion goes toward global efforts, including vaccinating people in other countries.
COVID Cases, Deaths Continue to Drop Globally, WHO Says
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths globally have continued to fall in the past week, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, with only the Western Pacific reporting an increase in COVID-19.
In its latest report on the pandemic issued on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said new COVID-19 infections dropped by 5% in the last week, continuing a declining trend that started more than a month ago. Deaths were also down by 8% and have been falling globally for the last two weeks.
The biggest declines were seen in the Middle East and Africa, where cases dropped by 46% and 40%, respectively.
OSHA to Boost Healthcare Inspections to Prepare for COVID Variants
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday said it is increasing inspection of hospitals and nursing facilities that treat COVID-19 patients over the next few months to prepare for the potential emergence of new variants of the virus.
OSHA released a memo sent to regional staff last week directing inspectors to focus on workplaces that were previously issued citations during the pandemic or where complaints were received but the agency never conducted an in-person inspection.
The agency said the goal of the three-month initiative is to control the spread of any future variants of the coronavirus and protect workers who are at heightened risk of becoming ill.
Idaho Governor: COVID Disaster Declaration Ends in April
Idaho Gov. Brad Little says he will lift the state’s public health emergency disaster declaration on April 15, just over two years since it was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some Idaho lawmakers have pushed legislation that would end the disaster declaration without the governor’s sign-off. The Idaho House voted on Monday in favor of a resolution ending the disaster declaration. If the resolution passes the Senate, it could end the declaration before April 15.
South Africa’s Aspen Signs Deal to Package and Sell J&J COVID Vaccine
South African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J) on Tuesday concluded an agreement with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to package, sell and distribute the American group’s COVID-19 vaccines under its own brand in Africa.
The agreement also allows Aspen to “discuss the expansion of the agreement to include any new versions of the drug substance, such as those developed for new variants or a different formulation for administration as a booster,” Aspen said in a statement.
Moderna Plots Vaccines Against 15 Pathogens With Future Pandemic Potential + More
Moderna Plots Vaccines Against 15 Pathogens With Future Pandemic Potential
Moderna Inc. (MRNA.O) said on Monday it plans to develop and begin testing vaccines targeting 15 of the world’s most worrisome pathogens by 2025 and will permanently waive its COVID-19 vaccine patents for shots intended for certain low- and middle-income countries.
The U.S. biotechnology company also said it will make its messenger RNA (mRNA) technology available to researchers working on new vaccines for emerging and neglected diseases through a program called mRNA Access.
Moderna is already collaborating with partners on vaccines against some of the 15 pathogens, which include Chikungunya, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Dengue, Ebola, Malaria, Marburg, Lassa fever, MERS and COVID-19.
Those collaborations include a Nipah virus vaccine with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and an HIV vaccine with the Gates Foundation and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in an interview.
WHO Recommends COVID Boosters in Reversal
The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its vaccine guidance on Tuesday to recommend the administration of COVID-19 booster shots, marking a reversal from what the U.N. organization has previously said about additional vaccine doses.
In a statement, the WHO said the Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition “strongly supports urgent and broad access to current COVID-19 vaccines for primary series and booster doses, particularly for groups at risk of developing severe disease.”
The WHO has previously spoken out against administering COVID-19 booster shots, arguing that wealthier countries should abstain from administering additional doses while low- and middle-income countries have struggled to provide initial rounds of vaccinations for their populations.
COVID Can Cause Brain Shrinkage, Memory Loss — Study
COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in the regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell, an Oxford University study has found.
The scientists said that the effects were even seen in people who had not been hospitalized with COVID, and whether the impact could be partially reversed or if they would persist in the long term needed further investigation.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the Nature journal, investigated brain changes in 785 participants aged 51-81 whose brains were scanned twice, including 401 people who caught COVID between their two scans. The second scan was done on average 141 days after the first scan.
