As new reports show the number of COVID-19 cases doubled within a month in Los Angeles County and across California, an outdated vaccine may be to blame.
People should check whether their last vaccine was the latest one, according to nurse practitioner Alice Benjamin, because the older version of the vaccine may not protect them from the new FLiRT variant.
If you got it in October and later, thats generally the updated vaccine, Benjamin said. If you got it prior to October, double check because if you did get the bivalent which has not been phased out, we recommend you do get an updated vaccine.
Specifically, Benjamin said that people need to look out for whether they have received the monovalent vaccine offered by Pfizer and Moderna.
The nurse practitioner added a few other summertime factors may be driving up the COVID numbers.
People arent necessarily wearing masks; theyre not required to in certain places, Benjamin said. Were traveling, were getting out for the summer. We also do have some reduced immunity. The vaccines will wane overtime.
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, after more than 118,000 cases and 4,291 deaths were registered.
For high risk populations, Benjamin emphasizes that two vaccines are recommended, with a second dose at least four months after the first.
Per CDC recommendations, anyone 6 months or older should have at least one of the updated COVID vaccines, Benjamin said.
The North Bay is experiencing a summer surge in COVID-19 infections, in part driven by highly contagious FLiRT subvariant and low vaccination rates, local health experts on Wednesday said.
Dr. Tanya Phares, Sonoma Countys health officer, said the current summer wave of COVID-19 infections, though a familiar trend during the pandemic, has surpassed that of the previous year.
The current summer wave has surpassed that of 2023 but not 2022, Phares said. Thats a national trend but it looks like we see that in Sonoma County, too.
This years summer wave appears to be happening sooner than last year, according to the latest available local wastewater surveillance data for SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19 illness.
On June 27, the composite level of COVID-19 detected in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Windsor wastewater sites was 56% of the maximum historic level during the pandemic.
On the same date last summer, it was 8 percent. For Santa Rosa alone the level on June 27 was 61 this summer and 8% on that date last summer.
Local wastewater detection of COVID-19 has been climbing since late April. Phares said its unclear if COVID-19 infections are simply peaking earlier this summer or if rates will continue to climb.
Its possible that its peaked earlier or that it's going to keep going up, but it's very hard to predict what it's going to do, Phares said. We've seen different variants with each peak over time so we're dealing with something different each time.
Phares said national trends, as well as those in Europe, suggest continued spread of the so called FLiRT subvariants, which are descendants of the omicron variant. Nationally, the dominant FLiRT subvariant is KP.3, and KP.3.1.1 is expected to grow fairly quickly in the United States and Europe, she said.
Phares said the current surge is troubling given low vaccination rates in the county.
The overall vaccination rate the share of the population that is up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations is 23%. Even the age-group that is most vulnerable, those 65 and older, has a vaccination rate of just under 56%.
The overall up-to-date vaccination rate in Napa County is nearly 21%; and 51% for those 65 and older.
Dr. Gary Green, an infectious disease expert at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, said vaccine and pandemic fatigue is likely partly behind the current summer surge and low vaccination rates.
Green said Sutter is experiencing a summer ambulatory surge in cases, meaning most of the COVID-19 patients are being seen as outpatients.
He noted that there has also been a slight uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations and emergency visits, but I wouldnt call that a surge.
Green said he suspects the bump is partly due to increased summer travel, along with waning immunity and people simply taking fewer precautions.
Summer heat waves across the country might also be driving more people indoors and in close contact, he said.
I think the heat wave kind of brought everyone indoors, into the malls, indoor shopping because it just too hot, he said. I think that crowding is going to propagate viral transmission.
Green said that currently 30% of all nasal swabs done in outpatient clinics are turning up positive. For comparison purposes, he said the start of flu season is usually declared when swab positivity rates hit 10%.
Green said in the emergency department, 16% of all COVID-19 swabs are coming up positive.
Phares said COVID-19 deaths have remained low but stable, and a particular threat for the most vulnerable groups, including frail seniors, people with chronic illnesses and compromised immune systems.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been 39 COVID-19 deaths, she said, which amounts to fewer than 10 a month.
