Tag: Covid

Biden’s Top Covid Adviser Wishes He Had Tangled With Tucker Carlson

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Kessler: A lot of things contributed to people’s feelings about the virus and the vaccines. I don’t think we should underestimate the effect that the last several years has had on all of us. It was a major upheaval for society and there’s not a family that’s not been affected. Anything that is that traumatic, it’s going to produce very strong feelings.
The fact is that 226 million people received their primary series, and 94 percent of people over 65 got vaccinated. When’s the last time 226 million people agreed on anything, did anything?
We have to be realistic on what people are going to do. There are a lot of things in public health we wish people would do that they don’t. Taken as a piece, we did pretty well, considering the extent of the upheaval caused by this pandemic.
Cancryn: What about these politicians, lawmakers and pundits who have made it their brand to question that progress, to question the vaccines and the need for there to be a continued response?
Kessler: Here’s the hard part. Questioning is an inherent part of science. Questioning is always important to learn and improve what we do.
But there’s a difference between questioning and undermining the basic facts. Creating enough doubt so people go, well, maybe I don’t need to do this.
I’ve lived this before. In 1952, with the first data that smoking caused cancer. The mantra of the industry was, “not proven, not proven, not proven.” It created enough doubt that it gave people a crutch who didn’t want to quit. It gave them a reason to continue to smoke.
These vaccines are not perfect. But certainly, if you’re over 50, if you have any risk factors, the benefit/risk [ratio] is just overwhelming. So yes, ask questions. But please make sure that people who need this, whose lives are really at risk, take advantage of a very important potentially lifesaving tool.

Cancryn: That’s interesting that you’re seeing parallels to the playbook from tobacco.
Kessler: I don’t think that’s intentional. I just think that one has to be careful when one injects doubt in people’s minds. If you inject that doubt, it just makes the job that much harder to get people to do stuff when it’s already hard to get people to do things that are in their health interest.
Cancryn: The difference this time around is that a lot of those injecting that doubt are now the leaders of one of the two main political parties.
Kessler: There are certainly those who are using it for whatever rhetoric, but I think a majority of the country will push that aside. The fact is, 226 million people got the primary series. Push comes to shove, many of those who are being critical of vaccines, I think quietly they’ve gotten the vaccine.
Cancryn: So you feel some level of optimism that when it comes to public health and science, most of us are still operating with the same set of shared facts.
Kessler: The last three years have been so intense, the stakes have been so high, we’ve learned so much. We made mistakes. I just think, give it time. But no doubt we have to do a better job on disinformation, because this virus is not done with us yet.
Cancryn: Do you feel like there’s an identifiable solution to that disinformation? Take Tucker Carlson, for example, who has a big audience and has proven willing to question and inject doubt into just about anything. It doesn’t worry you that he has a platform to take things that should be scientifically settled, bring them up and question them again?
Kessler: I saw my job as making sure if you wanted a vaccine, if you wanted an antiviral, it was there, it worked, you didn’t have to live in fear that you were going to die from this disease. I did very few public appearances; others did that.
But very early on I said to someone I’m close with that I really wished I could go on Tucker Carlson and have that conversation.
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#Bidens #Top #Covid #Adviser #Wishes #Tangled #Tucker #Carlson
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 6, 2023
3 lakh doses of intranasal Covid vaccine sent to hospitals: Bharat Biotech’s Krishna Ella

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New Delhi: Bharat Biotech dispatched three lakh doses of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago, the company’s executive chairman Krishna Ella said on Sunday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event here at which a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) and the Ella Foundation for the establishment of the first-ever UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru.
iNCOVACC, the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, was launched on January 26. The vaccine is now available on CoWIN and priced at Rs 800 for private markets and Rs 325 for the government of India and state governments.
“We dispatched three lakh doses of the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago,” Ella said.
On whether Bharat Biotech is looking at exporting the vaccine, he said some countries and international agencies are approaching the company for the intra-nasal vaccine.
Innova is also the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose for adults.
Ella said the UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.
It will advance the development and production of new vaccines for India. Furthermore, the partnership will enable collaboration across disciplines and geographic boundaries, provide Indian students and researchers access to UW expertise and training, and build research capacity in India, he said.

