Covid News Watch
Texas Clinical Trial to Examine Ivermectin in Fight Against COVID Symptoms + More
Texas Clinical Trial to Examine Ivermectin in Fight Against COVID Symptoms
A Texas university clinical trial is examining the effectiveness of ivermectin in fighting against COVID-19 symptoms, with hopes of determining if the controversial drug can be a helpful tool in combating the pandemic.
The National Institutes of Health granted Texas Tech University’s Health Sciences Center El Paso $1.7 million to spearhead clinical trials that include two projects: ACTIV-6, a nationwide study that includes ivermectin, and a local initiative planned by the university, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
CDC Endorses Booster Rollout, OKs Mixing Shots
Millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different company’s vaccine for that next shot, federal health officials said Thursday.
Certain people who received Pfizer vaccinations months ago already are eligible for a booster and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says specific Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients qualify, too. And in a bigger change, the agency is allowing the flexibility of “mixing and matching” that extra dose regardless of which type people received first.
The Food and Drug Administration had already authorized such an expansion of the nation’s booster campaign on Wednesday, and it was also endorsed Thursday by a CDC advisory panel. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky had the final word on who gets the extra doses.
Americans Can Mix and Match COVID Boosters but Original Vaccine Recommended — Fauci
Americans can choose a COVID-19 booster shot that is different from their original inoculation but the recommendation is to stick with the vaccine they got first if it is available, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday.
“It’s generally recommended that you get the booster that is the original regimen that you got in the first place,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with CNN.
Norway Opts Not to Give 12 to 15 Year Olds Second Vaccine Doses Yet
Norway will hold off giving children aged 12-15 a second dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 until it has gathered more research, partly due to a rare side effect involving inflammation of the heart, health authorities said on Friday.
The health ministry said there was no urgency given that children have a low risk of falling seriously ill from COVID-19 and because a single dose of a vaccine offered a protection rate of 85% against the disease for up to 16 weeks.
“A second vaccine dose is also linked with a higher risk of pericarditis and myocarditis, especially among young men and boys,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said in a statement.
Pfizer Vaccine: The One Side Effect More Common After Booster and It May Last for 8 Days
To counter waning immunity ahead of winter, millions of Brits are being offered a booster COVID vaccine to top up their protection against coronavirus. According to safety and immune response data analysed by the FDA, the Pfizer booster vaccine engenders a side effect that’s more commonly seen in the booster shot and it can last up to eight days.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the regulatory body in the US, analysed safety and immune response data from a subset of participants from the original clinical trial of the Pfizer vaccine.
Curiously, one side effect was seen to be more common following the booster shot than previous doses. “Of note, swollen lymph nodes in the underarm were observed more frequently following the booster dose than after the primary two-dose series,” notes the FDA.
Young Men Under 30 Who Receive the Moderna COVID-19 Jab Are More Likely To Develop Rare Heart Inflammation Than Those That Receive the Pfizer Shot, CDC Reveals
Young men who receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are at higher risk of developing a rare case of heart inflammation than those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, researchers revealed on Thursday. Researchers revealed the data at a meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) advisory committee to discuss approval of booster doses for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shot.
A CDC official presented data that showed young men under the age of 30 who receive the Moderna vaccine have experienced a slight uptick in myocarditis and pericarditis cases. However, officials stand by the safety of the vaccine, and still recommend it for use as the benefits heavily outweigh the potential risks.
Health officials in Nordic countries have made a different choice, though, with Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden all restricting use of the Moderna jab among young people.
China Is Pushing a New COVID Origin Theory: Maine Lobsters
In mid-September, Marcel Schliebs, a disinformation researcher at the University of Oxford who had been tracking messaging that Chinese diplomats and state media spread on Twitter for 18 months, spotted the emergence of a surprising coronavirus origin theory.
Zha Liyou, the Chinese consul general in Kolkata, India, tweeted an unfounded claim that COVID-19 could have been imported to China from the United States through a batch of Maine lobsters shipped to a seafood market in Wuhan in November 2019. It marks the latest in a series of theories that have been pushed by pro-China accounts since the start of the pandemic.
