Covid News Watch

As the Omicron coronavirus variant spreads in southern Africa and pops up in countries all around the world, scientists are anxiously watching a battle play out that could determine the future of the pandemic. Can the latest competitor to the world-dominating Delta overthrow it?

“It’s still early days, but increasingly, data is starting to trickle in, suggesting that Omicron is likely to outcompete Delta in many, if not all, places,” said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who monitors variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

Many critical questions about Omicron remain unanswered, including whether the virus causes milder or more severe illness and how much it might evade immunity from past COVID-19 illness or vaccines.

Scientists Find ‘Stealth’ Version of Omicron That May Be Harder to Track

Scientists have identified a “stealth” version of Omicron which cannot be distinguished from other variants using the PCR tests that public health officials deploy to gain a quick picture of its spread around the world, scientists have said.

The stealth variant has many mutations in common with standard Omicron, but it lacks a particular genetic change that allows lab-based PCR tests to be used as a rough and ready means of flagging up probable cases.

Researchers say it is too early to know whether the new form of Omicron will spread in the same way as the standard Omicron variant, but that the “stealthy” version is genetically distinct and so may well behave differently.

Researchers Develop COVID-Killing Stainless Steel

Bloomberg reported:

Researchers in Hong Kong said they have developed the world’s first stainless steel that kills the COVID-19 virus within hours, adding to the arsenal of products being created globally to curb the pathogen that triggered the worst pandemic of the past century.

The newly-developed alloy can inactivate 99.75% of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within three hours and 99.99% within six hours, according to a study published Nov. 25 by a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong.

The university researchers, led by Huang Mingxin at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Leo Poon at the Centre for Immunity and Infection, are also liaising with industrial partners to test this material in creating steel products, such as lift buttons, doorknobs and handrails that are among most-commonly touched surfaces in public areas.

New Data Shows COVID Drug Works Against All Omicron Mutations

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) said on Tuesday its antibody-based COVID-19 therapy with U.S. partner Vir Biotechnology (VIR.O) is effective against all mutations of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, citing new data from early-stage studies.

The data, yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, shows that the companies’ treatment, sotrovimab, is effective against all 37 identified mutations to date in the spike protein, GSK said in a statement.

Medicago’s Plant-Based Vaccine Trial Shows 75.3% Efficacy Against Delta Variant

Canadian drug developer Medicago’s plant-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, enhanced by GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK.L) booster, was 75.3% effective against the Delta variant of the virus in a late stage study, the two companies said on Tuesday.

They said the vaccine’s overall efficacy rate against all variants of the coronavirus was 71%, except Omicron, which was not in circulation when the study was underway.

WHO Europe: Jab Young Children to Cut COVID Risk at Christmas

European governments should consider mass vaccination programmes for primary school children given the risk of grandparents being infected with COVID over the holiday season, the World Health Organization has said.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK is currently reviewing the safety of a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine designed for children aged five and above.

The government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), responsible for approving vaccine programmes, is also currently examining data as a “matter of urgency” in order to be able to respond quickly should there be regulatory approval.

Spain Approves COVID Vaccine for Children in 5 to 11 Age Group

Spain’s health ministry gave the go-ahead Tuesday for children between ages 5 and 11 to be vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks.

The rollout is due to begin Dec. 15, two days after the first of 3.2 million child vaccines arrive in Spain.

Austria has been inoculating children since the European Union’s drug regulator on Nov. 25 authorized Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for use on that age group. Greece will also begin on Dec. 15 and Italy will start on Dec. 16, among others.

Booster Shots May Be Needed to Keep Fully Vaccinated Status in Australia in Future

A booster dose could be necessary to keep your green COVID-19 vaccination tick in the future, the health department secretary Brendan Murphy says.

Booster shots are being rolled out across Australia amid warnings that immunization from the initial vaccinations wanes with time.

Murphy said, for now, any third dose would be recorded and those with two doses would retain their tick. “If in the future the data suggests that immunity from the primary course wanes so much that people do really need a third dose, that could change.”

Japan’s COVID Deaths Lowest in 16 Months as Cases Plummet

The Japan Times reported:

In the world’s oldest nation, less than one person a day is dying from COVID-19.

The six confirmed deaths in Japan over the past week is the lowest it’s been in the country since July 2020, before the second wave of pandemic fatalities.

The drop in cases and deaths is even more striking considering that Japan’s population is much larger than all the G7 nations except the U.S., and is also older, increasing the risk of death from COVID-19.

