Category: Covid-19

BOSTON (SHNS) Bay Staters may have become accustomed over the past two years to warm weather overlapping with a period of waning COVID-19 impact, but this time around, cases and hospitalizations are continuing to rise as the days grow longer.

With a variant and subvariant circulating, most measurements of the viruss impact in Massachusetts have climbed to levels last observed in February on the tail end of the winter surge.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which tracks COVID in wastewater at the Deer Island Treatment Plant,has been reporting rising levels of the virus.

Cases continue to pop up in the State House, which is open to visitors regardless of vaccination or test status and House and Senate lawmakers and staff are subject to a vaccine mandate. Legislative leaders are continuing to operate in a mask-optional mode, with lawmakers allowed to participate in sessions remotely.

Aides to Gov. Charlie Baker at 11:40 a.m. Tuesday cleared Gov. Charlie Bakers schedule of his two public events and released a statement saying he was not feeling well.

Governor Baker is not feeling well and will not be attending public events in person today. The Governor is attending meetings virtually today and has tested negative for COVID-19, Baker spokesman Terry MacCormack said in a statement at about noon.

While the public health landscape is vastly different than this time last year or even during the omicron-fueled peak in January, medical experts are once again urging renewed caution.

Despite the warmer weather and our collective hope for a reprieve of some sort, it is important to acknowledge that COVID-19 is still with us, and we need to continue to utilize the proven public health measures and tools at our disposal to prevent infection and disease spread, Mass. Medical Society President Dr. Carole Allen said on Monday. Public health data reveal that positive cases in Massachusetts communities and in our schools have been climbing over recent weeks, fueled by Omicron variant BA.2 and the subvariant BA.2 12.1. It is impossible to predict whether the case numbers will continue to rise, but we know there are measures we can all take to minimize COVID-19s impact.

The Department of Public Health on Monday reported a total of 10,789 positive confirmed tests over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday, the seven-day average of new cases per day hit 3,751, the highest since Feb. 2 but still well below the wintertime peak of more than 23,000.

Massachusetts hospitals counted 739 COVID patients as of Friday, more than three and a half times as many as the 200 recorded on April 6 but much lower than the Jan. 14 high of 3,306.

Widespread vaccinations and the availability of treatments have reduced the threat COVID-19 poses. Nearly 80 percent of the Massachusetts population is fully vaccinated, according to the latest Centers for Disease Controldata, more than half of whom have also received booster doses.

Allen urged eligible Bay Staters who have not yet received the shots or boosters to do so and for anyone who tests positive to report the result to their physician so doctors can weigh deploying treatment such as the antiviral Paxlovid.

We urge those who are at high risk to limit their exposure to others, Allen said. We know doing so can be a tough decision to make when planning for graduations, parties, vacation, and other seasonal events. We recommend masking for those who gather indoors or in large groups, regardless of individual risk level.

The physicians of Massachusetts want everyone to have a healthy summer, which means taking those extra steps to protect individual health and the health of others, she added.

The specter of the virus continues to hang over the public sector.

On Monday, House officials announced another two individuals who were last in the State House on Thursday had tested positive. That marks the ninth exposure notification from House or Senate leaders since April 25, collectively reflecting at least 27 cases.

U.S. District Court for Massachusetts Chief Judge Dennis Saylor IV on Monday also issued another round of extensions to policies allowing for remote judicial operations. His latest orders, effective Tuesday, allow forsome criminal proceedingsandfelony pleas and sentencingto be conducted via videoconference or teleconference for another 60 days in cases where a defendant consents.

In the order concerning felony pleas and sentences, Saylor wrote that those court proceedings cannot be conducted in person in the District of Massachusetts without seriously jeopardizing public health and safety.

The latest trends come as the country surpasses yet another grim toll: on Monday, the nationwide confirmed death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million. As The New York Times noted in asweeping analysis, thats more Americans dead from the virus in less than three years than in two decades of car crashes or on battlefields in all of the countrys wars combined.

