Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Every Tuesday and Thursday, pop-up clinics will be set up at one of the city's parks and DHEC personnel will be handing out self-administrating test kits and providing vaccinations. The clinics will be open 1-5 p.m. at the following locations:

According to the latest data (June 25, 2022), the number of COVID-19 cases in South Carolina are on the rise with 10,654 cases reported for that week, an increase of 7.3% over the previous week. There were also 277 COVID-19-related hospitalizations reported, an increase of 4.7% over the week before. DHEC will be releasing the numbers for the week ending July 2 on Wednesday, July 6.

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City of Columbia, DHEC to offer COVID-19 vaccines, testing in July - WLTX.com

Dr. Ellerin: 'It's not to late to get the COVID-19 vaccine'

Updated: 5:53 PM EDT Jul 5, 2022

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54. IT WAS THE LEADING IN THAT BRACKET AND THIRD OVERALL. JESSICA: AND CATCHING COVID-19 MORE THAN ONCE APPEARS TO RAISE THE RISK OF DEVELOPING NEW HEALTH PROBLEMS. HERE TO EXPLAIN HIS CONCERNS IS DR. TODD ELLERIN, CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE YOU. ED: RESEARCHERS HAVE REVIEWED MORE THAN 5.6 MILLION RECORDS FOR PATIENTS IN THE V.A. HEALTH SYSTEM. THE FIRST QUESTION, IS THAT A LARGE STUDY? DR. ELLERIN: IT IS. ED: SO WHAT ARE WE LEARNING FROM THE RESULTS? DR. ELLERIN: REMEMBER, THERE IS AN ADAGE THAT IF YOU GET THE WOOD MORE THAN ONCE, THE NEXT -- IF YOU GET COVID MORE THAN ONCE, THE NEXT RECURRENCE IS MILD. BUT THIS STUDY CALLS THAT INTO QUESTION. IT IS A LARGE STUDY THAT LOOKED OVER 5.5 PATIENTS, MOST OF WHOM WERE IN A CONTROL GROUP. ABOUT 250,000 PATIENTS HAD COVID ONCE, AND 38,000 HAD IT TWO OR MORE TIMES. AND WHAT THEY SHOWED IS EACH TIME YOU GOT COVID THERE WAS AN INCREASED RISK OF HOSPITALIZATION AND DEATH. REMEMBER, THE ABSOLUTE RISK WAS STILL LOW SO MOST PATIENTS WITH COVID, EVEN PATIENTS WITH HIGH RISK STILL DO WELL. BUT THIS CALLED INTO QUESTION THE FACT THAT WE HAVE TO PROTECT OURSELVES. WE DO NOT JUST WANT TO SAY WE ARE GOING TO BE FINE EACH TIME. THIS IS A V.A. STUDY, SO THIS WILL BE AN OLDER PATIENT POPULATION. 90% WERE MEN. AND OF THOSE WHO DIED, MOST HAD MULTIPLE COMORBIDITIES. SO I THINK IT DOES SAY THAT EVEN PATIENTS WHO WERE VACCINATED IT DID NOT REALLY MATTER WHAT THEIR VACCINE STATUS WAS. YOU STILL HAD SIMILAR RESULTS. SO HOPEFULLY THE NEXT GENERATION OF VACCINES WE SEE IN THE WALL WILL BE EVEN UTTER. JESSICA: AND WE KNOW THAT YOU TREAT COVID PATIENTS EVERY DAY AT SOUTH SHORE. ARE YOU SEEING MORE RE-INFECTIONS? DR. ELLERIN: WE ARE DEFINITELY SEEING MORE REINFECTIONS WITH THE BA.5 AND BA.6. IN THE ERA OF OMICRON. THAT SAID, WERE NOT KEEPING TRACK SO MUCH OF WHICH PATIENTS HAVE GOTTEN IT IN THE HOSPITAL. IT DOES NOT CHANGE OUR MANAGEMENT. IN THE OUTPATIENT SETTING WE ARE SEEING INCREASED CASES AS WELL ALTHOUGH THE GOOD NEWS IS MOST PATIENTS WERE GETTING THIS DO NOT HAVE TO NECESSARILY CALL THEIR PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER BECAUSE MOST CASES ARE MILD. ED: THE VACCINES WE HAVE NOW, I DONT KNOW IF THIS IS FAIR TO SAY, BUT DO THE VACCINES DO A BETTER JOB PROTECTING US AGAINST HOSPITALIZATION AND DEATH THAN THEY DO AGAINST INFECTION? AND IF SO, IS THAT PART OF THE PROBLEM? DR. ELLERIN: THE VACCINES ARE DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB AT PREDICTING -- PROTECTING US AGAINST SEVERE ILLNESS AND DEATH. I KNOW YOU ARE PROBABLY SAYING, WHAT ABOUT THE V.A. STUDY? REMEMBER, BOTH CAN BE TRUE. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WE DO WANT TO DO A BETTER JOB AT PREVENTING INFECTION. THE VACCINES YOU INJECT INTO MUSCLE, THEY HELP US WITH ANTIBODIES IN THE BODY BUT IN THE MEMBRANES AND MOUTH YOU DO NOT NECESSARILY GET AS HIGH OF A DEGREE OF IMMUNITY. RIGHT NOW SCIENTISTS ARE WORKING ON MUCOSAL VACCINES, COVID SPRAYS THAT HOPEFULLY IN ONE DAY WITH CONJUNCTION WITH THE SPOT -- SHOTS CAN DO BETTER. JESSICA: AS YOU KNOW, ABOUT 5% OF ADULTS IN MASSACHUSETTS ARE UNVACCINATED. WHAT DO WANT THEM TO KNOW ABOUT THE RISK OF GETTING COVID AGAIN AND AGAIN? DR. ELLERIN: REMEMBER, THE VACCINATION IS NOT JUST ABOUT LIFE-AND-DEATH. THERE IS LONG COVID, PATIENTS HAVE LOST THEIR SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL FOR MONTHS, EVEN YEARS NOW. SO THE VACCINE CAN HOPEFULLY DECREASE THE RISK OF LONG COVID. BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF BENEFITS THAT ARE NOT JUST EVEN IN LIFE AND DEATH. FOR THOSE 5% OF PATIENTS I WOULD SAY GO OUT AND GET VACCINATED. WE ALSO KNOW THAT HYBRID IMMUNITY EVEN IF YOU ARE INFECTED AFTER YOU ARE VACCINATED, THE GOOD NEWS IS IT

