Daily Archives: October 17, 2022

On Thursday, the Health and Human Services Department renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days at least, extending the Biden administrations ability to access certain flexibilities and waivers for its pandemic response. The Trump administration first declared the emergency in January 2020.

This comes as federal public health officials are bracing for a possible winter surge in COVID-19 cases and a few weeks after President Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview the pandemic is over, which led to Republicans calling on the administration to act like it. Here are some of the other recent headlines you might have missed.

Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said during the White House briefing on Tuesday that there are challenges ahead with winter coming, but what occurs in the coming weeks and months will have a big impact on how it goes. He encouraged everyone to get their updated booster if they havent already. On Tuesday, Politico reported that just 5% of the then-eligible population had received the updated dose amid confusion over the shot, declining cases and profound pandemic fatigue.

Once again, he reiterated the administrations plea for more funding. We do not have an adequate stockpile of that or of tests because we had to pull resources to make sure that we had enough vaccines, said Jha. We do not have funding for the next generation of vaccines and treatments. Our vaccine campaign has been more limited because of lack of funding. So, Congress bears a lot of responsibility for the complexities of the moment we find ourselves in.

Kids as young as five can now get the updated COVID booster, following the authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and sign off from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.

An estimated 85% of applicants to the Small Business Administration's COVID-19 relief program for arts and entertainment industries found the various changes to the programs guidance at least somewhat challenging, according to the Government Accountability Office. Overall, the dissatisfaction of [Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program] applicants with SBAs communications and customer support suggests there are lessons to be learned for future emergency response efforts, said a Government Accountability Office report published on Tuesday. Because SBAs existing plans for communication during disasters or emergencies focus on regional loan programs serving all small businesses, they are not well suited for a program like [the shuttered venues program], a national grant program serving a specific industry. GAO also found that SBA could improve how it roots out fraud in the program.

Amb. Pamela Hamamoto has been selected to be the lead U.S. pandemic negotiator for the proposed accord on pandemic preparedness, response and prevention currently being debated at the World Health Organization. Hamamoto will assume management and oversight of U.S. engagement in these important discussions, which we believe must yield an accord that effectively strengthens global health collaboration, improves systems for monitoring disease or pandemic outbreaks, bolsters national health security capacities, and enhances equity in pandemic preparedness and responses, said a joint statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra on Tuesday.

This week the Internal Revenue Service is sending letters to over 9 million individuals and families who might qualify for various tax benefits, but didnt claim them; this includes the third round of economic impact payments to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. To help people claim these benefits, without charge, Free File will remain open for an extra month this year, until November 17, 2022, said the IRS in a press release on Thursday. This enables people whose incomes are $73,000 or less to file a return online for free using brand-name software.

Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.

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Coronavirus Roundup: The Biden Administration Renews the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 - GovExec.com

Washington, D.C. (PAHO) A social media video from an unidentified source unlawfully using the logo and name of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is circulating in English-speaking Caribbean countries as a Public Warning Alert on COVID-19 vaccination in children.

PAHO would like to inform the public that the message does not reflect the position of the Organization, and that it contains false and defamatory information regarding PAHOs activities, projects, and funding.

Furthermore, the misinformation contained in the video that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous to children, cause infections and can lead them to become sterile is not based on scientific evidence. If this misinformation is followed by parents and guardians, childrens health will be put at serious risk.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and can lead to severe disease in people at any age, especially those with underlying medical conditions. The virus has caused over 17,500 deaths in English-, Dutch- and French-speaking Caribbean countries and territories since 2020.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and provide strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19.

PAHOs COVID-19 vaccination strategy follows the advice of World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization and PAHOs Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for Vaccines and Immunization in the Americas.

SAGE and TAG comprise independently appointed experts who review the clinical evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness before making a recommendation.

Both currently recommend that people get vaccinated against COVID-19 to prevent severe disease and death, with vaccines approved under WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

SAGE and TAG recommend that countries must achieve at least 70% coverage with a primary vaccination series among the general population and 100% in high-risk priority groups.

