Featured Headlines
From blood clots to infected neurons, how COVID threatens the brain – NPR
The current catalog of COVID-related threats to the brain includes bleeding, blood clots, inflammation, oxygen deprivation and disruption of the protective blood-brain barrier. And there’s new evidence in monkeys that the virus may also directly infect and kill certain brain cells.
New York Area Bears the Brunt of Omicron on Top of Delta – Bloomberg
What happens during the collision of two variants when the public’s reserve of trust and patience has been exhausted? “I think we are in the omicron surge,” Bronwyn MacInnis, director of pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, said at a press event on Tuesday afternoon. “There’s no system on the planet that could keep up with the pace of this doubling time.”
Omicron is very serious threat, what we know is bad – UK health official – Reuters
England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Wednesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant posed a really serious threat and that what health officials already knew about was “bad”.
Scientists see a ‘really, really tough winter’ with Omicron-Science
Another major pandemic wave seems inevitable. The big question is how much severe disease it will bring
German health minister expects “massive” fifth coronavirus wave – Reuters
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a former epidemiology professor famed for his bearish COVID-19 forecasts, said he expected the omicron variant of the coronavirus to unleash a “massive fifth wave” of the pandemic.
Omicron Wrecks CEOs’ Plans for Office Return – Bloomberg
Just as it seemed like corporate America was on a path toward normalcy, a new wave of Covid uncertainty is upending business plans from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.
NYC Sees Offices Empty, Shows Canceled as Covid Wave Sweeps In – Bloomberg
Just as the city was getting more crowded and office vacancies were starting to shrink, an about-face has people again on edge. New cases of the virus are at the highest since January. Businesses are asking workers to stay home, schoolrooms are shutting and testing sites have long lines snaking around city blocks. And Broadway shows and restaurants are closing down as staff shortages and pockets of Covid outbreaks sprout up around the city at the busiest time of the year for tourism.
Vaccine Headlines
CDC narrows use of J&J vaccine due to concerns about rare blood clots – NPR
The advisers said Thursday that vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna should be preferred by all adults, who may be at greater risk for developing severe blood clots from the J&J vaccine than those under age 18. Some committee members said the J&J vaccine should remain available for people who prefer it.
China’s Sinovac claimed that a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine is 94% effective against the omicron variant of the coronavirus, Nikkei Asia reported, in a statement the comes just a day after a study found that two doses of the vaccine failed to generate any detectable antibody response against the fast spreading variant.
J&J’s COVID Vaccine on the Way Out? – MedPageToday
Clinical Considerations
Official Reporting for December 14, 2021
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update December 13th (latest release)
New Cases: 533,736
Confirmed Cases: 269,468,311
Deaths: 5,304,248
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 270,933,004
Deaths: 5,316,286
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 49,844,242 (+46,143 New Cases)
Total deaths: 794,558 (+185 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
Who Has What? Omicron Raises Stakes for Quick Covid Sequencing – Bloomberg
The omicron variant presents a new problem for doctors: Some drugs may work better than others, but knowing what to prescribe will hinge on quickly figuring out what variant of Covid-19 a person has in the first place.
The scientist in Botswana who identified omicron was saddened by the world’s reaction – NPR
Four international travelers had tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 11, four days after entering the country. But when the cases were genetically sequenced, where the genetic code of the virus is analyzed to look for worrying changes, the scientists discovered a variant they had never encountered before.
A tantalizing clue to why omicron is spreading so quickly – NPR
Preliminary data, published online Wednesday, gives us the first look at how omicron may behave inside the respiratory tract — and the data offers a tantalizing clue as to why this heavily mutated variant is spreading so fast and even outcompeting delta.
Where did ‘weird’ Omicron come from? – Science
Mutations could have accumulated in a chronically infected patient, an overlooked human population, or an animal reservoir. Omicron clearly did not develop out of one of the earlier variants of concern, such as Alpha or Delta. Instead, it appears to have evolved in parallel—and in the dark. Omicron is so different from the millions of SARS-CoV-2 genomes that have been shared publicly that pinpointing its closest relative is difficult, says Emma Hodcroft, a virologist at the University of Bern. It likely diverged early from other strains, she says. “I would say it goes back to mid-2020.”
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Published Research
HKUMed finds Omicron SARS-CoV-2 can infect faster and better than Delta in human bronchus but with less severe infection in lung – University of Hong Kong
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and myocarditis or myopericarditis: population based cohort study – BMJ
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Coping with COVID