Dr. Ellerin: 'It's not to late to get the COVID-19 vaccine'

Updated: 5:53 PM EDT Jul 5, 2022

South Shore Health's Dr. Todd Ellerin also reacts to a study that says catching COVID-19 more than once appears to raise the risk of developing new health problems.

South Shore Health's Dr. Todd Ellerin also reacts to a study that says catching COVID-19 more than once appears to raise the risk of developing new health problems.

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Dr. Ellerin: 'It's not to late to get the COVID-19 vaccine' - WCVB Boston

NFTs have assumed control over the world by tempest and Medicine is its most recent objective.

The University of Pennsylvania, in relationship with prestigious researcher Dr. Drew Weissman, has made a NFT of the mRNA immunization that is assisting individuals with combatting COVID-19.

The NFT is a 3D computerized piece called mRNA NFT: Vaccines For A New Era. The NFT gives a view into the sub-atomic design of the immunization and shows how a state of the art mRNA inoculation battles sicknesses, for this situation: COVID-19.

The NFT would be unloaded online through Christies New York. The computerized fine art was made by Dr. Drew Weissman, whose weighty work helped with the making of mRNA immunizations, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Aside from the advanced craftsmanship, the NFT accompanies the University of Pennsylvanias mRNA patent filings, alongside a unique letter from Dr. Weissmant. A storyboard that portrays what the NFT portrays is likewise included.

The assets raised from the unloading of the NFT would be utilized to help progressing explores at Penn Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Klarnet, Vice President and Senior Specialist in the Department of Books and Manuscripts at Christies said in an assertion theyve all caught wind of mRNA immunizations on the news, presently this astounding NFT provides us with an extraordinary perspective on this innovation in real life.