PAHO reiterates the importance of implementing comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination strategies to reach these targets.

The Organization is working with Caribbean Governments and other partners to inform the population of the Caribbean and to encourage mothers to protect their children with the COVID-19 vaccine.

PAHO condemns the unauthorized and fraudulent use of its name and logo to spread any misinformation.

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Circulation of Public Warning Alert on COVID-19 vaccines fraudulently using PAHO's name and logo - World - ReliefWeb

COVID-19 vaccinations used to be given separately due to concerns about possible immediate side effects, said Dr. David Hrncir, regional medical director of the Central Vaccine Safety Hub, DHA-Immunization Healthcare Division.

However, with the very large number of immunizations, immediate side effects following receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine have proven to be extremely rare, he said.

The bivalent boosters protect against the original form of the infectious respiratory disease as well as against the dominant omicron variant and its subvariants, which continue to mutate to become more easily transmissible.

Ideally, everyone 6 months and older should be vaccinated for flu by the end of October, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Katie Martinez, deputy director of operations at IHD.Nevertheless, getting the flu vaccine later can still offer protection, even if you get it in the fall or early winter.

All flu vaccines in the United States for the 2022-2023 season protect against four different circulating flu viruses.

There should be no shortage of vaccine. The Department of Defense has received 100% of ordered flu vaccine, and 2 million doses have shipped to military medical treatment facility locations both CONUS and OCONUS for administration, Martinez said.

Shipments continue every week, and we recommend that beneficiaries check with their local military medical treatment facility for availability, she noted.

All active-duty service members are required to get an annual flu shot. Vaccines are available to all MHS beneficiaries at military hospitals and clinics, at installation vaccination events, and through TRICARE participating network pharmacies.

If you use a TRICARE-authorized provider, the flu shot itself comes at no cost, but when you get the vaccine from your provider, you may have a copay or cost-share for the office visit or for other services received during the office visit.

Its particularly important to get vaccinated against the flu and its potentially serious complications if you are at higher risk.

CDC has a full list of age and health factors that mean an increased risk, but some of those populations are:

Influenza can cause significant illness, especially in children under 5. Getting the vaccine helps children protect themselves and more at-risk people they come in regular contact with, such as their grandparents or siblings under 6 months old.

Some children may need two doses of flu vaccine, CDC noted. Those children should get the first dose as soon as vaccine is available, because the second dose needs to be given at least four weeks after the first.

For those 65 and older, the CDC recommends one of three flu vaccines because they have shown in studies of older individuals to create a stronger immune response. These vaccines are:

If you have questions, consult with your provider about which vaccine is right for you, Martinez said.

The CDC recommends treatment with antivirals for people who have flu or suspected symptoms and who are at higher risk of serious flu complications, such as people with asthma, diabetes, including gestational diabetes, or heart disease.

The antivirals work best when treatment is started within two days of becoming sick with flu symptoms and can lessen fever and flu symptoms and shorten the time you are sick by about one day, Martinez said.

Flu season usually runs from October through May, peaking in December through February, but it can continue through June.

Global health organizations, including DHA, monitor influenza activity around the world so health agencies can work with industry to develop the best vaccines suited to the particular strains that are circulating.

One region they base their formulations on is the Southern Hemisphere. Thats because peak flu season is the fall and winter, and those seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere.

Hrncir said there was an early influenza season in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is reasonable to expect an early influenza season this fall and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The number of cases in Australia, for example, surpassed pre-COVID pandemic levels. However, since the start of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, the timing and duration of flu activity has been less predictable.

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Time to Get Your Flu Shot and Your COVID-19 Booster Too - Health.mil

The Morning Meeting with Al Tompkins is a daily Poynter briefing of story ideas worth considering and other timely context for journalists, written by senior faculty Al Tompkins.

Focus on these new names: BQ1 and BQ1.1. They are two of the hundreds of subvariants of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus behind COVID-19 that the World Health Organization is tracking.

These subvariants have shown up in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Denmark and Italy. And serious COVID-19 cases are rising around the world, just not in the U.S. yet. But we have been down this road before and we know, by now, where it is likely to lead.

