wuhan - coronavirus

[Corraleno]

From Katelyn Jetelina:

"So what do we do for fall? After the presentations, a ton of questions and comments ensued among the committee. This simply reflected the complexity and difficulty of the situation. The discussion had a few themes: 

• No clinical data. Some voiced concern that we only have data on neutralizing antibodies. We don’t know, for example, if a 1.75x improvement provides clinical improvement. (Note these uncertainties were similarly voiced for booster 1 and booster 2. But we see that the boosters continue to have a meaningful impact on preventing death. Mounting scientific evidence shows neutralizing antibody levels predict severe disease. We can’t wait for ideal data; we need to make decisions based on imperfect data.)

• Broader data. There was also discussion around how we don’t have data on T-cell or B-cell response. The FDA continues to say this is too difficult to measure and standardize, and even more difficult to map to effectiveness in the real world. We really need FDA’s leadership to change this. We need a more comprehensive picture to make better decisions moving forward. 

• Making the jump. Some members said they weren’t comfortable recommending the BA.4/5 formula without clinical data. This is done each year with the flu vaccine (we don’t need clinical trials), but members said this is still a new vaccine and we need the data. It seemed, though, that the majority were in favor of a BA.4 or BA.5 formula vaccine. (I agree. These vaccines are so similar to previous ones that we can skip clinical trials. Obviously we need a definition of when a vaccine is not “new” anymore.) 

• Kids. There was some discussion on how to get everyone on the same page with boosters. The age de-escalation phases were necessary for the first vaccine series, but kids can’t continue to be 1.5 years behind. There was a mix of opinions whether we can confidently use adult data for rolling out pediatric vaccines. The vast majority agreed that the vaccine manufacturers need to collect pediatric data more quickly. (We need to start enrolling kids in trials with adults from here on out.) 

• Age. Some voiced support for an Omicron vaccine only for older age groups. Who gets a vaccine will be determined down the line (probably by ACIP). 

After discussion, they voted on the question: Does the committee recommend inclusion of a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron component for COVID-19 booster vaccines in the United States?

Yes: 19
No: 2 (Drs. Offit and Bernstein)
Abstain: 0

The FDA will make the final decision. Looks like we are getting an Omicron vaccine in the fall. It will likely be a bivalent vaccine and probably with BA.4/5 formula. Who will be eligible is yet to be determined. Could we wait for a booster? Maybe. Should we wait is a different question. I think this is the right call.

[Corraleno]

Jetelina also mentioned that Moderna's bivalent (Wuhan/Omicron 1) vaccine performed better than the monovalent version, but Pfizer found the opposite. This is an issue the FDA will have to settle, because they will need to choose either bivalent or monovalent, they can't let Moderna do bivalent and Pfizer do mono.

OTOH, Pfizer presented data showing that their BA4/5 vaccine performed very well in mice. The issue will be whether the FDA will allow development of future iterations of the vaccine without repeating human trials for every variant, or whether we're at the point where covid vaccines can be more like flu vaccines, which are reformulated each year based on the dominant variants that are expected to be circulating that season, with no requirement for human trials.

[KSera]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

 

Jetelina also mentioned that Moderna's bivalent (Wuhan/Omicron 1) vaccine performed better than the monovalent version, but Pfizer found the opposite. This is an issue the FDA will have to settle, because they will need to choose either bivalent or monovalent, they can't let Moderna do bivalent and Pfizer do mono.

 

This worries me after what happened with the pediatric vaccines. I fear they will go with whatever it is they want from Pfizer, with Moderna having to follow, even if Moderna has a better alternative product. 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.21.22276724v1
 

Preprint only on rebound after pavloxid and the mulnupiravir

molnupiravir is the concerning one with the potential to create new variants - not great to see rebound happening with it.

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://idp.nature.com/authorize?response_type=cookie&client_id=grover&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-022-01792-y
 

The feline finding, published in Emerging Infectious Diseases¹ on 6 June, came about by accident, says co-author Sarunyou Chusri, an infectious-disease researcher and physician at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, southern Thailand. In August, a father and son who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were transferred to an isolation ward at the university’s hospital. Their ten-year-old cat was also swabbed and tested positive. While being swabbed, the cat sneezed in the face of a veterinary surgeon, who was wearing a mask and gloves but no eye protection.