Scientists Identify New Gene Differences in Severe COVID Patients
Scientists have pinpointed 16 new genetic variants in people who developed severe COVID-19 in a large study published on Monday that could help researchers develop treatments for very sick patients.
The results suggest that people with severe COVID have genes that predispose them to 1 of 2 problems: failure to limit the ability of the virus to make copies of itself, or excessive inflammation and blood clotting.
The scientists said their discoveries, published in the journal Nature, could help prioritize the likely treatments that could work against the disease. Eventually, the information could even help predict which patients were likely to become severely ill.
COVID Will ‘Probably’ Become a Seasonal Virus, Like the Flu, Walensky Says
Even as cases of COVID-19 continue to fall nationwide, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the coronavirus is most likely here to stay — and that it could behave similarly to influenza.
“I do anticipate that this is probably going to be a seasonal virus,” said the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky. That means it could join the flu and other respiratory viruses that tend to spread during the cold winter months.
It’s Time to Prepare for Future Pandemics, Experts Say
America needs major new spending in areas like disease surveillance and next-generation PPE if it wants to avoid repeating mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two reports out this week.
The reports are among recent attempts by public health officials to lay out the weaknesses exposed by the pandemic and the steps needed to build more resiliency in the health system before the next crisis.
A report released first to Axios by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) calls for Congress to fund a number of public health improvements, such as more resources to protect healthcare workers on the job.
It comes on the heels of Monday’s release of a COVID roadmap by dozens of healthcare experts, including former Biden advisers, calling for a more comprehensive playbook for shoring up the nation’s public health infrastructure as we transition out of the pandemic.
COVID Long-Haulers Face Grueling Fights for Disability Benefits
Deepa Singh, 30, of Louisville, has been seriously ill for 2 years, racked with extreme fatigue, racing heartbeat and memory problems from long COVID that she says prevent her from working. Adding to her distress, she says, has been a grueling — and so far unsuccessful — battle for disability payments.
Singh, who worked as a project manager for a Fortune 100 company, is among a cohort of long COVID patients who have been denied disability benefits, either by private insurance companies, which operate benefit plans offered by employers, or by the Social Security Administration, which manages government disability benefits.
Moderna Says It Will ‘Never’ Enforce COVID Vaccine Patents in Dozens of Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Moderna pledged on Monday to “never enforce” its patents for COVID-19 vaccines against manufacturers that are based in or producing in 92 low- and middle-income countries, a shift for the biotechnology firm that has come under pressure to share its mRNA technology to help address global vaccine inequity.
“We are committed to defeating the pandemic across the globe, and we are fulfilling that through our pledge not to enforce our COVID-19 related patents in low- and middle-income countries,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. “We are dedicated to combatting COVID-19 globally and preparing for the next pandemic.”
CDC Adds Former COVID Success Stories to Its Highest-Risk Category for Travel
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved 3 high-profile destinations to its highest-risk Level 4 category for travel on Monday.
Hong Kong and New Zealand have spent much of the pandemic in near isolation with relatively few infections and had been lauded as COVID success stories. However, the Omicron variant has caused massive spikes in cases in both places.
Joining those 2 is Thailand, one of the crown jewels of world travel and the No. 1 Asian earner of tourism revenue in 2019. Thailand restarted its “Test & Go” program on Feb. 1, which allows vaccinated international travelers from all countries to enter without lengthy quarantines.
HHS Says It’s out of Coronavirus Funding
The Department of Health and Human Services says it has tapped out all its coronavirus funding, as some congressional Republicans raise their eyebrows at the Biden administration’s request for more dollars.
HHS recently sent Congress tables, obtained by The Health 202, showing that none of the dollars Congress previously provided the agency for coronavirus aid remain unallocated. That goes for all the spending categories, such as money for vaccines, therapeutics and testing.
“Before we would consider supporting an additional $30 billion” in COVID-19 relief, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and dozens of other GOP lawmakers wrote last week, “Congress must receive a full accounting of how the government has already spent the first $6 trillion.”