The message is really we have to be cautious and we should make an effort to increase vaccination rates to protect ourselves, as well as to limit the spread of the disease and keep it from mutating, she said.
You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.
Justin Bishop, 13, watches as Registered Nurse Jennifer Reyes inoculates him with the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Mount Sinai South Nassau Vaxmobile parked at the De La Salle School, Friday, May 14, 2021, in Freeport, N.Y. The De La Salle School partnered with the Vaxmobile Friday to help Long Island students 12 and over receive the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as part of Mount Sinai South Nassau's mobile vaccination program. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Dr. Aileen Marty, Infectious Disease Specialist and Professor at Florida International University, joins Bob Sirott to talk about the latest health news. Dr. Marty talks about the new COVID variant, why the CDC wants everyone to get the updated COVID vaccine, and answers listeners questions.
By Lin Hui-chin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Updated vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 would be available from Oct. 1, health officials told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The government urges people to get inoculated with any available COVID-19 vaccine, as shots with a 30 percent mismatch to the latest variants can retain up to 80 percent of their effectiveness, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices convener Lee Ping-ing () said.
A recent WHO advisory states that governments should provide vaccinations as soon as doses become available and not try to obtain the latest vaccines at the expense of delaying inoculations, Lee said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang () said the centers selected vaccines targeting the JN.1 variant for the fall and winter, as newer vaccines targeting the KP.2 variant are not expected to be available outside North America soon.
Citing the governments contract with Moderna, Chuang said that 5.5 million doses of JN.1-adapted vaccines would be delivered in the fall and winter, and another 2.7 million doses would arrive late next year.
The CDC plans to authorize COVID-19 vaccine subsidies on a year-by-year basis following the full delivery of Moderna vaccines next year, he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese are urged to get vaccinated with the remaining 2.7 million XBB-targeted vaccine doses, he said.
Influenza vaccinations would be administered concurrently with COVID-19 jabs, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui () said.
The new COVID-19 vaccines would first be available to doctors, nurses and hospital workers; people aged 65 or older; people of indigenous descent aged 55 or older; and people in long-term care facilities, Tseng said.
Children aged six months to 18 years; parents of infants younger than six months; childcare professionals; people with underlying health conditions aged 19 to 64; people with a body mass index higher than 30; people with rare diseases or serious injuries; and people who work in animal or human disease prevention are also eligible, she said.
Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.
Commuters, one wearing a mask, ride the subway in New York, Friday, June 14, 2024. New York Governor ... [+] Kathy Hochul says she is considering a ban on face masks in the New York City subway system, following what she described as concerns over people shielding their identities while committing antisemitic acts. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The CDC has just changed its assessment of Covid-19 risks from saying it is primarily a seasonal, winter respiratory infection to noting that there are also summer peaks. It is, therefore, even more disturbing that a number of cities and states are choosing to promote mask bans. Heres where those policies have taken hold.
In North Carolina, the General Assembly passed bill HB 237, previously called Unmasking Mobs and Criminals. It said it is illegal to mask in public unless you have a contagious disease. (Note: There is no exemption for preventing disease, asthma, or other medical problems). Republicans said the law was passed as a response to masking at college campuses by protestors against the war in Gaza. The law also increases the penalties if a person commits a crime while wearing a mask. Yet if they obtained a permit, the KKK could hold masked rallies.
Democratic State Rep. Maria Cervania is an epidemiologist as well as a legislator. In an interview, she said that the worst part is that any property owner or occupant of that property can tell you you need to take off your mask. Further, law enforcement can ask you to take off your mask for any reason. The Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed this bill, and the GOP legislature overrode his veto.
The GOP knows that this is not based in medical facts, Cervania added. It's not based on individual rights and freedoms. It's not based on people being able to make their own decisions about their health, the health of their loved ones. This is all politics, Cervania concluded, and passing this doesnt protect our people.
In Chicago, Alderman Raymond Lopez proposed language identical to North Carolinas. It has yet to advance.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia, a non-profit group of attorneys, offered different perspectives. They counter that these dress code solutions are ineffective crime deterrents. They also give additional pretext for law enforcement to surveil young people of color, leading to more incarceration and compromising their socioeconomic futures. Some of the young people wear ski masks as a fashion statement, they note. Sadly, many wear them at times because theyre afraid of being recognized by other people who intend to do them harm.