Three days later, the vet developed a fever, sniffles and a cough, and later tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, but none of her close contacts developed COVID-19, suggesting that she had been infected by the cat. Genetic analysis also confirmed that the vet was infected with the same variant as the cat and its owners, and the viral genomic sequences were identical.

 

[Ausmumof3]

23 hours ago, bookbard said:

This looks good!

South Australian Omicron Covid booster vaccine starting human trials | The National Tribune

@Ausmumof3 they're looking for volunteers . . . 

I am having a look. I’m not sure if I’m quite that brave though. 

[Ausmumof3]

NZ getting it right yet again.

[Ausmumof3]

Interesting report on a small long covid study from Canada

https://globalnews.ca/news/8950820/long-covid-canadian-researchers-causes-study/

 

Using an MRI technique developed by Western University that is five times as sensitive and has five times the spatial resolution of a CT scan, the researchers were able to see how tiny branches of air tubes in the lungs were moving oxygen into the red blood cells of their patients.

Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Any disruption in the flow of this oxygen to red blood cells will trigger the brain to say, ‘breathe more’ — resulting in a feeling of breathlessness, Parraga explained.

All 34 of the patients who participated in the study were experiencing problems in the level of oxygen being absorbed by their red blood cells.

And they all had the same result, regardless of the severity of their symptoms or whether they had been hospitalized for COVID-19 — another key find, Parraga said.

[KSera]

Florida once again stooping to new lows by preventing low income children from being able to access the vaccine.

 

[Pawz4me]

FDA is now recommending Evusheld be given every six months --

Quote

Update [6/29/2022] There are different variants (and subvariants) of SARS-CoV-2, and FDA continues to evaluate how well Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab) neutralizes them. Currently, the Omicron BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 subvariants are circulating in the United States. Nonclinical data and pharmacokinetic modeling suggest that activity against these subvariants may be retained for six months at drug concentrations achieved following an Evusheld dose of 300 mg of tixagevimab and 300 mg cilgavimab.

Therefore, on June 29, 2022, FDA revised the Evusheld Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers to recommend repeat dosing every six months with a dose of 300 mg of tixagevimab and 300 mg cilgavimab if patients need ongoing protection. The previous Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers did not provide a specific recommendation on the dosing interval.

We continue to monitor the neutralizing activity of Evusheld against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and will provide additional updates as needed.

 

[bookbard]

Well, I'm predicting we will all end up with covid in the next couple of days. A kid who my daughter has been spending heaps of time with over the last few days now has it. I gave them a lift in the car yday. So annoyed at myself. 

10,000 cases in NSW today, which is the highest Friday number in ages.

[bookbard]

Wow, this is huge - in this study about 15% of maternal deaths were due to Covid.

Maternal mortality jumped during COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis shows that Black and Hispanic mothers bore the greatest burden -- ScienceDaily

[Laura Corin]

One in 15 people in Scotland have Covid.

https://youtu.be/kWrU0lF0CF8

[Ausmumof3]

In other infectious disease news… 

I haven’t seen confirmation of this from a second source.

[bookbard]

That's just horrific - that poor child. 

1 hour ago, Ausmumof3 said:

In other infectious disease news… 

I haven’t seen confirmation of this from a second source.

I think someone in the comments linked the media release. I assume the child must have caught it from someone from overseas, I can't see that diptheria would be circulating. But if anywhere - northern NSW would be the place (lowest vaccination rates in NSW). 

[Ausmumof3]

42 minutes ago, bookbard said:

That's just horrific - that poor child. 

I think someone in the comments linked the media release. I assume the child must have caught it from someone from overseas, I can't see that diptheria would be circulating. But if anywhere - northern NSW would be the place (lowest vaccination rates in NSW). 

Too sad 😞

hope the health care workers can do some miracles and kid will be healthy again soon.

[Ausmumof3]

What do we know about BA 2.75?

 

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

What do we know about BA 2.75?

 

Ugh.  I hadn't heard of this yet.

UK monitoring growth of new BA.2.75 variant, which has emerged in five countries worldwide (msn.com)

[Mom_to3]

Purchases of 105 million doses of updated Pfizer for part of the population. Funds diverted from testing and vaccine research.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3541952-us-places-3-2-billion-order-for-updated-covid-19-vaccines-for-fall/

Why no purchase of Moderna?? Are they still planning to do this? It is VERY odd that all throughout, the US seems to have favored Pfizer (over Moderna or now Novavax). Very odd.