ALSO READ: Jay-Z, Jack Dorsey Unveil Bitcoin Academy

Its been an honor to work with the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, who are accomplishing the work that is saving large number of lives around the world, and satisfying to know the returns from this deal will help Dr. Drew Weissman and his group saddle this new sort of immunization to battle a more noteworthy scope of diseases and lighten significantly really languishing

The British sales management firm in March turned into the main significant one to sell a NFT and from that point forward it has sold in excess of 100 NFTs. In May, it unloaded a bunch of nine CryptoPunk NTFs for nearly $17 million, surpassing its assumptions to sell them for between $7 million and $9 million. In November, Christies sold Beeples half breed NFT mold called Human One for almost $29 million.

The NFT commercial center blast this year as a component of a flood in the more extensive digital money market, whose valuation was around $2.3 trillion on Tuesday, in spite of the fact that lower than the valuation of $3 trillion it went after the initial time this year.

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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Christie's to auction NFT of COVID-19 vaccine - The Coin Republic

No Increased Risk of irAEs Seen After COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients on ICIs  Cancer Therapy Advisor

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No Increased Risk of irAEs Seen After COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients on ICIs - Cancer Therapy Advisor

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, July 5, 2022 12:20PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, July 5, 2022 12:20PM EDT

OTTAWA -- Canada is about to toss more than half of its doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because it couldn't find any takers for it either in or outside of Canada.

A statement from Health Canada says 13.6 million doses of the vaccine expired in the spring and will be thrown out.

A year ago Canada said it would donate almost 18 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to lower-income countries.

As of June 22, almost nine million doses were delivered to 21 different nations.

But Health Canada says there is limited demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine and it hasn't been able to find more takers for the doses available.

Canada has also donated 6.1 million doses of Moderna's vaccine out of 10 million doses promised for donation, but has thrown out another 1.2 million doses of that vaccine.

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Canada to throw out 13.6 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that expired - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

(STACKER) The United States as of Jul. 1 reached over 1 million COVID-19-related deaths and nearly 87.6 million COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Currently, 66.9% of the population is fully vaccinated, and 47.8% of vaccinated people have received booster doses.

Stacker compiled a list of the counties with the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Virginia using data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and Covid Act Now. Counties are ranked by the highest vaccination rate as of Jun. 30, 2022. Due to inconsistencies in reporting, some counties do not have vaccination data available. Keep reading to see whether your county ranks among the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in your state.

