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Cornell University Reports More Than 900 COVID Cases This Week. Many Are Omicron Variant Cases in Fully Vaccinated Students

CNN reported:

Cornell University reported 903 cases of COVID-19 among students between December 7-13, and a “very high percentage” of them are Omicron variant cases in fully vaccinated individuals, according to university officials.

“Virtually every case of the Omicron variant to date has been found in fully vaccinated students, a portion of whom had also received a booster shot,” said Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina in a statement.

As of result, the school has decided to shut down its Ithaca, New York, campus, where it has about 25,600 students. The university will move final exams for the semester online, cancel all activities and athletics and close the libraries, President Martha Pollack wrote in a letter to the student body posted Tuesday.

CDC Vaccine Advisers to Revisit Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Recommendation

CNN Health reported:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisers will meet on Thursday to revisit the benefits and risks for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to vote on “updated recommendations for use,” according to an agenda for the meeting posted online Wednesday.

According to the agenda, the CDC’s vaccine advisers will hear presentations about thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome, known as TTS, a rare, serious type of blood clotting condition that has been linked to the J&J vaccine, but not to the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Wuhan Lab Leak More Likely Origin of COVID, UK Parliament Panel Told

Business Standard reported:

A Canadian molecular biologist on Wednesday told cross-party members of Parliament (MPs) on the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee that a leak from a laboratory in Wuhan region of China is now the more likely origin of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Dr Alina Chan, specialising in gene therapy and cell engineering and co-author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19′, told the Parliament panel’s evidence session on scientific research that the pandemic was being caused by the unique feature of the coronavirus called furin cleavage site, which has been linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

On whether the virus was modified in the lab before a leak, Chan said: We have heard from many top virologists that a genetically engineered origin of this virus is reasonable…and this includes virologists who themselves have made modifications to the first SARS virus.

Judge Rules Hospital Can’t Block Treatment of COVID With Ivermectin

NBC Washington 4 reported:

A Virginia hospital can’t stand in the way of a family’s preference to be treated for COVID-19 with the drug ivermectin, which is not approved for treating the virus, a judge ruled.

Kathy and Don Davies were rushed to Fauquier Hospital Oct. 9 suffering serious COVID-19 symptoms. Their son, Chris Davies, is an X-ray technician at the hospital. He’d heard about some people finding help in the drug ivermectin, typically used as an anti-parasitic, often for animals. He asked the hospital to try it as a treatment, but the doctors refused.

Judge James Fisher sided with the Davies family, ordering the hospital to allow them to have ivermectin given to Kathy Davies or face a $10,000-a-day fine. She got the first dose on Monday night.

The Fears of Five-Year-Olds: How Young Children Cope With COVID Anxiety

The Guardian reported:

Let me introduce you to a little girl called Miriam. She’s five years old and attends a primary school in north-east London. The adults who know her describe her as a confident, outgoing child.

But the pandemic that continues to spread fear and uncertainty across all our lives has made her scared of the world around her. Getting to sleep is difficult for Miriam because she has nightmares. Especially on Sundays. Coming into school is hard, because she doesn’t want to leave her mother.

Concerns about the devastating impact of the pandemic on mental health have been well aired since COVID-19 first swept the globe. But what of our youngest pupils, who have missed school without knowing what they’re missing and shouldn’t have a care in the world?

Fauci Says COVID Boosters Work Against Omicron, No Need for Variant-Specific Third Shot

CNBC reported:

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that currently available booster shots work against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and do not need to be adjusted to fight the new, highly contagious strain of the virus at this time.

Fauci said the primary two-dose vaccination series from Pfizer and BioNTech is significantly compromised by Omicron, but still offers considerable protection against severe disease. Protection from the two-dose vaccine against infection dropped to 33% compared with 80% before the emergence of Omicron. However, two doses are still 70% effective at preventing hospitalization in Omicron patients in South Africa, Fauci said.

A booster dose increases protection against symptomatic disease to 75%, Fauci said, citing data from the U.K. Health Security Agency.

U.S. Study Suggests Vaccines May Be Ineffective Against Omicron Without Booster

Reuters reported:

All three U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccines appear to be significantly less protective against the newly-detected Omicron variant of the coronavirus in laboratory testing, but a booster dose likely restores most of the protection, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard and MIT that has not yet been peer reviewed tested blood from people who received the Moderna (MRNA.O), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech vaccines against a pseudovirus engineered to resemble the Omicron variant.

The researchers found “low to absent” antibody neutralization of the variant from the regular regimens of all three vaccines — two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines or one of J&J‘s single-dose vaccine. But the blood from recent recipients of an additional booster dose exhibited potent neutralization of the variant, the study found.

São Paulo Says It Has Fully Vaccinated 100% of Its Adults. Will It Be Enough to Stop Omicron?

The Washington Post reported:

In a world struggling to convince people to take the coronavirus vaccine, the news was striking.

São Paulo, the largest city in the Western Hemisphere, announced late last month that it had succeeded where others had failed. One hundred percent of its adult population had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Then there is the biggest uncertainty of them all: Omicron.

The extraordinary success of São Paulo’s vaccination campaign has laid the groundwork for what amounts to a large-scale experiment. The coming weeks will help show how the new variant will behave in a massive urban environment where virtually everyone has been vaccinated, and whether its spread will be slowed by São Paulo’s vaccination firewall.

Londoners With Cold Symptoms More Likely to Have COVID, Says Expert

The Guardian reported:

People who have cold-like symptoms in London are more likely to have COVID than a cold, according to the scientist behind the Zoe coronavirus symptom tracker app.

Prof Tim Spector told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that most of the symptoms of Omicron were the same as those of a common cold, including headaches, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue and sneezing.

Spector urged people with cold symptoms — and not just the classic COVID symptoms — to take a test.

Pfizer Set to Oust AstraZeneca as Top Supplier of COVID Shots to Poor Nations

Reuters reported:

Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNtech (22UAy.DE) are set to displace AstraZeneca (AZN.L) as the main suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines to the global COVAX programme at the start of 2022, a shift that shows the increasing importance of their shot for poorer states.

The expected change comes with headaches for receiving countries that lack sufficient cold storage capacity to handle the Pfizer vaccine, and amid risks of a shortage of syringes needed to administer that shot.

Why UK Has Been Less Keen Than U.S. to Give COVID Jab to Children

The Guardian reported:

The UK and U.S. may have many things in common, but when it comes to vaccinating children against COVID, the approach has been markedly different.

The UK has shown significantly less speed in expanding its COVID vaccination programmes to children despite a successful rollout among adults, with almost 70% of the population having had two jabs.

EU Regulator Backs J&J COVID Booster Dose for Adults

Reuters reported:

The European Union’s drug regulator on Wednesday recommended that a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson‘s (JNJ.N) COVID-19 shot may be given at least two months after a first dose in people aged 18 years and older, as the bloc battles surging infections.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its recommendation to allow J&J booster doses follows data which showed the additional shot led to a rise in antibodies against the COVID-causing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The EMA said that a J&J booster dose may also be given after two doses of one of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) or Moderna (MRNA.O), in line with its recommendation on mixing vaccines.