[KSera]

30 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

Purchases of 105 million doses of updated Pfizer for part of the population. Funds diverted from testing and vaccine research.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3541952-us-places-3-2-billion-order-for-updated-covid-19-vaccines-for-fall/

Why no purchase of Moderna?? Are they still planning to do this? It is VERY odd that all throughout, the US seems to have favored Pfizer (over Moderna or now Novavax). Very odd.

It’s surpassed being odd to me to being downright angering. It happened with the pediatric vaccines and if it now means we have to get the seemingly inferior Pfizer bivalent rather than the Moderna, I’m going to be really pissed 😡. I can only assume there’s a follow the money trail here somewhere.

[Arcadia]

40 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

 

Why no purchase of Moderna?? Are they still planning to do this? It is VERY odd that all throughout, the US seems to have favored Pfizer (over Moderna or now Novavax). Very odd.

 

9 minutes ago, KSera said:

It’s surpassed being odd to me to being downright angering. It happened with the pediatric vaccines and if it now means we have to get the seemingly inferior Pfizer bivalent rather than the Moderna, I’m going to be really pissed 😡. I can only assume there’s a follow the money trail here somewhere.

Money talks.

E.g. https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-vaccine-coronavirus-covid19-lobbyists-washington-2020-12?amp

”Pfizer

The company is on pace to spend more than $11.3 million on federal-level lobbying efforts in 2020, which would rank among its highest annual totals during the past decade.

… "Policies impacting U.S. address to the Covid-19 pandemic," "COVID relief proposals," and "issues and proposals related to COVID-19 including clinical trials, vaccines and therapeutics" ranked among Pfizer's disclosed lobbying priorities this year. 

… Nearly 80 individual lobbyists have so far this year worked on behalf of Pfizer, including two former members of Congress: Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas, and Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican from New York who also served as chairwoman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission as recently as last year. 

Lincoln's recent lobbying efforts on behalf of Pfizer included "COVID relief proposals" and "outreach regarding drug supply concerns," according to federal disclosures.

Several dozen other Pfizer lobbyists, scattered across 16 different firms the company has contracted, plus its own in-house staff, have previous government experience. Many have worked as congressional staffers or within government agencies.

Pfizer also sponsors a federal political action committee and is one of the nation's most generous PAC givers. The company has so far donated more than $2.64 million to politicians and political committees during the 2019-2020 election cycle.

About one-third of that money went to federal-level political candidates, split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats. In all, more than 170 candidates for the House and more than 50 for the Senate accepted Pfizer PAC contributions. 

Pfizer's PAC made its largest Election 2020 contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($120,000), National Republican Senatorial Committee ($105,000), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($85,000), and National Republican Congressional Committee ($65,500). Such party committees may by law accept greater amounts of money than congressional candidate committees. 

The PAC also contributed to the leadership PACs of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican; and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, among several dozen others.

… Some lawmakers, meanwhile, are investing their money in Pfizer. 

Pfizer for years has ranked among members of Congress' favorite stocks to personally buy and sell, with 48 members or their spouses invested in Pfizer at some level during 2018, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. 
…

Moderna

Compared to Pfizer and AstraZeneca, Moderna is a biopharmaceutical toddler, having only existed since 2010.

It only began lobbying the federal government in 2019, spending just $40,000 that year.

During the first nine months of 2020, Moderna spent $180,000 on federal lobbying efforts, including $100,000 from July through September, according to congressional lobbying disclosures. 

Those most recent disclosures indicate Moderna's lobbying efforts focused exclusively on "education around potential COVID-19 vaccines and related issues."

One difference with Massachusetts-based Moderna? It partnered with the federal government's National Institutes of Health on its vaccine, which the company says is 94 percent effective at protecting people against COVID-19. In August, Moderna said the government had invested $2.48 billion into its vaccine.

Moderna does not operate a corporate PAC, and therefore makes no such donations. 

Several of its executives, however, have made personal contributions to political candidates this election cycle.“

[whitestavern]

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

 

Money talks.

E.g. https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-vaccine-coronavirus-covid19-lobbyists-washington-2020-12?amp

”Pfizer

The company is on pace to spend more than $11.3 million on federal-level lobbying efforts in 2020, which would rank among its highest annual totals during the past decade.

… "Policies impacting U.S. address to the Covid-19 pandemic," "COVID relief proposals," and "issues and proposals related to COVID-19 including clinical trials, vaccines and therapeutics" ranked among Pfizer's disclosed lobbying priorities this year. 