“Both Ella Foundation and UW-Madison GHI share a common vision to advance innovation in science, research, and knowledge sharing. Establishing the UW-Madison Global One Health Centre holds great significance as it will advance global health through research, education, and community engagement by facilitating student, and faculty exchanges, research and education,” he added.
UW-Madison GHI director Jorge Osorio said, “We are energised by the opportunity to partner with the Ella Foundation to bring UW knowledge and expertise to expand innovative and impactful health initiatives outside Wisconsin to India.”
The India One Health Centre joins a global network that includes Africa and Latin America and will open new opportunities for research, education, and provide actionable outcomes to benefit humans, animals, and ecosystems that advance equitable and sustainable health across India and the world.
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#lakh #doses #intranasal #Covid #vaccine #hospitals #Bharat #Biotechs #Krishna #Ella
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 5, 2023
House votes to end Covid public health emergency

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Still, the disclosure that Biden plans to wind down the emergencies might have helped shore up the Democratic vote. The final tally was 220-210, with no member crossing party lines.
Republicans, who know the bill has no chance of being enacted with Biden in the White House, said their aim was to send a message and push the administration for a more detailed plan for winding down the emergency.
“We’ve been asking for one for a year,” Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee chair, told POLITICO. “Hopefully, this will have them send a plan … there are issues we need to deal with.”
Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), noting that Biden had declared the pandemic over in an interview with CBS News in September, argued it shouldn’t take months to unwind the emergency.
“I’m pleased the administration is following the House Republicans in finally abiding by President Biden’s own acknowledgment,” she said.
The end of the emergencies will halt a wide-ranging set of eased regulations established at the pandemic’s outset to bolster the country’s response. The administration’s move will mean many patients will have to pay for all, or some portion, of the costs of Covid therapeutics, depending on their health insurance or lack thereof.
The unwinding could also mean the end of Title 42, ordered by the Trump administration in March 2020 to shut down the southern border, though Republicans argued the policy could remain. The Biden administration has tried to end Title 42, but courts have blocked those efforts several times and Title 42’s fate will likely be decided by the judiciary.
Democratic leadership whipped against the bill Tuesday, saying the legislation would “abruptly end numerous policies” without sufficient coordination and leave states without billions in funding.

But they also said the emergencies shouldn’t go on indefinitely and backed the administration’s plan to end them in a few months.
“There’s a right way to wind down,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). “Make sure there aren’t vulnerable people that would be impacted …This isn’t a serious effort. This is about messaging.”
The House also voted mostly along party lines, 227-203, to end a federal rule requiring health care workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Republicans plan to bring to the floor later this week the resolution by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) to end the Covid national emergency.
That declaration undergirds Biden’s plan, now stuck in court, to forgive some federal student loans. The Senate passed a resolution by Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in November to end the national emergency, with 12 Democrats joining a united GOP in the 61-37 vote.
Marshall took advantage of a provision in the 1976 National Emergencies Act that allows senators to call for a vote on presidentially declared emergencies, and he could do so again.
Guthrie told POLITICO before the House vote Tuesday that Republicans would have a Senate vehicle to end the emergency in case the Biden administration doesn’t do so on May 11.
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#House #votes #Covid #public #health #emergency
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 1, 2023
Covid emergency’s end will mean new costs, hassles

