Featured Headlines
Pre-Christmas air travel surpassed 1 million daily passengers nationwide for three consecutive days this weekend — breaking the record for most weekend travelers of the pandemic and outpacing Thanksgiving numbers that assumed that title and worried health experts last month. The 3.2 million passengers screened Friday, Saturday and Sunday mark the only time during the pandemic that over 1 million air travelers were seen three days in a row.
Health Care Workers Still Face Daunting Shortages of Masks and Other P.P.E. – NYT
Frontline medical personnel in hospitals and nursing homes are urging the incoming Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to increase manufacturing of personal protective equipment.
Why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll – Washington Post
When Todd Klindt buried his dad, he was stunned. Some of the mourners arrived not wearing masks — for the funeral of a man killed by the coronavirus.
New coronavirus variant: What do we know? – BBC
The rapid spread of a new variant of coronavirus has been blamed for the introduction of strict tier four mixing rules for millions of people, harsher restrictions on mixing at Christmas in England, Scotland and Wales, and other countries placing the UK on a travel ban.
A rising wave of covid-19 cases in the south of England has been blamed on a new variant of the coronavirus. The new version, which appeared by September, is now behind half the cases in the region. Genomic researchers have found that not only does the variant have a lot of mutations, but several of the genetic alterations are predicted to make possibly significant changes to the spike protein, a part of the virus that plays a key role in infecting cells.
Denmark to Dig Up Millions of Dead Mink After Rushed Cull – Bloomberg
Denmark will dig up millions of dead mink after a hasty cull and burial intended to stamp out a coronavirus mutation ended with the rotting carcasses triggering a new contamination risk.
NIH devising study on rare allergic reactions to coronavirus vaccine – Washington Post
Officials at the National Institutes of Health are rushing to devise a study to find out why, in a few rare cases, people have had severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. The goal is to identify the component of the vaccine most likely to be responsible for these potentially life-threatening incidents, known as anaphylaxis. No cases have yet been associated with the other newly authorized vaccine, made by Moderna, but it is being administered to the general public for the first time this week and has similar components to the one developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.
Vaccine Headlines
Should people get a second vaccine just to be safe? – National Geographic
The day will come when everyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one. Then people might wonder about a question that once seemed far-fetched: Should I get a second just to be safe?
Concern among Muslims over halal status of COVID-19 vaccine – PBS Newshour
Pork-derived gelatin has been widely used as a stabilizer to ensure vaccines remain safe and effective during storage and transport. Some companies have worked for years to develop pork-free vaccines: Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has produced a pork-free meningitis vaccine, while Saudi- and Malaysia-based AJ Pharma is currently working on one of their own.
The Ethics Of Who Gets The COVID-19 Vaccine And When – NPR
NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Ruth Faden, founder of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University, about the ethics of determining who gets vaccinated when resources are limited.
At Least 556,000 People in the U.S. Have Received the Covid-19 Vaccine – New York Times
More than 556,000 people have received a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as the United States began an unprecedented mobilization to deploy vaccines and eventually end a pandemic that has upended every aspect of American life.
Pfizer
E.U. Approves Pfizer Vaccine, Setting Stage for High-Stakes Rollout – NYT
In a landmark collective undertaking, the bloc is poised to start distributing shots to all 27 member nations and their 410 million citizens.
How does the newly authorized Moderna COVID-19 vaccine compare to Pfizer’s? – Science News
Both clearly protect people ranging in age from 18 to older than 65 from developing COVID-19 symptoms.
Moderna
Moderna Vaccine Begins Arriving at Strained Hospitals Across the U.S. – New York Times
Just one week after the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine were administered in the United States, a new batch of vaccines fanned out across the country on Monday, an urgently needed expansion of a vaccination effort that is expected to reach vulnerable populations and rural areas where hospitals are strained as soon as this week.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson Hopes to Offer COVID Vaccine in February – MedScape
Johnson & Johnson has fully enrolled 45,000 participants in phase III of its clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine and hopes to apply for an emergency use authorization from the FDA in February, the company said in a news release.
Clinical Considerations
None Today
Official Reporting for December 22, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update December 21, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 75 704 857
Deaths: 1 690 061
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 71 554 018 (last updated Friday Dec 18th)
Deaths: 1 613 671
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 77,307,971
Deaths: 1,701,085
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 17,790,376 (+197,616 New Cases)
Total deaths: 316,844 (+1,584 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
United States: Mexico Opens Its Doors To U.S. Tourists Amid COVID-19 Pandemic – NPR
California: As COVID-19 Cases Soar, Overwhelmed California Hospitals Worry About Rationing Care – NPR
California: California builds field hospitals and considers rationing care as virus grows unabated – NYT
Oregon: Armed protesters angry over virus restrictions try to force their way into the Oregon Statehouse – NYT
EUROPE
SOUTH AFRICA
New strain of COVID-19 is driving South Africa’s resurgence – ABC News
ASIA
Hong Kong: Hong Kong May Consider Unprecedented Virus Curbs, Including Curfews – Bloomberg
Thailand: Thailand tests thousands after virus outbreak in seafood market – BBC
Science and Tech
SARS-CoV-2’s Spike Protein Can Enter the Brain in Mice – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
The COVID-19 symptoms on the center stage are those associated with pneumonia and respiratory distress. But there are also a host of symptoms that relate to the central nervous system. Although it is unclear whether or not the SARS-CoV-2 virus can enter the brain, a new study found that the spike protein can cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in mice, strongly suggesting that it can.
How a torrent of COVID science changed research publishing — in seven charts – Nature
Around 4% of the world’s research output was devoted to the coronavirus in 2020, according to one database. But 2020 also saw a sharp increase in articles on all subjects being submitted to scientific journals — perhaps because many researchers had to stay at home and focus on writing up papers rather than conducting science.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded eight research grants to develop approaches for identifying children at high risk for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare and severe after-effect of COVID-19 or exposure to the virus that causes it. Up to $20 million will be provided for the projects over four years, pending the availability of funds.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
What will life be like after the coronavirus pandemic ends? – Science News
As 2020 blessedly clangs to a close, it’s tempting to wonder where we’re headed once the pandemic is history. In the spirit of year-end curiosity about COVID-19’s possible long-term effects, Science News posed this question to a few scholars: What major social changes do you see coming after the pandemic? As baseball’s Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” The following forecasts, edited for length and clarity, aren’t written in stone and aren’t meant to be. But they raise some provocative possibilities.
Published Research
None Today
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Vaccine Hesitancy
How To Talk To Hesitant Americans About COVID-19 Vaccination – NPR
8 min audio at the link – NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Nadine Gartner, founder and executive director of Boost Oregon, about how to talk to people who may be resistant or afraid to get a coronavirus vaccine.
Coping in 2020