Biden administration experts will convene another press conference this week to discuss the U.S. governments response. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky plan to speak to reporters at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The White House announced Monday that Americans can now order a third round of at-home tests on COVIDTests.gov, with eight at-home tests available for each household.

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COVID-19 cases on rise with late-spring temperatures - WWLP.com

A COVID Memorial Project installation in September, 2020 marked 200,000 lives lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. The official death toll in the U.S. is on the cusp of a million. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

A COVID Memorial Project installation in September, 2020 marked 200,000 lives lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. The official death toll in the U.S. is on the cusp of a million.

Any hour now, the U.S. is expected to officially mark one million lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. Health correspondent Allison Aubrey shares how this misinformation first entered the parenting world--and how some are fighting back.

You can follow Emily on Twitter at @EmilyKwong1234 and Allison at @AubreyNPR. Email Short Wave at ShortWave@NPR.org.

Further reading:

This story was edited for radio by Jane Greenhalgh and for Short Wave by Gisele Grayson, our senior supervising editor. Margaret Cirino checked the facts and produced the episode.

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Vaccine Misinformation, Parenting, and the COVID-19 Death Toll : Short Wave - NPR

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A Dynamic Duo: How ACE-2 And CD147 Mediate Covid-19 Infection In The Kidneys - Forbes

Spike in Camden County COVID-19 cases could lead to another indoor mask mandate

FOX 29's Jeff Cole is in Camden County talking to health officials about the rising COVID-19 cases and their potential plan to reinstate a mask mandate.

BLACKWOOD, N.J. - Camden Countys Health Department is considering asking county leadership to reimpose an indoor mask mandate as the B-2 variant of COVID-19 is on the rise.

County Health Official Dr. Paschal Nwako says a mask mandate is "something that the health department is thinking about recommending a few days from now," as the case count has tripled in the last two weeks with weekly averages now at 178 positive tests.

Dr. Nwako also said he believes the rise in COVID-19 cases is an outgrowth of a jump in cases in North Jersey, which have now moved to South Jersey.

RELATED: FDA approves Pfizer COVID-19 booster for children ages 5 to 11

Stan Levonchuck of Stratford, New Jersey, went to Blackwood's vaccine site to get his shots because he fears that he could bring home the virus to his wife who is battling ALS.

"I watch the news, and it seems like the numbers are going up," said Levonchuck. "They recommend getting another shot, so I'm here."

On Tuesday, the FDA approved the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 and Camden County says that it's ready to vaccinate children once the CDC backs the FDA's recommendation.

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Even with the newly-approved booster shot for children, Levonchucksays he is concerned that we are moving backwards in the fight against COVID-19.

"I hope we're not going backwards, but in some ways, what it seems like is that maybe we are. I think people are real loose on the restrictions. They want you to wear a mask and people aren't wearing masks," he says.

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Spike in Camden County COVID-19 cases could lead to another indoor mask mandate - FOX 29 Philadelphia

With the potential for a fall and winter surge in COVID-19 infections and variants following Omicron in circulation, now is not the time to let your guard down, said Dr. Carol Epling, executive director of Duke Employee Occupational Health & Wellness (EOHW).

Staying up to date on vaccines, including boosters, is among the most effective ways to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, or death as a result of an unpredictable virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended asecond COVID-19 boosterfor certain people.

While the CDC rates thecommunity level of COVID-19 as low for Durham County, COVID-19 cases in North Carolina have been slowly rising since March with17,092 new casesin the first week of May. That mirrors the national picture, as case counts haverisen across the countrywith an average of 78,238 new cases per day.

The pandemic is not yet over, Epling said. We are still seeing levels of COVID circulating. We are still seeing hospitalized patients, although fortunately lower in numbers. Things are better, thanks mainly to vaccinations and the immunity thats built up in some communities. But its not over yet.

Working@Duke talked with Dr. Epling about boosters, masks and how we can stay safe moving forward.