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Key changes Americans can expect:
— Many will have to pay for Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. People without health insurance will have to pay out of pocket, while those with private plans could see more costs depending on the terms of their insurance. Insurers typically cover the costs of preventive care, such as vaccines, but often charge deductibles or require cost-sharing for drugs.
— Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries could also face more cost-sharing for tests and some Covid antivirals, though vaccines will remain free.
— Employers will no longer be able to offer telehealth access as a premium, tax-free benefit separate from other health plans.
— Eased rules for prescribing controlled substances without an in-person doctor’s visit could also end unless the Drug Enforcement Administration moves to extend them. That could affect people seeking mental health care, transgender care, treatment for opioid use disorder, and even for severe coughs.
— Medicare coverage requirements that were waived during the emergency will now resume. For example, Medicare patients seeking admission to a skilled nursing facility will first have to spend three days in a hospital.
— The Medicare prescription drug benefit will no longer allow patients to get extended supplies of many drugs.
— Medicaid and CHIP coverage will change in some ways, as state and federal agencies made changes — such as boosting provider payments, increasing beneficiary access to medicines and expanding some covered services — to their programs because of the emergency. Some of those changes, though, can continue after the end of the emergency, depending on the state and policy.
— Hospitals will lose the 20 percent increase in Medicare payments they’ve received for treating Covid patients.

Nutrition assistance
— Work requirements for federal food assistance programs that were paused during the pandemic will return in more than two dozen, mostly Republican-controlled states that haven’t waived the requirements.
— Other administrative rules that helped people receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will also end.
Immigration
— The White House said the end of the emergency would also end Title 42, a health policy used at the start of the pandemic to shut down the southern border by denying immigrants the opportunity to request asylum. But Republicans in Congress have argued that the policy is not tied to the public health emergency.
What Biden’s decision on the emergencies won’t change:
— Medicare patients and people in high-deductible health plans will continue to have eased access to telehealth through the end of 2024 because of an extension Congress included in the year-end spending bill.
— Lawmakers also agreed in that legislation to wind down beginning in February extra SNAP food assistance that was offered during the pandemic.
— A requirement that states allow people to stay enrolled in Medicaid regardless of their eligibility for the program will end in April, allowing states to kick millions off the rolls. Many of those affected, whose incomes are now too high to qualify for Medicaid, will be eligible for low-cost Obamacare plans.
— The FDA will continue to have the power to authorize vaccines, tests and drugs on an emergency basis.
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#Covid #emergencys #costs #hassles
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 1, 2023
US plans to end COVID emergency declarations in May

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Los Angeles: The Biden administration has announced it plans to end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11.
The COVID-19 national emergency and PHE were declared by the Trump Administration in 2020. They are currently set to expire on March 1 and April 11, respectively.
The Biden Administration’s plan is to extend the emergency declarations to May 11, and then end both emergencies on that date, according to a statement of the White House, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The statement came in opposing two House bills that would end the emergency declarations sooner.
The public health and national emergencies have enabled US hospitals to respond more flexibly when faced with patients spikes during COVID-19 surges.
Ending the emergency declaration could have implications for funding for tests and vaccines as well as impact other pandemic-related policies, the National Public Radio (NPR) reported.
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#plans #COVID #emergency #declarations
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 31, 2023
Biden to end Covid health emergency declarations in May

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Lifting the health emergency could also mean the abrupt termination of Title 42, a health policy reinstated during the Trump administration in March 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic and used to shut down the southern border. The authority gave border officials the ability to rapidly “expel” migrants without a chance to seek U.S. asylum.
The Biden administration’s attempts to end Title 42 have been repeatedly blocked by the courts, most recently with the Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily keep the policy in place. While a ruling by the high court isn’t expected until June, the White House’s move to end the declaration could lead to the case being dismissed as moot.
The announcement Monday, which came with little warning, surprised lawmakers and industry officials, raising concerns over how the administration plans to unwind the myriad of options the emergency declarations have provided over the last three years.
“I’ve yet to hear, ‘Okay, here is the rationale,’” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the chamber’s health committee. “I’m sure that they have one, I just haven’t heard it.”
The expiration of emergencies also signals a shift in the administration’s approach to the southern border amid growing scrutiny from House Republicans over its immigration policies. Title 42, which was originally reinstated during the Trump administration in March 2020, has given federal border officials the ability to rapidly “expel” migrants without a chance to seek U.S. asylum.
A senior administration official defended the decision making, telling POLITICO that “we’re committed to having a smooth, coordinated rollout and we believe today’s announcement does just that.”
“This decision is based on what is best for the health of our country at this time,” the senior official said. “We’re in a pretty good place in the pandemic, we’ve come through the winter, cases are down dramatically from where they were the past two winters.”
But others familiar with the matter said the administration had originally discussed announcing its May 11 end date for the emergencies next week, as it approached a Feb. 11 deadline for giving stakeholders advance notice.