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Mother and 3-Year-Old Daughter Mistakenly Given COVID Vaccines Instead of Flu Shots + More

Mother and Daughter, 3, Mistakenly Given COVID Vaccines Instead of Flu Shots

A Canadian mother has said she and her 3-year-old daughter were mistakenly given adult doses of the COVID-19 vaccine instead of flu shots.

Jenna Bardarson, of Brandon in the Canadian province of Manitoba, had booked her annual flu shot for herself and her daughter, Dali, at the Keystone Centre on November 24, according to reports from CBC and The Canadian Press. But she said instead of getting the expected flu shots, the pair were instead given the adult dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Bardarson told CBC she and her daughter suffered from fevers and headaches while Dali started to vomit in the days after she received the vaccine.

Cruise Ship With 17 Breakthrough COVID Infections Sets Sail Again With New Passengers

A cruise ship that carried at least 17 passengers and crew members with breakthrough COVID-19 infections when it docked in New Orleans has set sail again with new passengers.

Nine crew members and eight passengers were infected when the Norwegian Breakaway arrived on Sunday, a Louisiana Department of Health spokeswoman said Monday.

None had any symptoms and only fully vaccinated people are allowed on board, Norwegian Cruise Line said.

Nearly 70 Vaccinated Hospital Workers Test Positive for COVID After Christmas Meal

More than 50 hospital workers in Spain have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a Christmas meal, according to local media reports.

More than 170 health workers from the Intensive Care Unit of the Regional University Hospital of Málaga — located in the south of the country — attended the meal, with at least 68 people later testing positive for COVID-19, local media outlet Sur reported Monday, although health authorities had only confirmed 22 of these cases on Sunday.

All of the professionals had been fully vaccinated — including with booster shots. Most of the workers who tested positive are asymptomatic although in a few cases they have reported mild symptoms.

Omicron Variant Found in More Vaccinated People in U.S. as Resistance Concerns Persist

The Omicron variant continues to crop up in vaccinated Americans as concerns about the new strain’s vaccine resistance persist.

More than 20 cases linked to the variant across 11 states have been reported in the U.S. as of Saturday morning. Of these, eight are known to have been found in fully vaccinated individuals. While many of these patients had recently traveled to Africa, others had no recent travel history to speak, indicating that community transmission has begun in the U.S., according to CNBC.

Woman Wins Court Battle Over Treating Her Husband’s COVID With Ivermectin. That Was Just the Beginning.

York Daily Record reported:

A court order that permitted Keith Smith, on a ventilator in a medically induced coma from COVID-19, to be treated with the controversial drug ivermectin, was issued late Friday afternoon.

The order, in response to Darla Smith’s petition to compel the hospital to administer the drug to her husband of 24 years, was, to some, kind of confusing, and that led to two days of lawyers negotiating its implementation, frustrating Darla’s attempts to have her husband receive the drug.

The court order touched off a weekend of back and forth between the lawyers involved, Darla Smith and the hospital’s administration, ending Sunday night when Keith Smith, 52, received his first dose of ivermectin.

Pandemic Stress Weighs Heavily on Gen Z, Survey Says

Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil.

Overall, more than a third of Americans ages 13 to 56 cite the pandemic as a major source of stress, and many say it has made certain parts of their lives harder.

But when it comes to education, friendships and dating, the disruption has had a pronounced impact among Generation Z, according to a new survey from MTV Entertainment Group and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Gilead Recalls Vials of Its Remdesivir COVID Drug in U.S. Over Glass Contamination

The Washington Post reported:

The American biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has issued a nationwide recall of two lots of its coronavirus treatment drug remdesivir because of the “presence of glass particulates,” the company said Friday.

Remdesivir, known also by its brand name Veklury, is normally used for adults and children over 12 requiring hospitalization for COVID-19, and it is normally given by intravenous (IV) infusion once daily for up to 10 days.

“An injectable product that contains glass particulates may result in local irritation or swelling in response to the foreign material. If the glass particulate reaches the blood vessels it can travel to various organs and block blood vessels in the heart, lungs or brain which can cause stroke and even lead to death,” the company said in a statement.

In Its War on COVID, China Calls on ‘Little Inoculated Warriors’

The New York Times reported:

As the rest of the world struggles to vaccinate adults in the face of a threat from a new coronavirus variant, China has embarked on an ambitious campaign that it says will give the country better protection against COVID-19: full inoculation of 160 million of its youngest citizens by the end of the year.

The campaign — powered in part with red flower stickers, balloons and boxes of toys for children who step up to become what nurses call “little inoculated warriors” — has gotten off to a fast start.

In the first two weeks of the effort, which began in late October, 84 million boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 11, about half of the eligible population, received the first of two shots, according to the most recent government data.

