Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

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An illustration of antibodies attacking a coronavirus particle. Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library /Getty Images hide caption

An illustration of antibodies attacking a coronavirus particle.

Some scientists have called it "superhuman immunity" or "bulletproof." But immunologist Shane Crotty prefers "hybrid immunity."

"Overall, hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 appears to be impressively potent," Crotty wrote in commentary in Science back in June.

No matter what you call it, this type of immunity offers much-needed good news in what seems like an endless array of bad news regarding COVID-19.

Over the past several months, a series of studies has found that some people mount an extraordinarily powerful immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Their bodies produce very high levels of antibodies, but they also make antibodies with great flexibility likely capable of fighting off the coronavirus variants circulating in the world but also likely effective against variants that may emerge in the future.

"One could reasonably predict that these people will be quite well protected against most and perhaps all of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that we are likely to see in the foreseeable future," says Paul Bieniasz, a virologist at Rockefeller University who helped lead several of the studies.

In a study published online last month, Bieniasz and his colleagues found antibodies in these individuals that can strongly neutralize the six variants of concern tested, including delta and beta, as well as several other viruses related to SARS-CoV-2, including one in bats, two in pangolins and the one that caused the first coronavirus pandemic, SARS-CoV-1.

"This is being a bit more speculative, but I would also suspect that they would have some degree of protection against the SARS-like viruses that have yet to infect humans," Bieniasz says.

So who is capable of mounting this "superhuman" or "hybrid" immune response?

People who have had a "hybrid" exposure to the virus. Specifically, they were infected with the coronavirus in 2020 and then immunized with mRNA vaccines this year. "Those people have amazing responses to the vaccine," says virologist Theodora Hatziioannou at Rockefeller University, who also helped lead several of the studies. "I think they are in the best position to fight the virus. The antibodies in these people's blood can even neutralize SARS-CoV-1, the first coronavirus, which emerged 20 years ago. That virus is very, very different from SARS-CoV-2."

In fact, these antibodies were even able to deactivate a virus engineered, on purpose, to be highly resistant to neutralization. This virus contained 20 mutations that are known to prevent SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from binding to it. Antibodies from people who were only vaccinated or who only had prior coronavirus infections were essentially useless against this mutant virus. But antibodies in people with the "hybrid immunity" could neutralize it.

These findings show how powerful the mRNA vaccines can be in people with prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2, she says. "There's a lot of research now focused on finding a pan-coronavirus vaccine that would protect against all future variants. Our findings tell you that we already have it.

"But there's a catch, right?" she adds: You first need to be sick with COVID-19. "After natural infections, the antibodies seem to evolve and become not only more potent but also broader. They become more resistant to mutations within the [virus]."

Hatziioannou and colleagues don't know if everyone who has had COVID-19 and then an mRNA vaccine will have such a remarkable immune response. "We've only studied the phenomena with a few patients because it's extremely laborious and difficult research to do," she says.

But she suspects it's quite common. "With every single one of the patients we studied, we saw the same thing." The study reports data on 14 patients.

Several other studies support her hypothesis and buttress the idea that exposure to both a coronavirus and an mRNA vaccine triggers an exceptionally powerful immune response. In one study, published last month in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists analyzed antibodies generated by people who had been infected with the original SARS virus SARS-CoV-1 back in 2002 or 2003 and who then received an mRNA vaccine this year.

Remarkably, these people also produced high levels of antibodies and it's worth reiterating this point from a few paragraphs above antibodies that could neutralize a whole range of variants and SARS-like viruses.

Now, of course, there are so many remaining questions. For example, what if you catch COVID-19 after you're vaccinated? Or can a person who hasn't been infected with the coronavirus mount a "superhuman" response if the person receives a third dose of a vaccine as a booster?

Hatziioannou says she can't answer either of those questions yet. "I'm pretty certain that a third shot will help a person's antibodies evolve even further, and perhaps they will acquire some breadth [or flexibility], but whether they will ever manage to get the breadth that you see following natural infection, that's unclear."

Immunologist John Wherry, at the University of Pennsylvania, is a bit more hopeful. "In our research, we already see some of this antibody evolution happening in people who are just vaccinated," he says, "although it probably happens faster in people who have been infected."

In a recent study, published online in late August, Wherry and his colleagues showed that, over time, people who have had only two doses of the vaccine (and no prior infection) start to make more flexible antibodies antibodies that can better recognize many of the variants of concern.

So a third dose of the vaccine would presumably give those antibodies a boost and push the evolution of the antibodies further, Wherry says. So a person will be better equipped to fight off whatever variant the virus puts out there next.