The boosters are simply an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine meant to energize the antibodies already in a vaccinated persons immune system.

The idea for the booster is to provide additional stimulation of your immune system, to wake it up again, Epling said. The reason were getting these doses is that theyre showing to be quite effective to prevent severe symptoms, hospitalizations and death.

Epling explained that so far, the COVID-19 vaccine formulas that became available in late 2020 and early 2021 and are still used in the first and second rounds of boosters are still effective in preventing severe illness in people who contract the newest variants of COVID-19.

Thesecond booster is availableto anyone 50-years-or-older, anyone 12-or-older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, and anyone who got a primary dose and a booster of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Epling encourages anyone who falls into those categories even those with a healthy immune system to strongly consider getting the second booster, as long as its been four months since they got their first booster.

She said thesecond boosteris especially important for people who have chronic medical conditions that could increase the risk of facing severe illness from COVID-19, and for people who are planning activities such as traveling or attending events with large numbers of people which could increase the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Epling said that getting the second booster a few weeks ahead of a trip or large event will help ensure your immune system is ready to fight off any potential infection.

When it comes to the second booster, you need to think about your own personal risk, whats right for you and the best timing for you given what may be coming up in your life, Epling said.

Epling said worries about what could happen with variants in the fall shouldnt preventsomeones decision to get a second booster now.

Theres probably no need to wait that long, Epling said. If youre eligible now, its a long time until the fall. We hope that in the fall, there will be a new version of the vaccine that will give us a boost thats more specific to the most recent circulating strains. Thats the hope. So I would expect were all going to be looking at another round of boosters when theres a new vaccine product available to us.

Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should still consider getting a second booster.

Epling said that, even if a bout with COVID was recent within the past few weeks or months getting a second booster can still be beneficial. Community members need to be sure theyre out of theCDC-recommended 10-day isolation periodbefore getting the second booster. Ultimately, Epling said, decisions about if and when someone should get the second booster are best made in consultation with a regular health care provider.

If you become eligible, but youve faced a COVID illness, what I recommend is that a person talk with their health care provider to really think together about their personal health condition, risk factors, and what theyre thinking of doing in terms of activities over the coming months, Epling said.

Epling said that COVID-19 boosters seem to provide their best antibody boost for around three or fourmonths, meaning its likely that people who may be particularly vulnerable to severe infections will need to get boosters again in the future.

As new strains emerge, its possible that the current vaccines will need to be refined in order to provide effective protection, Epling said.

As we move into the fall, we may have new versions of boosters which target newer strains of COVID, she said. There will be additional doses of the COVID vaccine that well be needing to consider, we just dont know what they are just yet.

Duke students, staff and faculty members who are eligible for the second COVID-19 booster can get the Pfizer booster at no cost at several Duke locations. Walk-ins are available Monday through Friday at Duke Clinic 1J and on Fridays at Duke Raleigh Hospital. Boosters are available with an appointmenton Wednesdays and Thursdays at the newly-opened Duke vaccination clinic at 1400 Morreene Rd. in Durham.

Find more information on vaccination clinic locations or to make an appointment, visitDukes COVID-19 vaccination website.

While masking regulations have been relaxed in many situations, Epling said there are certain situations when its still wise to mask up.

She singled out air travel, public transportation and any situation where large gatherings of people congregate in crowded and poorly ventilated spaces as instances where wearing a mask is smart.

When were in small places with crowds of individuals, like on buses, trains, airplanes, or in the airport when youre boarding, theres poor airflow and youre right beside everybody, Epling said. Its a good idea to mask at that point.

She pointed out that its important to respect peoples decision to wear a mask. People who are immunocompromised or otherwise vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19, or people who have close contact with vulnerable loved ones, often choose to wear masks. Likewise, people who are showing symptoms, or who may have been exposed, often choose to wear masks to protect those around them.

You just dont ever know why someone is choosing to wear a mask, Epling said. It could be for their own protection, or it could be for your protection. So we need to give them the respect, and even gratitude, for what theyre doing.

