Featured Headlines
Pockets of Unvaccinated Americans Threaten to Prolong Pandemic – Bloomberg
Less than 25% of the population is fully vaccinated in at least 482 U.S. counties, including in states with some of the highest overall vaccination rates
Covid Fades but Is Unlikely to Vanish – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. is entering a new phase of the Covid-19 pandemic as people settle back into normal life thanks to vaccines, but public-health authorities are preparing for Americans to live with the disease lurking in the background for the long run.
In World’s Worst Covid Vaccine Line, You Wait Hours and Still Get Nothing – Bloomberg
Elderly Venezuelans wake up in the middle of the night and rush into downtown Caracas to get in line.
Moscow facing new aggressive coronavirus variant, mayor says – Reuters
Moscow is facing a new coronavirus variant that is more aggressive and infectious, and the situation in the city is rapidly deteriorating, its mayor said on Thursday. [Related – Moscow mayor warns of increasing coronavirus infection rate]
COVID-19 Is Igniting A Public Health Emergency In Haiti, Despite Low Case Numbers – NPR
Despite Haiti’s relatively low COVID-19 infection rate, its poverty and inadequate health care system are creating a public health emergency. The first vaccines arrived only this week.
U.K. Virus Cases Surge Even as 8 in 10 Have Received Shots – Bloomberg
The U.K. recorded the most coronavirus cases in a day since mid-February, amid warnings the current wave of infections driven by the highly transmissible delta variant may still be weeks from peaking.
A COVID Outbreak At The U.S. Embassy In Kabul Has Sickened 114 People And Killed 1 – NPR
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul says it is suffering from a major COVID-19 outbreak that has largely confined staff to their quarters and is disrupting many of its operations. Earlier this week, the embassy announced that it was suspending in-person visa interviews for Afghans who had worked for the U.S. military.
Africa’s COVID-19 surge picks up speed – CIDRAP
Africa is in the middle of a full-blown third surge of COVID-19, with cases already near the peak of its first wave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office warned today, as she pressed countries on the continent to step up their public health measures.
Vaccine Headlines
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine: Slight increase in blood clot risk – MedNewsToday
A recent study analyzed Scotland’s national cohort of 2.53 million adults who received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, to determine the association of blood clotting and low blood platelet counts with the vaccines.
- Pivotal study conducted in 10 countries in fast changing environment of at least 29 COVID-19 variant strains; original strain almost completely absent
- At second interim analysis, statistical success criteria not met. Favorable safety profile confirmed
- Initial analyses show trend for age and variant dependent efficacy
- Results communicated to EMA, study progressing to final analysis within the next few weeks
U.S. Government Purchases Additional 200 Million Doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine – Moderna
Moderna announced that the U.S. government has purchased an additional 200 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, including the option to purchase other COVID-19 vaccine candidates from Moderna’s pipeline.
Meet an Inspiring Researcher Who Helped Create COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines – NIH Director’s Blog
More than 170 million Americans already have received COVID-19 vaccines. As this number continues to grow and expand to younger age groups, I’m filled with overwhelming gratitude for all of the researchers who worked so diligently, over the course of decades, to build the scientific foundation for these life-saving vaccines. One of them is Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who played a central role in the fact that, in the span of less than a year, we were able to develop safe and effective mRNA-based vaccines to protect against this devastating infectious disease.
Clinical Considerations
More than 300 cases of heart inflammation after Covid-19 vaccinations have been reported in young people, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday.
Double-Lung Transplants Rise After Covid ‘Honeycombs’ Organs – Bloomberg
John Micklus’s battle with Covid-19 began last Christmas and ended five weeks later with lungs so damaged that doctors said there was nothing they could do to save him.
Let PCPs Guide Post-COVID Care, CDC Staff Urges – MedPageToday
When it comes to diagnosing post-COVID conditions (or so-called long COVID), Michael Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, referred to the first line of an old Buffalo Springfield song in a call with clinicians on Thursday.
Official Reporting for June 18, 2021
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update June 15, 2021
Confirmed Cases: 176,945,596
Deaths: 3,836,828
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 177,483,286
Deaths: 3,843,421
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 33,327,096 (+11,301 New Cases)
Total deaths: 598,301 (+335 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
U.S. Pumps $3.2 Billion Into Covid-Fighting Antiviral Effort – Bloomberg
The U.S. is investing $3.2 billion into developing antiviral medicines to combat Covid-19 and other viruses with pandemic potential. The aim: develop treatments to be taken at home soon after someone gets sick. Dubbed the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, the effort led by U.S. health agencies will support the discovery, development and production of antiviral treatments for Covid-19 and future viral threats, the Health and Human Services Department said Thursday.
Another JAK Inhibitor Shows Mortality Benefit in COVID-19 – MedPageToday
Tofacitinib cut incidence of severe outcomes in a population where most received steroids. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia who were treated with tofacitinib (Xeljanz) had a significantly lower incidence of death or respiratory failure than those treated with placebo, a randomized trial in Brazil found.
Monoclonal antibodies cut risk of dying from COVID-19—but only in some patients – Science
The world’s largest trial of COVID-19 therapeutics has for the first time produced convincing evidence that a therapy that directly attacks the virus can save hospitalized patients from death. A combination of antibodies called casirivimab and imdevimab, produced by Regeneron, did not lower mortality when all patients in the study were taken together, investigators of the United Kingdom’s Recovery trial announced today—but it reduced deaths by one-fifth among those who did not produce antibodies themselves. A paper with the results will be made available on the medRxiv preprint server later today, the researchers say.
A new treatment approach focused on fixing cell damage, rather than fighting the virus directly, is effective against SARS-CoV-2 in lab models. If found safe for human use, this anti-viral treatment would make COVID-19 symptoms milder and speed up recovery times.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Eavesdropping Through a Pandemic – The New Yorker
Notes on a year and a half of overhearing what’s overlooked. There are two kinds of overheard conversations: the kind you try to avoid and the kind that inspire eavesdropping. I’ve been tracking that second species all my life; I still remember good lines from Paris, in 2019 (“I don’t care what the blood test says—he’s my son”) and Albuquerque, in 1992 (“So the mayor goes, ‘How was I supposed to know he was a convicted felon? Don’t all hot-dog venders look like convicted felons?’ ”). But few places can match the overheard conversations of New York, which, before the pandemic, had me eavesdropping as assiduously as Harriet the Spy at the luncheonette. East Village, 2009: “Most ophthalmologists are schnooks.” Seventh Street, 2014: “He has a passion for pizza, and I’m not going to argue with it.” Smoker outside of a downtown bar, 2015: “Nobody can ever Google me, because there’s a million hits for the political prisoner with my name.” The best lines provide several little thrills at once: a sketch of character, a hint of story, the joy of feeling like you understand the rest. Like a Norman Rockwell painting, they’re obvious yet mysterious, conveying too much and too little in a single moment.
Published Research
First-dose ChAdOx1 and BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccines and thrombocytopenic, thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events in Scotland – Nature
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Vaccine Hesitancy
The fight against evangelical vaccine hesitancy – Washington Post Video
In Florida, where nearly a quarter of residents identify as evangelical, some think the best way to combat vaccine hesitancy is directly through the church.
Coping in 2020 (and probably most of 2021)