(Our World in Data)

BQ1.1 is showing up in the United States at a rate that is concerning epidemiologists like Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. He is the researcher who, in January 2020, posted an alarming Tweet that started HOLY MOTHER OF GOD and became, for most Americans, the first warning of the pandemic that was coming. Some called him an alarmist back then. He wasnt.

With that background, here is a post from Dr. Feigl-Ding this weekend:

(Twitter)

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding is not alone in his concern. Cornelius Roemer, a viral evolution expert at the University of Basel in Switzerland, says BQ 1.1 cases has been doubling every week in Europe.

(Twitter)

Canadian health authorities say they are closely watching BQ.1.1. Global News quotes Andy Pekosz, a professor of microbiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States:

On paper, this looks like a virus that has probably, to date, the most ability to escape vaccine-induced immunity, as well as some antibody treatments, Pekosz said.

So thats one of the reasons why were focusing in on this one and trying to keep track of what its doing and where it is.

BQ.1.1 is attracting a lot of scrutiny in the UK, too, where infections have been doubling every week for the last two months.

StatNews reminds us that if a subvariant like BQ1.1 proves to have the ability to end-run around antibody treatments, it would be especially dangerous to cancer and transplant patients who cannot get enough immunity protection from vaccines alone.

Already, some monoclonal antibody treatments were rendered useless andhad to be abandonedas the virus evolved. And in some lab experiments, the remaining antibody therapies bebtelovimab, as well as Evusheld cant stand up to some of the new variants. (Just on Monday, the Food and Drug Administrationwarnedthat Evusheld, whichis given to immunocompromised peopleto bolster their protection as a pre-exposure therapy, cant neutralize certain SARS-2 variants.) That could leave people at high risk for severe Covid even more vulnerable.

Salon puts this in starker terms.

Also worrying are two other strains: one called BA.2.75.2, which seems to be spreading quickly in Singapore, India and regions of Europe; and XBB, whichsome researchsuggests is the most antibody-evasive strain tested, almost on the level of the SARS-CoV-1 virus (known then simply as SARS) that caused an outbreak in 2003. This could make the new vaccines relatively useless (but still better than nothing.) Moreover, an outbreak caused by one of these highly drug- and antibody-resistant variants could be much worse due to many world governments performing farless testingand reduced public health surveillance compared to 2020 and 2021.

I wish I could tell you that these two subvariants are the only ones you should be watching. They are not. BA.2.75.2, is proving to have the ability to dodge antibodies and is spreading in India. Early reports by Swedish researchers says it is the most neutralization-resistant variant evaluated to date.

And to add one more subvariant to your vocabulary, there is XBB. It is being called an escape variant because of its ability to escape antibodies, and early lab results show that the immunotherapies that have worked against previous incarnations of the virus may not work against XBB.

If these subvariants keep spreading at their current rate, and if they elude our current vaccines and boosters, we could find ourselves right back to where we were two years ago when we had no vaccine protection at all and COVID-19 was killing thousands of people a day.

There are concerns that the newest versions of COVID-19 dont have the same symptoms that you may have experienced if you were infected before.

Fever and loss of smell are really rare now so many old people may not think theyve got COVID, Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the Covid ZOE app, toldThe Independent. Theyd say its a cold and not be tested.

Add to that the fact that less than5% of eligible Americanshave received the updated bivalent BA.5 shot that seems to give us the best chance at protecting against the worst illnesses caused by these omicron variants.

The latest New York Times COVID data:Since January 2020, at least1 in 3 people who live in the United States have been infected, and at least1 in 313 people have died. At last count, 26,839 people were in US hospitals with COVID-19.

Experts explain that since we have not had a severe flu season in a couple of years, we are more vulnerable to a winter of severe infections, and, apparently, it has begun.

Flu cases are highest in Georgia, New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, DC.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Two schools in San Diego had more than 1,000 students report a respiratory sickness outbreak. The symptoms include fever, coughing and headaches.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, Weve noted that flu activity is starting to increase across much of the country.

