Covid-19 News and Discussions

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COVID in Virginia Wildlife​

 

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Sen. Sanders proposes bill to fund long COVID research​

 

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Updated COVID Vaccines Are Coming: Effectiveness, Who’s Eligible And More

Pfizer and Moderna’s updated vaccines will be available for people six months and older, while Novavax’s vaccine will be aimed at people 12 years and older.

www.forbes.com

Updated COVID Vaccines Are Coming: Effectiveness, Who’s Eligible And More​

Arianna Johnson
Forbes Staff
Johnson is a reporter on the Forbes news desk who covers explainers.

Aug 5, 2024, 04:15pm EDT

Drug manufacturers have created updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccines to protect against currently circulating variants, and the shots—which have shown to be more effective than the now-available vaccines—are expected to be available as soon as this month.

A doctor giving a patient a COVID-19 shot.

GETTY

KEY FACTS​

New COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-2025 fall and winter respiratory virus season were recommended by the Food and Drug Administration, and the agency advised Americans to take the vaccines when they become available.

COVID-19 cases historically spike during the fall and winter months around the same time as flu and respiratory syncytial virus season, so the updated vaccines are expected to be available ahead of this to help curb an uptick in cases.

The FDA originally recommended the vaccines target the coronavirus’ JN.1 variant, but later changed this recommendation to advise manufacturers to focus on the KP.2 strain of the JN line after reviewing updated case data.

Both Moderna and Pfizer said they were prepared to formulate either vaccine—and will make KP.2 vaccines after the FDA’s updated guidance—while Novavax said its manufacturing for a JN.1 shot is already underway and it won’t have a KP.2-specific shot ready in time for the fall.

WHEN WILL THE VACCINES BE AVAILABLE?​

Each drug manufacturer gave different timelines for when their respective vaccines will be ready during a June meeting with the FDA. Pfizer said its vaccine will be available this fall ahead of flu season. Moderna said its shot will be available as soon as August, while Novavax gave a September 1 deadline.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE VACCINES?​

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone six months and older to get an updated vaccine regardless of if they were previously vaccinated. Both Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines will be available for people six months and older, while Novavax’s shot will be directed towards those 12 years and older.

ARE THE VACCINES FREE?​

No, the vaccines won’t be free like they were in previous years, though their price isn’t known yet. The shots will be covered for people with Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans like they were in the past, according to the CDC. The CDC’s Bridge Access Program offered free COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured adults in the past. It was set to end in December, but the agency announced it would shut down in August due to lack of funding. However, Biden administration officials are looking into acquiring permanent funding so a similar vaccine program will be offered to adults who don’t have insurance, the CDC told USA Today. The Vaccines for Children Program will continue providing free vaccines to children of parents who can’t afford coverage.

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE VACCINES?​

Though the now-available vaccines—originally created to combat the XBB.1.5 variant—are effective at protecting against the JN lineage, the updated vaccines from all three manufacturers offered greater protection. Moderna’s KP.2 vaccine was up to eight times more effective at protecting mice against JN variants than its XBB.1.5 vaccine. When compared to its now-available XBB vaccine, Pfizer’s KP.3 COVID-19 vaccine offered up to a 7.3-times stronger response to mice infected with KP.3 and several other JN variants, according to trial data. Novavax scientists gave mice an XBB.1.5 vaccine and then administered the JN.1 shot 11 months after. The JN.1 vaccine was up to 48 times more effective at protecting against the JN lineage than the initial XBB.1.5 shot.

KEY BACKGROUND​

Both KP.2 and JN.1 are descendants of the omicron COVID-19 variant. KP.2 was the most dominant variant circulating in the U.S. in May, June and most of July. However as of August 3 it’s only the fifth most prominent variant, while three of its descendants are the first, second and fourth most dominant strains, according to CDC data. JN.1 was the leading variant during the spring, but now makes up less than 1% of cases. KP.2 and its offsprings are descendants of JN.1 and only have a few different mutations, so a JN.1-specific vaccine should offer some protection against these variants, according to the European Medicines Agency.

 

[Yommie]

Tokyo was meant to be the COVID Games. It’s far, far worse in Paris

Australian swimmer Lani Pallister said she cried when she saw a faint, second red line appear on her rapid antigen test.

www.theage.com.au

Tokyo was meant to be the COVID Games. It’s far, far worse in Paris​

ByChip Le Grand​

Updated August 6, 2024 — 1.05amfirst published August 5, 2024 — 8.00pm
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The Tokyo Olympics will forever be remembered as the COVID Games, an extraordinary feat of public health ingenuity and Japanese forbearance that enabled the world’s largest sporting event to be staged within a massive, temporary quarantine centre while the pandemic raged outside.

