Featured Headlines
Why The World Is Seeing Some Of Its Most Extreme Pandemic Lockdowns – NPR
The last Sunday of 2020 was ushered in with both promise and apprehension on the global pandemic front. The European Union began immunizing residents with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. “We are starting to turn the page on a difficult year,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a video posted on Twitter. The E.U. she added has “secured enough doses for our whole population of 450 million people.”
Air travel hits pandemic high amid winter holidays – Washington Post
U.S. air travel hit its highest peak of the pandemic over the weekend, as Americans crisscrossed the country for the holidays despite a dramatic surge in cases and hospitalizations. [Related NYT article: U.S. Air Travel Is Highest Since March, Despite Warnings]
Multiple countries report UK SARS-CoV-2 variant cases – CIDRAP
Over the holiday weekend, more than a dozen countries reported cases involving the UK SARS-CoV-2 variant, with a few reporting their first cases of a similar but distinct South African variant.
3 questions scientists are working to answer about the new coronavirus variant – PBS Newshour
A variant of the coronavirus that emerged in the United Kingdom has forced London to shut down, led some countries to ban travel to and from the U.K., and set off a global manhunt to find out where else this version has arrived.
COVID antibodies may fend off reinfection for 6 months – CIDRAP
Few healthcare workers in the United Kingdom who recovered from COVID-19 and had immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the virus were reinfected over the next 6 months, according to a study published Dec 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine. [Related study NEJM]
The Plague Year – The New Yorker
There are three moments in the yearlong catastrophe of the covid-19 pandemic when events might have turned out differently. The first occurred on January 3, 2020, when Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke with George Fu Gao, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which was modelled on the American institution. Redfield had just received a report about an unexplained respiratory virus emerging in the city of Wuhan.
Still Disinfecting Surfaces? It Might Not Be Worth It – NPR
What’s found is viral RNA, which is like “the corpse of the virus,” he says. That’s what’s left over after the virus dies.
Vaccine Headlines
Can you spread COVID-19 after vaccination? Here’s what we know. – Popular Science
“It would not be so far-fetched to have a vaccine that protects you from developing the worst COVID disease, but you could be infected and you could be spreading it [without] getting really sick,” says Jeffrey Bethony, a professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences who works on vaccines for parasitic diseases and HIV. “There is hope that they prevent transmission, but we simply don’t know enough about them yet.”
More COVID-19 vaccines in the pipeline as US effort ramps up – AP
A huge U.S. study of another COVID-19 vaccine candidate got underway Monday as states continue to roll out scarce supplies of the first shots to a nation anxiously awaiting relief from the catastrophic outbreak.
What Is the World Doing to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines? – Council on Foreign Relations
Governments and researchers have been working with an extremely ambitious timetable to provide billions of people with immunity to the new coronavirus. Now, the first vaccines are being distributed, spurring hope that the pandemic’s end is in sight.
AstraZeneca
Shot will be effective against COVID-19 variant – AP
The head of drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be approved by U.K. authorities this week, said Sunday that researchers believe the shot will be effective against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain.
Clinical Considerations
One Year Later, How Does COVID-19 Affect Children? – JAMA
We have all lived with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for about a year now. Overall, we have learned that children get sick less often than adults, but a few children have gotten severely sick. This update summarizes the current understanding of how children are affected and gives ways to keep families safe as children continue to grow and thrive.
Official Reporting for December 29, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update December 22, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 79 673 754
Deaths: 1 761 381
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 76 046 387
Deaths: 1 693 858
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 81,249,028
Deaths: 1,772,912
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 19,055,869 (+145,959 New Cases)
Total deaths: 332,246 (+1,345 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
US sees a record number of COVID-19 deaths in December – CIDRAP
MIDDLE EAST
Iran: Iran to Get Pfizer Vaccine From U.S. Philanthropists in 3 Weeks – Bloomberg
Iran: No longer in viral denial, Iran struggles – AP
EUROPE
UK: Concern at ‘unprecedented’ infection level in England – BBC
Germany: Cold chain doubts delay COVID-19 vaccinations in some German cities – Reuters
Switzerland: Hundreds of British skiers flee Swiss Verbier quarantine – BBC
Science and Tech
Therapeutics
Bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody, flops in hospitalized COVID-19 patients – MedPageToday
Administering bamlanivimab (formerly LY-CoV555), a monoclonal antibody for COVID-19, along with remdesivir (Veklury) was ineffective for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, a randomized trial found.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Almost immediately, Dr. Hisam Goueli could tell that the patient who came to his psychiatric hospital on Long Island this summer was unusual.
Published Research
Antibody Status and Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers – NEJM
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Vaccine Hesitancy
How Do We Inject Confidence Into Vaccine Hesitant Americans? – MedPageToday
With a ‘return to normal’ from the pandemic practically hinging on COVID-19 vaccines, how do you overcome those who are vaccine hesitant? How does vaccination history impact perception and what role do medical professionals have in explaining the science? To learn more we chatted with MedPage Today Editorial Board member Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Coping in 2020