Eric Adams, New York Citys Democratic mayor, has long been a proponent of facial recognition and surveillance cameras. In June, Adams stated, "I'm a strong supporter of the decision of stopping of masks on our subway system, masks in protest, and masks in other areas where it's not health related." Ignoring health concerns, Adams said "people have hid under the guise of wearing a mask for COVID to commit criminal acts and vile acts. I think now is the time to go back to the way it was pre-COVID.
But even early in 2023, Adams urged store owners to not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask. At that time, NYC still reported a daily average of 611 new cases and 24 new hospitalizations per week. The citys health department stated, We strongly recommend everyone to wear masks in all indoor public settings. Requiring immunocompromised people to unmask would likely violate the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In response to a pro-Palestinian threat on the NYC subway, Governor Kathy Hochul has strongly supported mask bans. She said, We will not tolerate individuals using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior, adding, On a subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes. She indicated the ban was a response to antisemitic attacks and came as a response to demands from some Jewish leaders, particularly in the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Community Relations Council.
Such arguments, however, dont account for the fact that subways and other closed or crowded spaces are precisely where you might want to protect yourself from Covid-19, for example.
But Julie Lam, founder of Mask Together America, understands this and is a seemingly tireless advocate for masking and protecting immunocompromised people. Her site and X (Twitter) stream is full of suggestions for activism. For example, she suggests sending letters to all your elected officials and offers a template. Similarly, her advocacy group has an extensive toolkit, Stop Mask Bans, as does Covid Advocacy NY here.
Prompted by a pro-Palestinian protest at an Los Angeles synagogue that turned violent, the citys mayor, Karen Bass, is the latest to join the anti-mask bandwagon. Ironically, just a few days later, Bass became ill with Covid-19. She has the luxury both of working from home and having sick leave.
Because of the change in seasonality, CDC recommends that vulnerable people, such as those who are age 65 or older, immunocompromised, or pregnant receive an additional Covid-19 vaccination this summer. They will likely recommend boosters every six months for these groups. Despite the fact that Covid-19 has airborne spread, they only recommend masking under additional strategies, yet place handwashing as a core strategy. They came out with this latest advice at a time when Covid-19 cases are again steadily rising.
Lack of masking remains a particular problem in hospitals, where immunocompromised patients risk getting a hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection. Some hospitals, like Massachusetts General and UCSF, have made masking for staff optional.
First, addressing the claim that mask bans are necessary for facial recognition and societal safety, growing data shows that face masks are less effective than sunglasses in masking face identity. Another study claims Convolutional Neural Networks are highly capable of learning features and accurately identifying the image, even when the only fully visible part of the face is the eyes.
There has been widespread opposition to the proposed mask bans on a number of grounds. A Los Angeles Times editorial says a ban would probably violate the 1st Amendment right to expression. It notes that many would want to avoid police surveillance and protect their privacy.
Lucky Tran, Ph.D., a science communicator based in New York and an organizer with COVID Advocacy NY., summed up the mask ban succinctly:
He points out a number of fallacies in the pro-mask arguments. For one, people of color wear masks at a higher rate, and it is a societal norm in some Asian countries. In an interview, Tran noted, There is no evidence bans increase safety, but there is considerable data that it increases anti-Asian attacks.
The lack of coverage of this issue in the media plays into the larger minimization of the pandemic and ongoing impacts of Covid, Tran added. Mask bans stigmatize mask wearing. Health exemptions are very vague and narrow, and they put too much power into authorities who are likely to abuse that, he added. It will lead to criminalization and further marginalization of impacted communities.
Tran reserved his most biting criticism for the proposed bans coming at the same time that Hochul and Adams are professing concern about climate changeNew York City is suffering from a heat wavestating, It seems absolutely hypocritical that they're banning masks at a time that theyre warning people about air quality, since masks are one of the best ways to protect yourself against wildfire smoke.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, echoed Trans concerns. In terms of immunocompromised people, she said (via email), As we continue to grapple with COVID-19, a mask ban might well make subways more dangerous, exile people at high risk from public spaces, and open up people trying to protect themselves to harassment.
