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☆ Opinion: Why I’m not reassured by our victory over Covid-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Opinion Kent Sepkowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: Kent Sepkowitz is a physician and infectious disease expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. CNN —At long last, the Covid-19 pandemic has entered its whimper phase. Last week, the World Health Organization decided to end the Covid-19 global health emergency. The US public health emergency is scheduled to end on Thursday, and beginning the following day, vaccination against Covid-19 will no longer be required for non-US travelers entering the States. Infectious diseases don’t ever really go away; they just change a little, then change some more till one day, they return bigger and fiercer than ever.

☆ The Covid–19 Crisis Is Officially Over. Everything Changed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Stephanie Stamm | Danny Dougherty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The alarms sounded in March 2020, and Americans cloistered at home, sheltering from a pandemic killing at times thousands a day. Many people free to work remotely left their big-city lives for suburbs and rural communities. Americans everywhere have settled into more homebound routines for meals and entertainment. Yet even with the deadly crisis fading, the U.S. has yet to recapture the level of happiness enjoyed before the virus SARS-CoV-2 transformed our world.

☆ The Covid–19 Crisis is Officially Over. Everything changed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Stephanie Stamm | Danny Dougherty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Opinion | Why Does Bad Science on Covid’s Origin Get Hyped?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

This pattern does not apply only to research purporting to show evidence of a natural origin. Perhaps, if you staked a lot on that initial raccoon-dog report, it does make sense to turn your dial a bit in the opposite direction. Across a pandemic in which the public was desperate for new information, we have probably gotten too used to treating hurriedly prepared reports as definitive science. “It is really important to try to understand the origin of Covid-19,” Bloom says. I think part of science, and part of critical thinking in general, is supposed to be a high level of comfort with uncertainty and unknowns.

☆ Opinion | Finding the Origin of a Pandemic Is Difficult. Preventing One Shouldn’t Be.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( W. Ian Lipkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Similarly, in 2008 my team investigated a hemorrhagic fever outbreak with an 80‌‌ percent case fatality rate in Zambia and South Africa. Finding the origin of a viral outbreak can be incredibly difficult, even with full government cooperation and the best available technologies. It’s important to try, because the insights into how a virus emerged may be useful in reducing the risk of future outbreaks. We cannot wait for answers that may never come before doing what must be done to prevent the next pandemic. And yet very little has been done in the wake of this pandemic to better either source of risk.

☆ Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +55 min

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy. But when people say, “Fauci shut down the economy” — it wasn’t Fauci. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. We also had a public-health system that we thought was really, really good. But it was really, really antiquated.

☆ FDA authorizes additional omicron Covid booster for seniors and people with weak immune systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an additional dose of Pfizer and Moderna 's Covid-19 vaccines targeting the omicron variant for seniors and people with weak immune systems. People with weak immune systems can receive another omicron shot at least two months after their last dose and receive additional shots at the discretion of their doctor. Children 6 months through 5 years of age who are unvaccinated can now receive the full two-dose series of Moderna's omicron vaccine. The FDA first authorized the omicron BA.5 shots last August, but that subvariant has long since been displaced by a version of omicron called XBB.1.5. In June, the agency will likely update the variant that the Covid vaccines target, ahead of the fall respiratory virus season.

☆ Fact Check-New COVID sublineages identified since Fauci’s retirement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters reported on Jan. 5, 2023, (here) that the Omicron sublineage XBB.1.5, the most transmissible one to date, was already spreading rapidly in the U.S. in December 2022. PANGO’s website (here) shows multiple new lineages identified from virus samples deposited around the world, and given names, in 2023. These include: XBB.1.24 and XBB.1.22.2 first spotted on Feb. 2, XBB.2.3.1 first seen on Jan. 29 and XBB.2.3.2 first identified on Jan. 18. The claims allude to the theory that the COVID-19 virus or its variants were planned or fabricated by the government or by Fauci. More than one new Omicron sublineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been identified since Anthony Fauci’s retirement.

☆ China holds the key to understanding COVID-19 origins: WHO chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Without full access to the information that China has, you cannot say this or that," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in response to a question about the origin of the virus. That's WHO's position and that's why we have been asking China to be cooperative on this." Data from the early days of the COVID pandemic was briefly uploaded by Chinese scientists to an international database last month. The WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19, said the latest Chinese information offered some "clues" on origins but no answers. She added WHO still did not know whether some of the research required had been undertaken in China.

☆ Fact Check-Document mentioning cryogenic-electron microscopy does not prove Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Graphene oxide is not an ingredient in the vaccine,” she said. When contacted by Reuters, a Pfizer spokesperson sent a link with the full list of ingredients of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (here, see page six). No graphene oxide is listed. “We confirm that graphene oxide is not used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesperson said. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine does not contain graphene oxide.