… Nearly 80 individual lobbyists have so far this year worked on behalf of Pfizer, including two former members of Congress: Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas, and Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican from New York who also served as chairwoman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission as recently as last year. 

Lincoln's recent lobbying efforts on behalf of Pfizer included "COVID relief proposals" and "outreach regarding drug supply concerns," according to federal disclosures.

Several dozen other Pfizer lobbyists, scattered across 16 different firms the company has contracted, plus its own in-house staff, have previous government experience. Many have worked as congressional staffers or within government agencies.

Pfizer also sponsors a federal political action committee and is one of the nation's most generous PAC givers. The company has so far donated more than $2.64 million to politicians and political committees during the 2019-2020 election cycle.

About one-third of that money went to federal-level political candidates, split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats. In all, more than 170 candidates for the House and more than 50 for the Senate accepted Pfizer PAC contributions. 

Pfizer's PAC made its largest Election 2020 contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($120,000), National Republican Senatorial Committee ($105,000), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($85,000), and National Republican Congressional Committee ($65,500). Such party committees may by law accept greater amounts of money than congressional candidate committees. 

The PAC also contributed to the leadership PACs of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican; and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, among several dozen others.

… Some lawmakers, meanwhile, are investing their money in Pfizer. 

Pfizer for years has ranked among members of Congress' favorite stocks to personally buy and sell, with 48 members or their spouses invested in Pfizer at some level during 2018, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. 
…

Moderna

Compared to Pfizer and AstraZeneca, Moderna is a biopharmaceutical toddler, having only existed since 2010.

It only began lobbying the federal government in 2019, spending just $40,000 that year.

During the first nine months of 2020, Moderna spent $180,000 on federal lobbying efforts, including $100,000 from July through September, according to congressional lobbying disclosures. 

Those most recent disclosures indicate Moderna's lobbying efforts focused exclusively on "education around potential COVID-19 vaccines and related issues."

One difference with Massachusetts-based Moderna? It partnered with the federal government's National Institutes of Health on its vaccine, which the company says is 94 percent effective at protecting people against COVID-19. In August, Moderna said the government had invested $2.48 billion into its vaccine.

Moderna does not operate a corporate PAC, and therefore makes no such donations. 

Several of its executives, however, have made personal contributions to political candidates this election cycle.“

Disgusting 

[bookbard]

Sadly Australia has now passed 10,000 deaths from Covid. We had 1,000 up until the end of last year, I believe - the rest all happened since the NSW Premier got rid of all protections at the end of 2021. 

Australia surpasses 10,000 Covid deaths as authorities warn of another wave of infections | Coronavirus | The Guardian

[Ausmumof3]

Victoria are adding air purifiers to public buses

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23140258/monkeypox-pandemic-covid-public-health
 

This is technically about monkey pox but it’s more around risk communication and I found myself nodding along a lot. Please give me the facts not a pat on the head and a “don’t worry”.

[bookbard]

11 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

This is technically about monkey pox but it’s more around risk communication and I found myself nodding along a lot. Please give me the facts not a pat on the head and a “don’t worry”.

A really interesting article listing a lot of times people were given misleading information in the name of 'don't panic'. I wonder who is pushing the 'panic is more dangerous than anything' line? Is it based on anything scientific or is it emotional or is it a political line? That would be a good thing for someone to dig into. 

We're still negative for Covid four days after giving a lift in the car to a family who tested positive the next day. I'm wondering when I can relax a bit - a week? 10 days?

[Corraleno]

13 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23140258/monkeypox-pandemic-covid-public-health
 

This is technically about monkey pox but it’s more around risk communication and I found myself nodding along a lot. Please give me the facts not a pat on the head and a “don’t worry”.

Really excellent article. I agree with all of this:

"In general, I’d like to see public health officials step back entirely from trying to manage our feelings about outbreaks. Don’t tell us to worry or not to worry, or not to worry yet. Don’t tell us to worry about something else instead. Tell us what measures are being taken to contain the monkeypox outbreak, and prevent the next monkeypox outbreak, and prevent the next outbreak of something much, much worse than monkeypox. By all means, explain the reasons to think monkeypox is likely not very transmissible; that’s important information you have relevant expertise on, unlike trying to manage the public’s feelings.

And for its part, the media should stop asking public health officials “should I worry?” instead of asking them the questions they are much more equipped to answer: What policies would have prevented this outbreak? What measures need to be in place to contain it? What scenarios are plausible from here?