She urged New Yorkers to demand their elected officials listen to their constituents. Making calls and sending letters and emails reminding their local legislators and the Governor of the harms of a mask ban can make a real difference. A mask ban is a dangerous overreach that would stifle political speech, criminalize dissent, and, if past is prologue, lead to arbitrary, selective enforcement against people of color and protestors the police disagree with.
Finally, there is a thoughtful, open letter from Jews for Mask Rights, in response to Hochul claiming the bans are being demanded by Jewish leaders in response to rising antisemitism, signed by more than 1,030 Jews, of whom 140+ are leaders. They summarize:
"Jewish tradition prioritizes the sanctity and protection of life, above all else. Jews are not permitted to endanger our own or others lives or behave in ways likely to spread illness or cause death. We have an obligation to protect the life and health of others. The principle of pikuach nefesh saving a life prioritizes preserving human life over virtually all else. ...Wearing a mask is a mitzvah [good deed]. Forbidding it puts Jews at odds with our tradition, violating both our religious freedom and physical safety."
Governor Kathy Hochul, Eric Adams, and the CDC did not respond to requests for comment about the mask bans.
Count Pennsylvania among the states tracking an increase in COVID cases, but because of high vaccination rates, hospitalizations and deaths from the infection remain low.
Thats according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which shows the annual summer surge in infection rates.
As of June, the CDC estimates that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 44 states, including Pennsylvania. Infection rates are declining or likely declining only in Hawaii; and are stable or uncertain in five states.
While COVID-19 cases are no longer required to be reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the CDC provides information regarding positive infection tests among other data points on its COVID Data Tracker.
It is not unusual for there to be fluctuations in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over time in Pennsylvania and across the nation, but due to effective vaccinations and treatments, as well as the evolution of the virus, COVID-19 has become a much less severe illness for most of the population and the number of hospitalizations and deaths have dropped dramatically since the height of the pandemic, department officials said in an email to PennLive.
According to CDC data, Pennsylvania had approximately 1,600 COVID hospitalization cases heading into January, the peak in about eight months. As of July, hospitalizations due to COVID numbered less than 200.
Its important to note that data collected after May 1 was done so on a voluntary basis to the CDC. Mandatory reporting ended on April 30.
CDC guidance notes that people ages 65 years and older should receive one additional dose of any updated COVID-19 vaccine at least four months following the previous dose.
For people 75 or older who have had the primary vaccination course, the recommended booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine should be every 6 months. For people 18 74 who are severely immunocompromised, the recommended booster doses is every 12 months.
The Health Department recommends that Pennsylvania residents stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations and continue fundamental health and hygiene practices, like handwashing, staying home when sick, and avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
The department also recommends taking COVID tests if you think you might have COVID-19 and seeking treatment to reduce the chances of being hospitalized, department officials said.
The state health department provides a variety of data points, including emergency department visits, which are available on its Respiratory Virus Dashboard.
According to the latest CDC data, nationwide hospitalizations and deaths as a result of COVID remain low. Wastewater surveillance, a reliable way to track infection rates, shows COVID levels rising in the Midwest, Northeast and South.
Moreover, a new Johns Hopkins Medicine study finds that regular booster doses of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine can help people who are the most susceptible to the damaging effects of the coronavirus fight the virus.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, finds enhanced immunity to a variety of COVID strains among organ transplant recipients who have repeated boosters of a messenger RNA bivalent vaccine. The Baltimore Sun reported on the study results.
Updated COVID vaccines have led to better protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death, as reported by Yale Medicine. The updated vaccines target XBB.1.5, a subvariant of Omicron, which surged across the country and the world from November 2021 until last year.
According to the CDC, the updated vaccines should also work against currently circulating variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; and JN.1, the current dominant strain in the U.S, Yale Medicine reports.
In general, COVID has more recently led to mild illness, although infectious disease specialists warn that the disease can still lead to hospitalization and death.
The CDC notes that updated vaccines are not expected to prevent all cases of COVID, but rather reduce severe illness, hospitalization, and death from infection.
The CDC recommends people aged 12 and older who got Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID vaccines before September 12, 2023, or Novavax vaccine before October 3, 2023, should get 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax vaccine.