International researchers published a pre-print report based on their interpretation of the data on Monday, after leaks of their findings in the media last week and a meeting with the World Health Organization involving both the Chinese and international scientists. The data comprised new sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and additional genomic data based on samples taken from the Huanan market in Wuhan in 2020, according to the international researchers who accessed it. "This adds to the body of evidence identifying the Huanan market as the spillover location of Sars-CoV-2 and the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic," said the report. As of March 11, it was no longer accessible on the database, where it was found by the international scientists, their report said. "Other raw sequencing data from environmental samples from the Huanan market exist and could contain further clues," Debarre told Reuters.

☆ WHO, advisors urge China to release all COVID-related data after new research
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Access to the information was subsequently restricted “apparently to allow further data updates” by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). WHO officials discussed the matter with Chinese colleagues, who explained that the new data were intended to be used to update a preprint study from 2022. "We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data, and to conduct the necessary investigations and share the results," he said. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was shut down by Chinese authorities after the novel coronavirus emerged in the city in late 2019. The market has since been a focus of study of whether the virus had infected several other species before jumping to humans.

☆ U.S. FDA expands authorization of Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 shots in kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the company and its partner BioNTech SE's (22UAy.DE) bivalent COVID-19 vaccine as a single booster dose in certain children. The amended authorization is for children six months through four years of age who have completed their initial three-dose vaccination with Pfizer's original shot. In December, the U.S. health regulator had authorized Pfizer/BioNTech's updated shot as a third dose to those aged six months through four years, who have not completed their primary vaccination series or are yet to receive the third dose. Shots for youngest children in the United States were only approved in June last year, making them the last group to become eligible for vaccination. Reporting by Pratik Jain; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ What Do We Actually Know About Covid-19? Not Enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Sarah Toy | Brianna Abbott | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In the three years since Covid-19 surfaced in the U.S., most Americans have been infected and are largely back to their prepandemic routines and workaday lives. Scientists, still in the dark about what the virus will do in the long term, warn it is too early to sound the all clear. Despite the success of a global effort to decode the SARS-CoV-2 virus and create vaccines and treatments to combat it, there remains uncertainty about how the virus will behave, the path of its mutations and Covid-19’s long-term effects.

☆ Long Covid disabled them. Then they met a ‘broken’ Social Security disability process
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Morgan Stephens | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And two Congressional bills addressing the long Covid crisis — The “Covid-19 Long Haulers Act,” which would’ve collected data on long Covid patients with the goal of creating better care and treatment, and “The Care For Long Covid Act” would’ve improved research, centralized data and resources for people with Long Covid — died without making it out of committee. Disabled by long Covid since March 2020, she lives with her spouse and their 7-year-old son in Portland, Ore. “We didn’t design our life to be a single-income household.”Other long Covid patients have rearranged their finances, too. His company’s private long-term disability insurance pays a smaller percentage of the monthly benefit payout when federal disability pays a portion. “They’re not only dealing with long Covid complications, but they’re dealing with financial complications,” she said of her clients.

☆ Infected in the first wave, they navigated long COVID without a roadmap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Three years later, at least 65 million people worldwide are estimated to have long COVID, according to an evidence review published last month in Nature Reviews Microbiology. An analysis of thousands of health records by the RECOVER trial found that non-Hispanic white women in wealthier areas were more likely than others to have a long COVID diagnosis. Researchers said that likely reflected disparities in access to healthcare, and suggests that many cases of long COVID among people of color are not being diagnosed. She has since been diagnosed with long COVID and can no longer work. Other infections such as Lyme disease can result in long-term symptoms, many of which overlap with long COVID.

☆ Fact Check-Moderna CEO did not say company made 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses before the pandemic started
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At Davos 2023, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel spoke about how quickly the company was able to scale up vaccine production at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, not that Moderna had made 100,000 COVID vaccine doses before the pandemic began, as some are claiming online. The clip of Bancel responding to a question in January 2023 circulated in a tweet by the user @healthbyjames with the false caption, “URGENT — Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel Admits Company Produced 100,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses In 2019 Before The Pandemic Started” (here). Bancel responds by first recalling that, “when the pandemic happened, Moderna had made 100,000 dose in 2019 for the whole year. Moderna did not produce 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2019, Ridley said. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel did not say in a 2023 panel discussion that the company produced 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines prior to the pandemic.

☆ Fungal infections are becoming more common. Why isn't there a vaccine?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ritesh Shukla | Getty ImagesFungal infections are becoming more common in the United States, but unlike illnesses caused by bacteria or viruses, there's no vaccine to protect against a fungal threat. Fungi cause a wide range of illnesses in people, from irritating athlete's foot to life-threatening bloodstream infections. In the U.S., fungal infections are responsible for more than 75,000 hospitalizations and nearly 9 million outpatient visits each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the growing threat, there are currently no licensed vaccines — in the U.S. or abroad — to prevent fungal infections. Fatal fungal infectionsNorris said that the ultimate goal would be to develop a single vaccine that protects against all fungal infections.