"Based on all these findings, it looks like the immune system is eventually going to have the edge over this virus," says Bieniasz, of Rockefeller University. "And if we're lucky, SARS-CoV-2 will eventually fall into that category of viruses that gives us only a mild cold."

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New Studies Find Evidence Of 'Superhuman' Immunity To COVID-19 In Some Individuals - NPR

COVID-19 booster shots may be coming for at least some Americans but already the Biden administration is being forced to scale back expectations illustrating just how much important science still has to be worked out.

The initial plan was to offer Pfizer or Moderna boosters starting Sept. 20, contingent on authorization from U.S. regulators. But now administration officials acknowledge Moderna boosters probably wont be ready by then the Food and Drug Administration needs more evidence to judge them. Adding to the complexity, Moderna wants its booster to be half the dose of the original shots.

As for Pfizers booster, who really needs another dose right away isnt a simple decision either. Whats ultimately recommended for an 80-year-old vaccinated back in December may be different than for a 35-year-old immunized in the spring who likely would get a stronger immunity boost by waiting longer for another shot.

FDAs scientific advisers will publicly debate Pfizers evidence on Sept. 17, just three days before the administrations target. If the FDA approves another dose, then advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will recommend who should get one.

Thats tricky because while real-world data shows the vaccines used in the U.S. remain strongly protective against severe disease and death, their ability to prevent milder infection is dropping. Its not clear how much of that is due to immunity waning or the extra-contagious delta variant or the fact that delta struck just as much of the country dropped masks and other precautions.

When to jump to boosters becomes a judgment, said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former FDA vaccine chief. And is that urgent or do we have time for the data to come in?

Already the CDC is considering recommending the first boosters just for nursing home residents and older adults whod be at highest risk of severe disease if their immunity wanes -- and to front-line health workers who cant come to work if they get even a mild infection.

Some other countries already have begun offering boosters amid an ethical debate about whether rich countries should get a third dose before most people in poor countries get their first round. Heres what we know about the biology behind booster decisions:

WHAT DO BOOSTER SHOTS DO?

Vaccines train the immune system to fight the coronavirus, including by producing antibodies that block the virus from getting inside cells. People harbor huge levels right after the shots. But just like with vaccines against other diseases, antibodies gradually drop until reaching a low maintenance level.

A booster dose revs those levels back up again.

Pfizer and Moderna have filed FDA applications for booster doses but the government will decide on extra Johnson & Johnson doses later, once that company shares its booster data with the agency.

HOW MUCH PROTECTION DOES THAT TRANSLATE INTO?

No one yet knows the magic line the antibody level known as the correlate of protection below which people are at risk for even mild infection, said immunologist Ali Ellebedy of Washington University at St. Louis.

But vaccines main purpose is to prevent severe disease. Its a very high bar to really go and say we can completely block infection, Ellebedy noted.

Plus, peoples responses to their initial vaccination vary. Younger people, for example, tend to produce more antibodies to begin with than older adults. That means months later when antibody levels have naturally declined, some people may still have enough to fend off infection while others dont.

That initial variation is behind the FDAs recent decision that people with severely weakened immune systems from organ transplants, cancer or other conditions need a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to have a chance at protection. In those people, its not a booster but an extra amount they need up-front.

WONT ANTIBODIES JUST WANE AGAIN AFTER A BOOSTER?

Eventually. We dont know the duration of protection following the boosters, cautioned Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins University.

But antibodies are only one defense. If an infection sneaks past, white blood cells called T cells help prevent serious illness by killing virus-infected cells. Another type called memory B cells jump into action to make lots of new antibodies.

Those back-up systems help explain why protection against severe COVID-19 is holding strong so far for most people. One hint of trouble: CDC has preliminary data that effectiveness against hospitalization in people 75 and older dropped slightly in July -- to 80% -- compared to 94% or higher for other adults.

Its much easier to protect against severe disease because all you need is immunologic memory. And I would imagine for a younger person that would last for a while, maybe years, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

WHATS THE BEST TIME TO GET A BOOSTER?

For many other types of vaccines, waiting six months for a booster is the recommended timing. The Biden administration has been planning on eight months for COVID-19 boosters.

The timing matters because the immune system gradually builds layers of protection over months. Give a booster too soon, before the immune response matures, and people can miss out on the optimal benefit, said Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University.

Sometimes waiting a little bit extra time is in fact appropriate to gain the strongest response, he said.