FDA Greenlights ‘Mix and Match’ COVID Boosters + More
FDA Greenlights ‘Mix and Match’ COVID Boosters. Moderna, Johnson & Johnson Boosters Also Get Thumbs Up
The FDA authorized booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson‘s COVID-19 vaccines and also authorized a “mix and match” or heterologous approach to boosters for all three available vaccines (including Pfizer’s) in the indicated populations, the agency announced on Wednesday.
Ultimately, the FDA went with what was recommended by their advisory panel, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which voted for a half-dose Moderna booster in adults ages 65 and up, adults ages 18-64 at high risk of severe COVID, and adults 18-64 with frequent occupational and institutional exposure to SARS-CoV-2, at least 6 months after completing the primary series.
A booster of Johnson & Johnson vaccine is authorized for all adults ages 18 and up who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at least 2 months after completion of the single-dose regimen.
U.S. CDC Advisers Weigh Moderna, J&J COVID Vaccine Boosters, Mix-and-Match Shots
A panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday are considering several recommendations for rollout of COVID-19 vaccine boosters from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), expected to pave the way for additional shots for millions of Americans.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the booster doses, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation.
The CDC is expected to sign off in the coming days on the recommendations of the panel for a rollout that health officials said could be confusing.
Michigan Woman’s Death Caused by Rare Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Side Effect, Autopsy Report Says
Though it took months to confirm it, Tatum Strieter-Byron knew from the start what no one seemed to want to believe.
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine brought about the April 21 death of her mother, 60-year-old Sandra Jacobs of Saline, a grandmother, a friend, an employee.
Jacobs died 13 days after she received the single-shot at a CVS pharmacy on April 8, just five days before federal health agencies temporarily paused the vaccine administration while they examined an unusual blood-clotting disorder.
UK Adds Nerve Disorder as Rare Side Effect of AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine
The UK drug regulator added an extremely rare nerve-damaging disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine, updates on the agency’s website showed on Thursday.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) decision comes after the European medicines agency added GBS as a possible side-effect last month. read more
NIH Admits Funding Gain-of-Function COVID Experiments; Gives EcoHealth Five Days to Report Data
A top NIH official admitted in a Wednesday letter that the U.S.-funded so-called “gain-of-function” research in Wuhan, China — and that the U.S. nonprofit which conducted it, EcoHealth Alliance — led by the controversial Peter Daszak, “failed to report” that they had created a chimeric bat coronavirus which could infect humans.
In a letter addressed to Rep. James Comer (R-KY), NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence A. Tabak cites a “limited experiment” to determine whether “spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.”
According to the letter, humanized mice infected with the modified bat virus “became sicker” than those exposed to an unmodified version of the same bat coronavirus. Daszak failed to report this finding, and has been given five days to submit “any and all unpublished data from the experiments and world conducted” under the NIH grant.
Sweden Extends Pause of Moderna Vaccine for Younger Age Groups
Sweden has extended the pause of Moderna‘s (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 30 and younger due to rare heart-related side effects, the public health agency said on Thursday.
The health agency said earlier in October that data pointed to an increase of myocarditis and pericarditis among youths and young adults vaccinated with Moderna vaccine Spikevax, and paused the use for all born 1991 or later.
The health agency also said it was time to cease wide-scale testing and will remove the recommendation for testing for those who are fully vaccinated, even if they are displaying symptoms.
Half Doses, Third Doses, Kids’ Doses: COVID Vaccine Delivery Goes Next-Level Difficult
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rollout is about to get a lot more complicated.
But with boosters becoming available for select groups of people, and a lower-dose shot for young children expected shortly, the campaign is moving from a simple set of instructions to more of a messy flow chart for people organizing and delivering the jabs.
Two different boosters for two different adult populations means plenty of room for mixups.
