Featured Headlines
Fauci Says Covid May Not End, Hopes to Find Normalcy – Bloomberg Video
Federal health officials reported Tuesday that the omicron variant caused less severe illness in hospitalized patients than earlier virus lineages, even though its explosive transmissibility has caused far more infections and led to more than 2,200 deaths a day on average, one of the highest tolls since early last year.
A second version of omicron is spreading. Here’s why scientists are on alert – NPR
Just as the omicron surge starts to recede in parts of the U.S., scientists have their eye on another coronavirus variant spreading rapidly in parts of Asia and Europe. It’s officially called “omicron BA.2,” and this week scientists detected cases of it in several U.S. states, including California, Texas and Washington.
America’s split-screen pandemic: Many families resume their lives even as hospitals are overwhelmed – Washington Post
Should we move on? Stay home til omicron wanes? Dueling realities characterize the 23rd month of a crisis that people expected would long be over. The split-screen reality of American life amid a pandemic has never been as stark as at this moment, in the 23rd month of a crisis that people had expected would long be over.
How fast the omicron variant is spreading around the world – Washington Post
The variant detected in November has overtaken delta as the dominant version of the coronavirus. In the worldwide chart of coronavirus variants below, the red omicron appears at the top right corner in the very end of November. This chart made in collaboration with GISAID represents countries where genomic sequences are publicly released, so some large countries are not included.
Africa may have reached the pandemic’s holy grail – NPR
He’s an immunologist in Malawi. And last year he had set out to determine just how many people in his country had been infected with the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
What to Know About BA.2, a New Omicron Variant – Time Magazine
Even as SARS-CoV-2 gets better at spreading and evading some of the immune protection that people have built through infections or vaccination, new variants inevitably arise. The latest is BA.2, a new version of Omicron.
Vaccine Headlines
No more boosters? How an Army pan-coronavirus vaccine could wipe out COVID pandemics – C|NET
The omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to a surge of cases and hospitalizations and caused medical experts to discuss yearly COVID booster shots and variant-specific vaccines. But what if there were a universal coronavirus vaccine that protected against omicron and all new COVID-19 variants?
Despite early projections that the latest surge in coronavirus cases might soon fizzle out, the chief medical officer for pharmaceutical giant Moderna predicted Thursday that the United States may still be contending with the omicron variant later this year, and that Americans may benefit from omicron-tailored booster shots.
Does the world need an Omicron vaccine? What researchers say – Nature
Public-health specialists are debating the need for a shot targeting the variant, now causing a record-breaking surge in COVID-19 cases. After the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in November, vaccine makers quickly began developing shots against the highly mutated and transmissible virus. This week, pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and biotechnology company Moderna both announced that they had initiated clinical trials in which they are dosing people with Omicron-based vaccines. But whether rolling out these jabs is necessary, or even practical, is unclear, according to public-health authorities and infectious-disease specialists interviewed by Nature.
COVID-19 vaccine: what are we doing and what should we do? – The Lancet
Vaccines are the most important weapon for preventing infections and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now well established that vaccines lose effectiveness over time. For this reason, health authorities and drug regulatory agencies in several countries have approved the administration of an additional dose of vaccine (called a booster) to individuals 3–5 months after the completion of the vaccination cycle. This approach appears to be effective in maintaining immunity against SARS-CoV-2.1
Universal Covid Shot Underway, But It May ‘Take Years,’ Says Fauci – Kaiser Health News
Scientists are working to develop a “pan-coronavirus” vaccine — one that offers protection against multiple variants of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. The hope is that such a vaccine could pave the way for the development of a universal coronavirus vaccine, which could head off any coronavirus — not only emerging variants that cause Covid-19, but also some common colds and even the menacing threat of novel coronaviruses we haven’t identified yet. But such vaccines are “going to take years to develop,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House briefing on Wednesday.
Clinical Considerations
Antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid linked with brain fog – MedNewsToday
Researchers do not fully understand the underlying mechanisms and risks factors associated with the occurrence of brain fog, or cognitive symptoms, in individuals with long COVID, or post-COVID conditions. A recent study found that individuals with a higher number of preexisting cognitive risk factors, such as diabetes, anxiety, or depression, were more likely to develop post-COVID cognitive symptoms. The study authors also found an association between the development of post-COVID cognitive symptoms and abnormalities in the cerebrospinal fluid. These abnormalities generally included the presence of antibodies, suggesting that post-COVID cognitive symptoms could be due to an increase in inflammation.
‘Impressive’ Survival for COVID Patients Undergoing Lung Transplant – MedPageToday
Hundreds of patients have received lung transplants due to COVID-19 in the U.S., with preliminary mortality rates looking on par with transplants for other reasons, a study showed.
Official Reporting for January 28, 2022
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update January 25th (latest release)
New Cases: 3,321,782
Confirmed Cases: 364,191,494
Deaths: 5,631,457
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 369,030,505
Deaths: 5,610,990
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 73,512,366 (+572,524 New Cases)
Total deaths: 876,632 (+2,625 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
Scientists Investigate Omicron Subvariant BA.2 – The Scientist
Researchers are monitoring the behavior of BA.2, a subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 that is responsible for a number of outbreaks ongoing in Europe and some parts of Asia. First described in November, the strain is a subtype of the Omicron variant, and preliminary data hint that it might spread slightly faster than the better-studied BA.1, the subtype responsible for most Omicron outbreaks to date.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Physicians in Canada made 26% more mental health visits during COVID-19 – MedNewsToday
An observational study examined data from around 34,000 physicians in Ottawa, Canada. Researchers found physicians participated in nearly 26% more mental health and substance use visits during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the year prior. The study team believes the increase is attributable to both increased stressors during the pandemic and additional access to mental health services through virtual outpatient options.
Published Research
Clinical characteristics of healthcare workers with SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination with BNT162b2 vaccine – BMJ
Human genetic and immunological determinants of critical COVID-19 pneumonia – Nature
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
The clash between singer Neil Young and streaming service Spotify has once again put the spotlight on the challenges doctors deal with when it comes to misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine.
Coping with COVID
Covid Maps Reveal Personal Pandemic Landscapes – Bloomberg
Using art and mapmaking as an act of expression, readers around the world capture the changing contours of pandemic life.
