Featured Headlines
The Brazil Variant Is Exposing the World’s Vulnerability – The Atlantic
Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out. In the rainforest city of Manaus, home to 2 million people, bodies are reportedly being dropped into mass graves as quickly as they can be dug. Hospitals have run out of oxygen, and people with potentially treatable cases of COVID-19 are dying of asphyxia. This nature and scale of mortality have not been seen since the first months of the pandemic.
The Mystery Of India’s Plummeting COVID-19 Cases – NPR
Last September, India was confirming nearly 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day. It was on track to overtake the United States to become the country with the highest reported COVID-19 caseload in the world. Hospitals were full. The Indian economy nosedived into
Mapping Los Angeles’s Unequal Covid-19 Surge an unprecedented recession. – New York Times
It’s been slightly more than a year since what we used to call the novel coronavirus was first detected in California. Not long after those first cases were found, experts began warning about how it would disproportionately hurt poorer people, whose jobs were likely to be deemed essential, and who were likely to be members of communities of color.
Wearing of face masks while on conveyances and at transportation hubs – CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an Order pdf icon[PDF – 11 pages] on January 29, 2021 requiring the wearing of masks by travelers to prevent spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Conveyance operators must also require all persons onboard to wear masks when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel. Operators of transportation hubs must require all persons to wear a mask when entering or on the premises of a transportation hub.
The mutation-laden variants are on the move, and that includes one first identified in South Africa and confirmed in a Baltimore-area adult, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Saturday. It was the third known case in the United States of the variant, following two cases announced Thursday in South Carolina. The person in Maryland had no travel history, which is evidence of community transmission.
Vaccine Headlines
J&J’s One-Dose Shot Gives U.S. a Chance to Plug Vaccination Gaps – Bloomberg
Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot Covid-19 vaccine may not immediately ease the widespread supply constraints slowing the U.S. immunization campaign. Yet it appears poised to aid difficult-to-reach populations that need protection from the virus.
Vaccine manufacturing greenhorn Bayer to make 160M doses of CureVac’s COVID-19 shot – Fierce Pharma
As part of a recently penned collaboration, Bayer will help manufacture German compatriot CureVac’s mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine, CVnCOV, in addition to aiding in R&D, regulatory affairs, supply chain management and potential marketing operations, Stefan Oelrich, Bayer’s pharma chief, said in a press briefing Monday.
Fauci: Covid Vaccines Are Less Effective Against New Strains, but Still Worth Taking – Forbes
Even though new strains of the coronavirus have dented some vaccines’ effectiveness, existing vaccines can still prevent serious illness and slow the virus’ spread, White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday, responding to fears that the coronavirus will become more contagious and less susceptible to vaccines as it mutates.
Moderna Increases COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments While Pfizer Lags Behind – NPR
President Biden said last Tuesday that his administration is already working on ordering more COVID-19 vaccine doses to increase the U.S. supply through this summer. But before that can happen, Pfizer and Moderna have to fulfill their commitments under their original federal supply contracts.
Clinical Considerations
Pregnant mothers’ antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 transfer to their fetuses – Penn Today
Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the blood of pregnant women cross the placenta efficiently, and are found at similar concentrations in the blood of their newborns, according to a large study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine. [Related JAMA Study]
New diabetes cases linked to covid-19 – Washington Post
Researchers don’t understand exactly how the disease might trigger Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or whether the cases are temporary or permanent. But 14 percent of those with severe covid-19 developed a form of the disorder, one analysis found.
Since Li Wenliang MD first warned colleagues of a cluster of SARS-like pneumonia cases in late December 2019, ophthalmologists have been involved with COVID-19. Perhaps most urgently, Dr Li’s subsequent death from the disease, which he contracted from an asymptomatic glaucoma patient, dramatically illustrated the need for universal precautions to combat COVID-19 in clinical practice.
Clinicians Struggle to Make Sense of ‘Long COVID’ – MedPageToday
“Long COVID” is nebulous, particularly because it can overlap with other complications of COVID-19 illness, such as hospitalization complications and post-intensive care syndrome, or even multisystem inflammatory disorder, said Alfonso Hernandez-Romieu, MD, of the CDC.
Official Reporting for February 2, 2021
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update February 1, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 102 584 351
Deaths: 2 222 647
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 103,378,964
Deaths: 2,236,559
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 26,034,475 (+112,772 New Cases)
Total deaths: 439,955 (+1,920 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
The Role of the Host Immune Response in COVID-19: Friend or Foe? – Technology Networks
SARS-CoV-2 gains entry to cells through a receptor known as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is found on the surface of cells lining the lungs and other places in the body. Our first lines of defense are non-specific “innate” responses that are rapidly mobilized following an infection – such as the virucidal proteins released by infected cells. But like many viruses, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved strategies to evade these initial immune responses, such as masking its genetic material and generating viral proteins that can block anti-viral responses.
Diagnostics
A fast, at-home coronavirus test will be available to Americans this year – Washington Post
The White House is buying 8.5 million rapid at-home coronavirus tests, but supply will be limited until later this year
Anti Virals
We Need to Start Investing in Antiviral Drugs for the Next Pandemic – Harvard Business Review
The unprecedented speed with which Covid-19 vaccines were developed is a testament to both the scientific research that laid the groundwork and the herculean effort of public-private partnerships to bring them to market.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
How do stay-at-home mandates impact mental health? – Medical News Today
A new study suggests that although people may find stay-at-home mandates mentally and emotionally taxing to begin with, these ill effects begin to fade as individuals establish new routines.
Published Research
Viral Loads of SARS-CoV-2 in Young Children – JAMA
Assessment of Maternal and Neonatal Cord Blood SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies and Placental Transfer Ratios – JAMA Pediatrics
Allergic Reactions Including Anaphylaxis After Receipt of the First Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine – JAMA
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Medical myths: 13 COVID-19 vaccine myths – Medical News Today
Of all the modern medical interventions we have at our disposal, few have been victim to as much falsehood as vaccines. As the world battles a pandemic, stripping the truth from the lies is more urgent than ever.
Vaccine Hesitancy
Many Latinos Don’t Think Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine Is A Good Idea – NPR
Latinos are more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 but less willing than others to get a vaccine, figures indicate. In Connecticut, efforts are under way to overcome their hesitancy.
Coping in 2020 (and probably most of 2021)