Population that is fully vaccinated: 72.9% (27,049 fully vaccinated) 1.5% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 318 (118 total deaths) 32.0% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 21,006 (7,795 total cases) 3.7% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 73.0% (68,788 fully vaccinated) 1.4% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 299 (282 total deaths) 24.1% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 24,420 (23,000 total cases) 11.9% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 73.3% (242,530 fully vaccinated) 0.9% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 286 (946 total deaths) 18.7% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,049 (72,942 total cases) 1.0% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 73.5% (7,789 fully vaccinated) 0.7% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 292 (31 total deaths) 21.2% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,344 (1,945 total cases) 15.9% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 74.0% (79,782 fully vaccinated) 0.0% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 268 (289 total deaths) 11.2% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,127 (23,845 total cases) 1.4% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 74.2% (18,767 fully vaccinated) 0.3% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 383 (97 total deaths) 58.9% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 23,916 (6,051 total cases) 9.6% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 75.9% (54,077 fully vaccinated) 2.6% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 206 (147 total deaths) 14.5% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 19,556 (13,928 total cases) 10.4% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 78.3% (191,601 fully vaccinated) 5.8% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 207 (507 total deaths) 14.1% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,125 (54,169 total cases) 1.4% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 78.9% (11,537 fully vaccinated) 6.6% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 116 (17 total deaths) 51.9% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,068 (2,641 total cases) 17.2% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 78.9% (355,198 fully vaccinated) 6.6% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 185 (833 total deaths) 23.2% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 21,661 (97,467 total cases) 0.7% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 78.9% (371,053 fully vaccinated) 6.6% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 159 (749 total deaths) 34.0% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,374 (105,234 total cases) 2.5% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 79.1% (327,266 fully vaccinated) 6.9% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 94 (387 total deaths) 61.0% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 19,272 (79,696 total cases) 11.7% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 79.3% (126,410 fully vaccinated) 7.2% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 120 (191 total deaths) 50.2% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 23,007 (36,679 total cases) 5.4% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 79.5% (18,877 fully vaccinated) 7.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 223 (53 total deaths) 7.5% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,831 (4,473 total cases) 13.7% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 80.5% (61,571 fully vaccinated) 8.8% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 161 (123 total deaths) 33.2% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,144 (16,945 total cases) 1.5% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 81.7% (9,572 fully vaccinated) 10.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 555 (65 total deaths) 130.3% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 19,701 (2,307 total cases) 9.7% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 82.3% (944,280 fully vaccinated) 11.2% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 128 (1,469 total deaths) 46.9% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,215 (209,019 total cases) 16.5% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 83.1% (90,884 fully vaccinated) 12.3% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 153 (167 total deaths) 36.5% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,727 (20,474 total cases) 14.2% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 84.6% (113,797 fully vaccinated) 14.3% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 247 (332 total deaths) 2.5% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,764 (30,620 total cases) 4.3% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 84.8% (57,927 fully vaccinated) 14.6% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 160 (109 total deaths) 33.6% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 16,132 (11,015 total cases) 26.1% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 88.3% (33,874 fully vaccinated) 19.3% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 209 (80 total deaths) 13.3% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 24,533 (9,409 total cases) 12.4% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 89.4% (211,811 fully vaccinated) 20.8% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 137 (324 total deaths) 43.2% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 22,461 (53,198 total cases) 2.9% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 95.0% (9,735 fully vaccinated) 28.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 416 (29 total deaths) 72.6% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 17,823 (1,241 total cases) 18.3% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 95.0% (23,756 fully vaccinated) 28.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 179 (43 total deaths) 25.7% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 9,097 (2,185 total cases) 58.3% fewer cases per 100k residents than Virginia

Population that is fully vaccinated: 95.0% (240,451 fully vaccinated) 28.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 197 (478 total deaths) 18.3% fewer deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 18,815 (45,672 total cases) 13.8% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia

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The top 25 counties with the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in Virginia - WRIC ABC 8News

San Diego city employees, who refuse to be vaccinated and tested for COVID-19 because they say both violate their religion, are now at risk of being sacked.

The city confirmed that Advance Notice of Termination letters have been issued for at least three dozen employees, half of them in the San Diego Police Department.

KPBS obtained the letter templates through a Public Records Act. The letters, which are sent by the employees supervisor, state in part: This is to notify you that I am recommending to the Department Director that your employment with the City of San Diego as a (Employees Position) in the (Department Name) Department (add Division Name, if applicable) be terminated.

The letter goes on to say the employees refusal to take COVID-19 tests amounts to insubordination or serious breach of discipline.

But the letters are just the beginning of the citys dismissal process for the workers. The letter recommends to the department head that the employee be terminated, but the employee can appeal that decision, and then go through whats called a Skelly Hearing. After that, if the city still decides to fire the employee, he or she would get a termination notice from the department head.

Before this Termination takes effect, you may respond to the charges and this recommended action, the letter states. You have the right to be represented and may respond either verbally or in writing to (Name, Title), within 10 working days of your receipt of this notice. Failure to respond by that time will be deemed a forfeiture of your opportunity to respond.

The city could still issue more letters over refusal to test in the coming weeks.

Mayor Todd Gloria told KPBS that police officers have to follow the rules.

I think we have been exceedingly patient with these folks, we have worked on this on an individual basis to understand where they're at and what the concerns are, he said. To the extent that individuals can be out of compliance and continue to work, that is not ideal. But we will follow our due process for these individuals and hope, as the vast majority of them have, that they'll come into compliance.