It is Paris where the virus has truly come to play.

Lani Pallister took her place in Australia’s winning 4x200m relay team after testing positive for COVID.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

The high-density Olympic village in Seine-Saint-Denis, designed to provide future affordable housing in France’s poorest local government area, is hosting its own epidemic. In response, Games organisers are urging athletes and support staff to take precautions, but have imposed no testing, restrictions or reporting requirements for the more than 11,000 people competing in Paris.

“We are carefully monitoring the situation in consultation with the national health authorities, not only COVID but any other situation,” IOC spokeswoman Anne Deschamps said on Sunday. “We don’t have specific data on COVID … we remind anyone, the athletes, to follow good practice, to wear masks, to use hand sanitiser.”

The impact of COVID on these Games is therefore difficult to quantify, but impossible to miss.

Australian Lani Pallister, a 22-year-old distance swimmer competing at her first Games, tested positive the day before her first event.

British breaststroke star Adam Peaty fell 0.02 of a second short of a third straight Olympic gold medal after testing positive to COVID.CREDIT:MARTIN MEISSNER

In an interview with Nine, Pallister described taking a rapid antigen test 24 hours before she was due to swim her 1500m heat and watching with dread as a faint, second red line appeared on the little white stick.

“I cried a lot,” she said. “I ended up calling Bohlly [coach Michael Bohl] and my mum and we had to have a discussion about whether or not it was worth doing the 1500m.”

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She pulled out of the race to conserve her energy for the 200m relay and recovered well enough two days later to take her place in the winning quartet, which set a new Olympic record.

She finished her meet on Sunday in the 800m but, as Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus fought a spectacular duel at the front of the field, Pallister laboured to finish sixth in a time 2.5 seconds slower than the qualifying time she posted two months ago.

Her meet and the course of anti-virals are now at an end and she leaves Paris with a gold medal around her neck. But she is one of likely hundreds of athletes whose Games have been disrupted by COVID.

Within the Australian swim team, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Ella Ramsay, who pulled out of Saturday night’s 200m individual medley final, are also confirmed cases. Dolphins head coach Rohan Taylor confirmed the virus had swept through the Australian team.

“We did have COVID come through,” he said. “That was a challenge for us just to navigate and work through. I can’t thank the AOC enough for how they’ve supported us.

“It also created some nervous tension around the fact there is a mild illness there and we just have to be better prepared.”

The biggest name to so far catch the bug is British breaststroke champ Adam Peaty, whose campaign to win a historic third consecutive Olympic gold in the 100m fell 0.02 of a second short. The British team later revealed he swam the final with the virus in his system. Italian Nicolo Martinenghi’s winning time of 59.03 was more than two seconds slower that Peaty’s best.

Saya Sakakibara rode COVID-positive to a gold medal in the BMX.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

For Peaty, a bout of COVID was hardly a tragedy. After a golden run in which he remained unbeaten over 100m for eight years, a broken foot and a series of personal crises culminated in him splitting with his partner and diving head-long into a spiral of booze and depression. The fact he is back competing in Paris is a triumph in itself.

For other athletes and teams, the virus has caused chaos. Australia’s women’s water polo team put more than a third of its Olympic squad into isolation a week before their first match after five players tested positive to COVID. Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said the Stingers cluster had been traced back to the athlete village.

Despite being at the centre of a confirmed COVID outbreak, the team has progressed through the preliminary rounds and remains in the hunt for Australia’s first gold medal in the sport since Sydney 2000.

Australia’s BMX gold medallist Saya Sakakibara is another athlete who caught COVID and kept on pedalling. She tested positive at the start of her competition week, but still managed to produce a winning ride at the Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines course. She leaves with much better memories than from Tokyo, where a heavy crash ended her Games in an ambulance.

Australia’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, who won gold on day one in Tokyo.CREDIT:MATTHIAS SCHRADER

The contrast with how Paris 2024 organisers are responding to COVID here and the blanket public health precautions adopted in Tokyo couldn’t be more stark.

In Tokyo, which was in a declared a state of emergency at the time of the 2021 opening ceremony, the Games were staged in a biosecure bubble, with athletes and accredited support staff unable to travel outside of Olympic accommodation venues or use the public transport system.

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Paris 2024​

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Paris Olympics 2024 day 9 as it happened: Opals into quarter-finals; Lyles wins thrilling 100m gold; Olyslagers, Patterson on high jump podium; Djokovic completes golden slam​

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Athletes were subject to daily COVID tests and any positive cases were removed from the village and isolated in hospital before being sent home. No spectators were allowed at the venues and everyone was asked to wear a mask at all times unless eating, showering or competing.

