Covid News Watch
Those Injured by COVID Vaccine Still Waiting for Government Compensation + More
Those Injured by COVID Vaccine Still Waiting for Government Compensation
Steve Wenger says he began struggling to walk in May 2021, seven days after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. He eventually became paralyzed from the waist down and had to go to the hospital. His arms became so weak he couldn’t pick up a glass of water. In clinical notes, his doctor at Mayo Clinic referred to an autoimmune disorder called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) saying it was “triggered by COVID vaccination.”
It’s almost impossible to sue a vaccine company for a COVID vaccine injury, due to liability protections under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, or PREP Act. Congress deemed these protections necessary years ago in order to “ensure that potentially life-saving countermeasures will be efficiently developed, deployed, and administered,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
Instead of filing a lawsuit, people injured by a COVID vaccine can seek government compensation through the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, or CICP. Wenger says he filed his claim in October 2021. A year and a half later, he’s still waiting to hear back about whether he’s eligible.
Wenger isn’t alone in the waiting process. His claim is one of more than 8,000 others alleging injury or death from the COVID-19 vaccine. Zero such claims have been compensated as of March 1. Twenty-one have been determined eligible for compensation, but not paid. Three hundred have been denied as of March 29.
Report: Spring COVID Booster to Be Authorized for High-Risk People in U.S.
The U.S. government will soon authorize another round of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to certain high-risk populations, namely people 65 and older and those with compromised immune systems, according to a Washington Post report that cited anonymous officials familiar with the plan.
The spring booster plan for high-risk individuals in the U.S. would resemble booster offerings already in place in Canada and the United Kingdom, and it would put the country largely in agreement with updated recommendations released last week by the World Health Organization.
The agency’s advisory group on immunizations determined that, as of now, healthy adults and children do not need additional boosters in the near term, but certain high-risk groups should be offered boosters every six to 12 months.
�?Everyone Is Kind of Tired and Has Given Up’ on COVID. But This New Variant Is �?One to Watch,’ the WHO Says
The World Health Organization has its eye on a new COVID variant thought to be driving a new surge of cases in India — at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest of the world.
XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant “Kraken” XBB.1.5 — the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference.
But additional mutations in the virus’s spike protein, which attaches to and infects human cells, have the potential to make the variant more infectious and even cause more severe disease. For this reason, and due to rising cases in the East, XBB.1.16 is considered “one to watch,” Van Kerkhove says.
Only time will tell when it comes to what if any, differences in severity XB.1.16 will display. Mutations that seem concerning, in theory, aren’t always concerning in real life because of the highly complex nature of population immunity.
Arbutus Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Pfizer/BioNTech Over COVID Shots
Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS.O) on Tuesday sued U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) and its German partner BioNTech SE in a New Jersey district court, claiming their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines infringe five of Arbutus’ patents.
Arbutus, along with its licensee Genevant Sciences, is seeking damages, including reasonable royalties, over the use of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology in Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines to carry and deliver genetic material into the body.
Arbutus Biopharma had also sued Moderna Inc. (MRNA.O) in the Delaware federal court last year, claiming the latter’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine also infringes its patents.
South African Court Urged to Revoke Authorization of Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine
A court in South Africa is being urged to revoke the authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, noting alarming trial data and evidence of side effects.
The High Court of South Africa should set aside the authorization because trial data did not show the vaccine was effective against severe disease or death, which have become the promoted purposes of the vaccine since it performs so poorly against infection as newer variants have emerged, the new filing says.
Six-month data from Pfizer’s trial, for instance, showed that there were 20 deaths among the vaccinated arm and just 14 among the unvaccinated, the Freedom Alliance of South Africa noted in the filing.
The group is asking for a judicial review of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s decision to authorize the vaccine as a primary series and, later, as a booster.
Pandemic Pounds Push 10,000 U.S. Army Soldiers Into Obesity
After gaining 30 pounds during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Murillo is finally getting back into fighting shape.