If folks continue to resist being compliant with our adopted vaccine mandate, we will have to terminate their employment with the city, and that would be regrettable, he added. We need qualified professional folks to work at the city. We're recruiting folks. We're hiring currently. We would like to have more people coming to work here, and one of the ways to do that is to keep the people that you have.

The employees who objected to both COVID-19 vaccines and tests insist their Christian beliefs instruct them not to use testing swabs because they contain ethylene oxide. The chemical is a known carcinogen, but is not actually present on the swabs its used as a gas to sterilize them. Medical and religious experts say the employees claims are groundless.

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San Diego to start process of firing employees who refuse COVID vaccines and tests - KPBS

Army reservist James Topp speaks to a crowd during a protest against COVID-19 health measures, in Ottawa, on June 30.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press

The Canadian soldier charged with speaking against federal vaccine mandates while wearing his uniform and who recently led a march to Ottawa is now facing a court martial.

Warrant Officer James Topps lawyer says the army reservist was recently notified that he will be allowed to have his case heard in a military court instead of by his chain of command.

Phillip Millar says the decision represents a second about-face after the military initially offered his client a court martial, only to rescind the offer and send his case to his unit commanders.

Topp was charged in February with two counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline after publicly criticizing federal vaccine requirements while wearing his uniform.

He later led a months-long march from Vancouver that ended in Ottawa last week and was supported by many of the same organizers as this years Freedom Convoy.

Military law experts say the decision to allow a court martial raises the stakes for Topp by increasing the potential penalties should he be found guilty.

Yet they say it also means his trial will receive much more public attention and he will be allowed to have legal representation at trial, which wouldnt have necessarily been the case if he was tried by his commanding officer.

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James Topp, soldier who criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandate while in uniform, faces court martial - The Globe and Mail

Last month, Cary P. Gross and Ezekiel J. Emanuel argued that scientific advances are essential to fighting a pandemic, and they faulted Americas top medical-research agency, the renowned National Institutes of Health, for not moving faster to produce more research on COVID-19. During the coronavirus pandemic, they wrote, the NIH has appeared more a doddering, tired institution than a robust giant bestriding the gap between science and clinical care.

On June 5, The Atlantic published an opinion piece that does serious injustice to National Institutes of Health (NIH) frontline workers, researchers, and administrators who, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoted to achieve groundbreaking advances in vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests with unprecedented speed. In support of these workers, NIH strenuously objects to the articles misguided and woefully incomplete portrayal of our COVID-19 response.

The article asserts that the NIH should have been well positioned to create treatment guidance for doctors caring for patients hospitalized with a brand-new diseasea claim that gives the misimpression that NIH didnt propagate treatment information. In fact, NIH convened a panel of academic and government experts in March 2020 to critically review and synthesize available data from clinical trials and other study reports to provide clinicians with guidance on how to care for patients with COVID-19. The first NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines were published on April 21, 2020, and the panel has issued more than 50 updated editions since. The guidelines have been visited more than 30 million times.

The article disparages NIHs pursuit of therapeutic options as inadequate, but the authors seem unaware of the agencys major efforts to seek effective treatments. In February 2020, before many Americans had realized the magnitude of the pandemic, researchers began enrolling COVID-19 patients into the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), a multisite clinical trial organized and supported by NIH. Less than three months later, preliminary data indicated that the antiviral drug remdesivir is safe and improved clinical outcomes, thus identifying an effective COVID-19 treatment. By May 1, 2020, the FDA authorized the drug for emergency use in hospitalized patients 12 years and older. NIH initiated three additional ACTT trials, testing various agents in combination with remdesivir, and found that the addition of the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib reduced time to recovery for hospitalized patients.

Additionally, NIHs Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private partnership launched in May 2020 to develop a coordinated research strategy and prioritize the most promising therapeutic agents for testing against COVID-19. ACTIV streamlined the process for adding new agents into trials and rapidly deployed existing NIH networks of more than 620 trial sites across the U.S. and internationally. The initiative has so far evaluated more than 800 therapeutic agents and prioritized 33 for inclusion in ACTIV master protocols. Twenty-seven of these agents have completed testing, and six agents have shown compelling evidence of benefit in randomized clinical trials. Fifteen agents have been shown to be ineffective against COVID-19a finding that is equally crucial for informing clinical practice. ACTIV also includes a Tracking Resistance and Coronavirus Evolution initiative, focused on identifying emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 and sharing data about vaccine and therapeutic resistance.

