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COVID Vaccines Linked to Unexpected Vaginal Bleeding
Women who don’t menstruate — including postmenopausal women and those on contraceptives — were several times more likely to experience unexpected vaginal bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination than before the vaccines were offered, a study finds.
When COVID-19 jabs were rolled out globally, many women reported heavier-than-usual menstrual bleeding soon after vaccination. Study author Kristine Blix, at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, wanted to look at the trend systematically, particularly in women who don’t normally have periods, such as those taking contraceptives or who have been through menopause. The work is published in Science Advances.
The results were surprising, says Blix. They found that 252 postmenopausal women, 1,008 perimenopausal women and 924 premenopausal women reported experiencing unexpected vaginal bleeding.
Of these, roughly half of each group said that the bleeding came in the four weeks after the first or second vaccine dose or both. Premenopausal and perimenopausal women were most likely to report unexpected bleeding in the month after the vaccine, with their risk being three to five times as high as before the vaccinations existed. The risk for postmenopausal women increased by two- to threefold.
Merck COVID Drug Linked to Virus Mutations That Can Spread Between People, New Study Says
A new study released Monday said Merck’s widely used antiviral COVID pill can cause mutations in the virus that occasionally spread to other people, raising questions about whether the drug has the potential to accelerate COVID’s evolution.
The findings may increase scrutiny about the usefulness of the treatment, molnupiravir, which was one of the first COVID drugs available to doctors worldwide during the pandemic.
Molnupiravir works by causing mutations in COVID’s genetic information, which weakens or destroys the virus and reduces the amount of COVID in the body. However, the study published Monday in the scientific journal Nature found that COVID can sometimes survive treatment with molnupiravir, leading to mutated versions of the virus that have been found to spread to other patients.
Researchers in the U.S. and U.K. specifically analyzed 15 million COVID genomes to see which mutations had occurred and when. They found that mutations increased in 2022 after molnupiravir was introduced in many countries.
Vaccine Doubts Grow Beyond COVID Shots
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, vaccine skepticism has endured among Republicans — and it stretches beyond just the COVID shot. Before the pandemic, there wasn’t much of a partisan divide in vaccine skepticism, including over whether students should have to get vaccinated against measles to go to public school, POLITICO’s Steve Shepard reports.
But the pandemic changed that, leaving GOP voters less likely than Democrats or independents to say vaccines are safe for kids, according to a new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll conducted as part of POLITICO’s series about the rising anti-vax movement.
COVID vaccines have been the foot in the door for the more general anti-vaccine movement. And unfortunately, that door is open pretty wide now,” said Dr. Dave Gorski, a Michigan-based oncologist tracking anti-vaccine efforts for two decades.
For example, earlier this year, a lawsuit funded by the Informed Consent Action Network forced Mississippi to allow religious exemptions for mandatory childhood vaccinations for the first time in more than four decades.
EU in Talks With Moderna Over New Deal for COVID Vaccines — FT
The European Union is in talks with Moderna (MRNA.O) over a new procurement deal for the company’s COVID-19 vaccines amid concerns over a rise in infections in the region, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The company supplied its COVID vaccines to the EU during the pandemic, but the contract for its Omicron-adjusted vaccines ended in August last year and was not renewed.
At least eight countries in the union are interested in a new supply deal, the report said, citing one of the people.
“Moderna manufactured its updated COVID-19 vaccine at risk to ensure we could support member states with their upcoming vaccination campaigns,” a spokesperson for the company said, adding the updated vaccine is approved for use in Europe and ready to be supplied.
Scientists Take ‘Decisive Step’ in Blood Testing for Long COVID
Patients suffering from long COVID have distinct immune and hormone imbalances compared to those without, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature. Why it matters: More than three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the breakthrough offers concrete scientific evidence of a complex condition that scientists have struggled to understand.
Between the lines: While no blood tests for diagnosing long COVID currently exist, the study’s results suggest it may be possible to develop one in the future, NBC News reported.
The big picture: Researchers compared the blood samples of people with long COVID symptoms at least four months after their infection, those who had fully recovered from a case of COVID, and those who’d never been infected with the virus.
They found that people with long COVID had irregular levels of different types of immune cells and that dormant viruses — like Epstein-Barr virus — had reactivated in long COVID patients.
Long COVID Rare in U.S. Kids, Has Affected 7% of Adults — More Common Among Girls and Women
Long COVID in the U.S. is rare among children and has affected roughly one in 14 adults, according to a pair of data briefs from the CDC‘s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Overall, in 2022, an estimated 1.3% of children in the U.S. ever had long COVID, and 0.5% currently had long COVID, reported Anjel Vahratian, Ph.D., MPH, of the NCHS, and colleagues.
As for adults, an estimated 6.9% ever had long COVID and 3.4% currently had long COVID that year, said Dzifa Adjaye-Gbewonyo, Ph.D., MPH, of the NCHS, and colleagues.
“While more than 90% of children ages 0-17 have been exposed to COVID-19, long COVID remains rare, especially in children younger than 12 years,” Vahratian and colleagues wrote. They noted that data from the Nationwide Commercial Laboratory Seroprevalence Survey show that as of December 2022, nearly 92% of children had antibodies indicating a previous COVID infection.
Europe Drawing Up Years-Long mRNA COVID Vaccines Tender
The European Commission is drawing up plans for a tender for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, according to people close to the discussions — but it’s unclear if doses will be secured in time for this winter.
Several countries have confirmed to POLITICO that a tender for the joint procurement of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is being discussed. This contract would run from 2023 through 2026 and would be the first joint procurement of COVID-19 vaccines outside of the pandemic.
While previous COVID-19 vaccine joint procurement agreements were awarded on a company-by-company basis, POLITICO understands that this tender would allow multiple companies to secure the same contract.
Currently, Pfizer/BioNTech is the only mRNA vaccine maker still to hold a valid contract. But the Commission’s controversial decision to lock in 1.1 billion doses of their jab effectively excluded other players from the market, a situation made worse after the deal was renegotiated to spread deliveries into 2027.
