Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
A Man Deliberately Got 217 COVID Shots. Here’s What Happened
One German man has redefined “man on a mission.” A 62-year-old from Magdeburg deliberately got 217 COVID-19 vaccine shots in the span of 29 months, according to a new study, going against national vaccine recommendations. That’s an average of one jab every four days.
In the process, he became a walking experiment for what happens to the immune system when it is vaccinated against the same pathogen repeatedly. A correspondence published Monday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases outlined his case and concluded that while his “hyper vaccination” did not result in any adverse health effects, it also did not significantly improve or worsen his immune response.
The man, who is not named in the correspondence in compliance with German privacy rules, reported receiving 217 COVID shots between June 2021 and November 2023. Of those, 134 were confirmed by a prosecutor and through vaccination center documentation; the remaining 83 were self-reported, according to the study.
In chronic diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis B, immune cells can become fatigued from frequent exposure to the pathogen and lose the ability to combat it effectively, Schober said. Hypervaccination, in theory, could have a similar effect. However, that’s not what the researchers found. Hypervaccination in this case increased the quantity (the number of T cells and B cell products) but did not affect the quality of the adaptive immune system, according to the study.
House COVID Panel Subpoenas Former NY Gov. Cuomo Over Nursing Home Deaths
The House committee investigating the coronavirus pandemic response issued a subpoena Tuesday for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over his alleged failure to cooperate with a probe into the state’s COVID-19 nursing home policies.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is demanding Cuomo appear for a closed-door deposition on May 24. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), the subcommittee’s chairman, has previously requested interviews with former Cuomo administration officials, including former top aide Melissa DeRosa.
Wenstrup in a statement accused the former governor of stonewalling the investigation and said the panel had been met with months and months of “repeated and unjustified delays.”
The panel has been investigating COVID-19 nursing home policy decisions made by Cuomo and the Democratic leaders of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“Not only did the former Governor put the elderly in harm’s way, but he also attempted to cover up his failures by hiding the true nursing home death rate,” Wenstrup said in a statement. “It appears that politics, not medicine, was responsible for these decisions. And that while Mr. Cuomo is adept at seeking legal advice, he is not necessarily adept at seeking medical advice.”
Chip Roy Unveils Bill to Let Americans Sue COVID Vaccine Makers Over Injury, Negative Effects
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, unveiled a new bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue COVID-19 vaccine makers over adverse health effects allegedly caused by the shot. The Let Injured Americans Be Legally Empowered (LIABLE) Act is aimed at wiping away COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers’ statutory protections, opening them up to civil lawsuits.
A summary of the bill obtained by Fox News Digital said, “The LIABLE Act will allow Americans who took vaccines that were misleadingly promoted and forced onto many Americans via federal mandates to pursue civil litigation for their injuries. These vaccines were given emergency use authorization unilaterally and did not go through the normal FDA approval process.”
Currently, manufacturers and healthcare providers responsible for distributing COVID-19 vaccines are mostly immune from civil lawsuits, even if those seeking money damages have medical proof of their vaccine-related injuries.
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act also created the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which has a one-year statute of limitations and only provides compensation in the event of death or serious injury. According to Roy, CICP has compensated people just 11 times despite thousands of claims lodged.
Roy’s LIABLE Act would allow Americans claiming to be injured from the vaccine to retroactively sue manufacturers despite the aforementioned protections. While credited with saving countless lives during the pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine has also been blamed by critics for side effects such as blood clots, strokes and even sudden death.
Deaths Linked to Excessive Drinking Surged During COVID Pandemic: CDC
Deaths linked to excessive drinking surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that the average annual number of deaths from “excessive alcohol use” rose by around 30 percent from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021. In the same period, the average annual number of deaths from “excessive alcohol use” rose by around 27% for men and 35% for women.
A study from late 2021 found that the increased rate of consumption of alcohol would cause 100 more deaths and 2,800 additional cases of liver failure by the end of last year.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had many unintended consequences with unknown long-term impacts. Our modeling study provides a framework for quantifying the long-term impact of increased alcohol consumption associated with COVID-19 and initiating conversations for potential interventions,” Turgay Ayer, a co-author of the study and the George Family Foundation Early Career Professor of Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, said in a release.
The COVID Pandemic Killed Off One Strain of the Flu, and That Will Change the Next Vaccines
For 10 years, Americans have had access to flu shots that protect against four strains of the virus: two A strains and two B strains.
Starting this fall, however, all the flu shots distributed in the United States will contain only three strains, and the change happened in part because of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, a panel of experts who advise the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on vaccines voted unanimously to recommend three-strain flu vaccines that will exclude any viruses from B strains that are part of a branch of the flu’s family tree called Yamagata.