Send story ideas, shout-outs and photographsthroughour story idea formor writeworking@duke.edu.

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Why COVID-19 Boosters and Masking Remain Vital - Duke Today

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The legacy of COVID-19 in vaccine research - Drug Target Review

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK| State Journal-Register

Is COVID endemic? Here's what health experts are saying.

How soon could we see COVID-19 go from pandemic to endemic? Here's what we know now.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

New coronavirus cases leaped in Illinois in the week ending Sunday, rising 30.7% as 40,026 cases were reported. The previous week had 30,633 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked eighth among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 21.4% from the week before, with 605,127 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 6.61% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 47 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Sangamon County reported 616 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 426 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 56,637 cases and 391 deaths.

Also: Baby formula shortage leads to tough questions for Springfield pediatricians, stores

Logan County reported 155 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 109 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 9,922 cases and 87 deaths.

Menard County reported 16 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 13 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 3,560 cases and 20 deaths.

Macoupin County reported 69 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 48 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 12,975 cases and 142 deaths.

Christian County reported 34 cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 22 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 10,330 cases and 113 deaths.

Montgomery County reported 21 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 23 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 9,872 cases and 105 deaths.

Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Logan County with 542 cases per 100,000 per week; DuPage County with 459; and Champaign County with 454. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Cook County, with 18,370 cases; DuPage County, with 4,238 cases; and Lake County, with 2,788. Weekly case counts rose in 81 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Cook, DuPage and Will counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Illinois ranked 21st among states in the share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.7% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Wednesday, Illinois reported administering another 122,081 vaccine doses, including 11,405 first doses. The state administered 118,794 vaccine doses in the previous week, including 14,140 first doses. In all, Illinois reported it has administered 22,673,553 total doses.

Across Illinois, cases fell in 16 counties, with the best declines in Boone County, with 100 cases from 118 a week earlier and in Douglas County, with 36 cases from 53.

In Illinois, 45 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 46 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,209,341 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 36,138 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 82,468,606 people have tested positive and 999,602 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, May 15.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Hospitals in 45 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 29 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 41 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

The rest is here:

Sangamon County reported 616 additional COVID-19 cases this week - The State Journal-Register

The City of Detroit now offers COVID-19 Test to Treat program

The City of Detroit is partnering with the State of Michigan to expand services to treat residents with COVID-19. Detroiters who test positive for COVID-19 at a city testing site can be evaluated and receive antiviral medication. The services are free.

Providing the Test to Treat program is directly in line with our goal of ensuring that Detroiters have easy access to all of the life-saving COVID-19 tools available to keep them safe and protected from severe illness or hospitalization, said Denise Fair Razo, Detroit Health Departments Chief Public Health Officer. Test to Treat is a free, one-stop-shop that will continue to help keep Detroiters safe.

The Test to Treatprogram provides residents with a fast and easy way to get lifesaving treatment for COVID-19. In this program, people can get tested at Test to Treat sites across the nation. If they test positive and medication is appropriate, they can receive antiviral pills at the visit. If other treatments are needed, referrals will be made to local partners. Oral medications are 90% effective at preventing severe illness due to COVID-19 but are only effective if treatment begins within five days of illness onset.

Understanding available treatment options to manage COVID-19 if you test positive is important in preventing symptoms from getting worse, said Dr. Robert Dunne, Detroit Health Department Acting Medical Director. This is one more tool in helping us reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths by quickly getting people the treatment they need.

The Test to Treat program is currently available at:

Appointments only by calling 313-230-0505.

The Test to Treat is a nationwide program. Find other Test to Treat locationshere.

For more information about COVID-19 including testing and vaccination sites in Detroit, call 313-876-4444 or detroitmi.gov/health

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The City of Detroit now offers COVID-19 Test to Treat program - City of Detroit

Individuals who have recovered from the initial disease are in generally poorer health later on compared with the general population, the analysis shows.