Why Team Biden Is Purposely Scaring Folks About Kids and COVID
The papers and newscasts on Wednesday morning were filled with stories about just how incredibly focused the Biden people are on the rollout of the vaccinations of American kids from the ages of 5 to 11 (once the science guys give absolutely final approval).
They’re shortening needles to make them less scary for kids! They’re developing a whole new model that doesn’t involve mass vaccination sites!
There’s a reason for the intensity and omnipresence of this specific PR rollout. The Bidenites are desperate to change the focus of the national political conversation.
How COVID Changed American Cities, in 5 Charts
At the start of the pandemic, the familiar hustle and bustle of cities across the nation quieted. Los Angeles’ infamous traffic dwindled and New York’s crowded subway stations emptied. In the months since, some residents and workers have returned, but not all.
These charts illustrate some of the changes brought on by COVID-19, and how the life of our cities is evolving.
New COVID Variant Emerges, Doctors Call It ‘Delta Plus’
A new coronavirus variant has emerged in places such as Europe and Canada, and scientists worry it spreads even faster than the Delta variant. They have dubbed the new mutation ‘Delta plus’ because it’s said to be 10% more transmissible than the original Delta strain currently dominating the globe.
Health authorities are particularly concerned because Delta plus has evolved in a way that allows it to better infect human cells.
What Will the COVID Vaccine Rollout for Kids 5-11 Look Like in Mass.?
Beacon Hill lawmakers will get a look Thursday morning at Massachusetts’ plan to vaccinate children. This comes as kids between 5 and 11 could become eligible for the vaccine as early as next month; roughly 515,000 Massachusetts children fall into this group.
The White House is preparing for the rollout as everyone awaits FDA and CDC approval.
Boston pediatrician Robin Riseberg says she’s constantly reassuring anxious parents that the vaccine is safe and effective. “They’re nervous about side effects,” said Dr. Riseberg, founder of Boston Community Pediatrics.
CDC Vaccination Guidelines Sent for Kids 5 to 11 Years Old + More
CDC Sends Out Guidelines for Vaccinations of Kids 5 to 11 Years Old
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent out guidance last week on preparing to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 years old.
A panel for the Food and Drug Administration met last week, and will meet again Oct. 26, to discuss granting emergency authorization for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in lower doses for children ages 5 to 11. The CDC is allowing states to order doses before the vaccines are authorized.
Connecticut to Order 150,000 Doses of COVID Vaccine for Children Ages 5 to 11
Connecticut plans to order 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 by the time those vaccines begin to get administered.
States are pre-ordering specialized doses for younger children in advance of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine for that purpose. Regulators are expected to vote on the matter in a meeting next Tuesday.
Chris Boyle, state Department of Public Health spokesman, said that pre-ordering will take place in three waves, with the first deadline set for Friday morning.
Only Very Old and Sick Die of COVID if Vaccinated, Italian Study Shows
People vaccinated against COVID-19 are highly unlikely to die of the disease unless very old and already badly ill before getting it, a study in Italy showed on Wednesday.
The study by the national Health Institute (ISS), contained in a regular ISS report on COVID-19 deaths, shows the average age of people who died despite being vaccinated was 85. On average they had five underlying illnesses.
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Little-Known Biodefense Work — It’s How He Became The Highest Paid Federal Employee
Forbes via Our Community Now reported:
In a January article published at Forbes, our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found that Dr. Anthony Fauci was the highest paid federal employee, earning $417,608 (2019). Dr. Fauci is still the top-paid federal employee earning $434,312 in 2020.
Now, new documents released via our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the NIH tell us a lot more. Dr. Fauci received a big pay hike for his biodefense research activities. In other words, Fauci was paid to prevent future pandemics.
White House Details Plans to Vaccinate 28M Children Ages 5 to 11
Children ages 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician’s office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected authorization of the Pfizer shot for younger children in a matter of weeks.
Federal regulators will meet over the next two weeks to weigh the benefits of giving shots to kids, after lengthy studies meant to ensure the safety of the vaccines.