The disclosure was accelerated after it became clear that House Republicans planned to push measures aimed at ending the emergencies, and that some Democratic lawmakers might vote for them absent further clarity from the administration on its official end date.
Biden health officials have spent the last several months preparing for the complex unwinding of the health emergencies, which will eventually involve shifting responsibility for the distribution of most vaccines and treatments to the private market.
The process comes as most Americans have returned to their every day lives, and as federal funding for the White House’s Covid response dried up in the face of Republican opposition.
Myah Ward and David Lim contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 31, 2023
Children’s ‘rushed’ immune response makes them susceptible to Covid reinfection: Study

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Melbourne: Scientists have found that children’s immune systems, unlike those of adults, do not remember the virus and do not adapt, and so when exposed to SARS-CoV-2 again, their body still treats it as a new threat, risking reinfection.
According to the study, children have largely avoided severe COVID-19 symptoms because they have a strong initial ‘innate’ immune reaction that quickly defeats the virus.
And now, researchers led by scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Australia, have uncovered what this might mean for the immune system, the study published in the journal Clinical Immunology said.
“The price that children pay for being so good at getting rid of the virus in the first place is that they don’t have the opportunity to develop ‘adaptive’ memory to protect them the second time they are exposed to the virus,” said lead author Tri Phan, Co-Lead of the Precision Immunology Program at Garvan.
“Because children haven’t been exposed to many viruses, their immune system is still ‘naive’. And because they don’t develop memory T cells, they are at risk of getting sick when they become reinfected.
“With each new infectious episode as they get older, there is a risk of their T cells becoming ‘exhausted’ and ineffective, like the T cells in older people. This is why we think it’s important to vaccinate children,” said Phan.
The immune system has two modes. The innate immune system is the first line of defence, comprising physical barriers such as skin and mucosal surfaces that block viruses from entering.
The innate immune system is also composed of cells that make chemicals to signal to other cells and ward off the viruses. The innate immune system does not distinguish between one type of virus or another.

The second line of defence comprises B and T cells of the adaptive immune system. These cells have specific receptors that can recognise and distinguish different parts of a virus and generate a rapid response to neutralise or limit it.
Infants start with an immune system blank slate, which has a much higher proportion of naive T cells, the researchers found. As they move through childhood into adulthood and become exposed to more viruses, the naive T cells are replaced by memory T cells that are locked in to making responses to viruses they have seen before, the study said.
“Over time, as you get infections, your immune system becomes more ‘educated’, allowing you to make a faster immune response that’s tightly matched to the viruses that have infected you before,” said Philip Britton, Associate Professor and clinical lead in the study.
“Children’s immune systems move from relying mostly on the innate system, to needing the adaptive system as a backup as they grow older and are unable to clear viruses as rapidly,” said Britton.
In this study, Phan, Britton and colleagues took a deep dive to investigate T cells and cellular immune responses of a small group of children and their household family contacts who had mild or no symptoms from coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, it said.
The researchers sequenced white blood cell samples to analyse T cells in children and adults at the time of acute infection and one month later, the study said.
Because they studied household family contacts who were infected, researchers could control for the impact of genetic or environmental influences on the immune response, the study said.
The scientists found that children had many different naive T cells to fight SARS-CoV-2 and made poor memory T cell responses to the virus after they had recovered, whereas the adults had few naive T cells but made good memory T cell responses after recovery
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
Telangana records zero COVID cases 1st time since outbreak