While the article recognizes NIHs profoundly important contributions in developing the stabilized coronavirus spike protein used in the COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States, it shortchanges the accomplishment. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has spent the past 20 years working on vaccines against HIV, Ebola, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, Zika, and other viral infections. These studies resulted in the vaccine-design approach that would allow for the development of the stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Moreover, NIAID already had initiated pandemic-preparedness efforts that were used as the blueprint for the rapid development of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Just 198 days after the novel coronaviruss genomic sequence was released, a Phase 3 clinical trial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine began, supported by NIH and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. NIH mobilized its existing clinical-research networks to enroll a diverse cohort of participants at sites across the country and provided expert clinical-trial and immunologic support for this and other Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials. The vaccine candidate received FDA emergency use authorization in just 11 months, an unprecedented achievement. To put that into perspective, the first measles vaccine took 10 years to develop; the first HPV vaccine took 22 years.

The authors of the Atlantic article make no mention of NIHs role in the swift development of COVID-19 diagnostic tests. NIH launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative in April 2020, just five days after receiving congressional appropriation. Using a Shark Tanklike approach quite different from the traditional NIH grant process, the program has sped the development and commercialization of COVID-19 tests. Notably, in only two years, companies supported by RADx have added approximately 2 billion tests and testing products to the U.S. capacity. The first at-home COVID-19 test to receive an FDA emergency use authorization was developed with RADxs assistance, and companies supported by the initiative have now received more than 40 such authorizations.

The authors also take issue with NIHs response to long COVID. To have a fighting chance at identifying the underlying mechanisms of that condition, NIH built a multidisciplinary research consortium to design rigorous clinical trials and longitudinal studies enrolling thousands of individuals, and to assess electronic health records and real-world data studies of more than 60 million adults and children. With $1.2 billion in backing from Congress, NIH went to work building the comprehensive infrastructure called the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative. The effort involves a network of more than 30 institutions recruiting hundreds of researchers to conduct studies. The goal is to understand the full clinical spectrum of long COVID and who is at risk, and to identify potential biological targets for therapeutic intervention, which the agency plans to test in clinical trials this fall.

The authors also criticize NIHs diversity efforts. While our agency fully agrees that diversity in biomedical research is a significant challenge, we take issue with the supposition that the agency hasnt taken it seriously. In fact, it was NIH that shone a light on a funding gap for applications supporting Black investigators for NIH new research-project grants. Immediately following those findings, NIH launched important diversity efforts that have been associated with narrowing the funding-support gap between white and Black investigators by 75 percent since 2016. NIH leadership was dissatisfied that the gap hadnt fully closed. In response, the agency launched the UNITE initiative to address issues of structural racism in NIH-funded biomedical research in February 2021. NIH programs also have substantially increased the number of early-stage investigators awarded first-time research-project grants from fewer than 600 in fiscal 2013 to a record high of 1,513 in fiscal 2021. We will continue to do our part to foster a diverse biomedical-research workforce that reflects the diversity of the nation.

NIH acknowledges that there is always room for improvement. We are assessing which lessons we might learn from our pandemic response and the many other research programs that we have supported. However, we are proud of the contributions our community has made to the COVID-19 pandemic response, including to the rapid development of effective diagnostic tests, treatments, and vaccines. The authors of the Atlantic article had ready access to all of the above information. Unfortunately, at a time when trust in science seems to be losing ground in the public eye, they published an essay that, through the sum of its omissions, is profoundly misleading.

Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.Acting directorNational Institutes of Health

We have great respect for the individual efforts of NIH scientists, clinical staff, and other frontline workers. And we recognize the agencys important role in convening experts and synthesizing existing evidence during a time of great uncertainty. But the agencys problem lies in the generation of new evidence. As we explained in our article, research supported by other institutionsfunders that lack the NIHs budget and statureis getting under way faster and producing actionable findings sooner than NIH-supported research is. One study that we discussed, the United Kingdoms RECOVERY trial, launched quickly on a modest budget and has yielded more insights into COVID treatment than any other effort. To be sure, the NIH has produced important studies in the COVID-19 era, but why not see what it can learn from investigators in other settings? Science depends on open dialogue. Our view is that the NIH could do more to strengthen Americas clinical-research enterprise, and it needs a different strategy urgently.

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Letter: The NIH Has Responded Forcefully to COVID-19 - The Atlantic

UCSFs Dr. Bob Wachter called the BA.5 omicron subvariant a different beast compared to other coronavirus mutations, with differences that could prompt behavioral changes to avoid infection. The notion that hybrid immunity from both a coronavirus infection and vaccination offers a high degree of protection has been thrown into doubt with the onset of the highly infectious infectious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

A new type of vaccine protects against a variety of betacoronaviruses including the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic and COVIDs variants, in mice and monkeys, a Caltech study found. Betacoronaviruses are a subset of coronaviruses that infect humans and animals. The study, published in the journal Science on Tuesday, from researchers in the laboratory of Caltechs Pamela Bjorkman, professor of biology and bioengineering, found that the new vaccine is broadly protective. It works by presenting the immune system with spike protein pieces from SARS-CoV-2 and seven other SARS-like betacoronaviruses, attached to a protein nanoparticle structure, to induce production of cross-reactive antibodies, Caltech said. Vaccination with this so-called mosaic nanoparticle also led to protection against an additional coronavirus, SARS-CoV, that was not one of the eight on the nanoparticle vaccine.

Overcrowding, sometimes in antiquated buildings, played a key role in the dramatic surge of COVID-19 in California prisons, a new report from UCSF and UC Berkeley found. The spread was compounded by the need for complex coordination, and the report said extraordinary efforts by corrections officials was not enough to prevent tens of thousands of COVID infections among inmates and prison staff. Employee illness led to severe staffing shortages, and prison staff may have inadvertently carried the virus in and out of the prisons and into their homes and communities, the report said. It said risks may have been elevated because many prison staff refused to get vaccinated.

The researchers documented more than 50,000 cases of COVID among inmates in all including 240 deaths from the start of the pandemic to December 2021. Other reports have documented more than 16,000 COVID infections among prison staff, with 26 deaths. Dr. Brie Williams, a UCSF professor of medicine who helped lead the research team, said state policymakers and prison managers should closely evaluate lessons learned to help assure were better prepared in the future. This includes giving attention to massively reducing the prison population in our state in the interest of public health, as overcrowding is likely the single greatest health threat in a respiratory pandemic.

COVID-19 infection can trigger the production of immune molecules that damage cells lining blood vessels in the brain, according to a National Institutes of Health study published Tuesday. That damage causes platelets to stick together and form clots. Blood proteins also leak from the blood vessels, leading to inflammation and the destruction of neurons and may lead to short- and long-term neurological symptoms, according to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke researchers who examined brain changes in nine people who died suddenly after contracting the virus. Patients often develop neurological complications with COVID-19, but the underlying pathophysiological process is not well understood, said Avindra Nath, the senior author of the study. We had previously shown blood vessel damage and inflammation in patients brains at autopsy, but we didnt understand the cause of the damage. I think in this paper weve gained important insight into the cascade of events.

It could take another two years before the virus that causes COVID-19 becomes endemic, according to a Yale study published Tuesday in the journal PNAS Nexus. Modeling data based on reinfection rates among rats, which are as susceptible to coronaviruses as humans, showed that with both vaccination and natural exposure, the population accumulated broad immunity that pushed the virus toward endemic stability. That is the point when the virus infects many people but loses its fangs, leading to outcomes that are not particularly harmful. Coronaviruses are highly unpredictable, so a potential mutation could arise that makes it more pathogenic, said Caroline Zeiss, a professor of comparative medicine at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study. The more likely scenario, though, is that we see an increase in transmissibility and probable decrease in pathogenicity.