Murillo wasn’t the only service member dealing with extra weight. New research found that obesity in the U.S. military surged during the pandemic.
In the Army alone, nearly 10,000 active duty soldiers developed obesity between February 2019 and June 2021, pushing the rate to nearly a quarter of the troops studied. Increases were seen in the U.S. Navy and the Marines, too.
Long COVID Exercise Trials Proposed by NIH Raise Alarm
Patients and patient advocates are calling on the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reconsider its decision to include exercise trials in its RECOVER initiative, which aims to study and find treatments for long COVID.
They argue that a large proportion of people with long COVID have reported experiencing post-exertional malaise (PEM) — a worsening of symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty regulating body temperature and cognitive dysfunction, after even light exercise — and worry that putting certain RECOVER participants through exercise trials could cause them harm. In a petition and multiple letters, the advocates request that the NIH and affiliated physicians explain their rationale for this testing and share the trial protocols.
Up to 23 million people in the United States have developed long COVID, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The condition has affected their lives and livelihood: an analysis of people with long COVID who filed workers’ compensation claims in New York State between January 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022, found that 18% of them had still not returned to work more than a year after being infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Advocates want to see the RECOVER exercise protocols because they are concerned that trial participants will not be adequately informed about the potential risks; that participants will not be properly screened for PEM; and that researchers will not sufficiently monitor people for harm in the hours after the exercise regimen or after the trial concludes.
15 Million Americans Could Lose Medicaid Coverage as Pandemic-Era Policy Ends
Some 15 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage over the next few months as pandemic-related emergency provisions come to an end — though residents in five states will feel its impact earlier than others.
During the pandemic, the yearly reapplication process for Medicaid was paused and states stopped checking if people were still eligible for its coverage. But starting April 1, people in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire and South Dakota could see their loss of healthcare coverage as Medicaid begins to verify eligibility and will begin to disenroll patients.
Fourteen more states will cut off coverage for people who are no longer eligible in May, and another 20 (plus the District of Columbia) will do so in June, affecting the more than 90 million Americans who are currently enrolled in Medicaid.
People With Smell Disorders May Get Relief With an Experimental Treatment
A numbing procedure usually used to treat pain and post-traumatic stress disorder is being tested as a way to restore smell and taste in people with long COVID.
It’s called a stellate ganglion block. In the procedure, a doctor uses a temporary, local anesthetic — like what a dentist would give before filling a cavity — and injects it into a specific bundle of nerves called the stellate ganglion on both sides of a person’s neck. The nerves are part of the sympathetic nervous system, which controls automatic bodily functions, such as blood pressure, digestion and heart rate.
The area is not known to have any impact on how a person perceives odors, however, leaving some experts skeptical of the approach. Other doctors say they have seen real improvements in patients who either can’t smell anything or find previously delicious food and drinks now taste repulsive.
A survey last year found that about 15% of people with COVID-related olfactory loss still had trouble smelling correctly six months later.
A New Approach to a COVID Nasal Vaccine Shows Early Promise
Scientists in Germany say they’ve been able to make a nasal vaccine that can shut down a COVID-19 infection in the nose and throat, where the virus gets its first foothold in the body.
In experiments in hamsters, two doses of the vaccine — which is made with a live but weakened form of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 — blocked the virus from copying itself in the animals’ upper airways, achieving “sterilizing immunity” and preventing illness, a long-sought goal of the pandemic.
Although this vaccine has several more hurdles to clear before it gets to a doctor’s office or drug store, other nasal vaccines are in use or are nearing the finish line in clinical trials.
China and India both rolled out vaccines given through the nasal tissues last fall, though it’s not clear how well they may be working. Studies on the effectiveness of these vaccines have yet to be published, leaving much of the world to wonder whether this approach to protection really works in people.
COVID Booster Vaccine to Be Offered to Millions in England
Millions of people in England will be offered a COVID booster jab this week, health officials have announced, as recent estimates show infections have climbed to their highest level this year.