Not everyones waiting on a final decision. For example, Colorados UCHealth has opened boosters to certain high-risk people first vaccinated back in December and January. San Francisco is giving some people who had a single-dose J&J vaccine a second shot from Pfizer or Moderna.

WILL BOOSTER SHOTS CONTAIN THE ORIGINAL VACCINE, OR ONE TAILORED TO DELTA?

The boosters will be an extra dose of the original vaccine. Manufacturers still are studying experimental doses tweaked to better match delta. Theres no public data yet that its time to make such a dramatic switch, which would take more time to roll out. And independent research, including studies from Ellebedys team, shows the original vaccine produces antibodies that can target delta.

Im very, very confident that this vaccine will work against delta with a single booster of the same vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told The Associated Press.

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AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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COVID-19 boosters are coming but who will get them and when? - Associated Press

While both doses of the vaccine are needed to develop a peak immune response against the virus, there's also a strong focus on the need for booster shots, or as we move in the future, COVID vaccination becoming an annual affair. The reason? A dip in immunity levels, even with the vaccines.

Although vaccines do generate a strong response against the pathogen, immunity, much like with the natural infection can wane over time, and with vaccines, it has been observed that the dip in protective antibodies could happen as early as 6-9 weeks with some vaccines. If we put this to perspective, it could mean that the ones who have been previously vaccinated, i.e. priority groups who were fully immunized by May, could now record a dip in their immunity levels.

It should be remembered that the diminishing immunity, a concern may not be as steep with everyone, but certain factors such as pre-existing illness and age (which were also eligible conditions to get people to get shots early) can further aggravate the decline. Thus, post the 3-4 month mark after full vaccination, there's a likely risk of waning immunity, which is now scientifically evidenced.

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Coronavirus: If you were fully vaccinated before the second wave, will the third wave be risky for you? - Times of India

Sssssseriously?

Getting very ill with COVID-19 is like getting bitten by a poisonous rattlesnake, according to a new medical study.

Researchers including from Stony Brook University on Long Island have identified an enzyme in the coronavirus that ravages the body like the neurotoxins from rattlesnake venom, according to the analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Targeting the enzyme, which causes severe inflammation, could better treat and save the lives of COVID-19 patients amid the virus resurgence with the Delta variant, said the studys scientists from the SUNY school, the University of Arizona and Wake Forest University.

The coronavirus enzyme, sPLA2-II, has similarities to an active enzyme in rattlesnake venom that is typically found in low concentrations in healthy individuals and has long been known to play a critical role in humans defense against bacterial infections, the study says.

But when the same enzyme circulates at high levels, it can shred the membranes of vital organs, said University of Arizonas Floyd Ski Chilton, a senior author of the paper.

The study supports a new therapeutic target to reduce or even prevent COVID-19 mortality, explained co-author Dr. Maurizio Del Poeta of Stony Brooks Renaissance School of Medicine.

Because inhibitors of sPLA2-IIA already exist, our study supports the use of these inhibitors in patients with elevated levels of sPLA2-IIA to reduce, or even prevent, COVID-19 mortality.

Del Poeta said Chilton contacted Stony Brook to analyze blood samples in COVID-19 patients to study the snake venom-type enzyme.

Del Poeta and his team, co-led by him and research assistant Jeehyun Karen You, collected stored blood plasma samples and analyzed medical charts from 127 patients hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital between January and July 2020.

A collection of 154 patient samples from Stony Brook and Banner University Medical Center in Tucson between January and November 2020 also were examined.

Our study is especially timely given how the Delta variant is contributing to rising COVID-19 incidence and hospitalization rates both in the US and worldwide, You said.

As of Friday, 55,453 people have died from COVID-19 in New York state, according to data provided to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the Delta variant makes its way through communities across the country, its crucial we keep doing everything we can to keep each other safe from the COVID virus, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Sunday.

Wear a mask, and, if you havent already, get your vaccine as soon as you can. The vaccine is the best way to protect yourselves and your loved ones.

Hochul and the state Health Department issued a mandate Friday requiring staff and students in public and private schools to wear masks for the new academic year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The DOH last week also approved an emergency rule requiring virtually all 450,000 health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other settings to get the coronavirus vaccine or face disciplinary action including getting fired.

Meanwhile, 634,157 people have been killed by the coronavirus throughout the United States.

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Getting very ill with COVID-19 is like rattlesnake bite: study - New York Post

An Ohio judge on Monday ordered a hospital to treat a COVID-19 patient with ivermectin an unproven virus treatment and livestock dewormer going against CDC and FDA recommendations.