Dr. Jerry Weir, director of the FDA’s Division of Viral Products, said Tuesday that the agency has been working with manufacturers to get the Yamagata strain out of U.S. vaccines in time for the 2024-25 flu season.
The CDC Has Relaxed COVID Guidelines. Will Schools and Daycares Follow Suit?
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended childcare, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses. Gone are mandated isolation periods and masking. But will schools and childcare centers agree?
In case you’ve lost track: Before Friday, all Americans, including school children, were supposed to stay home for at least five days if they had COVID-19 and then mask for a set period of time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, the change may not affect how individual schools urge parents to react when their children fall sick. Schools and childcare providers have a mixed record on following CDC recommendations and often look to local authorities for the ultimate word. And sometimes other goals, such as reducing absences, can influence a state or district’s decisions.
Gloria Cunningham, a single mom in the Boston area, who manages a local store for a national restaurant chain, said her company requires her to take off 10 days if she gets COVID-19. And the school system where her son is in second grade has still been sending home COVID test kits for kids to use before returning to school after long breaks.
Moderna Looks to Pare R&D Spending Even as It Pivots From COVID Vaccines
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Moderna is working to cut costs as its COVID-19 vaccine sales fade after years of beefed-up research and development spending during the pandemic, but still wants to come out of the spending cuts with more drugs on offer.
The biotech company is in the process of diversifying its commercial drug sales, in part, to reduce its reliance on COVID vaccines, even as it plans to include R&D in the cost-cutting. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company last month said it expects to reduce its R&D expenses by 7% to $4.5 billion this year, following a recent surge in these costs. In 2023, Moderna booked both higher R&D expenses, at $4.8 billion, and a large net loss, at $4.7 billion. Revenue plummeted 64% to $6.8 billion last year, compared with the previous year, as sales of the COVID-19 vaccine declined because of lower demand. The declines are a reversal of the hefty COVID-19 vaccine sales it raked in in 2021 and 2022, totaling nearly $38 billion in that period.
Like other makers of COVID vaccines, Moderna benefited from a major cash infusion from sales. The company had $2.91 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31, down 9% from a year earlier.
AstraZeneca to Invest 650 Million Pounds in UK to Boost ‘Pandemic Preparedness’
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) plans to invest 650 million pounds ($826.80 million) in Britain to boost research, development and manufacturing of vaccines, the government announced on Wednesday as part of Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget.
AstraZeneca’s planned investment includes 450 million pounds to research, develop and manufacture vaccines at its manufacturing site in Speke, Liverpool, and another 200 million pounds to expand its existing presence in Cambridge, where its global headquarters are located.
“AstraZeneca’s planned investment would enhance the U.K.’s pandemic preparedness and demonstrates our ongoing confidence in U.K. life sciences,” the drugmaker’s chief Pascal Soriot said in a statement.
Britain, in December 2020, was the first country to approve the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Low Blood Iron Levels Might Contribute to Long COVID
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Long COVID might be triggered by low iron levels in the blood from the person’s initial infection, a new study claims.
It’s remained a mystery why an estimated three out of 10 people infected with COVID go on to suffer lingering symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and “brain fog” problems with memory and concentration.
In this study, researchers tracked outcomes for 214 COVID patients. They found that ongoing inflammation and low iron levels in the blood could be seen as early as two weeks post-infection in those who went on to develop Long COVID symptoms months later.
The low blood iron levels contributed to anemia and disrupted production of healthy red blood cells in Long COVID patients, researchers said.
Free COVID Test Program to Be Suspended for Now
The federal government’s free at-home COVID-19 test program will be suspended beginning Friday in response to a drop in respiratory diseases.
The Biden administration brought back the free test program last year ahead of the respiratory viral season. By going to COVIDtests.gov, households could order a free pack of four at-home COVID-19 tests. This most recent batch of free tests was the sixth round made available.
BA.2.87.1 COVID Variant Detected in Southeast Asia
Scientists examining SARS-CoV-2 wastewater samples in Southeast Asia have detected a few samples containing the BA.2.87.1 variant, the first known detection outside of South Africa.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Leshan Wannigama, MD, PhD, a clinical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist in the department of infectious diseases and infection control at Japan’s Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, said the team found a “handful” of samples and that transmission seems to be very low.
In mid-February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is closely monitoring BA.2.87.1 because it has more than 30 changes in the spike protein compared to XBB.1.5, the variant covered by the current monovalent (single-strain) vaccines.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has also designated BA.2.87.1 as a variant under monitoring.