Within hours of formal approval, expected after the Food and Drug Administration signs off and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel meeting scheduled for Nov. 2-3, doses will begin shipping to providers across the country, along with smaller needles necessary for injecting young kids, and within days will be ready to go into the arms of kids on a wide scale.
Gates Foundation Will Provide $120 Million to Ensure Generic Production of Merck’s COVID Pill
As concern mounts over access to COVID-19 remedies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committing up to $120 million to accelerate production of generic versions of an experimental Merck (MRK) pill to treat COVID-19 that would be available to dozens of low-income countries. But the effort was greeted with mixed reactions by patient advocates.
The Gates Foundation plans to provide different types of incentives so that eight generic manufacturers, all of which have already signed voluntary licensing deals with Merck, will be positioned to produce a sufficient quantity of the drug, called molnupiravir, as quickly as possible.
Why Aren’t COVID Breakthrough Cases by Vaccine Type Being Reported?
It appears as though government agencies are not tracking the number of breakthrough cases by specific vaccine or if they are, they are only loosely collecting data.
New York has a website dedicated to providing up-to-date information on breakthrough cases but it does not include vaccine-specific information.
Albany County reported 49% of new COVID cases were in fully vaccinated residents Tuesday. The county’s department of health said they also report breakthrough cases and vaccine-specific information. They said the information is self-reported by fully vaccinated COVID-positive residents and shared with the state through CommCare.
Booster Shots Could Soon Be Recommended for People as Young as 40, Source Says
Booster protection in the US could soon expand to a much broader population, as a source says the U.S. government likely will soon recommend them to people as young as 40 who received either Moderna or Pfizer‘s COVID-19 vaccine.
“I believe it will happen,” the source familiar with the plan told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen, adding that there is “growing concern within the FDA” that U.S. data is beginning to show more hospitalizations among people under age 65 who have been fully vaccinated.
Some Eligible for COVID Booster Aren’t Flocking to It as Expected
Booster shots, which got off to a rocky start nationally, have yet to take hold among people age 65 and up.
“I think at the end of the day we might have lost the forest for the trees,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Public Health Officer, remarking on how booster demand has lagged behind expectations.
By week’s end both the FDA and CDC are expected to fully authorize Moderna and Johnson and Johnson boosters, which will widen access and interest. Until now, only the Pfizer booster was available.
Erie Hospitals Seeing More Breakthrough COVID Patients, With Nearly 30% Fully Vaccinated
Erie hospitals are seeing more breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among their admitted patients.
Saint Vincent Hospital and UPMC Hamot officials each reported that their percentage of fully vaccinated patients increased this week from less than 20% of all COVID-19 admissions to nearly 30%.
Moderna Won’t Share Its Vaccine Recipe. WHO Has Hired an African Startup to Crack It
The World Health Organization has hired the company, called Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, as part of a $100 million plan to figure out how to make an mRNA vaccine against COVID that is as close as possible to the version produced by Moderna.
Until recently, Afrigen specialized in developing veterinary vaccines using fairly traditional methods. Now, says Afrigen’s Managing Director, Petro Treblanche, the company’s labs are a hive of research into the cutting-edge technology behind mRNA vaccines.
COVID Breakthrough Deaths Most Common Among Older Americans, Data Shows
Older Americans have been the most at risk of dying throughout the COVID pandemic. Now, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that adults over the age of 65 make up the bulk of breakthrough COVID deaths.
The data, published Friday, shows that 85 percent of the approximately 7,000 breakthrough COVID deaths recorded by the CDC have occurred in adults 65 and older. By comparison, adults at and over the age of 65 made up 76 percent of the more than 700,000 COVID deaths recorded by the CDC.
Groups Declare National Emergency in Children’s Mental Health + More
AACAP, AAP, CHA Declare National Emergency in Children’s Mental Health
Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) together representing more than 77,000 physician members and more than 200 children’s hospitals, declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health and are calling on policymakers to join them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on children’s mental health as young people continue to face physical isolation, ongoing uncertainty, fear and grief. Even before the pandemic, mental health challenges facing children were of great concern, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated them.
“Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government — we must treat this mental health crisis like the emergency it is.”