In many cases, “don’t worry” is just being used as shorthand for “there’s good reason to think monkeypox won’t cause a global pandemic” — which, to be clear, is a true claim. But I think it’s worth spelling out the longer claim, rather than treating worry as the key consideration. People shouldn’t be encouraged to view outbreaks through the lens of “should I be scared?” but rather through the lens of “will this be contained, what will it take to contain it, and if it’s not contained, what effects will it have on the world?”

[Mom_to3]

Excellent articlee indeed, thanks for linking! What does make me panic is thinking that our government has stopped any desire to fight the covid pandemic. What makes me panic is that we still don't know who will be eligible for boosters this fall. What makes me panic is that the US government has no funding for vaccines, tests, treatments and research when covid may take a turn for the worse at any moment. What makes me panic is a president who proudly twitters "COVID is down - but gas prices are up" - when cases being down (compared to what? Certainly not when compared to this time last year) is largely due to us stopping to measure cases. What makes me panic is seeing the same issues that we faced in the original covid outbreak hamper the response to monkeypox. What makes me panic is that we as a society are accepting a hugely increased loss of life and loss of quality of life (via long covid). What makes me panic is thinking that no matter what the next pandemic, we won't react until it is far too late. 

[Ausmumof3]

3,141 positive out of 5,824 tests. That’s not quite a true percentage positive as there’s a requirement to report positive RATS but not negative ones. It is the highest percentage it’s ever been though so I don’t think it’s good news.

[Arcadia]

News link https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/connecticut-patient-had-covid-for-471-days-evolved-3-new-lineages-study/3761463/?amp
Study link https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.29.22276868v1

”A Connecticut cancer patient was chronically infected with COVID-19 for at least 471 straight days, and during that time evolved at least three distinct lineages of the virus in their bloodstream, according to a new study from researchers at Yale.

The report highlights the potential for immunocompromised people to serve as hosts for COVID's evolution, much as South African scientists speculated last year that the omicron variant may have come from one chronically ill person.

… 

According to the authors, their regular surveillance of COVID variants detected a lineage known as B.1.517 in Connecticut well after it largely stopped being seen around the world. Subsequent tracing led back to a person in their 60s with lymphoma.

The patient first tested positive for COVID in Nov. 2020, and continued to be positive for the virus through at least March of this year. 

"The patient continues to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 471 days and counting after the initial diagnosis," the authors wrote, adding that the person was infectious and had high viral loads essentially throughout the period. (They also noted that the patient had a few days of mild symptoms when first diagnosed, and has otherwise been fine since.)

But it was not just the persistent infection that caught their attention, it was the fact that the virus was quickly evolving inside the patient as time passed, with three distinct, new lineages emerging.

Using sophisticated data analysis of the patient's tests and global databases, the authors concluded that the virus might be evolving twice as fast inside the patient as it did in the general population.

"These findings show that this chronic infection resulted in accelerated SARS-CoV-2 evolution and divergence, a mechanism potentially contributing to the emergence of genetically diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, Delta, and Alpha," they wrote.

Of the variants that evolved in the patient, the authors added "(these) distinct genotypes appeared to emerge as early as within the first three months of the infection, although new genotypes were detected after nearly ten months, suggesting multiple novel variants may simultaneously emerge and potentially spread from the same immunocompromised individual over a longer sampling period."”

[Longtime Lurker]

7 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

News link https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/connecticut-patient-had-covid-for-471-days-evolved-3-new-lineages-study/3761463/?amp
Study link https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.29.22276868v1

”A Connecticut cancer patient was chronically infected with COVID-19 for at least 471 straight days, and during that time evolved at least three distinct lineages of the virus in their bloodstream, according to a new study from researchers at Yale.

The report highlights the potential for immunocompromised people to serve as hosts for COVID's evolution, much as South African scientists speculated last year that the omicron variant may have come from one chronically ill person.

… 

According to the authors, their regular surveillance of COVID variants detected a lineage known as B.1.517 in Connecticut well after it largely stopped being seen around the world. Subsequent tracing led back to a person in their 60s with lymphoma.

The patient first tested positive for COVID in Nov. 2020, and continued to be positive for the virus through at least March of this year. 

"The patient continues to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 471 days and counting after the initial diagnosis," the authors wrote, adding that the person was infectious and had high viral loads essentially throughout the period. (They also noted that the patient had a few days of mild symptoms when first diagnosed, and has otherwise been fine since.)

