Serum’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are examples of atmanirbhar (self-reliance) but have an element of non-Indian science — and at least to me that is fine, says Dr. Gagandeep Kang. Though Covaxin uses inactivated virus, neutralising antibodies against the spike protein are critical for reinfection. So if Covaxin is based on an old viral […]
I would not take Covaxin without efficacy data: Gagandeep Kang — Science Chronicle
U.S. counties with large colleges or universities with remote instruction (n = 22) experienced a 17.9% decrease in incidence and university counties with in-person instruction (n = 79) experienced a 56% increase in incidence, comparing the 21-day periods before and after classes started. Counties without large colleges or universities (n = 3,009) experienced a 6% decrease in incidence during similar time frames.
Leidner AJ, Barry V, Bowen VB, et al. Opening of Large Institutions of Higher Education and County-Level COVID-19 Incidence — United States, July 6–September 17, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:14–19. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7001a4external icon
That’s it. That’s the post.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at present it looks like anaphylaxis cases are occurring at a rate of about 5.5 per 1 million vaccine doses given, though the agency cautioned that figure may change as the vaccination effort continues.
The allergic reactions do not change CDC’s recommendations on who can be vaccinated against Covid-19, with senior officials stressing that the risk of severe illness and death from the disease still outweighs the risk of developing anaphylaxis after vaccination.
CDC reports more allergic reactions to Covid-19 vaccines, but cases remain few — https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/06/cdc-reports-more-allergic-reactions-to-covid-19-vaccines-but-cases-remain-few/?utm_campaign=rss
Get jabbed.
Hospital officials initially reported an outbreak of 44 infections traced back to the apparently impromptu Christmas celebration, but this would be the first fatality associated with the informal Dec. 25 visit. All 44, including the employee who died, had been working in the emergency department that day, according to NBC Bay Area, which also described the outbreak’s first victim as a woman who worked as a registration clerk in the department.
Coronavirus: 1 employee dead after outbreak infects dozens at Kaiser San Jose — https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/04/coronavirus-1-employee-dead-after-outbreak-infects-dozens-at-kaiser-san-jose/
Regrettably, covid-19 among hospital staff is common even after all the precautions with masks, shields and other personal protective equipment. Studies show that front-line health-care workers in the United States have a covid-positive rate that is four times greater than the general population.
Patients are getting infected with covid-19 in the hospital. It happened to one of mine and killed him. — https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/acquiring-covid-19-in-the-hospital/2020/12/31/8cac8b82-3a50-11eb-9276-ae0ca72729be_story.html
Tracking Covid mortality in healthcare workers is imprecise for a number of reasons. Any estimates are likely to be lower than the true number.
More than 2,900 US healthcare workers have died in the Covid-19 pandemic since March, a far higher number than that reported by the government, according to a new analysis by the Guardian and KHN.
Guardian/KHN find nearly 3,000 US health workers died of Covid — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/23/us-healthcare-worker-deaths-covid-19-pandemic
Some vaccine experts, though, said they are not surprised by the speed of vaccine distribution so far. “It had to go this way,” Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told STAT. “We had to trip and fall and stumble and figure this out.”
Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, said some of the gap between doses administered and delivered is likely due to a program run by CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate those in nursing homes. States participating in the program have to set aside 50% of their doses, which Hannan said could account for a share of the difference between doses shipped and doses administered nationally.
“I don’t think it’s bad,” she said of the pace of distribution so far. “I think it was always going to be like this. And I think that this is actually the easy part.”
Frustration over vaccine rollout builds, as new variant reported in U.S. for first time — https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/29/public-health-experts-grow-frustrated-with-pace-of-covid-19-vaccine-rollout/?utm_campaign=rss
We are definitely so screwed.
The coronavirus vaccine is finally a real thing and millions of people have already received it. While the rollout has the world cheering, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University finds many Americans aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to be the first in line for the vaccine under an emergency use authorization. Their survey reveals 53.1 percent are definitely, likely, or somewhat unwilling to get the shot under emergency use conditions.
Over half of U.S. adults ‘unlikely’ to get COVID vaccine under emergency use authorization — https://www.studyfinds.org/half-adults-unlikely-to-get-covid-vaccine/
Journal Reference
Published:November 19, 2020 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.11.018
We are so screwed.
Preliminary results from a cohort study show no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation, 28-day case fatality and reinfection between the new variant and wild-type comparator cases. Preliminary results from a cohort study show no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between cases with the new variant (VOC 201212/01) and wild-type comparator cases. […]
New variant does not increase reinfection risk, disease severity, deaths — Science Chronicle
In animal tests, NVX-CoV2373 vaccination produced antibodies that blocked the coronavirus spike protein from binding to the cell surface receptors targeted by the virus, preventing viral infection. In results(link is external) of a Phase 1 clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NVX-CoV2373 was generally well-tolerated and elicited higher levels of antibodies than those seen in blood samples drawn from people who had recovered from clinically significant COVID-19. NVX-CoV2373 also is being evaluated in a Phase 2b trial in South Africa, now fully enrolled with 4,422 volunteers, and data from a Phase 1/2 continuation trial in the United States and Australia is expected as early as first quarter 2021. Novavax also recently completed enrollment of more than 15,000 volunteers in a Phase 3 trial of the candidate vaccine in the United Kingdom, which is also testing two injections of 5 mcg of protein and 50 mcg of Matrix-M adjuvant administered 21 days apart.
Phase 3 trial of Novavax investigational COVID-19 vaccine opens — https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/phase-3-trial-novavax-investigational-covid-19-vaccine-opens
Chinese researchers found N501Y mutation in a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 virus strain. In the mouse model, the N501Y mutation was found to increase the binding affinity of the virus with the mouse ACE2 receptor. The mutation in the mouse-adapted strain also caused increased virulence. In a preliminary report posted on December 19, Dr. Andrew Rambaut from […]
N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus causes increased infectivity, disease severity in mice — Science Chronicle
Interesting article and the last paragraphs must be emphasized.
Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at CMC Vellore, however, cautions that emergence of N501Y mutation has been seen on other occasions. According to her, the N501Y mutation in a strain that has been adapted to infect a mouse model cannot be compared with the N501Y mutation seen in the new variant infecting humans. And the severity of diseases caused by the mutation in the mouse model has no relevance to humans, she says.
“At this time, one can only say the mutation increases binding affinity in humans and hence increased transmissibility. Nothing can be said about disease severity,” says Dr. Kang.
lifeunderwriter.net 
You must be logged in to post a comment.