Half of individuals who were admitted to the hospital with a COVID-19 infection still have at least 1 symptom after 2 years, according to results of the longest follow-up study to date.

The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, included 1192 individuals in China who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first phase of the pandemic in 2020.

The analysis suggested that individuals who had COVID-19 still tend to have poorer health and quality-of-life outcomes than the general population, especially for those who have long COVID, which was classified as still having at least 1 symptoms 2 years after initial infection.

Our findings indicate that for a certain proportion of hospitalized COVID-19 survivors, while they may have cleared the initial infection, more than 2 years is needed to recover fully from COVID-19, Bin Cao, MD, of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in China, said in a statement.

Ongoing follow-up of COVID-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of long COVID, is essential to understand the longer course of the illness, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programs for recovery.

The investigators of the study sought to analyze the long-term health outcomes of individuals who were hospitalized with COVID-19, as well as the implications of long COVID. They evaluated the health of 1192 individuals with acute COVID-19, who were treated at Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan, China, between January 7 and May 29, 2020. They evaluated the individuals at 6 months, 12 months, and 2 years.

The assessment involved laboratory tests, questionnaires, and a 6-minute walking test, looking at health care use after discharge, health-related quality of life, mental health, and whether they had returned to work.

The negative effects of long COVID, pertaining to exercise capacity, health care use, mental health, and quality of life, were determined by comparing individuals who did not have and had long COVID.

Health outcomes at 2 years were determined using age, comorbidities, and sex that were matched to a control group of individuals with no history of COVID-19 infection.

At 6 months after initial COVID-19 infection, approximately 68% of individuals reported at least 1 long COVID symptom. By 2 years, the reports of symptoms had fallen to approximately 55%. Fatigue or muscle weakness were the most reported symptoms and fell from 52% at 6 months to approximately 30% at 2 years.

Regardless of severity of their initial infection, 89% of individuals had returned to their original work at 2 years.

At 2 years after initial infection, individuals with COVID-19 reported generally poorer health, with 31% reporting fatigue or muscle weakness and 31% reporting sleep difficulties. The percentage of individuals who did not have a COVID-19 infection reported these symptoms at 5% and 14%, respectively.

Additionally, those with COVID-19 were more likely to report other symptoms, including dizziness, headaches, joint pain, and palpitations. In the questionnaires, approximately 12% of individuals with COVID-19 reported anxiety and depression and 23% of reported discomfort or pain compared with 5% and 5%, respectively, for individuals who did not have a COVID-19 infection.

Furthermore, approximately half of study participants had symptoms of long COVID at 2 years and reported lower quality of life than those who did not have long COVID. In the questionnaires, approximately 19% of individuals reported anxiety or depression, and 35% reported discomfort or pain, while those who did not experience long COVID reported these symptoms at 4% and 10%, respectively.

Additionally, 5% of individuals who had long COVID also experienced problems with their activity level at 4% and mobility at 5% compared with 2% and 1%, respectively, for those who did not experience long COVID.

The mental health assessment found that individuals with long COVID displayed symptoms of anxiety at 13% and symptoms of depression at 11% compared with those without long COVID at 3% and 1%, respectively.

Furthermore, those with long COVID used health care services more often at discharge, with 26% reporting an outpatient clinic visit compared with 11% of those without long COVID. Hospitalization was reported at 17% for those with long COVID and 10% for those without long COVID.

Investigators said their study had limitations, including lacking a control group of individuals who were in the hospital unrelated to a COVID-19 infection, which made it hard to determine whether observed abnormalities were specific to COVID-19.

Reference

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine: Two years after infection, half of people hospitalized with COVID-19 have at least one symptom, follow-up study suggests. EurekAlert. News release. May 11, 2022. Accessed May 12, 2022. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/952229

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Study: Half of Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Have at Least 1 Symptom 2 Years Later - Pharmacy Times

Changes to the World Trade Organizations compulsory licensing regulations are coming for COVID-19 vaccines. Those changes are unlikely to help people in developing countries but could reduce innovation among biopharma companies and ultimately do more harm than good.