☆ Fact Check-Chinese study made coronavirus antibodies in eggs by vaccinating hens
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A 2021 study in China investigated antibodies generated by immunizing hens with a specific protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and found that the antibodies extracted from yolks could neutralize some versions of the coronavirus tested in the lab. The results do not mean that all egg yolks contain coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies or that eating eggs would prevent COVID-19, as suggested in some widely shared posts online. Posts refer to a study originally published in November 2020 (here), which analyzed immunoglobulin Y (or lgY) antibodies generated in the yolks of eggs from laying hens that had been immunized with the “spike” protein from SARS-CoV-2. Not all eggs, however, contain the specific antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2, Rodrigo Gallardo, professor in poultry medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told Reuters via email. A study in China immunized hens to generate antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in their eggs, it did not find that all eggs contain such antibodies or that eggs have any effect on COVID.

☆ A scientist is using AI to design a nasal spray that could protect us from the flu, COVID, and colds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A researcher is developing a nasal spray using custom proteins that could protect against COVID-19. Baker's lab plans to start early human testing of the nasal spray later this year to make sure it's safe and test its efficacy. Using AI, his ultimate goal is to create a nasal spray that's full of proteins that can block many different viruses. Then the proteins could be manufactured and placed in a nasal spray. Baker said that designed proteins are more stable than naturally occurring proteins, so they won't degrade before they make it to one's nose.

☆ Fact Check-Vaccine work before SARS-CoV-2 had a name does not prove pandemic was planned
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Users online are circulating that widely-known fact to imply the COVID-19 pandemic was planned. At timestamp 0:17-0:42, Bancel says Moderna was working on a COVID-19 vaccine before the virus had an official name, saying “I think there was no name at that time” (here). On Jan. 23, 2020, the WHO-affiliated Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced funding for three separate research teams to work on potential vaccines against the novel coronavirus (here). One of the research teams included a partnership between drug and vaccine developer Moderna and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Neither the disease nor the virus that causes it had formal names until February 2020.

☆ FDA pulls authorization for AstraZeneca’s Covid antibody drug Evusheld
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

The Food and Drug Administration has withdrawn emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 antibody cocktail Evusheld as the treatment is not expected to neutralize the currently dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant of omicron. Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 has been spreading rapidly in the country since December and it made up nearly half of all U.S. Covid cases last week, according to government data. The drugmaker plans to continue to share relevant data with the FDA and other health authorities regarding Evusheld and SARS-CoV-2 variants. In November, the U.S. health regulator also pulled emergency use authorization for Eli Lilly's Covid drug bebtelovimab, citing similar concerns. Evusheld was first authorized in late 2021 by the FDA to prevent Covid infections in individuals with weak immune systems or a history of severe side effects from coronavirus vaccines.

"Today we have additional evidence to show that these updated vaccines are protecting people against the latest COVID-19 variants," Dr. Brendan Jackson, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 response, told reporters in a briefing. Released last fall, the updated boosters target the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which are no longer dominant. It showed that the updated vaccine helped prevent illness in roughly half of the people who had previously received two to four doses of the original COVID-19 vaccine, CDC said. The CDC said the updated vaccine worked similarly against BA.5-related infections and XBB/XBB.1.5-related infections. Given the findings, the CDC urged people to stay up to date on their recommended COVID-19 vaccines.

☆ British scientists plan to expand genomic sequencing from COVID to flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEXU Science Communication/via REUTERSLONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Genomic sequencing allowed the world to track new coronavirus variants throughout the pandemic. Now British researchers plan to use it to better understand a host of other respiratory pathogens, from influenza to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The work will begin later this year by using leftover material from swabs taken for COVID-19 diagnostic purposes, sequencing SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV and other common respiratory viruses in a combined process. While some of the viruses targeted typically cause mild, cold-like symptoms, others can cause serious illness, particularly in vulnerable populations. The five-year initiative aims to begin work from spring this year and is funded by Wellcome.

☆ Leading WHO advisers call for 'realistic' COVID data from China at key meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The World Health Organization logo is pictured at the entrance of the WHO building, in Geneva, Switzerland, December 20, 2021. REUTERS/Denis BalibouseLONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Leading scientists advising the World Health Organization said they wanted a "more realistic picture" about the COVID-19 situation from China's top experts at a key meeting on Tuesday as worries grow about the rapid spread of the virus. The WHO has invited Chinese scientists to a virtual closed meeting with its technical advisory group on viral evolution on Tuesday, to present data on which variants are circulating in the country. Speaking to Reuters ahead of the meeting, she said some of the data from China, such as hospitalisation numbers, is "not very credible". A WHO spokesperson said that a "detailed discussion" was expected about circulating variants in China, and globally, with Chinese scientists expected to make a presentation.

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