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CDC Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the COVID Data It Collects
The New York Times via Yahoo!News reported:
For more than a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data on hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the United States and broken it down by age, race and vaccination status. But it has not made most of the information public.
When the CDC published the first significant data two weeks ago on the effectiveness of boosters in adults younger than 65, it left out the numbers for a huge portion of that population: 18- to 49-year-olds, the group the data showed was least likely to benefit from extra shots, because the first two doses already left them well-protected.
Two full years into the pandemic, the agency leading the country’s response to the public health emergency has published only a tiny fraction of the data it has collected, several people familiar with the data said.
Studies Show Many People May Not Need a Fourth COVID Booster for Several Months, or Even Years
John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times that scientists are “starting to see diminishing returns on the number of additional doses,” noting that a fourth vaccination may be unnecessary to protect against death and serious illness for the average adult.
The NYTimes also cited at least four studies that found that the immune system — using specialized T cells produced by the vaccines or after an infection — is capable of remembering and attacking the virus after several months and may even be able to do so for many years.
It’s not impossible to imagine this outcome since scientists have already observed this exact response in individuals infected with the SARS coronavirus.
In the case of SARS, a study found that individuals exposed to the virus during the 2003 outbreak still carried T cells that could remember and target the virus more than 17 years later. Health officials believe this may also be the case with COVID-19.
U.S. Virus Cases, Hospitalizations Continue Steady Decline
Average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall in the U.S., an indicator that the Omicron variant’s hold is weakening across the country.
In New York, the number of cases went down by more than 50% over the last two weeks.
“I think what’s influencing the decline, of course, is that Omicron is starting to run out of people to infect,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and infectious disease chief at the University of Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine said Sunday that the downturn in case numbers and hospitalizations is encouraging. He agreed that it likely has a lot to do with herd immunity.
A Fourth COVID Shot Might Be Recommended This Fall, as Officials ‘Continually’ Look at Emerging Data
As the world approaches the second anniversary of the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 11, more nations are rolling out — or are discussing the possibility of — fourth doses of coronavirus vaccine for their most vulnerable.
In the United States, leading public health officials say they are “very carefully” monitoring if or when fourth doses might be needed.
FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt confirmed that although Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has noted that there is still much uncertainty as to how the pandemic may further evolve, he also has said it is possible that a fourth dose might be recommended as we move into fall.
New COVID Vaccine Could Appeal to Some Religious Skeptics
COVID-19 vaccine developed by Maryland biotech firm Novavax was authorized for use in Canada yesterday after already being approved by the European Union and the World Health Organization.
Given the way in which the shot is made, there is the belief that Novavax’s shot could find popularity among those who have resisted other vaccines due to their religious beliefs.
Novavax announced on Jan. 31 that it had submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization for its Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373) COVID-19 vaccine. The company has reported it does not use any human fetal-derived cell lines for Nuvaxovid, which has been a sticking point for many people who object to vaccinations.
Experts Warn ‘Not to Get Too Cocky’ as U.S. Contemplates Life After COVID
As some U.S. companies begin asking people to return to the office and governors lift mask mandates, talk has emerged of life after the COVID-19 pandemic in America.
But infectious disease experts aren’t quite ready to declare that it’s safe for individuals, rather than governments and health officials, to determine whether precautions such as masking indoors are necessary.
“I think it’s probably reasonable not to get too cocky at this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “I welcome the decline in cases that we are seeing in the U.S. and a number of other countries, and I think you can both celebrate the sunshine while also keeping an umbrella close by for the possibility that rain could occur.”
Top English Medic Warns New COVID Variants Could Be More Resistant to Vaccines
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty warned on Monday there will be new COVID-19 variants and said some of them could be more resistant to vaccines.
Earlier, Britain said it would end all coronavirus restrictions in England including mandatory self-isolation for people with COVID-19 and free testing, drawing skepticism from some scientists and political opponents.
South Korea Says Omicron COVID Variant 75% Less Likely to Kill Than Delta Strain
People infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant are nearly 75% less likely to develop serious illness or die than those who contract the Delta variant, real world data released on Monday by South Korea’s health authorities showed.
A study by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) of some 67,200 infections confirmed since December showed the Omicron variant’s severity and death rates averaged 0.38% and 0.18%, respectively, compared with 1.4% and 0.7% for the Delta cases.
FDA to Allow Export of AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine Lots Made at Emergent Plant
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it had found four batches of AstraZeneca Plc’s (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine manufactured at the troubled Emergent BioSolutions (EBS.N) facility that were fit to be shipped outside the United States.
Last year, the FDA halted operations at the plant, which was producing vaccines for AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), following a discovery that one vaccine was contaminated with material used in the other.