Care home residents will be the first to receive the spring COVID-19 booster vaccine from Monday, with millions more people invited to book an appointment from Wednesday.
About 5 million people will be eligible for a booster until the end of June, including those aged 75 and over and anyone aged five and over who is immunosuppressed. Everyone will be able to book a jab online from April 5, with the first appointments available from April 17.
AstraZeneca Shot Raised Heart-Related Death Risk in Young Women: Report + More
AstraZeneca Shot Raised Heart-Related Death Risk in Young Women: Report
AstraZeneca‘s COVID vaccine (manufactured and administered in India as Covishield) raised the risk of heart problems, and death by 3.5 times in young women in the first three months following the first dose, according to a report.
The report by the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics is based on the impact of COVID infection and vaccination risk on cardiac and all-cause mortality in young people, aged 12 to 29 years, in England. The report included data starting December 8, 2020, when the vaccines were first rolled out in Britain. The mortality data came from two independent sources: deaths registered by June 8, 2022, and hospital deaths by March 31, 2022.
However, the U.K. had, in April 2021, stopped AstraZeneca’s vaccination for young people following safety concerns, and most of the young people who received it would have been prioritized due to clinical vulnerability or being healthcare workers.
According to the statistical model, 11 out of the 15 cardiac deaths in young women that occurred within 12 weeks of a first dose of a non-mRNA vaccine were likely to be linked to the vaccine.
“It’s enough to catch my interest and say we should study this more,” Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was quoted as saying by The New York Times. But “I wouldn’t come close to drawing any causal conclusions.”
What WHO’s New COVID Vaccine Guidance Means for Pfizer and Moderna Stock
The World Health Organization’s newest guidance on COVID-19 vaccinations only recommends regular boosters for older adults and suggests that demand for shots could be weaker in coming years than vaccine makers have anticipated. The WHO’s vaccines advisors said Tuesday they don’t recommend annual COVID-19 vaccine boosters for healthy adults under ages 50 to 60 after they have received their first vaccine and booster, and they no longer recommend vaccinating healthy children or teens against the virus.
The guidance takes into account the diminished threat from COVID-19, and the need to commit resources to vaccinating for other diseases, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, said Tuesday.
Wall Street analysts expect Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine sales to drop to $6.5 billion in 2024 from $18.4 billion in 2022, according to FactSet, though estimates range widely. Analysts expect Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine sales to drop to $12.1 billion in 2024, from $37.8 billion in 2022, also according to FactSet.
WHO officials also voiced skepticism over the advantages offered by the bivalent vaccines, which Moderna and Pfizer have rolled out in response to FDA requests. At a Tuesday news conference, the organization said there was “minimal evidence” showing that bivalent vaccines are more effective than monovalent vaccines, which specifically target COVID’s original strain.
Biden Won’t Veto Republican-Led Bill Ending COVID Emergency
President Joe Biden won’t veto a Republican-led measure to end the national COVID emergency, despite having expressed strong objections against it earlier this year, ensuring the bill is on an easy path to becoming law.
It marks the second time in the new Congress that the Biden administration has signaled opposition to a Republican measure, rallying most Democrats in Congress to vote against it, only to soften its stance and let the legislation eventually become law.
A White House official said that when the House Republicans were first preparing to vote on the bill at the start of the year, it would have lifted the national emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic in February.
But now, it’s much closer to the White House’s own plan to wind down COVID national emergency status on May 11. The president still strongly opposes the legislation, said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the situation. But if this bill comes to Biden’s desk, he will sign it, the official said.
Ex-CDC Head Finally Says What We’ve All Known Forever About the Source of COVID
So I was reading the transcript from former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield’s testimony from earlier this month before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (yes, this is what I do in my spare time).