And some of what is showing up in pediatricians offices is not the flu but something else: respiratory syncytial virus.

NBC reported:

Right now, were in a huge spike of RSV, said Dr. Frank Esper, an infectious diseases expert at the Cleveland Clinic. RSV often affects babies but can also be problematic in adults with underlying lung problems, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Esper said that cases of RSV are usually seen in December and January, but for the past two years, the typical RSV season has come earlier, during summer and early autumn. Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses are also circulating earlier than usual. This is because measures to curb Covid spread didnt allow other viruses to spread as they historically have.

Flu is on the rise, but its also all of these other viruses that got knocked off kilter, Esper said. This might be the new normal. We dont know.

For the first time ever, Alaskas Department of Fish and Game announced it has canceled the Alaskan snow crab season. Billions (yes billions) of the crabs have disappeared from the cold waters of the Bering Sea and it is not clear why. Some blame overfishing, but that does not explain everything. Crabs need extremely cold water and the water of the Bering Sea is warming. The state closed the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery for the second year in a row.

From CNN:

The Alaska snow crab harvest has been canceled for the first time ever after billions of the crustaceans have disappeared from the cold, treacherous waters of the Bering Sea in recent years.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries and North Pacific Fishery Management Council announced last week that the population of snow crab in the Bering Sea fell below the regulatory threshold to open up the fishery.

But the actual numbers behind that decision are shocking: The snow crab population shrank from around 8 billion in 2018 to 1 billion in 2021, according to Benjamin Daly, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The Anchorage Daily News reported:

Snow crab populations collapsed in the aftermath of a 2019 Bering Sea warming that scrambled the broader marine ecosystem, and last years snow crab harvest of 5.6 million pounds was the smallest in more than 40 years.

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Evasive COVID-19 subvariants that you dont know about are spreading fast - Poynter

In April 2020, tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo made the news when they came down with Covid-19. In the months following these surprising diagnoses, researchers and veterinarians found SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in nearly a dozen other species, both in captivity and in the wild.

How are so many animals catching the coronavirus? And what does this mean for human and animal health?

We are veterinary researchers who investigate animal diseases, including zoonotic diseases that can infect both humans and animals. It is important, for both human and animal health, to know what species are susceptible to infection by the coronavirus. Our labs and others across the world have tested domestic, captive, and wild animals for the virus, in addition to conducting experiments to determine which species are susceptible.

The list of infected animals so far includes more than a dozen species. But in reality, infections may be much more widespread, as very few species and individual animals have been tested. This has real implications for human health. Animals can not only spread pathogens like the coronavirus but also can be a source of new mutations.

White-tailed deer and mink are the only two species of animals that have been found harboring the virus in the wild. sandra standbridge/Moment/Getty Images

As of February 2022, researchers and veterinary diagnostic labs have confirmed that 31 species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. In addition to pets and zoo animals, researchers have found that a number of nonhuman primates, ferrets, deer mice, hyenas, wood rats, striped skunks and red fox are among the animals that are susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2.

White-tailed deer and mink are the only two species of animals that have been found harboring the virus in the wild. Fortunately, most animals dont appear to experience clinical disease like humans do, with the exception of mink. However, even animals that dont appear sick may be able to transmit the virus to each other and, potentially, back to people. Still unanswered are many questions about which animals can contract the virus and what, if anything, that means for people.

There are three ways to study zoonotic diseases: by looking at pets or captive species like animals in zoos, testing wild animals for the coronavirus, or by exposing animals to the virus in a lab.

During the early stages of the pandemic, when a few pet owners or zoo caretakers observed animals with breathing problems or coughing, they arranged with veterinarians to get them tested for the coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coordinate Covid-19 testing and management in animals. The same process of taking a sample and running it through a PCR machine to test for the coronavirus works just as well for animals as it does for people, though swabbing the nose of a lion or even a pet cat requires a bit more training and finesse. Veterinary diagnostic laboratories like our own run hundreds of thousands of tests for animal diseases each year, so we were able to easily begin testing for SARS-CoV-2.