Repeated COVID increase risks for new and ongoing health problems, according to a new study of data from more than 5.6 million people Veterans Administration patients. Compared to patients who never got COVID, those infected once or more saw a proportionally increased risk of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, kidney, and neurological disorders, as well as mental health problems, researchers found. Antibodies from previous infections did not appear to reduce the risk. Among the 40,000 patients with two or more confirmed infections, the risk of death was twice as high and hospitalization within six months of their last infection three times higher. Given the likelihood that SARS-CoV-2 will remain a threat for years if not decades, we urgently need to develop public health measures that would be embraced by the public and could be sustainably implemented in the long-term to protect people from re-infection, the researchers wrote.

German biotech company CureVac said Tuesday it is suing BioNTech for work that it says contributed to the development of the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. BioNTech said its work is original and it would vigorously contest the claim outlined in the patent infringement suit, the Associated Press reports.CureVac, which last year reported disappointing results from late-stage testing of its own first-generation COVID-19 shot, earlier this year started a clinical trial of a second-generation vaccine candidate developed with British pharmaceutical company GSK. CureVac said it would not pursue a court injunction and doesnt intend to take legal action that impedes the production, sale or distribution by BioNTech and Pfizer of their successful Comirnaty vaccine. Both CureVac and BioNTech have worked to develop the messenger RNA technology employed in their respective vaccines and potentially for other uses.

COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States between March 2020 -- when the pandemic got underway -- and October 2021, according to death certificate data analyzed by National Institutes of Health researchers. During those 20 months, COVID-19 accounted for 1 in 8 deaths (350,000 deaths) in the United States. Heart disease was the leading cause of death, followed by cancer, and together they accounted for 1.29 million deaths, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Accidents and strokes were the fourth and fifth leading causes of death. In every age group 15 years and older, COVID-19 was one of the top five causes of death.

The omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus accounted for 53.6% of infections nationally last week, continuing its rapid rise to become the dominant strain of the virus in the U.S. The closely related BA.4 subvariant made up an additional 16.5% of cases, as the newer variants crowd out BA.2 and BA.2.12.1. Over the weekend, Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSFs chair of medicine, cautioned that BA.5 is a different beast from previous strains of the virus more infectious and better able to evade immune responses and could cause another surge of cases before we have a chance to recover from the previous wave.

The world half-marathon championships have been canceled because China wasnt able to host the races due to the coronavirus pandemic, World Athletics said on Tuesday. Instead of the event being held in Yangzhou in November as planned, the city will, instead, be given the rebranded world road running championships in 2027, officials said. The championships are on track to be renamed the world road running championships with the addition of 5-kilometer races and mass-participation events alongside the elite competitions. China has put tight restrictions on arrivals from foreign countries during the pandemic and imposes wide-ranging lockdowns for any COVID-19 positives within the country. China hosted the Winter Olympics in February in a bubble which involved cordoning off whole sections of Beijing.

Many Americans dont expect to rely on the digital services like health care and grocery delivery after COVID-19 subsides, a new poll finds, although many say its a good thing if those options remain available in the future. Close to half or more of U.S. adults say they are not likely to attend virtual activities, receive virtual health care, have groceries delivered or use curbside pickup after the coronavirus pandemic is over, according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Less than 3 in 10 say theyre very likely to use any of those options at least some of the time.

The new BA.5 strain of the COVID-causing virus is a different beast from ones weve already seen more infectious and better able to evade immune responses and we need to change our thinking about how to defend against it, according to a data-packed Twitter thread posted today by Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSFs chair of medicine.

Hybrid immunity against COVID due to both infection and vaccination was considered highly protective against new variants earlier in the pandemic. But with super infectious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, that may not hold true any longer. Read more about hybrid immunity and reinfection here.

How likely is it for people to catch COVID from someone who is asymptomatic? Its not impossible and may be more common than people realize, health experts say.

Two new highly infectious and immune-evasive COVID variants are now dominant in the United States, and together they likely will drive the Bay Areas long spring surge well into summer, health experts say.

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COVID in California: Reinfection heightens risk of other health problems, study finds - San Francisco Chronicle