And I gotta’ say, I missed something kinda’ big. The headlines that came that day from the ex-CDC Chief focused on Dr. Anthony Fauci, who Redfield said “sidelined” anyone who dared question him on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. But the doctor also said something fascinating about the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, where scientists were reportedly doing gain-of-function work on coronaviruses — partly funded by U.S. taxpayers at the behest of Fauci.
“In September of 2019, three things happened in that lab,” Redfield said in the hearing. “One is they deleted the sequences. Was highly irregular. Researchers don’t usually like to do that. The second thing they did was they changed the command and control at the lab from civilian control to military control. Highly unusual — and I’ve been involved in dual-use labs when I was in the military.”
“And the third thing they did, which I think is really telling, is they let a contractor redo the ventilation system in that laboratory. So I think, clearly, there was strong evidence that there was a significant event that happened in that laboratory in September,” the doctor said.
COVID Vaccine Fatigue: Study Explores Why Many Are Refusing Booster Shots
As the world continues to move toward a post-pandemic life — and as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently predicted that COVID-19 will end in 2023 as a public health emergency — Americans may have reached a state of “vaccine fatigue,” data suggests.
A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine, led by researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, surveyed 6,357 people in Austria and Italy. They found that respondents’ “readiness to get vaccinated,” on a scale of 0 to 10, was relatively low — roughly 5.8 in Italy and 5.3 in Austria. The participants answered questions about vaccine-related costs, communication, incentives, emerging variants of the virus and vaccination requirements.
In the U.S., evidence of vaccine fatigue can be seen in the dwindling numbers of people getting boosters for COVID vaccines.
Low trust in medical institutions, governments and vaccinations was a common thread in the study findings, particularly around vaccine mandates. “Respondents in both countries reported high levels of pandemic fatigue and showed low to medium levels of trust in parliament and government,” the study authors wrote in a discussion of the findings.
Vaccine Injury Reports Soared Above �?Red Line’ After COVID Vaccine Authorizations, Documents Show
The number of vaccine injury reports that poured in after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines caught officials off guard, newly disclosed documents show.
The contractor hired for $9.4 million to process reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System estimated a maximum of 1,000 reports per day — the “worst case scenario” — according to one document. But the number of reports broke through the “red line” on Dec. 26, 2020 — less than three weeks after U.S. regulators authorized COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
“Two vaccines have been released since the last report. Since the release, the number of incoming COVID-19 reports has significantly exceeded the estimated maximum of 1,000 reports per day,” General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), the contractor, informed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a status report on Jan. 15, 2021. “As a result, GDIT is unable to meet processing and other timeframes (data processing, telephone inquiries, clinical inqu[i]ries, etc.).”
A chart included in the report showed the number of daily reports was in the thousands, even going above 4,500 on Jan. 10, 2021.
Can COVID Lead to Diabetes? — Early Work Suggests a Connection, but Experts Say More Investigation Is Needed
Since early in the pandemic, physicians have flagged diabetes as a risk factor for worse outcomes with COVID infection, but the relationship may also work the other way: evidence is building that COVID could also be a risk factor for developing diabetes, both type 1 and type 2.
While the science isn’t yet settled, and the exact mechanism that could drive such a relationship isn’t clear, experts say there appears to be a signal that’s worth continued investigation.
“We do see an association, at least, between a COVID infection and an increased risk of being diagnosed with diabetes,” said Alan Kwan, MD, a cardiologist at Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, lead author on a study published last month in JAMA Network Open, cautioning that it’s too soon to say that COVID does indeed cause diabetes.
One plausible mechanism could be “persistent inflammation contributing to insulin resistance,” Kwan and colleagues wrote in their paper, but the exact “mechanisms contributing to post-infection diabetes risk remain unclear.”
Patients Launch Legal Action Against AstraZeneca Over Its COVID Vaccine + More
Patients Launch Legal Action Against AstraZeneca Over Its COVID Vaccine
Dozens of patients and families are launching legal action against AstraZeneca over a rare side effect of its COVID-19 vaccine. Lawyers have sent the company pre-action protocol letters, the first step in a legal claim on behalf of around 75 claimants. Some have lost relatives and some have survived with catastrophic injuries following blood clots.