The result was that, of 4303 athletes who competed in Tokyo, only 41 were confirmed as COVID cases while at the Games; a remarkably low infection rate of just 0.24 per cent.

Paris 2024 organisers have asked athletes and support staff to wear a mask if they are feeling sick and regularly wash their hands.

Athletes who test positive to COVID while staying in the village are shifted into isolation rooms, offered meals in their rooms and provided with private transport to reduce the risk of outbreaks. There are no mandated restrictions on their movements or involvement in competition.

At the start of these Games, Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said the lesson from Tokyo was clear; that wearing masks, washing hands and taking other public health precautions stopped not just the spread of COVID, but other infectious diseases.

“So while it is not mandated here, we are actually encouraging our sports to take up the same protocols to ensure they get to that start line in the best possible way,” she said.

The lesson from Paris is that future Olympic organisers need to remember lesson one.

 

[Yommie]

COVID warning as new KP.3.1.1 variant rises to US dominance: "Buckle up"

Experts have warned that the new variant is "more of a challenge" to our immune systems compared to previous variants.

www.newsweek.com

COVID Warning as New KP.3.1.1 Variant Rises to US Dominance: 'Buckle Up'​

Published Aug 05, 2024 at 7:53 AM EDT Updated Aug 06, 2024 at 3:04 AM EDT

COVID Map Shows Highest Rates Across U.S.

By Pandora Dewan
Senior Science Reporter

A new coronavirus variant named KP.3.1.1 has risen to dominance in the U.S., almost doubling in prevalence in just two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.


Experts are warning that the new variant—which, as of August 3, accounts for more than 1 in 4 U.S. COVID-19 cases—is "more of a challenge" to our immune systems compared to previous variants.

The new variant is a sub-lineage of the previously dominant KP.3, which rose to prominence at the end of May. Together, KP.3.1.1 and KP.3 account for almost half of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S., as the virus continues to spread amid a "summer wave" of infections.


Both KP.3.1.1 and KP.3 belong to a new class of variants nicknamed the "FLiRT" variants. They are named after the mutations in the projections on the virus' surface that allow them to enter our cells. These projections, known as spike proteins, are also used as targets by our immune systems and vaccinations.

According to early analysis (that has not been peer-reviewed), KP.3.1.1 is significantly more infectious than previous variants, including KP.3. It may also be better at evading our immune systems and immunity conveyed by existing vaccines.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said that the new variant was "more of a challenge to our immune response than KP.3 and prior variants."

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"Buckle up; this wave isn't over yet [due to] KP.3.1.1's emergence," he added in another post.

The rise of KP.3.1.1 follows a surge in COVID-19 detection in wastewater surveys around the U.S., with "very high" levels being detected in 20 states, according to the CDC.


However, while the CDC has reported a steady increase in infections across the U.S. in recent weeks, hospitalizations remain relatively low. From what we have seen so far, the new FLiRT variants, while more infectious, do not generally cause severe symptoms. Still, it is important to isolate yourself from others if you begin to develop symptoms.

According to the CDC, symptoms include the following:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• Loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

Lawrence Young, a virus expert and professor of molecular oncology at the U.K.'s University of Warwick, previously told Newsweek, "We need to keep monitoring the spread of this variant."


Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

A doctor holding a positive COVID-19 test with an inset of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A new coronavirus variant named KP.3.1.1 has risen to dominance in the U.S. BOYLOSO/ LEARCHITECTO/GETTY

 

[Yommie]

Kentuckians struggling with long COVID, study says

Doctors are saying it’s tricky because there is no true definition of long COVID, and treating it can be challenging.

www.wkyt.com

Kentuckians struggling with long COVID, study says
​

Right now, about 7% of all Kentuckians report having symptoms from long COVID-19.
By Kelsey Souto
Published: Aug. 5, 2024 at 5:24 PM EDT|Updated: 13 hours ago

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Right now, about 7% of all Kentuckians report having symptoms from long COVID-19.

That’s the eighth highest in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Doctors are saying it’s tricky because there is no true definition of long COVID, and treating it can be challenging.

Doctors say if you are experiencing some of the same symptoms for three months or longer beyond a COVID diagnosis, you should see your doctor about possible options and treatments.


“The symptoms go on and on and on. The question is, is it Long COVID or is it something else?” said physician Dr. Jeffrey Foxx.

Right now, there’s no universal cure, and each person reports different side effects.