Relying on previous research, scientists have been able to make some guesses as to which animals are susceptible and have been testing these hypotheses. Cats, hamsters, and ferrets were all infected during the first SARS outbreak in 2002, so researchers suspected they would be susceptible to the new coronavirus. Sure enough, research showed that SARS-CoV-2 readily infected these species in laboratory experiments. Mink are closely related to ferrets, and during the summer and fall of 2020, mink farms across the U.S. became sites of huge outbreaks after people passed the coronavirus to the animals.

Using computer models, scientists were also able to predict that the coronavirus could easily infect some species of deer using key proteins on their cells. Based on these predictions, researchers began testing white-tailed deer for the coronavirus and first reported positives in August 2021.

Most recently, on Feb. 7, 2022, researchers published a preprint paper showing that deer on Staten Island, New York, are infected with the omicron variant. Since this is the virus infecting most New Yorkers, this provides strong evidence that humans somehow transmitted the virus to deer. How deer in at least six states and Canada initially came in contact with SARS-CoV-2 remains a mystery.

Finally, to understand how the coronavirus affects animals, researchers have been conducting carefully controlled exposure experiments. These studies evaluate how infected animals shed the virus, whether they have clinical symptoms, and whether and how much the virus mutates in different species.

The risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 from an animal is, for most people, far lower than being exposed to it by another human. But if the coronavirus is living and spreading among animals and occasionally jumping back to humans, this process known as spillover and spillback poses its own threats to public health.

First, infection of animals simply increases the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in an environment. Second, large populations of animals that can sustain the infection can act as a reservoir for the virus, maintaining it even if the number of infections in humans decreases. This is particularly concerning with deer that live in high numbers in suburban areas and could transmit the virus back to people.

Finally, when SARS-CoV-2 spreads from humans to animals, our laboratorys own work indicates that the virus very rapidly accumulates mutations. Viruses adapt to the unique characteristics body temperature, diet and immune composition of whatever animal they are living in by mutating. The more species infected, the more mutations occur. Its possible that the new variants emerging in people could infect new animal species. Or its possible that new variants could initially arise from animals and infect humans.

The story of SARS-CoV-2 in animals isnt over yet. According to the CDC, six of every 10 human infectious diseases can be spread from animals to people, and around three-quarters of new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals. Research has shown that investing in the study of zoonotic diseases could vastly reduce the costs of future pandemics, and this type of complex research has historically been underfunded. Yet despite this, in 2021, the CDC allocated only $193 million toward the study of emerging zoonotic infectious diseases less than a quarter of 1 percent of the CDCs total budget.

There are still many unknowns about how viruses transfer between humans and animals, how they live and mutate in animal populations, and the risks of species-jumping viruses. The more researchers know, the better health officials, governments, and scientists can prepare and prevent the next pandemic.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Sue VandeWoude, Angela Bosco-Lauth and Christie Mayo at Colorado State University. Read the original article here.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY.

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Deer and mink can harbor Covid-19: Why animal virologists say we need to worry - Inverse

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Another wave of COVID-19 infections may have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the region, the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.

"Although we are not where we were one year ago, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over," WHO's Europe director, Hans Kluge, and ECDC's director, Andrea Ammon, said in a joint statement.

"We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun."

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WHO's region-wise data showed that only Europe recorded a rise in COVID-19 cases in the week ended Oct. 2, clocking an increase of 8% from the prior week.

Public health experts have warned that vaccine fatigue and confusion over available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake in the region. read more

Millions of people across Europe remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, the WHO and ECDC noted.

They urged European countries to administer both flu and COVID-19 vaccines ahead of an expected surge in cases of seasonal influenza.

"There was no time to lose," the WHO and ECDC said, adding that vulnerable groups, including people over 60 years old, pregnant women and those with co-morbidities, should get vaccinated against both influenza and COVID-19.

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Reporting by Manas Mishra and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Europe likely entering another COVID wave, says WHO and ECDC - Reuters

India, Russia and Iran have authorized nasal vaccines. And while none of those have yet been proven to stop Covid transmission, officials say the U.S. could find itself at a global disadvantage, particularly if a deadlier variant emerges.