Peter Todd, a consultant solicitor with Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, one of two lawyers handling claims, told The BMJ that the complications included stroke, heart failure and leg amputations. He said the technology involved in the AstraZeneca vaccine was “risky.”
Even though the legal claim is against AstraZeneca, the U.K. taxpayer will have to pay any compensation awarded, under a legal indemnity that the government gave the company early in the pandemic.
In response to a freedom of information request, NHS Business Services, which operates the vaccine damage scheme, revealed that by March 6, 2023, the scheme had received 4,017 claims relating to a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those which had been dealt with, 622 concerned the AstraZeneca vaccine, 348 the Pfizer, and 43 the Moderna vaccine. Of the 4,017 claims, 334 were for death.
WHO Revises COVID Vaccine Recommendations for Omicron-Era
The World Health Organization has tailored its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for a new phase of the pandemic, suggesting that healthy children and adolescents may not necessarily need a shot but older, high-risk groups should get a booster between 6 to 12 months after their last vaccine.
The U.N. agency said the aim was to focus efforts on vaccinating those facing the greatest threat of severe disease and death from COVID-19, considering the high-level population immunity worldwide due to widespread infection and vaccination.
The health agency defined high-risk populations as older adults, as well as younger people with other significant risk factors. For this group, the agency recommends an additional shot of the vaccine either 6 or 12 months after the latest dose, based on factors such as age and immunocompromising conditions.
Meanwhile, it said healthy children and adolescents were “low priority” for COVID-19 vaccination, and urged countries to consider factors like disease burden before recommending the vaccination of this group. It said the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters were safe for all ages, but the recommendations took into account other factors like cost-effectiveness.
BioNTech Shares Slip on Gloomy COVID Vaccine Sales Outlook
Shares of BioNTech on Monday slid by more than 6% in morning trading after the German drugmaker shared a gloomy 2023 sales outlook for its COVID vaccine jointly developed with Pfizer.
BioNTech delivered solid quarterly earnings earlier in the morning that beat expectations but said revenue fell slightly from a year ago due to lower demand for the company’s COVID vaccine, which is its only marketed product. The drugmaker expects that demand to fall further this year, forecasting COVID vaccine revenue to hit 5 billion euros, or $5.4 billion. That’s a steep decline from the 17.3 billion euros, or more than $18 billion, in 2022.
BioNTech is the latest company to forecast a slump in demand for COVID products as the world emerges from the pandemic. Its partner Pfizer told investors in January that it expects COVID vaccine sales to plummet by 64% this year and sales of its COVID antiviral treatment Paxlovid to drop by 58%.
Functional Neurological Disorder Emerges After COVID Infection, Vaccines — Long COVID Functional Manifestations Differ From Post-Vaccine Effects
Patients with functional neurologic disorder (FND) after SARS-CoV-2 infection had different symptoms than people with FND after COVID vaccines, retrospective data showed. Patients with post-COVID FND tended to be older, had more insidious onset and had a higher disability, according to Araceli Alonso-Canovas, MD, Ph.D., of Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal in Madrid, and co-authors.
Those with FND after COVID vaccination more closely resembled classic FND: they were younger, had an acute onset and tremor was the most common phenotype, the researchers reported in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
FND refers to disorders caused by an abnormality in brain signaling with no significant structural brain damage. It occurs in an estimated four to 12 people per 100,000 per year and accounts for about 6% of outpatient neurology visits.
Vaccinations can trigger FND, as can other stressors including infections. While experts maintain some people with FND might be long COVID patients, little research has been conducted to evaluate this.