Wondering if you should be wearing a mask?
Public health experts generally agree that masks provide protection against respiratory viruses, lowering exposure to infections like COVID-19 and the flu, among others.
Masks are strongly recommended:
People who are at higher risk for severe respiratory infections include:
High angle view looking down at the hands of an unrecognizable black man holding the test strip of a covid rapid test while waiting for the test results.
HONOLULU (KHON2) More than 1,000 Hawaii residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, and the numbers continue to increase.
Data from the Department of Health revealed the newly updated numbers of both confirmed and probable cases from each island between July 3 and July 10.
Oahu showed the biggest increase in COVID cases with 607 cases confirmed through laboratory evidence and 100 cases with a positive antigen test result.
On Hawaii island, officials reported 88 COVID cases were confirmed while 70 cases were reported probable.
Maui showed 117 new COVID cases throughout the week, confirming 59 of them.
Molokai and Lanai each saw two confirmed cases to bring Molokais total case count to 1,504 and Lanais to 856.
Kauai saw a 100-case increase. Two out-of-state visitors reported they tested positive for COVID, leaving only one probable case for the week.
According to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, there are still about 100 positive patients each day.
As numbers continue to rise, experts warn the public to take proper precautions to stay safe and to avoid getting sick.
If youre gonna be at an event and you dont wanna catch anything, wear a mask, wash your hands. If youre sick and dont wanna pass it on, stay home, advised Dr. Tony Trpkovski from Doctors of Waikiki.
For more information or to keep track of new COVID case counts, visit the DOHs website.
While COVID vaccine shots are currently limited in the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to release a new vaccine for the 2024 fall season.
Anthony Fauci cant pinpoint the most meaningful dinner hes ever had every time you mention one, theres another memory of another supper with another legend waiting in the wings. Was it the private, casual get-together with former President George W. Bush? Or the time he got to eat with his boyhood baseball hero, Yogi Berra? Or even the time he was with singer and AIDS activist Bono, wishing he could share the secretive news about the latest project he was working on, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
In a special edition of the First Opinion Podcast, STAT executive editor Rick Berke and senior writer Helen Branswell interviewed the countrys former top infectious disease expert about some of the insights and revelations from his new memoir, On Call: A Doctors Journey in Public Service.
Conversation topics include when Fauci knew that Covid-19 was a real threat; when another AIDS activist, Larry Kramer, called him the consummate manipulative bureaucrat in an interview with STAT; how quickly national health risk can skyrocket when it comes to pathogenic viruses; and which former president Fauci has the most affection for.
Be sure to sign up for the weekly First Opinion Podcast onApple Podcasts,Spotify,Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. And dont forget to sign up for theFirst Opinion newsletter to learn about each weeks First Opinion essays. Next week is our last episode for the season.
Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Jeff Bridges said that he's "feeling great" three years after his illness, and still loves doing fight scenes. Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Jeff Bridges is more than ready to go ahead with the season two premiere of his FX series "The Old Man," three years after he contracted COVID-19 while undergoing chemotherapy.
Bridges appeared on Wednesday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour alongside his "Old Man" costar John Lithgow and executive producers Jonathan Steinberg, Dan Shotz, and Warren Littlefield. Bridges spoke about the show's upcoming second season and gave an update on his health.
"I'm feeling great now. I'm coming back for more punishment," Bridges said.
Bridges announced in October 2020 that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma. Early the following year he said he caught COVID-19 while undergoing chemotherapy. Bridges was in the hospital for five weeks, and told People that he was "pretty close to dying."
In "The Old Man," Bridges plays Dan Chase, a former CIA operative haunted by his past. The show's first season went on a production hiatus after Bridges' diagnosis. It resumed production in 2022 after he announced in September 2021 that he was in remission, Deadline reported.
"In the first season when I was doing these fight scenes, I had a 9-inch by 12-inch tumor in my body, in my stomach, that didn't hurt at all," Bridges said. "So that's surprising to me, but I'm feeling great now."
Bridges praised "The Old Man's" stunt coordinators for helping him pull off some fight scenes. His costar, Lithgow, recommended that people watch Bridges in the 1972 film "Bad Company" to better "appreciate" the work he's doing now.