Omicron Has Not Killed Anyone Says WHO as New Variant Cases Rise in U.S.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that as of Friday, there have been no fatalities linked to Omicron but warned it could take several weeks to determine how infectious the new COVID-19 variant is.

The WHO’s assurance comes as the new variant first detected in South Africa last week has now been recorded in 38 countries. In the United States, at least 29 cases of Omicron across 11 states have been reported.

These are California, Nebraska, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Pennsylvania and Hawaii, CBS News reported. There was also an infection in New Jersey of a Georgia resident.

Omicron Brings Fresh Concern for U.S. Mental Heath After ‘Grim Two Years’

Sarah Isaacs, a therapist in Raleigh, North Carolina, sees mostly clients between the ages of 22 and 30, many of whom missed out on the usual dating and networking because of the COVID pandemic.

They are just some of the people in the United States whose mental health has suffered during the pandemic. A Gallup poll conducted in November found that, like last year, only 34% of Americans describe their mental health as “excellent”. Those are the lowest levels in two decades.

COVID Is Fueling a Pandemic of Violence Against Women and Girls

STAT News reported:

The emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with its many mutations has rightly sparked global concern. Another COVID-related issue that should also spark concern, but continues to fly under the radar, is the endemic violence directed toward women and girls around the world that has been heightened by responses to the pandemic.

On a recent visit to a tribal village in South India, I met with children, elders, and teachers, who told me how their lives have been affected by COVID-19.

The implementation of crucial, but often blunt, public health measures such as stay-at-home policies and the disruption of key services like schools and health facilities have significantly eroded social well-being, isolation, income, and educational attainment. They have also increased violence against many women and girls.

The stories I heard are echoed in towns and villages across the world, and the repercussions will be felt for years to come.

Blood Pressure Rose During the Pandemic, Especially for Women, Study Finds

TODAY reported:

Now here’s one more way the pandemic is taking a toll on our health: higher blood pressure.

When researchers looked at year-over-year changes in blood pressure readings for almost half a million Americans, there were no differences between 2019 and the start of 2020 — the period just before the lockdowns.

But they noticed “significantly higher” blood pressure increases from April to December 2020 — when the country was in the midst of pandemic precautions and closures — compared to the previous year, especially among women.

‘Wall of Secrecy’ in Pfizer Contracts as Company Accused of Profiteering

Ministers have agreed a secrecy clause in any dispute with the drugs manufacturer Pfizer over Britain’s COVID vaccine supply.

Large portions of the government’s contracts with the company over the supply of 189m vaccine doses have been redacted and any arbitration proceedings will be kept secret.

The revelation comes as Pfizer is accused by a former senior U.S. health official of “war profiteering’’ during the pandemic.

Tom Frieden, who was director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Barack Obama, said: “If you’re just focusing on maximizing your profits and you’re a vaccine manufacturer … you are war profiteering.”

Zain Rizvi, research director at Public Citizen, a U.S. consumer advocacy organization which has examined Pfizer’s global vaccine contracts, said: “There is a wall of secrecy surrounding these contracts and it’s unacceptable, particularly in a public health crisis.”

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70 Children Given Expired COVID Vaccines in Maryland + More

70 Children Given Expired COVID Vaccines in Prince George’s County

NBC 4 Washington reported:

Medical workers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, gave dozens of children ages 5-11 expired COVID-19 vaccines after they were mistakenly stored in the refrigerator with usable doses, the county health department says.

A provider that wasn’t able to use 300 pediatric Pfizer doses before they expired on Nov. 24 transferred the doses to the clinic at the complex. HealthCare Dynamics International administered all but 70 of the doses before that expiration date, but mistakenly stored the rest in the refrigerator with viable vaccines, the county health department said.

Most Americans Believe COVID Leaked From Wuhan Lab, Support ‘Reparations’ for Cover-Up, Poll Finds

Fox News reported:

A new poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly believed that the coronavirus pandemic stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, and that the Chinese government subsequently lied about it.

“When asked about the theory that the coronavirus was developed by scientists working at a lab in Wuhan and accidentally leaked, and that the Chinese government then lied about it, nearly three quarters (72%) of Americans believe it is likely, with 42% saying it is very likely,” a report by The Ronald Reagan Institute said, discussing the poll results.

Another pandemic-related question had to do with public trust of health officials. Nearly half did not say they had faith in them.

COVID Hospitalizations Surge Across U.S., Even in Most-Vaccinated States

Newsweek reported:

New COVID hospitalizations are surging across the United States, even in the most-vaccinated states, a day after the president promised that there would be no lockdowns or expanded vaccine mandates planned for the winter break to contain infections.