Intranasal vaccines vaccines that are variant-resistant those are critical tools to have in the toolbox for protecting Americans, not just for Covid but also for future pandemics and also for future biosecurity threats, Ashish Jha, the administrations Covid-19 response coordinator, told POLITICO.

Researchers working on nasal vaccines are hopeful that they could stop virus transmission by generating immunity against it in the nose and other parts of the upper respiratory system where the coronavirus enters the body. If that bears out in clinical trials, nasal vaccines would be superior to existing mRNA vaccines, which prevent severe disease but dont stop transmission.

Officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are attuned to the danger of failing to develop such a nasal vaccine since it would protect people in case of a more contagious and deadlier coronavirus variant, said Karin Bok, the acting deputy director for pandemic preparedness and emergency response at the agencys Vaccine Research Center.

The center has mapped the nasal and oral Covid vaccines in development in the U.S. and abroad. It is also testing nasal versions of the Moderna vaccine and two other types of injectable Covid-19 vaccines in monkeys, Bok said. But that probably wont lead to a nasal Covid vaccine being approved in the U.S. anytime soon because funding for clinical trials and production is lacking.

Bok and Jha say the cost is high. If China were to develop a nasal vaccine capable of stopping Covid transmission, that could turn the tables on the current pandemic trajectory, which has the U.S. emerging and much of China stuck in lockdown.

Even though India, Iran, China and Russia havent proved their non-injectable vaccines stop transmission, the potential is there, experts said.

Countries where transmission is reduced are going to be healthier, are going to have stronger economies. And the U.S. needs to catch up, said Marty Moore, the founder and chief scientific officer of Meissa Vaccines, a small biotech company thats trying to develop a nasal vaccine in the U.S.

Many scientists believe the nose could hold the secret to stopping coronavirus transmission, but theres no consensus yet on whether nasal vaccines could be more effective than injectable ones, as evidence from clinical trials is necessary to prove it.

Disagreement in Congress about how to pay for additional aid or whether its needed, as well as disinterest from major drugmakers in spending their own money on something that may not be very profitable, could mean a foreign rival gets an advantage.

Writing in Science Immunology in July, Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, and Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiology professor at Yale, endorsed the potential of a nasal vaccine to stop coronavirus transmission. Breaking the chain of transmission at the individual and population level will put us in a far better position to achieve containment of the virus, they wrote, adding that the prospect of achieving this with nasal vaccines is high.

They called for U.S. government support in developing Operation Warp Speed 2.0, modeled on the initiative that created the first Covid-19 vaccines in record time. The Biden administration is working on that, but funding woes and pandemic fatigue have hampered its efforts.

Beyond effectiveness, a nasal vaccine could appeal to people who are squeamish about needles and to parents of young children who have mostly declined to get their kids inoculated. As of early October, only 9 percent of children ages 6 months to 5 years have gotten the shots, which were authorized by the FDA in June.

Outside of the government-funded research cited by Bok, two Washington University School of Medicine professors, David T. Curiel, a radiation oncologist, and Michael S. Diamond, a molecular microbiologist, invented the nasal vaccine authorized in India.

Curiel and Diamond told POLITICO they created it with the needs of the developing world in mind, given the lack of ultracold freezers needed to store mRNA vaccines. The two scientists licensed their vaccine to the Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech, which tested it in clinical trials partially financed by the Indian government. They have also tried to solicit interest from large U.S. pharmaceutical companies about it and there was not as much excitement as we would have thought, Diamond said.

Their vaccine, named iNCOVACC in India, is based on an adenovirus that delivers the coronavirus spike protein.

Bharat Biotech tested it both as a primary vaccination series and as a booster for people who were vaccinated with injectable Covid shots available in India. The company said the clinical trials had successful results and that side effects were comparable to those from other Covid-19 vaccines, but it has not yet published the data in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The Indian drug regulator approved the two-dose vaccine, which comes in the form of nasal drops, for adults who have not had a previous Covid-19 shot, Bharat Biotech said. The company has the right to sell it in India and most of the rest of Asia and Africa.

