COVID-19 News and Discussions

[wjfox]

4th vaccine approved for use in the UK:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -use-in-uk

"The jab from US-based pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is considered a key tool in the global arsenal against Covid, given it is a one-dose regimen, unlike the the other three vaccines approved for UK use that require two shots to provide a high level of protection."

"Late-stage data published in January revealed a 66% efficacy rate in preventing moderate-to-severe Covid 28 days after vaccination. Specifically, the jab was found to be 85% effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied. It also provided 100% protection against hospitalisation and death, as have other vaccines authorised for use globally."

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Researchers discover drug that blocks multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants in mice
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05- ... iants.html
by Lauren Ingeno, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

As seen here with microscopy, lung epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 (left, yellow) were successfully treated with the STING agonist diABZI (right) by Penn Medicine researchers. Credit: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The drug diABZI—which activates the body's innate immune response—was highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, published this month in Science Immunology, suggest that diABZI could also treat other respiratory coronaviruses.

"Few drugs have been identified as game-changers in blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection. This paper is the first to show that activating an early immune response therapeutically with a single dose is a promising strategy for controlling the virus, including the South African variant B.1.351, which has led to worldwide concern," said senior author Sara Cherry, Ph.D., a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and scientific director of the High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Core at Penn Medicine. "The development of effective antivirals is urgently needed for controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease, especially as dangerous variants of the virus continue to emerge."

[wjfox]

Vietnam detects hybrid of Indian and UK COVID-19 variant

May 29, 2021

Vietnam health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday the country has detected a new variant of the coronavirus, a mix of the Indian and UK COVID-19 variants that spreads quickly by air, online newspaper VnExpress reported.

After successfully containing the coronavirus for most of last year, Vietnam is now battling an outbreak that is spreading more quickly.

Nearly 3,600 people have been infected in 31 of its 63 cities and provinces since late April, accounting for more than half of the country's total infections.

"After running gene sequencing on newly detected patients, we have discovered a new variant that is a mix of India and UK ones," Nguyen Thanh Long was quoted as saying.

"More specifically, it is an Indian variant with mutations that originally belong to the UK variant," he said. VnExpress quoted Long as saying Vietnam would announce the newly discovered variant to the world soon.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 021-05-29/

[weatheriscool]

Idaho governor nixes lieutenant governor's mask-mandate ban
Source: Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Friday issued an executive order repealing a 24-hour-old mask-mandate prohibition put in place while he was out of the state by the lieutenant governor, describing her actions as a tyrannical abuse of power and an “irresponsible, self-serving political stunt.”

The Republican governor up to now had been reserved in his comments about Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, a member of the far-right who has worked to undermine Little’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

McGeachin last week announced her run for governor, challenging the first-term incumbent Little.

Her executive order Thursday banning mask mandates in schools and public buildings is widely seen as part of that campaign. And she is already using her nullified executive order in fundraising efforts.

-snip-

By KEITH RIDLER
2 hours ago


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/idaho-corona ... ce7f0a2aa9

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U.S. Is Said to Have Unexamined Intelligence to Pore Over on Virus Origins
Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s call for a 90-day sprint to understand the origins of the coronavirus pandemic came after intelligence officials told the White House they had a raft of still-unexamined evidence that required additional computer analysis that might shed light on the mystery, according to senior administration officials.

The officials declined to describe the new evidence. But the revelation that they are hoping to apply an extraordinary amount of computer power to the question of whether the virus accidentally leaked from a Chinese laboratory suggests that the government may not have exhausted its databases of Chinese communications, the movement of lab workers and the pattern of the outbreak of the disease around the city of Wuhan.

In addition to marshaling scientific resources, Mr. Biden’s push is intended to prod American allies and intelligence agencies to mine existing information — like intercepts, witnesses or biological evidence — as well as hunt for new intelligence to determine whether the Chinese government covered up an accidental leak.

Mr. Biden committed on Thursday to making the results of the review public, but added a caveat: “unless there’s something I’m unaware of.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/us/p ... gence.html

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[weatheriscool]

COVID-19 increases black fungus infection risk in India
A doctor examines someone with mucormycosis at a hospital in Ahmedabad in India on May 23, 2021. SAM PANTHAKY/Getty Images
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articl ... k-in-india
Mucormycosis, or black fungus, is a rare but serious infection that requires medication or removal surgery.
SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 treatment make the immune system vulnerable to other infections, including black fungus.
With the rise in black fungus cases, India faces a shortage of treatments in the face of two epidemics.

India has been facing high rates of COVID-19, with more than 27 million confirmed cases since January 2020. Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced that the B.1.617 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in India is a “variant of global concern.”

Some scientists believe that severe COVID-19 could potentially weaken the body’s immune response. This could lead to increased vulnerability to other infections, especially for people who are immunocompromised.

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COVID-19 live updates: Total number of cases passes 168 million
Andrew Redington/Getty Images
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articl ... covid-19#1
05/28/2021 11:10 GMT — California announces huge vaccine pay out

Californian officials have announced a $116.5 million pot of vaccine prize money. As the state plans to fully reopen in June, the officials hope that this incentive will entice the 12 million Californians who are eligible for a vaccine but have not yet been vaccinated.

[weatheriscool]

Immunity after COVID-19 illness may last at least 1 year
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05- ... -year.html
by Ernie Mundell

Long-term data from northern Italy—an area hit hard during the early days of the pandemic—suggests that reinfection after recovery from COVID-19 infection is very rare, and immunity in former patients could be long-lasting.

"Natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 appears to confer a protective effect for at least a year, which is similar to the protection reported in recent vaccine studies," concluded a team led by Dr. Nicola Mumoli, of Fornaroli Hospital in Magenta, Italy.

The findings, which are based on the health records of more than 15,000 people, were published May 28 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Despite the encouraging results, there are still important reasons for people who've been through COVID-19 to get vaccinated, said one expert who wrote an editorial that accompanied the study.