Local Caregivers See Lingering Effects of Pandemic on Kids
The full effects of the global pandemic might not be known for decades to come, but a medical clinic on the front lines of caring for the Hudson Valley’s most vulnerable is reporting that incidents of child abuse and neglect are on the rise in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The parent, after being out of work for months during the height of the pandemic, had started a new job, a minimum wage job without a lot of support, and she had to make a decision about going to work or staying home to take care of her child and potentially losing her job,” Lindsay Neptune, a nurse practitioner and Director of School-Based Health Clinical Services at Open Door Family Medical Center in Port Chester and Ossining, explained. “She ended up leaving the child at home.”
According to Open Door, this type of “unintentional” child neglect and abuse, often a result of increased caregiver stress and isolation, has contributed to a troubling spike in cases in New York since the start of the pandemic.
While Neptune says she doesn’t often see the more obvious signs of child abuse or neglect, like bruises, shabby clothing and poor personal hygiene, she does see some of its mental health manifestations, like anxiety and depression.
Walgreens Profit Slides as COVID Vaccinations Fade in Q2
A decline in COVID-19 vaccinations cut into Walgreens’ second-quarter earnings, but the drugstore chain still delivered better-than-expected results.
Walgreens said Tuesday the number of vaccines it administered in the quarter tumbled 80% to 2.4 million compared to last year’s quarter. COVID-19 testing also fell more than 90% and sales of at-home tests dropped as well.
Walgreens also booked in the recently completed second quarter a $306 million pretax charge for opioid claims and some expenses tied to cost-cutting and an acquisition.
The chain also saw prescriptions grow more than 3%, excluding immunizations, in its biggest business segment, U.S. drugstores.
Two-Thirds of U.K. Workers With Long COVID Have Faced Unfair Treatment, Says Report
U.K. ministers should act to ensure long COVID sufferers receive the support they need from employers, with as many as two-thirds claiming they have been unfairly treated at work, a report argues.
The report, from the TUC and the charity Long COVID Support, warns that failing to accommodate the 2 million people who, according to ONS data, may be suffering from long COVID in the U.K. will create, “new, long-lasting inequalities”.
The analysis is based on responses from more than 3,000 long COVID sufferers who agreed to share their experiences.
Two-thirds said they had experienced some form of unfair treatment at work, ranging from harassment to being disbelieved about their symptoms or threatened with disciplinary action. One in seven said they had lost their job.
Manitoba Family Suing AstraZeneca After Son’s Stroke Following COVID Vaccination + More
Manitoba Family Suing AstraZeneca After Son’s Stroke Following COVID Vaccination
A Manitoba family is suing AstraZeneca Canada, alleging their son had a stroke following his COVID-19 vaccination that has left him unable to work or care for himself. Jackson Troy Reimer, now 23, was “in excellent health” before getting vaccinated while working at the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia in 2021, according to a statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench on March 16.
But six days after getting his shot, he started feeling dizzy, losing his vision and having severe headaches. A CT scan at Vancouver General Hospital found Reimer had a hemorrhagic stroke, the lawsuit says.
He later needed two platelet infusions, then underwent a craniotomy to stop bleeding in his brain and had to be intubated after becoming unresponsive — all outcomes Reimer and his parents, Marina Dawn Toews Reimer and Perry John Reimer, believe were caused by the vaccine.
Since March 2021, Reimer has been unable to hold gainful employment, advance his university education or carry out many activities of daily living, the court filing says. He’s now legally blind and has other symptoms related to mental focus and concentration, memory loss, mental impairment and obsessive-compulsive disorder tendencies, according to the claim.
The COVID Vaccine King on Biden World’s Nerves
The White House’s relationship with Moderna has deteriorated dramatically over the last two years, marring what should have been one of the most successful public-private partnerships in U.S. history, four people with knowledge of the matter told West Wing Playbook.
At the center of the White House’s disputes with Moderna is a disagreement over how indebted the company should be to the government for the help it got in developing the COVID vaccine. Moderna received an estimated $1.7 billion in federal funds to accelerate the creation of its initial shot. The resulting vaccine offered the U.S. a path out of the pandemic — and represented Moderna’s first and only working product.