Elsewhere, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a global partnership financing vaccine development for epidemic threats, is developing a plan for nasal vaccine research projects.

For example, we are looking into whether nasal vaccines could be an option for our all-in-one coronavirus vaccine program funding the development of vaccines against both Covid-19 variants and other coronaviruses, said Melanie Saville, CEPIs executive director of vaccine research and development.

CEPI awarded nearly $5 million in seed funding to the Dutch company Intravacc for a nasal vaccine candidate that could work against multiple coronaviruses.

There are now 95 nasal vaccines under development around the world, according to health data company Airfinity. Six have reached the final Phase 3 in clinical trials.

But some scientists doubt that a nasal vaccine will be a game-changer.

William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School with expertise in HIV/AIDS and genomics, believes that enthusiasm should be tempered about the potential of nasal vaccines to prevent infection, given that natural nasal exposure to the virus doesnt prevent people from getting reinfected.

Why in the world do you think that if you [spray] a vaccine up the nose you can do any better? he asked POLITICO.

Attempts to develop a nasal version of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the injectable version of which was widely used globally at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, experienced a setback after only a minority of participants in an early stage clinical trial showed some immune response in respiratory mucous membranes.

Haseltine argued that scientists still dont have a good understanding of nasal immunity and that government funding would be better directed to antiviral drugs that keep Covid-19 in check.

And Bok doesnt think any of the existing non-injectable vaccines stop Covid-19 transmission. I would be very surprised if India or China licensed it with data proving that an intranasal vaccine is better than the ones we have, she said.

Curiel and Diamond have licensed their vaccine for potential use in the U.S. to Pennsylvania-based biotech Ocugen.

The company is looking for both regulatory and financial support from the U.S. government to develop the vaccine as a booster, CEO Shankar Musunuri told POLITICO.

But without another Operation Warp Speed, there will be substantial delays in large-scale manufacturing, regulatory approval and distribution of a nasal vaccine, argued Topol and Iwasaki.

Iwasaki, who is working to develop a booster Covid-19 nasal vaccine, said she will probably need tens of millions of dollars to test it in clinical trials. Just trying to do this as a small academic lab is very different from a Warp Speed, she told POLITICO.

Thats unlikely to happen.

Congress last month passed a short-term measure to continue funding the government until Dec. 16 without any additional money for Covid-19. The White House had asked for $8 billion to fund the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics, including nasal vaccines.

There is no plan B: If Congress does not fund this, it will not happen, Jha said. America will fall further behind China and other countries.

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Without a nasal vaccine, the U.S. edge in fighting Covid is on the line - POLITICO

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of October 17, 2022, there are currently 915 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been six deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 7,476 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 73-year old female from Kanawha County, an 83-year old male from Wood County, an 84-year old male from Pendleton County, a 78-year old male from Wood County, a 65-year old female from Greenbrier County, and a 79-year old female from Boone County.

"The virus that causes COVID-19 has changed over time," said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. "Boosters are an important part of protecting yourself and your family from serious illness."

CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (7), Berkeley (76), Boone (7), Braxton (3), Brooke (15), Cabell (30), Calhoun (4), Clay (1), Doddridge (0), Fayette (19), Gilmer (2), Grant (6), Greenbrier (22), Hampshire (11), Hancock (9), Hardy (4), Harrison (48), Jackson (9), Jefferson (30), Kanawha (86), Lewis (6), Lincoln (11), Logan (27), Marion (35), Marshall (11), Mason (7), McDowell (13), Mercer (42), Mineral (19), Mingo (20), Monongalia (49), Monroe (4), Morgan (11), Nicholas (14), Ohio (17), Pendleton (0), Pleasants (2), Pocahontas (10), Preston (19), Putnam (18), Raleigh (47), Randolph (10), Ritchie (4), Roane (5), Summers (13), Taylor (11), Tucker (1), Tyler (3), Upshur (9), Wayne (11), Webster (4), Wetzel (2), Wirt (0), Wood (47), Wyoming (24). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.