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Hyderabad: The state has recorded zero cases of COVID for the first time since its outbreak in 2019.
Hyderabad had recorded the highest, 9 cases, in the last week, among other districts followed by Adilabad with 3 and Medchal Malkajgiria with two cases.
Hyderabad recorded zero cases on January 16 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 3 years ago.
Date Cases in Telangana
Jan 27 0
Jan 26 2
Jan 25 4
Jan 24 2
Jan 23 4
Jan 22 2
Jan 21 5
So far, 7,73,67,925 vaccines have been administered of which 10,329 and 76 were administered to people in government and private hospitals respectively.
Over 3 crore (3,24,44,133) first doses have been administered to people eligible so far of which over 8 lakh (898047) are yet to take their second dose.
Among those who have been administered both doses, over 1 crore (1,33,77,706) have taken their booster ie; precautionary dose.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 27, 2023
Change to Covid vaccine formulation signals start of FDA pivot in immunization strategy

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Recent evidence suggests that the current bivalent provides protection against severe disease and death from the XBB.1 variant that is dominant in the U.S. right now.
“As we’ve turned the corner from a pandemic phase to an endemic phase,” said Ofer Levy, staff physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, professor at Harvard Medical School and a member of the FDA panel. “Today’s vote marks a big practical win for the American people.”
According to the CDC, roughly 69 percent of adults living in the U.S. have completed their primary vaccination series. More than 80 percent have received at least one shot, but 20 percent remain completely unvaccinated. Only about 15 percent of Americans, or 50 million people, have received bivalent boosters so far.
Advisers stressed that this update would simplify immunizations going forward, which could result in more vaccinations.
“I think anything that results in better public communication, to get more of the unvaccinated vaccinated would be extremely valuable,” said Henry Bernstein, a professor of pediatrics at Hofstra University and a member of the advisory committee.
The recommendation still needs to be adopted by the FDA and the CDC before all vaccines are updated. Although the FDA doesn’t have to agree with its advisory committee, it often does.
“We think that simplification of the vaccination regimen would contribute to easier vaccine deployment and better communication and improved vaccine coverage,” said Jerry Weir, director of the division of viral products in the office of vaccines research and review at FDA.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 27, 2023
Murphy administration bought eight new SUVs — at a cost of $521K — with federal Covid funds

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The budget, however, did require the administration to detail the spending to JBOC.
“NJSP is responsible for the security and transportation of State officials, including the Governor and Lieutenant Governor,” the Department of the Treasury memo states. “As part of their many responsibilities, these officials provide leadership and lend support to the State’s COVID-19 recovery efforts at vaccination sites, hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other affected sites.”
The purchases were also mentioned briefly in the Murphy administration’s New Jersey Recovery Plan report last summer, though they didn’t attract any scrutiny at the time.
The eight Chevrolet Suburbans are for use by the Executive Protection Unit, according to Trooper Charles Marchan, a spokesperson for the State Police.
“American Rescue Plan Funding was used to purchase eight Chevrolet Suburbans that went to the State Police’s Executive Protection Unit to support the travel requirements of government officials, including COVID-19-related engagements such as vaccine site visits, hospital tours, and pandemic meetings,” Marchan said in a statement.
The Treasury department memo says the state is eligible to use the funds under a federal regulation that allows them for “costs to improve the design and execution of programs responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and to administer or improve the efficacy of programs addressing the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts.”
Assemblymember Hal Wirths (R-Sussex), a member of JBOC and the Assembly minority budget officer, said the expenditure’s connection to the pandemic is “a stretch.”
“It’s legal, but I think it’s not the intention of the federal law to buy vehicles. Especially now. That’s what we’ve been so frustrated with, as budget officer, is the slowness of getting this money out,” Wirths said, referring to Republican complaints that the state government, controlled by Democrats, has been slow to appropriate federal coronavirus relief funds.

“I don’t think it’s a priority, especially this late after Covid,” Wirths said. “If they did it two or three years ago you might have a little more of an argument.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 26, 2023