Politics Is Derailing a Crucial Debate Over the Immunity You Get From Recovering From COVID
Washington — Among scientists, there’s little debate: People who get sick with COVID-19 develop at least some protection against being infected in the future.
But exactly how much protection they have, and how long it lasts, are the subjects of the country’s latest COVID-19 controversy. For the past month, university employees, professional athletes, and conservative lawmakers across the country have argued they should be exempted from increasingly strict vaccine mandates because, scientifically speaking, they don’t need them: They’re already protected by their body’s own immune response.
COVID Breakthrough: New Oxford Vaccine Tipped ‘to Bring an End’ to Delta Variant
Another coronavirus breakthrough is set to be made in the UK as a new and modified version of the Oxford vaccine is being developed to target the Delta variant.
Research is being carried out by members of Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert’s team at the University of Oxford — the same scientists behind the AstraZeneca jab. It is being reported that the vaccine could be designed with the aim of “having something on the shelf ready to scale up”. Experts have argued there is a case for specific jabs for current and future variants.
Some Countries Begin Giving Single COVID Vaccine Dose to Kids After Rare Myocarditis Cases
A new strategy to prevent adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine is gaining momentum overseas.
Some experts say the risk of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, particularly among teens after getting vaccinated, could be avoided by giving them only one dose.
The consensus among health agencies is still to give kids both shots. What they didn’t anticipate was 80+ kids reporting the condition, and in some instances, showing up at the hospital just days after getting a second dose.
Colorado’s Vaccine Sweepstakes Didn’t Boost Rates
Colorado spent $5 million in COVID-19 relief money on a much-hyped sweepstakes that failed to boost the state’s vaccination rates, a new study finds.
What they found: The study revealed there was essentially “zero difference” in the vaccination rates of states that held lotteries and those that didn’t.
Fetal Sex a Factor in COVID Immune Response
In pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, male placentas showed increased immune activation compared with female placentas, according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine.
Moreover, pregnant women with COVID-19 transferred significantly less immunity to the virus to male fetuses than to female fetuses, which could affect an infant’s risk for becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. “The sex of the fetus influenced both the mom’s ability to generate antibodies to COVID-19 and to transfer them to her baby,” says Edlow.
This is the first study to look at sex differences in the transfer of a mother’s antibodies from COVID infection to her fetus, and the first to examine sex differences in the placental response to maternal infection.
Minnesota Hospital Shuts Down ER and Urgent Care Amid Nurse Strike
For a year and a half, nurses at the Allina Health’s WestHealth emergency room in Plymouth have battled on the front lines of the pandemic; but behind the scenes they’ve been fighting for better pay too.
Now around 50 nurses say enough is enough, and they will go on strike from Sunday through Tuesday. In response, the WestHealth Emergency Room and Urgent Care has decided to close its doors, shutting down for the time being. The city of Plymouth released a list of nearby locations for emergency services and urgent care needs here.
U.S. Expected to Authorize Mix-and-Match COVID Booster Shots
Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week in an effort to provide flexibility for those seeking to maintain protection against the coronavirus.
The upcoming announcement by the Food and Drug Administration is likely to come along with authorization for boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots and follows the authorization of a third dose for the Pfizer vaccine for many Americans last month.
The move was previewed Tuesday by a U.S. health official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement.
WHO-Led Program Aims to Buy Antiviral COVID Pills for $10
A World Health Organization-led programme to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments aims to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, a draft document seen by Reuters says.
Merck & Co’s (MRK.N) experimental pill molnupiravir is likely to be one of the drugs, and other drugs to treat mild patients are being developed.
Atea Plunges After COVID Treatment Fails to Help Patients in Study
Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc’s (AVIR.O)experimental COVID-19 antiviral pill, being developed with Roche (ROG.S), failed to help patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 in a small study of mostly low-risk patients, driving the U.S. drugmaker’s shares down more than 65% on Tuesday.
The trial results puts Atea and Roche far behind U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) in the race to a pill to treat COVID-19.
