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We’ll All Be Dead Before FDA Releases Full COVID Vaccine Record, Plaintiffs Say

Reuters reported:

In advance of a court hearing before a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration has offered by the end of January to make public 12,000 pages of data that it relied on to license Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

At first glance, that sounds like a lot of material. Except a group of scientists and doctors who’ve sued the agency under the Freedom of Information Act is seeking an estimated 400,000-plus additional pages of information about the vaccine’s approval.

Under the FDA’s proposed schedule — the agency pledges to release “a minimum” of 500 pages a month after the initial dump — the full trove might not be made public until the year 2097.

NFL Records Highest Number of Single-Day Positive COVID Tests Since Pandemic Began

Yahoo! Sports reported:

The NFL’s COVID-19 outbreak hit an all-time high on Monday.

There were 36 players and one staff member across the league that tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, the most ever in a single day since the pandemic began in 2020, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

The staff member reportedly tested positive for the Omicron variant, which marks the first known case of that variant in the league.

Pfizer Pill Reduces Risk of COVID Hospitalization and Death by 89% and Should Protect Against Omicron

Fortune reported:

A new study confirms that Pfizer’s new antiviral pill Paxlovid significantly decreases severe illness in COVID patients, and is also effective against the Omicron variant.

The study, which included 2,246 unvaccinated participants at high risk of developing severe symptoms, reveals that the pill can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID by 89% if taken within three days of the onset of symptoms, the company said Tuesday.

Pfizer CEO: COVID-19 Treatment Pills Are Not a Substitute for Vaccines

CNN reported:

While CEO Albert Bourla called it a “game changer,” he cautioned that people should not see the treatment as a replacement or alternative to taking the vaccine.

“I’m afraid that there will be some people that will think like that. It’s a very big mistake. Vaccines are needed. Vaccines are the primary frontier that you should be using to stop the disease,” he told CNN.

The goal is prevention from the disease, which is accomplished by the vaccine, he urged.

Who Says Omicron Is Spreading at a Rate Not Seen With Any Other COVID Variant

CNBC reported:

The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the new omicron COVID-19 variant is spreading faster than any previous strain, and it is probably present in every country of the world.

“Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a COVID update in Geneva. “Seventy-seven countries have now reported cases of omicron. And the reality is that omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.”

Two-Dose Vaccines Induce Lower Antibodies Against Omicron, Study Finds

Reuters reported:

Two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimens do not induce enough neutralising antibodies against the Omicron coronavirus variant, British scientists found, indicating that increased infections in those previously infected or vaccinated may be likely.

Researchers from the University of Oxford published results on Monday from a study yet to be peer-reviewed, where they analysed blood samples from participants who were given doses from AstraZeneca-Oxford (AZN.L) or Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) in a large study looking into mixing of vaccines.

The results come a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that two shots will not be enough to contain Omicron, following findings from the UK health agency last week that boosters significantly restore protection against the variant.

UPS Vaccine Logistics Chief Fears More COVID Shots ‘Returned or Destroyed’ Due to Challenges

CNBC reported:

The next phase of the U.S. COVID vaccination distribution effort will be challenging, the president of UPS Healthcare told CNBC, as Tuesday marks one year since the initial shipments.

“The manufacturers are starting to think about how they change the formulation,” said Wes Wheeler, who leads the vaccine logistics effort for the global carrier. “When that happens, inventory becomes an issue, logistics becomes an issue and basically performance becomes an issue.”

“There will be potentially more vaccines that have to be returned or destroyed because they are not used and they are kept in storage beyond their shelf life,” he added.