But it was not just the persistent infection that caught their attention, it was the fact that the virus was quickly evolving inside the patient as time passed, with three distinct, new lineages emerging.

Using sophisticated data analysis of the patient's tests and global databases, the authors concluded that the virus might be evolving twice as fast inside the patient as it did in the general population.

"These findings show that this chronic infection resulted in accelerated SARS-CoV-2 evolution and divergence, a mechanism potentially contributing to the emergence of genetically diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, Delta, and Alpha," they wrote.

Of the variants that evolved in the patient, the authors added "(these) distinct genotypes appeared to emerge as early as within the first three months of the infection, although new genotypes were detected after nearly ten months, suggesting multiple novel variants may simultaneously emerge and potentially spread from the same immunocompromised individual over a longer sampling period."”

Wow! That is both fascinating and horrifying.

[bookbard]

20 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

Wow! That is both fascinating and horrifying.

I agree! 

Big jump in numbers today in NSW, over 13,000 cases a day. Media slowly starting to suggest masks. Govt saying they're not going to mandate them. Over and over. 

[Ausmumof3]

Cases over 4000 here today after weeks of under 3000. Testing is higher but assuming this is the wave really taking off now. I suspect it will drop off once school holidays kicks in?

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/qld-covid-coronavirus-health-hospital-workers-peak/101203170
 

Over 2000 health care workers currently off sick in QLD

[Melissa Louise]

4 hours ago, bookbard said:

I agree! 

Big jump in numbers today in NSW, over 13,000 cases a day. Media slowly starting to suggest masks. Govt saying they're not going to mandate them. Over and over. 

Couldn't believe they had a press conference yesterday to say they urged masks, but couldn't tell people what to do! What point is it being the blooming state government then?!

[Melissa Louise]

NSW Health public warnings this week:

Flu 

RSV 

Covid 

Monkey pox

Diphtheria 

Probs gonna be some other flood related plague by Sunday.  

 

 

 

[bookbard]

1 hour ago, Melissa Louise said:

Probs gonna be some other flood related plague by Sunday.  

 

Yes, this poor woman waded thru flood water to get to work last year's floods, ended up nearly dying from infection, in hospital for months. So many messages on local FB pages about bosses requiring people to travel to work despite the floods - it's so evil!! Lots of people being made to take leave without pay, because 3rd flood this year, who pays for another 10 days unable to work? Grrr so furious about the whole situation, feels like this one was almost deliberate, they knew a month ahead about the rain coming but waited till the flood began before letting water out of Warragambah dam. 

2 hours ago, Melissa Louise said:

Couldn't believe they had a press conference yesterday to say they urged masks, but couldn't tell people what to do! What point is it being the blooming state government then?!

Exactly. We'd like you to wear a seatbelt . . . not drink drive . . . not knife people in the street . . . but hey, we can't tell you what to do!!

[Melissa Louise]

ATAGI set to allow 4th shots for people over 30. Recommended for people over 50.

 

[Arcadia]

@Ausmumof3@KSera@kbutton

Caltech link (long article) https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/sars-coronavirus-variant-vaccine-bjorkman

Oxford link (announcement) https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/tackling-future-coronavirus-threats-with-a-novel-all-in-one-vaccine

Study link https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq0839

”Abstract

To combat future SARS-CoV-2 variants and spillovers of SARS-like betacoronaviruses (sarbecoviruses) threatening global health, we designed mosaic nanoparticles presenting randomly-arranged sarbecovirus spike receptor-binding domains (RBDs) to elicit antibodies against epitopes that are conserved and relatively occluded, rather than variable, immunodominant, and exposed. We compared immune responses elicited by mosaic-8 (SARS-CoV-2 and seven animal sarbecoviruses) and homotypic (only SARS-CoV-2) RBD-nanoparticles in mice and macaques, observing stronger responses elicited by mosaic-8 to mismatched (not on nanoparticles) strains including SARS-CoV and animal sarbecoviruses. Mosaic-8 immunization showed equivalent neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicrons and protected from SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV challenges, whereas homotypic SARS-CoV-2 immunization protected only from SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Epitope mapping demonstrated increased targeting of conserved epitopes after mosaic-8 immunization. Together, these results suggest mosaic-8 RBD-nanoparticles could protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants and future sarbecovirus spillovers.”