"Some of the greatest scenes in 'The Old Man' are Jeff's fight scenes, an old man having to summon up the strength and skill he had 50 years ago," costar Lithgow said.
Season two of "The Old Man" will premiere on FX on September 12.
For a brief moment, speculation that COVID-19 originated in a lab had been upgraded in the discourse from a conspiracy theory to a serious possibility worthy of serious inquiry.
No longer.
In an op-ed published in STAT on Tuesday, AIDS activist Peter Staley bemoans the "witch hunt" being carried out by an "anti-science mob" against EcoHealth Alliancethe New Yorkbased nonprofit that had been using federal funds to do gain-of-function work on potential pandemic pathogens at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
EcoHealth has been the subject of immense bipartisan controversy in recent months.
Thanks to the work of congressional investigators and investigative journalists, we know that EcoHealth was creating SARS-like coronaviruses in Wuhan and had even proposed in grant applications to create viruses that bear a striking resemblance to SARS-CoV-2.
In grant proposal drafts, the nonprofit's president, Peter Daszak, proposed to do this work at Wuhan because of its "cost-effective" lower biosafety precautions and tried to obscure from federal funders how much of the organization's work would be conducted at Wuhan.
Republicans and Democrats on the House's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic have criticized Daszak and his organization for their lack of transparency and failure to properly oversee their Wuhan partners' experiments.
The Biden administration has since stripped EcoHealth of its federal funding and launched a debarment investigation that could see it banned from receiving future grants. former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci has said he agrees with that decision. So has former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins.
According to Staley, all the bipartisan sanctions and scrutiny applied to EcoHealth are part of a right-wing "McCarthyite" crusade to stop the crucial basic research the group does into identifying likely sites of the next disease outbreak.
"It scares meand should scare youthat conspiracy theorists are winning. And because of them, we will be less prepared for the next pandemic," he writes.
He needn't be so worried.
The actual history of the pandemic suggests that EcoHealth's work wasn't useful in spotting the next pandemic or preparing people to respond to it. This is true even if one dismisses the credible accusations that the nonprofit's work led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
As Staley recounts in his piece, EcoHealth's mission is to surveil areas of the globe where animal viruses are mostly likely to spill over into human populations and cause the next pandemic.
It received millions in NIAID grants to collect viruses in human and animal populations across China, and sequence and study those viruses at Wuhan to identify likely future pandemic pathogens.
If one believes in a natural origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, one also has to believe that EcoHealth was caught totally by surprise by the outbreak of a coronavirus pandemic in its backyard. All its taxpayer-funded disease surveillance would seem to be naught.
Staley compares sanctions on EcoHealth to stripping funding from a New York City firefighting company because a fire brought down the World Trade Center.
A more accurate analogy would be that we're stripping funding from a firefighting company that failed to respond to a massive conflagration that destroyed the building next door.
Indeed, this was a mainstream criticism of EcoHealth's work prior to the pandemic. There are so many viruses circulating in nature that the chances that disease surveillance will identify the one that will evolve into the next human pandemic are infinitesimally small.
Staley is on firmer ground when he says that Fauci and Collins are throwing EcoHealth under the bus by agreeing with the Biden administration's decision to strip the nonprofit of its funding.
If EcoHealth failed to properly oversee its Wuhan work, NIAID and NIH (which funded EcoHealth's work) also failed to properly oversee the nonprofit's grant work.
Fauci and Collins' position, supported by Democrats in Congress, that they are totally blameless for EcoHealth's scandals is a remarkable exercise in blame-shifting. If EcoHealth deserves the sanctions they've received, NIH and NIAID have a lot to answer for as well.
Congress' investigations into COVID's origins are ongoing. In time, perhaps the organizations that funded gain-of-function research on pandemic pathogens in Wuhan will face some accountability for failing to properly police the risky research they knew was happening there.
The worst thing one can say about EcoHealth's work is that it helped create a pandemic it was supposed to prevent. The best thing that can be said about its work is it proved totally useless at stopping a pandemic it was supposed to nip in the bud.
In either scenario, it's hardly anti-science to question the value taxpayers are getting by funding this work.