West Virginians ages 6 months and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. All individuals ages 6 months and older should receive a primary series of vaccination, the initial set of shots that teaches the body to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. At this time, one Omicron booster shot (bivalent) is recommended for everyone ages 5 years and older who completed the primary series, and their most recent COVID-19 shot was at least 2 months ago.

Visit the WV COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator, a free, online tool that helps individuals figure out when they may be due for a COVID-19 shot, making it easier to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccination. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, or to find a vaccine, visit vaccines.gov, vaccinate.wv.gov, or call 1-833-734-0965. Please visit the COVID-19 testing locations page to locate COVID-19 testing near you.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 10-17-2022 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Newshub can reveal that the Government is seeking to extend COVID-19 restriction powers for another two years.

Newshub has just been leaked a proposal. It's documentation in which the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet proposes that the legislation which underpins COVID-19 restrictions stay in place until 2025.

It wants the Act extended from its expiry date of May next year to May 2025.

It says this will ensure that the powers required to respond to COVID-19 - including new variants - remain available to the Government.

This comes as most countries are winding back their COVID-19 responses and it's likely going to cause upset among the business community.

Newshub asked the Prime Minister about when restrictions would end.

"I've always been cautious about making too many predictions about COVID," she said.

"What I can tell you is we are in a very different place than where we were a year ago. Highly vaccinated, anti-virals and we know so much more. You won't see things like some of those more necessary but harsh measures, they are off the table, but we do still ask people who are sick to stay home."

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister later said"we intend to announce the next steps shortly".

"Ministers have been reviewing the COVID-19 Act to ensure it is fit for purpose now that we're through the emergency response," they told Newshub.

"The Government's plan is to remove powers from the Act that are no longer required for the response, while still ensuring we can practically manage the ongoing impact of COVID."

Original post:

Coronavirus: Government seeking to extend powers behind COVID restrictions until 2025 - Newshub

(The Center Square) A coalition of leading House Republicans is raising the alarm and demanding answers after the Biden administration approved another round of grant funding for research on coronaviruses and bats in Asia.

The lawmakers sent a letter to Anthony Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and serves as the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.

We have grave concerns that one of your last acts at NIAID is to send even more taxpayer dollars to an organization whose prior involvement in the very same subject may have contributed to a global pandemic, the letter to Fauci, who is ending his decades-long role with the federal government in December, said. We write seeking information about your decision, including whether anyone at NIH has a financial or other non-official interest in EcoHealth continuing to receive taxpayer funds.

EcoHealth Alliance is the group that received funding to study bats and coronaviruses via the infamous lab in Wuhan, China. The contract with that lab has been severed, in large part due to international scrutiny and questions about its role in the origin of the pandemic.

Your decision to fund EcoHealth is especially galling because the company continues to stonewall information gathering about the grant-funded work it previously financed at the WIV, the letter said. NIH has requested all U.S. taxpayer-funded laboratory notebooks and experiment results from EcoHealths research conducted at the WIV. As of today, however, EcoHealth has yet to supply the records sought by NIH.

House Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Ranking Member Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and House Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent the letter to Fauci.

The lawmakers called for more transparency, especially regarding the labs potential role in the COVID-19 pandemic, an issue still in dispute.

It is outrageous that the results of U.S. taxpayer-funded experiments are unavailable to the U.S. government, particularly when those experiments could shed light on the origins of a virus that has killed more than one million Americans, the letter said. It is unconscionable that you would choose to continue to fund a company that has violated its NIH grant terms in a manner that helps to keep this valuable information from the U.S. government and American taxpayers.

Based on the totality of circumstances surrounding EcoHealth and the WIV that have transpired over the past two and a half years, your decision to continue funding this entity is downright shocking, the letter adds.

Fauci announced earlier this year he would resign in December.

It has been the honor of a lifetime to have led the NIAID, an extraordinary institution, for so many years and through so many scientific and public health challenges, Fauci said in the announcement of his resignation. I am very proud of our many accomplishments.

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Shocking: EcoHealth Alliance receives another round of funding for coronavirus bat research in Asia - The Center Square