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

@Ausmumof3@KSera@kbutton

Caltech link (long article) https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/sars-coronavirus-variant-vaccine-bjorkman

Oxford link (announcement) https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/tackling-future-coronavirus-threats-with-a-novel-all-in-one-vaccine

Study link https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq0839

”Abstract

To combat future SARS-CoV-2 variants and spillovers of SARS-like betacoronaviruses (sarbecoviruses) threatening global health, we designed mosaic nanoparticles presenting randomly-arranged sarbecovirus spike receptor-binding domains (RBDs) to elicit antibodies against epitopes that are conserved and relatively occluded, rather than variable, immunodominant, and exposed. We compared immune responses elicited by mosaic-8 (SARS-CoV-2 and seven animal sarbecoviruses) and homotypic (only SARS-CoV-2) RBD-nanoparticles in mice and macaques, observing stronger responses elicited by mosaic-8 to mismatched (not on nanoparticles) strains including SARS-CoV and animal sarbecoviruses. Mosaic-8 immunization showed equivalent neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicrons and protected from SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV challenges, whereas homotypic SARS-CoV-2 immunization protected only from SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Epitope mapping demonstrated increased targeting of conserved epitopes after mosaic-8 immunization. Together, these results suggest mosaic-8 RBD-nanoparticles could protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants and future sarbecovirus spillovers.”

This would be amazing!

[Ausmumof3]

And fourth boosters approved for over 30s. I must admit I’m really torn about this one. 

[bookbard]

15 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

And fourth boosters approved for over 30s. I must admit I’m really torn about this one. 

Why's that?

Still no covid here despite exposure last week . . . I'm wondering if it's because I had the 4th shot 3weeks beforehand.

[Ausmumof3]

5 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Why's that?

Still no covid here despite exposure last week . . . I'm wondering if it's because I had the 4th shot 3weeks beforehand.

Wipes me out for two days every time. (Plus another few days of feeling slightly off). If I was confident that it was only short term discomfort for long term gain I’d be ok, but I can’t help feeling that multiple doses of something that makes me feel that bad might be doing some long term damage somehow. And yes, I am obviously still concerned about the long term covid damage as well, hence still masking and being cautious. But the evidence for benefit from the booster in my age beyond about twelve weeks seems to be limited.

i need to make a decision soon though because if I get it I need to time it for school holidays when I don’t need to be at work that week.

Well done on the no covid thing! We also seem to have escaped aside from DH. I did one last bonus RAT Wednesday just to check. 

DH is also feeling pretty much back to normal thankfully.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Ausmumof3

[bookbard]

1 minute ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Wipes me out for two days every time. (Plus another few days of feeling slightly off).

Ohhh. So sorry, I forgot about that. I don't really get a reaction from the Covid shots at all. However got the Shingrax a few weeks back and did react with flu like symptoms. Fortunately my Dr had warned me that would happen, so I scheduled it just before a weekend, and rode it out. But even that was only 24hrs - I know you and a couple of others are really affected by the Covid ones for some time. Have you looked into using Novavax as a booster (and whether it's any good?) I did see online that it may be allowed.

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://virologydownunder.com/masks-matter-for-more-than-mandates/

Good article on mask-wearing, infection and viral load. Probably nothing new to anyone here but maybe helpful if you ever need something to share.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.06.22277306v1
 

Note this study is in Qatar, preprint only and doesn’t include a huge proportion of over 60s but generally shows lower rates of severe, or fatal disease on reinfection.  I’m not sure how good the study is but seems like reasonably good news.

[Melissa Louise]

17 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

And fourth boosters approved for over 30s. I must admit I’m really torn about this one. 

Weirdly, so am I, and I'm not sure why. 

I'm going to get it on Monday, but I've been putting it off. Just a no-evidence niggle.

 

[Ausmumof3]

8 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

Weirdly, so am I, and I'm not sure why. 

I'm going to get it on Monday, but I've been putting it off. Just a no-evidence niggle.

 

Best of luck. Hope it’s all good for you.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2206725#.YsdrxZD4ikw.twitter
 

Boosters are still protective against BA4, 5 and 2.12.1 though at a lower level. No mention of the 75 one in this study but I think that’s mostly in India right now.

[Ausmumof3]

In anecdotal evidence, my DH was coughing quite badly last night after a couple of days of feeling good. It would be day 14 for him. He did have two quite busy days and has stopped resting.