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U.S. Funded Scientist One of Several Wuhan Lab Researchers Sickened During Early COVID Outbreak
In November of 2019, less than a month before the COVID-19 pandemic took off and spread to nations all over the world, several scientists working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China fell seriously ill from an unknown virus.
One of the researchers was Ben Hu, a scientist who had received significant funding from the U.S. government and whose research has focused on “how coronaviruses infect humans,” new reporting by the Wall Street Journal shows.
At WIV, Hu was responsible for overseeing “gain-of-function” research — the controversial scientific field that involves mutating viruses to make them more deadly and more contagious — involving coronaviruses. Gain-of-function research, which was banned in the U.S. until 2017, is typically used to develop vaccines. Hu and other scientists — which have now been identified as Chinese researchers Yu Ping and Yan Zhu — were sickened by … something … in the fall of 2019 while working at the lab.
It is unclear exactly what made Hu and other researchers ill. The Journal writes that the trio were sickened by “symptoms that American officials said were consistent with either COVID-19 or a seasonal illness” — to the point where the men had to be hospitalized — but notes that it has not been definitively made public what caused the symptoms. Still, we can all agree that doesn’t sound great.
ICMR to Release Study Examining Possible Link Between COVID Vaccination and the Spurt in Heart Attacks
The Weather Channel India reported:
A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) investigating the possible connection between COVID vaccination and heart attacks in young individuals will be released to the public in the coming days.
“We are studying sudden deaths. Four studies are going on. We will get the results soon and let everyone know as we continue to look at it from different angles to understand whether there is an increase in deaths,” Rajiv Bahl, ICMR Director General (DG), told IANS.
He said that “we are trying to see what are potential causes”, and the ICMR is awaiting a peer review of the findings before making the assessment public. Bahl added that the people who died are considered cases, and those who survived are controls.
“There is a design which is called a case-control study. Here, all factors including age, morbidity, habits and how they got COVID-infected, whether it was severe COVID, did they take COVID vaccine or not, and many other factors are seen,” the ICMR Director General said.
He added that severe COVID-19 patients were assessed in the first study. He further informed that the second study is on sudden deaths reported at multiple centres across India. Similarly, the third study focuses on those who survived cardiovascular or other thromboembolic events. While the fourth study investigates the cause of death or sudden death.
COVID Vaccine Hesitancy, Distrust in Health Authorities Common in Adolescents
Infectious Disease Advisor reported:
Hesitations and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines were found to be common among adolescents, with many indicating a preference for autonomy in making vaccine-related decisions and resistance toward vaccine mandates and passport policies. These study results were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Researchers conducted a study between January and March 2020 to examine perceptions and attitudes among adolescents regarding COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine mandate and passport policies. Data for this study were collected through surveys and interviews designed by youth researchers. Eligible participants were students from 2 low-income neighborhoods in Montreal, Canada. The survey was designed to capture sociodemographic-related predictors of COVID-19 vaccination status.
Further analysis showed that vaccinated vs. unvaccinated participants did not significantly differ in regard to the belief that only those at risk for severe illness require vaccination and that daily life constraints contribute to vaccination decisions. In addition, participants in both groups reported low trust in information about COVID-19 vaccines provided by social media, celebrities, and school guidelines or teachers.
Axed COVID Vaccine Contract Cost Taxpayers £358m
A biotechnology company which had its contract to make COVID vaccines cancelled by the U.K. Government still received £358 million of taxpayers’ money, it has emerged.
French firm Valneva was supposed to manufacture more than 100 million vaccines at its site in Livingston, West Lothian, but the contract was axed by ministers in 2021. The Government said it pulled out of the deal at the time because the company had breached the terms of the agreement, but this was denied by Valneva.
A financial statement published online shows Valneva received hundreds of millions of pounds in payments despite the deal being cancelled.
A form filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission states Valneva received advances totalling £358 million as part of its agreement with the U.K. Government.
Air Pollution ‘Aged’ Hospital COVID Patients by 10 Years, Study Shows
People exposed to air pollution experienced COVID-19 as if they were 10 years older, according to research. It found people recently exposed to dirtier air before contracting the illness spent four days longer in hospital, the same impact as on those 10 years their senior.
The Belgian study also showed that air pollution levels measured in patients’ blood were linked to a 36% increase in the risk of needing intensive care treatment. A separate study in Denmark showed air pollution exposure was linked to a 23% increase in the risk of death from COVID-19. In both studies, the level of air pollution was below legal EU standards.
Previous research suggested that air pollution worsened COVID outcomes but, rather than assessing groups of people together, the new studies followed individual patients and therefore give much more confidence in the results.
The new research shows cutting air pollution is a crucial measure for reducing illness and deaths during future outbreaks of respiratory diseases, including the annual flu season. Cleaner air brought health benefits almost as great as some of the medical treatments given to the COVID-19 patients, the research showed.
What Is ‘Disease X,’ the Disease COVID Researchers Say Could Be the Next Pandemic?
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of diseases that could cause the next pandemic includes the ominous “Disease X.”
The pathogen “Disease X” is a new disease agent unknown to medical science that likely does not have any treatments or vaccines. Researchers have to prepare for the unknown when it starts to spread.
“You cannot prevent an unknown pathogen from evolving into one that could lead to a pandemic,” Dr. Sandra Adams, a biology professor and virologist at Montclair State University, told NJ Advance Media. However, researchers can use the knowledge they have gained to fight against pandemics.
Most researchers believe the next “Disease X” will come from animals before infecting humans. But they have not ruled out other sources, such as laboratory accidents or incidences of bioterrorism.
Woman Gets $20,000 Tax Bill After Winning COVID Vaccine Lottery
West Virginia woman said she was hit with a $20,000 tax bill for a truck she won as part of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine lottery program. Grace Fowler said in an interview with CBS News that “it blew her mind” when she received the bill for the brand-new, custom-outfitted truck that Governor Jim Justice presented to her in July 2021.
Fowler is among hundreds of West Virginians who entered into Justice’s “Do It for Babydog” vaccination sweepstakes, which was named after the governor’s English bulldog and which offered a series of statewide prize drawings to incentivize residents to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
West Virginia offered more than $20 million in prizes, ranging from educational savings funds to vacations to trucks, as part of its vaccine lottery, outspending its neighboring states on its lucky draw. Comparably, Ohio’s lottery offered $13 million in prizes and Maryland’s lottery offered $4 million.
Unable to pay the bills on her truck, Fowler decided to sell her vehicle the next year. The dealer said Fowler was not the only one to sell her prize.
Ex-PM Cameron Says the U.K. Focused Too Much on Flu Rather Than Other Potential Pandemics Before COVID
Britain made a mistake in focusing too much on preparations for a flu pandemic rather than considering other types of pandemic in the years before the COVID-19 outbreak, former Prime Minister David Cameron told a public inquiry Monday.
Cameron, who led Britain’s Conservative government from 2010 to 2016, was the first politician to be questioned by the wide-ranging inquiry into the U.K.’s preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic, how the government responded and what lessons can be learned for the future.
Giving evidence under oath, Cameron said that during his time in office, officials were too narrowly focused on the dangers of an influenza pandemic. Not enough questions were asked about the possibility of an outbreak of other highly infectious respiratory diseases, he said.