A draft of the changes proposed to Article 31 of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)agreements states that WTO member nations:

The proposed TRIPS waiver is for COVID-19 vaccines not just mRNA vaccines. As of March 16, 2022, nine vaccines have emergency use listings, according to the World Health Organization.

The developing world needs more COVID-19 vaccination and more doses, but the WTO is applying the wrong Band-Aid. This is not an intellectual property issue, Jrgen Schneider, co-chair of the intellectual property group of BIO Deutschland and VP, head of global IP and licensing at Qiagen, told BioSpace.

Illustrating that point:

Waiving certain compulsory licensing requirements under TRIPS wont affect willingness to be vaccinated and wont address the logistical hurdles of delivering vaccines or the technical challenges of manufacturing them.

Four entities are negotiating the waiver: the U.S., the European Union, South Africa and India. It seems theyre most or less settled on a suggestion, so next they would bring it to the WTO assembly for formal implementation, Schneider said.

The waiver, if approved, would provide march-in rights, but not the knowledge needed to develop and manufacture the molecules. India and South Africa the two most vocal countries have a pharmaceutical industry that specializes in generics, but mRNA vaccines are not simple generic molecules. The licensees would need to know how to express and manipulate RNA, Schneider said.

The production facilities to make mRNA vaccines also are high tech, too, he continued. Without the right infrastructure, you can waive all the patents you like, but still not produce safe and effective vaccines.

The logistics hurdles are significant, too. mRNA vaccines have hefty cooling requirements, Schneider pointed out, that limit distribution in developing regions. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be stored at -70C and is stable at 2-8C for five days, while the Moderna vaccine can be stored at 2-8C for 30 days. In some regions, those requirements pose problems.

Theres also a strong case to be made that the amendment isnt needed. The existing compulsory licensing provisions require that a government first try to obtain a voluntary license from the patent-holder on reasonable commercial terms. If that fails, then compulsory licensing can occur. For national emergencies or other dire situations, however, nations need not try to gain a voluntary license.

A patent is, basically, a contract between an inventor and societythat enables society to build upon the published invention to make even better things. There are certain checks and balances, but the TRIPS waiver simply nullifies the patents, Schneider said. There is no compensation to the patent holder, and thats the harshest thing that could be implemented.

Usually, compulsory licenses are granted so countries can meet their internal needs. The proposed amendment, however, allows exporting the vaccines, which could enable a compulsory license holder to undercut the innovator in much of the world, assuming it could make a safe and effective product.

The mRNA vaccines werent invented by big pharma, but by small companies, Schneider noted. Those companies rely on venture capital. If they were forced to give away their intellectual property and know-how, there is nothing left to attract funding or even shareholders. A patent waiver (as its currently proposed) would rip the heart out of those companies. The lesson for investors would be to avoid small companies.

Schneider is concerned that a waiver to the TRIPS agreement could set a precedent that would allow waivers for other indications. Its a slippery slopeand would certainly change the startup culture in developed countries.

As this is being decided, Pharma is doing what it always does with these types of things, Schneider said. Companies say they dont expect to make money in developed countries, but want to recoup their costs as far as possible. Therefore, theyll provide the vaccines at discounted costs. Whether theyll follow through, I dont know.

A lack of trust in the pharmaceutical industry is at the heart of the movement to amend TRIPS for COVID-19 vaccines, he said. People see that a lot of pharmaceutical companies are still making good money, and theres a feeling that drugs are being priced wrongly, especially in countries like the U.S., where certain people cannot afford certain medications.

I have a photo from Washington, D.C. that says Patents kill. It should say Patents save lives, Schneider said, because the ability to patent things spurs innovation. So, to reiterate, amending the TRIPS compulsory licensing amendment wont solve the issue. It will just harm our domestic industry and harm innovation.

See the rest here:

Will Proposed COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver Help Patients or Harm Innovation? - BioSpace