Vermont, the country’s most-vaccinated state, which is 73% fully vaccinated, has seen its average daily hospitalizations climb by 32% over the last two weeks. That figure is now 75 new hospital admissions a day, the data indicates.

Rhode Island, which is also 73% vaccinated, has seen average daily hospital admissions increase by 55% over the last 14 days. The number now stands at 152.

Omicron Variant of COVID Found in Multiple U.S. States

Fox News reported:

The Omicron variant of COVID-19, which had been undetected in the U.S. before the middle of this week, had been discovered in at least five states by the end of Thursday, showing yet again how mutations of the virus can circumnavigate the globe with speed and ease.

Just a day after the first known U.S. case was found in California, tests showed the Omicron variant had infected at least five people in the New York City metropolitan area, plus a man from Minnesota who had attended an anime convention in Manhattan in late November.

A Colorado woman who had recently traveled to southern Africa, a Hawaii resident with no recent travel history, and another California resident who traveled to South Africa last month also were infected by the variant, officials said.

As New COVID Variants Emerge, How Can We Ever Achieve a ‘New Normal’?

Almost two years into a punishing pandemic, as vaccination rates creep higher and the number of COVID-19 deaths declines in many countries, many people are asking how much longer will it be before we can return to normal.

While there have been causes for optimism, this crisis has seen its share of false dawns, not least is the recent emergence of the new Omicron variant, which has revived fears and increased doubt.

Illinois Releases District-Level Data for School Report Cards Showing Declines Across All Demographics. Many Students Didn’t Take the Test.

Chicago Tribune reported:

Illinois families from low-income communities and those living in some of the wealthiest enclaves in the state found common ground this week, with school district results from the state’s 2021 student assessments showing declines in academic proficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic across all demographics.

The data from roughly 90% of Illinois school districts that delivered the mandated Illinois Assessment of Readiness to students in spring in third through eighth grades and the SAT to high school juniors were unveiled this week, revealing a stark yet not unexpected snapshot of the pandemic’s impact on academic achievement.

Want That Free Coronavirus Test Biden Is Promising? You Gotta Buy It First.

The Washington Post reported:

The Biden administration promises to make rapid, at-home coronavirus tests free for the tens of millions of Americans. But it’s working through the private insurance industry to do so — and that alone presents big challenges.

The way things work right now, Americans buy rapid, at-home tests over-the-counter, meaning insurance doesn’t automatically cover it. But under the administration’s plan, shoppers in most cases would need to seek reimbursement from their insurer or health plan. That may mean sending in their receipts, the administration confirmed.

This means shoppers would have to pay for the tests — at least at first.

Millions in Personnel Costs, Overtime Pay Top List of COVID Spending in Connecticut

Employee overtime and personnel costs topped the list of COVID-related expenses that cities and towns paid for using a key source of federal pandemic relief funds, according to interim data submitted to the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management.

Of the roughly $41.6 million in total expenditures incurred from July 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021, $10.8 million was spent on “overtime related to response,” and another $10.1 million covered “public safety personnel costs,” while $4.8 million was spent on “public health personnel costs,” as reported by the state’s 169 municipalities.

Key Omicron Findings May Be Known in Days, WHO Scientist Says

Bloomberg reported:

Some 450 researchers around the world have begun work to isolate the highly mutated variant from patient specimens, grow it in the lab, verify its genomic sequence, and establish methods to test it in blood-plasma samples, said Ana-Maria Henao-Restrepo, who co-leads the WHO’s research and development blueprint for vaccines and innovations during outbreaks and pandemics.

The rapid spread in South Africa of the worrisome variant has raised concern that the immune protection generated by vaccination or a previous bout of COVID is insufficient to stop reinfections or stem a fresh wave of cases and hospitalizations.

Roche Develops New Research Test Kits for Omicron Variant

Roche’s (ROG.S) newly acquired subsidiary TIB Molbiol has developed three new test kits to help researchers detect mutations in the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, Roche said on Friday.

Governments around the world are urgently scouring databases for recent cases of COVID-19 infections, screening travellers and decoding the viral genomes of the new variant as they try to measure how far it has spread.

National Health Service Forecasts 230,000 Extra Cases of PTSD in England Due to COVID

The NHS is forecasting there will be 230,000 new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in England as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, official figures show.

COVID-19 has increased exposure to events that could cause PTSD, an anxiety disorder triggered by very stressful, frightening or distressing events, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It says the NHS is already facing the biggest backlog of those waiting for mental health help in its history.

WHO Chief Scientist Urges People Not to Panic Over Omicron