Jeffrey Smith, 51, contracted the coronavirus in early July and has been in the intensive care unit on a ventilator at West Chester Hospital in Cincinnati for weeks, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.His wife, Julie Smith, filed a lawsuit against the hospital on Aug. 20, demanding an emergency order for the use of the animal medication in a Butler County court in a last-ditch effort to keep her husband alive as he suffers on deaths doorstep.

On Aug. 23, Butler County Judge Gregory Howard ordered that Dr. Fred Wagshuls prescription of 30 milligrams of ivermectin daily for three weeks be filled, as requested by his wife and his legal guardian.

Ivermectin is approved for both humans and animals, but animal drugs are concentrated at levels that can be highly toxic for humans. The FDA has no data proving ivermectins use as a COVID treatment, and warned Americans they are not livestock amid a rise in poison control calls from people suffering side effects.

Smith was admitted on July 15 to the hospital, where he was moved to the ICU and treated with the hospitals COVID-19 protocol, which included plasma, steroids and doses of remdesivir, an antiviral medication, according to court documents.

On July 27, after a period of relative stability, Jeffreys condition began to decline, the lawsuit says, and Jeffrey became unstable as his oxygen levels dropped. His condition continued to decline and he was sedated, intubated and placed on a ventilator on Aug. 1.

Several subsequent serious infections left Smith with a roughly 30 percent chance of survival by Aug. 20, when he remained on the ventilator in a medically induced coma.

At his point, the Defendant [hospital] has exhausted its course of treatment and COVID-19 protocol in treating Jeffrey, which is unacceptable to Ms. Smith, the lawsuit states.

Jeffrey has been on a ventilator for 19 days, the complaint continues. He is on deaths doorstep; there is no further COVID-19 treatment protocol for the Defendant to offer to Jeffrey; Ms. Smith does not want to see her husband die, and she is doing everything she can to give him a chance.

The lawsuit did not mention whether Jeffrey Smith had been vaccinated, though of the 21,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations since Jan. 1, only 500 patients have been vaccinated, the Capital Journal reported.

The Smiths have been married for 24 years and have three children, according to documents. Jeffrey is an engineer with Verizon.

Julie Smith took it upon herself to get in touch with Wagshul, a leading proponent of ivermectin from Dayton and founder of Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, who wrote the prescription for the drug. However, the hospital refused to administer it to her husband.

Wagshul told the Ohio Capital Journal that there was irrefutable evidence supporting the efficacy of ivermectin against COVID-19, and alleged a conspiracy to block its use by the CDC and FDA to continue its authorization of the available coronavirus vaccines.

If we were a country looking at another country allowing those (COVID-19) deaths daily we would have been screaming, Genocide! he told the paper.

Dr. Leanne Chrisman-Khawam, a physician and professor at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, called the care alliance snake oil salesmen, according to the Capital Journal. She cited several problems in the groups published research.

Based on evidence-based medicine and my read on this large number of small studies, I would find this very suspect, even the positive outcomes, she told the Ohio Capital Journal.

An update on Smiths new treatment has not been revealed by the hospital or Wagshul due to privacy laws, the paper reported.

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Ohio judge orders that COVID-19 patient be treated with ivermectin which no agency recommends - New York Post

An unvaccinated elementary school teacher who took off their mask to read tostudentsended up infected nearly half of them last May and they went on to infect other students, family members and community members, California public health officials reported Friday.

It's a prime example of how easy it is to undermine efforts to protect children too young to be vaccinated, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

The teacher came to work even though they had Covid-19 symptoms and then took offtheir mask to read to the young students, a team at Marin County Public Health reported in the CDCs weekly report on death and disease.

In the classroom of 22 students, 12 became infected, and eight of the 10 students sitting closest to the teacher became infected.

Eventually, 27 people, including the teacher, were infected. None were seriously ill and all recovered. Those cases that were analyzed involved the Delta variant of coronavirus, and the researchers said they were not necessarily able to test everyone who may have been infected in the outbreak.

The introduction of the virus into the classroom by a teacher who worked in school, while she was both symptomatic and unvaccinated and who was unmasked when reading aloud to a class, resulted in cases within the classroom, across the school and among families of students and staff in the community, Walensky told a White House Covid-19 briefing Friday. We know how to protect our kids in school. We have the tools.

Dr. Lisa Santora, deputy health officer for the county, said officials there had been urging teachers to be vaccinated since January, but many had not done it. We saw firsthand that it wasnt kids who were going to get teachers sick. It was going to be the reverse, Santora told CNN.

