Fully Vaccinated People Can Stop Wearing Masks Indoors And Outdoors, CDC Says – NPR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fully vaccinated adults can safely resume activities indoors or outdoors without masks or distancing, in gatherings large or small. The announcement marks a major milestone in the effort to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Fauci Says ‘No Doubt’ U.S. Has Undercounted Covid Deaths – Bloomberg

But Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a University of Washington analysis published May 6 that the true toll is probably over 900,000 is “a bit more than I would have thought.”

India: coronavirus infections pass 24 million – Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of the coronavirus through India’s vast countryside on Friday, as the official tally of infections crossed 24 million, and 4,000 people died for the third straight day.

Mainland China reports first local COVID-19 cases in more than 3 weeks – Reuters

Mainland China reported seven new COVID-19 cases on May 13, including its first local transmissions in more than three weeks, the country’s national health authority said on Friday.

As the virus threatens Southeast Asia, the spread of new variants continues to be a danger everywhere – NYT

After a devastating year with wave after wave of coronavirus infections around the world, new cases and deaths are falling in many of the Western nations that were once among the hardest hit. But while the virus recedes in wealthy nations with robust vaccination campaigns, it is pummeling India and threatening to swamp Southeast Asian countries that until now had largely kept the virus at bay.

Most COVID Patients Landing in Hospitals Aren’t Fully Vaccinated – MedPageToday

The vast majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 at the Cleveland Clinic weren’t fully vaccinated, the institution said in a statement. Among the 4,300 hospital admissions that occurred from Jan. 1 to mid-April, 99% were not fully vaccinated, Eduardo Mireles, MD, director of the clinic’s medical intensive care unit, said in a statement.

Bodies wash up on the banks of India’s holiest river as the virus spreads nationwide – NYT

As the chaos of India’s coronavirus outbreak spreads across the country, infections are surging in states and rural areas with fewer resources, where sickness and death are much harder to track. One measure of the misery, medical workers say, is that poor people are disposing of bodies in rivers because the cost of cremations has shot up.

Vaccine Headlines

Delayed second Pfizer COVID-19 shot produces more antibodies -study – Reuters

Pfizer’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine generates antibody responses three-and-a-half times larger in older people when a second dose is delayed to 12 weeks after the first, a British study said.

Is This the Most TikTok’d COVID Vaccine Side Effect? – MedPageToday

It’s perhaps the most “TikTok’d” side effect of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines: swelling around dermal fillers. These rare-but-real events were caught in the phase III trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, and European regulators recently announced that they’ve seen similar reactions with Pfizer’s shot, too — enough to add it to product labeling.

A biotech billionaire pledges $210 million to transfer vaccine technology to South Africa – NYT

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire biotechnology entrepreneur who owns The Los Angeles Times, announced on Wednesday that his corporation and his philanthropic foundation would commit an initial 3 billion South African rand (about $210 million) to transfer the latest technology for producing vaccines and biological therapies to South Africa, where he was born.

Nasal Vaccines for COVID-19? – MedPageToday

Despite an arsenal of highly effective injectable vaccines, drugmakers are looking into products that will be easier to store, transport, and administer in the global crisis — particularly, intranasal vaccines.

CureVac, GSK Report Strong Lab Data for Next-Generation Shot – Bloomberg

CureVac NV and GlaxoSmithKline Plc released positive early data from laboratory testing of their second-generation Covid-19 vaccine, with signs the shot could also provide good protection against some variants of the virus.

Clinical Considerations

First Detailed Look at COVID Vaccine Skin Reactions – MedPageToday

A wide range of skin reactions has occurred following coronavirus vaccination — including some that mimic COVID-19 symptoms — but none proved to be serious, according to initial data from an international registry.

How Severe COVID-19 Can Tragically Lead to Lung Failure and Death – NIH Blog

More than 3 million people around the world, now tragically including thousands every day in India, have lost their lives to severe COVID-19. Though incredible progress has been made in a little more than a year to develop effective vaccines, diagnostic tests, and treatments, there’s still much we don’t know about what precisely happens in the lungs and other parts of the body that leads to lethal outcomes.

What Is ‘Black Fungus’? And Why Is It Spreading Among India’s COVID Patients? NPR

It’s called the “black fungus,” and it can be deadly. It’s also adding to India’s growing COVID-19 woes at the moment. On Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research and India’s Health Ministry issued an advisory calling for better awareness, screening and management of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection.

Heart Disease and COVID-19: Facts and Myths – MedPageToday

Is it safe for heart attack patients to go to the hospital during the pandemic? Is cardiac injury common in COVID-19? Can the vaccine cause hypertension? Join MedPage Today and Erin Michos, MD, MHS, Associate Director of Preventive Cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, live for a discussion about the evolving science on the interface of COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease.

COVID-19 Treatments: What’s In, What’s Out – MedPageToday

Remdesivir (Veklury), an antiviral, is currently the only FDA-approved therapy for COVID-19. It prevents SARS-CoV-2 from replicating by binding to RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, a key enzyme the virus needs to propagate.