Featured Headlines
90 year old Margaret Keenan, the first patient in the UK to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, administered by nurse May Parsons at University Hospital, Coventry, England, Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The United Kingdom, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, is beginning its vaccination campaign, a key step toward eventually ending the pandemic. (Jacob King/Pool via AP)
Pfizer’s Vaccine Offers Strong Protection After First Dose – NYT
The Food and Drug Administration’s first analysis of the clinical trial data also found that the coronavirus vaccine worked well regardless of a volunteer’s race, weight or age.
Birx warns of asymptomatic spread in small gatherings – Washington Post
White House coronavirus adviser Deborah Birx warned Tuesday that the majority of the coronavirus transmission in the United States is being driven by people who do not know they’re infected and gather maskless with others in close quarters.
How COVID vaccines are being divvied up around the world – Nature
Canada leads the pack in terms of doses secured per capita. Vaccine developers who have already reported promising phase III trial results against COVID-19 estimate that, between them, they can make sufficient doses for more than one-third of the world’s population by the end of 2021. But many people in low-income countries might have to wait until 2023 or 2024 for vaccination, according to estimates from the Duke Global Health Innovation Center in Durham, North Carolina.
Pfizer tells U.S. officials it cannot supply substantial additional vaccine until late June or July – Washington Post
Pfizer has told the Trump administration it cannot provide substantial additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine until late June or July because other countries have rushed to buy up most of its supply, according to multiple individuals familiar with the situation.
Bloomberg Podcast: A Turning Point Week Ahead
Reporter Anna Edney breaks down the next steps in the approval process, and helps explain the reality of making the vaccine available to the public.
HHS Publishes COVID-19 Hospital Facility-Level Data – HHS
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing new hospital COVID-19 capacity data at the facility level. Previously released data about hospital capacity that had been released was aggregated at the state level. This new, more granular, data release aggregates daily hospital reports into a “week at a time” picture to protect patient privacy, while providing a view of how COVID-19 is impacting hospitals and local communities across the country.
Clinical Considerations
Diabetes drug may decrease COVID-19 death risk in women – Medical News Today
A recent study found an association between metformin and a significantly reduced mortality risk in women with type 2 diabetes or obesity who were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Official Reporting for December 9, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update December 7, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 67 210 778
Deaths: 1 540 777
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 67 367 046
Deaths: 1 545 331
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 68,148,400
Deaths: 1,555,031
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 14,823,129 (+186,215 New Cases)
Total deaths: 282,785 (+1,532 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Washington State: Nursing home staffers attended a 300-person superspreader wedding. Now six residents have died. – Washington Post
Massachusetts: Here’s How Massachusetts Is Responding to the 2nd Coronavirus Surge – NBC
Arizona: Arizona adds record-high 12,314 new COVID-19 cases, 23 deaths as hospitalizations continue to rise – AZ Central
SOUTH AMERICA
Venezuela: Faced with crumbling hospitals, many Covid-19 patients in Venezuela prefer their chances at home – CNN
EUROPE
Germany: Germany may not ‘get through winter’ without stricter measures, Merkel warns – Washington Post
ASIA
South Korea: South Korea’s Health Minister Describes Seoul As A ‘COVID-19 War Zone’ – NPR
Science and Tech
Early in the pandemic, Lars Plate, assistant professor of chemistry and biological sciences, along with graduate students Katherine Almasy, Jonathan Davies and Eli McDonald, investigated the basic molecular mechanisms that give otherwise similar coronaviruses their differing levels of disease severity. Granted special dispensation because of the urgency of the project, the group conducted their research through the shutdown that began in March 2020.
In a follow-up on the SARS-CoV-2 mink-associated variant strain in Denmark, the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) reports there has been a marked decrease in the number of persons residing on mink farms infected with SARS-CoV-2, while at the same time, the strain is infecting more of society in the general community.
Vaccine
FDA Head Stephen Hahn On What’s Next For Pfizer Vaccine In Fast-Moving Process – NPR
6 min audio at the link – The Food and Drug Administration has found that there are “no specific safety concerns” that would stop the agency from approving the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Biden’s Covid-19 Task Force Needs Behavioral Scientists – Harvard Business Review
President-elect Joseph Biden has announced a stellar Covid-19 task force consisting of medical and clinical professionals. This incredible group of people will no doubt develop a medical, data-driven, and compassionate approach that will bring us closer to the finish line of this pandemic than we ever could have hoped for with the current administration. Unfortunately, however, this task force leaves out a critical set of experts: social and behavioral scientists.
Hardly Any 1918 Flu Memorials Exist. Will We Remember COVID-19 Differently? – NPR
As the number of deaths related to COVID-19 surpasses a quarter-million in the U.S., artists are embarking on ambitious projects to remember the coronavirus pandemic’s victims.
Published Research
Comparative Multiplexed Interactomics of SARS-CoV-2 and Homologous Coronavirus Nonstructural Proteins Identifies Unique and Shared Host-Cell Dependencies – ACS Infectious Diseases
SARS-Coronavirus-2 cases in healthcare workers may not regularly originate from patient care: lessons from a university hospital on the underestimated risk of healthcare worker to healthcare worker transmission – BMC
A Nursing Researcher’s Experience in a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial – JAMA
Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine efficacy – The Lancet
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Vaccine rumours debunked: Microchips, ‘altered DNA’ and more – BBC
The fear that a vaccine will somehow change your DNA is one we’ve seen aired regularly on social media. The BBC asked three independent scientists about this. They said that the coronavirus vaccine would not alter human DNA.
Coping in 2020
How 2020 Remapped Your Worlds – Bloomberg
Through homemade maps, readers shared perspectives and stories from a world transformed by the coronavirus pandemic.
DIY for 2020