The CDC also highlighted what happens when things go right.

Los Angeles County officials studied cases in their schools from September to March. They counted 463 cases among students in that time that could be linked back to a school exposure, and 3,927 among staff who were back in person.This was a far lower case rate than in the community at large during the same period, they reported.

In schools with safety protocols in place for prevention and containment, case rates in children and adolescents were 3.4 times lower during the winter peak compared with rates in the community, they wrote.

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The latest on the Covid-19 pandemic in the US - CNN

Woman released from hospital to find husband dead at home

Ken Suarez reports

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - A Polk County woman battling COVID-19 in the hospital came home to a horrifying scene involving her husband.

"It was like walking into a horror film, and I wish I had never seen him like that because I cant get that picture out of my head," Lisa Steadman tearfully told FOX 13.

She found her husband, Ron, dead from the virus.

Ron had been diagnosed at a walk-in clinic with COVID a week and a half before. Since his case did not seem severe, he was sent home with medication to recuperate.

Meanwhile, Lisa was struggling in Winter Haven Hospital.

"I thought I was going to die. I couldnt breathe. I couldnt stop throwing up," she recalled.

She was becoming exhausted from the struggle to just keep going.

"It is like you dont have no bones in your body. You cant move. Youre just that weak."

RELATED: Battling cancer and unable to get vaccine, Polk teacher dies from COVID-19 complications

Sheriff Judd is urging everyone to get vaccinated after one of his deputies, 32-year-old Christopher Broadhead, died of COVID-19.

After about a week, during one of the couples phone conversations, Ron told Lisa his phone was not holding a charge. The following day she called him but couldnt get through, so she asked Winter Haven police to check on him.

When they did, everything seemed to be OK.

Two days later, Lisa was released from the hospital. When she got home, she found Ron dead.

"They say he died of COVID-related problems because they know he had COVID," Lisa continued. "They dont know if he had a heart attack from COVID or if he had an embolism. They dont know."

RELATED: Parent of 12-year-old in ICU urges Polk County to take up mask mandates

Neither Lisa nor Ron had been vaccinated. After going through this, Lisa plans to have the shot.

LINK: If you want to help Lisa with funeral and other personal expenses, she has set up a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/donate/538272510830722/543014757023164/

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Florida woman hospitalized with COVID-19 comes home to find husband dead of COVID-19 - FOX 13 Tampa Bay

TOKYO The Japanese health authorities on Thursday announced that they would halt the use of over 1.6 million doses of Modernas coronavirus vaccine after some vaccination sites reported finding tainted vials.

The problem comes as Japan, which initially struggled to get its vaccination program into full gear, confronts its worst wave of Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, raising concerns that medical systems in some parts of the country could be overwhelmed.

Unspecified contaminants were discovered in nearly 40 doses of the vaccine at eight locations across Japan, prompting the decision to pull the lot that included them, as well as two other lots produced at the same location, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

In a statement, Takeda Pharmaceutical, the company that distributes the shots in Japan, said that it had asked Moderna to carry out an urgent investigation into the cause of the problem. Takeda did not report any concerns about health issues arising from use of the tainted vials.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, said that an unknown number of people had been vaccinated with the contaminated doses, but that the government had received no reports of ill effects. He urged people with concerns to consult their doctors.

After getting off to a slow start, Japan is now administering over a million vaccine doses each day. Currently, about 43 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. In addition to Moderna, Japan has approved the use of vaccines produced by Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

However, as the inoculation program has accelerated, so has the virus. Tokyo declared its fourth state of emergency in July as it confronted a rapid rise in cases driven by the Delta variant. The situation has since deteriorated rapidly, with daily case numbers reaching over 25,000 for the first time on Friday. Total deaths are at nearly 15,700.

The decision to withdraw the Moderna doses is not expected to have a major impact on the overall vaccination program, Mr. Kato said, adding that the government was working to reduce any disruptions.

Despite the rising numbers, Tokyo has carried on more or less as usual. The city is currently hosting the Paralympics, which opened on Tuesday.

Much like for the Olympics, which were held for two weeks starting at the end of July, the organizers of the Paralympic Games have adopted strict measures such as daily testing of athletes to try to keep infection rates down. Since Aug. 12, 184 people associated with the Paralympics have tested positive for Covid-19. On Thursday, Japanese news media reported that an athlete had been hospitalized with the virus, which would be a first for the event.

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Japan Halts 1.6 Million Doses of the Moderna Vaccine Over Contamination Worries - The New York Times