The company has since recorded more than $36 billion in sales. Bancel’s own net worth is estimated at $4.7 billion.
Yet despite the government’s investment, Biden officials say Moderna has barely reciprocated in kind. In one episode in 2021, after the president vowed to make the U.S. an “arsenal of vaccines” for the world, Moderna resisted repeated overtures to commit additional doses to help lower-income countries. The administration eventually went public with the battle.
Many CDC Blunders Exaggerated Severity of COVID: Study
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made at least 25 statistical or numerical errors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the overwhelming majority exaggerated the severity of the pandemic, according to a new study.
Researchers who have been tracking CDC errors compiled 25 instances where the agency offered demonstrably false information. For each instance, they analyzed whether the error exaggerated or downplayed the severity of COVID-19. Of the 25 instances, 20 exaggerated the severity, the researchers reported in the study, which was published ahead of peer review on March 23.
“The CDC has expressed significant concern about COVID-19 misinformation. In order for the CDC to be a credible source of information, they must improve the accuracy of the data they provide,” the authors wrote.
Most of the errors were about COVID-19’s impact on children. In mid-2021, for instance, the CDC claimed that 4% of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 were kids. The actual percentage was 0.04%. The CDC eventually corrected the misinformation, months after being alerted to the issue.
White House to Disband COVID Response Team in May
The White House will disband its coronavirus response team after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends in May, a current and former official said.
The team, led most recently by Dr. Ashish Jha, has begun to dwindle in recent months as the administration has started to shift its response to the virus from the emergency that defined the early part of President Joe Biden’s term in office. The team will now be disbanded as the public health emergency is set to expire on May 11.
Under Biden, the COVID-19 response team was responsible for coordinating the nationwide rollout and distribution of vaccines, treatments and medical supplies.
‘Muted’ Immune Response May Explain Why COVID Is Tougher for Obese People
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Obesity is a well-known risk factor for severe COVID-19, and researchers think they’ve uncovered a possible reason why.
Obese folks appear to have a blunted inflammatory response to COVID, leaving their immune systems less capable of fighting it, according to a recent study.
The findings were a surprise to researchers, given that severe COVID often has been tied to an overactive immune response that produces damaging levels of inflammation in humans.
The researchers found the obese patients had underactive immune and inflammatory responses in their lungs. The study was published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Long COVID Risk Factors Are Tied to Gender, Age and Weight
Women, overweight people and those above age 40 are among the groups that have a greater risk of developing long COVID, according to a report published Thursday that makes the case for better pandemic treatment and support.
Researchers also found that patients with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes and even anxiety or depression were more likely to develop long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms. Those previously hospitalized or admitted to intensive care for COVID also were at higher risk.
Can an Addiction Drug Treat Long COVID?
When pharmacist Jack Korbutov opened The Art of Medicine, a Philadelphia compounding pharmacy, in September 2012, low-dose naltrexone (LDN) was among the first prescriptions he filled. Before starting his own specialty pharmacy, Korbutov had worked exclusively in traditional establishments and had only encountered naltrexone being prescribed in 50 mg doses to treat opioid addiction and alcohol use disorder.
Digging into the research, Korbutov learned that while naltrexone only has approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating people recovering from addiction to heroin, morphine, oxycodone, and alcohol, some doctors prescribe it off-label in much smaller doses for chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease.
This is, in part, because, unlike new-to-the-market blockbuster drugs, pharmaceutical companies don’t stand to profit much from one that’s been around for decades, and, as a result, aren’t spending money promoting it. LDN also has yet to go fully mainstream because the medical establishment has long ignored and dismissed the chronic and invisible conditions it has been used to treat — myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in particular.
Now, some doctors are prescribing LDN for patients with symptoms that develop or persist after a COVID-19 infection: also known as Long COVID. It’s estimated that millions of Americans are living with Long COVID, and without a viable treatment in place, the economic impact of their continued absence from the country’s workforce will be much harder to ignore.