“What we’re seeing, too, is sometimes it doesn’t make any difference if you had severe COVID or mild COVID; you can still get symptoms of long COVID, and we just really, at this point in time, know why,” said Dr. foxx

Some people report tiredness, fatigue or brain fog that interferes with their daily life. Others say they are experiencing persistent respiratory or digestive symptoms.


“Depending on the symptom would make the treatment. You treat more of the symptoms than the disease as a whole,” Dr. Foxx said.

There are nine long COVID clinics nationwide, collecting research and studying data. They are funded by the federal government for five years. They meet monthly to share case studies.

“It’s not only hard to diagnose because there’s not a specific test because there’s not a specific definition, and there’s not one size long COVID fits all.”

The CDC stopped posting vaccination data on May 11 of this year. At that time, the national average for those getting an updated booster shot was 22.5%. Kentucky was well below that, at 18.5%.

Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.

 

[Yommie]

Fauci Still Masks: Here's When and Why

Former NIAID director also discusses HIV and flu antivirals, his third COVID infection, and more

www.medpagetoday.com

 

[Yommie]

AOC says 16 Australian athletes have tested positive for Covid at Paris Olympics

Sixteen Australian Olympians have tested positive for Covid in Paris, but the Australian Olympic Committee has described the numbers as ‘modest’

www.theguardian.com

AOC says 16 Australian athletes have tested positive for Covid at Paris Olympics​

• Fourty-four athletes and officials had tested positive for illnesses
• Australian Olympic Committee describes numbers as ‘modest’

Kieran Pender in Paris
Tue 6 Aug 2024 13.22 BST

Sixteen Australian Olympians have tested positive for Covid in Paris, but the Australian Olympic Committee has described the numbers as “modest and in line with expectations”.

Three years on from the pandemic-impacted Olympics in Tokyo, there are no formal Covid-related requirements imposed by event organisers at the Paris Olympics. But the Australian team has been taking no chances, masking in high-risk areas, bringing their own testing machine to the Olympic village and establishing isolation rooms for athletes who test positive.

On Tuesday, the AOC in a statement said that 44 athletes and officials had tested positive for some form of illness detected by the testing (including Covid, influenza and other related illnesses). This came from a total of 85 individuals tested. Thirty-one of those who tested positive were athletes, with 16 having Covid.

“Our testing has been the most extensive and accurate of any Games, allowing early and targeted treatments,” said Australian team doctor Dr Carolyn Broderick.

“Some illnesses were detected on arrival, others during training or competition and some after competition. With more than 1,000 Australians in team accommodation these results are modest and in line with expectations. We have kept this team training and competing.”

A covid outbreak went through the Australian women’s water polo team at the beginning of the Games, but it does not seem to have affected their performance – the Stingers have qualified for the quarter-final and will face Greece on Tuesday evening.

Two swimmers have also disclosed that they were infected by the virus – Lani Pallister withdrew from the 1500m freestyle event to recover ahead of the women’s 4x200m freestyle, where Australia won gold. Zac Stubblety-Cook also revealed he swam through a Covid infection to clinch the silver medal in the men’s 200m breaststroke.

 

[Yommie]

At Least 7 Australian Swimmers Tested Positive for COVID-19 at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Zac Stubblety-Cook tested positive for COVID-19 four days before winning silver in the men's 200 breaststroke at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

swimswam.com

At Least 7 Australian Swimmers Tested Positive for COVID-19 at the Paris 2024 Olympics​

Zac Stubblety-Cook tested positive for COVID-19 four days before winning silver in the men's 200 breaststroke at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography

Braden Keith

Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser revealed on a podcast this week that at least seven swimmers on the Australian team tested positive for COVID-19 during the first week of the Olympic Games, which was kept under wraps by Australian officials.

Speaking to the Matty & The Missile podcast hosted by former rugby player Matty Johns and three-time Olympic swimming medalist James Magnussen, Fraser lauded the team’s performance in spite of the health challenges.

“It has been absolutely fantastic you know, because half of our swimmers got covid and it wasn’t known to the media,” Fraser said.

“They got covid the first couple of days they were in the village and we had to put seven swimmers in hotels to keep them away from it.”

Swimming officials say that swimmers were isolated in the Athletes’ Village but not in external hotels.

“I really take my hat off to some of those young people because they really got 1000 per cent. Because I knew some of them had covid and it was spreading around the village like that. “They had to move some of our swimmers out and get rid of the paper bed … just crazy.”

Zac Stubblety-Cook revealed that he tested positive for COVID four days before winning a silver medal in the 200 breaststroke. He won gold in that event in 2020. He said that he had a lot of fatigue and shortness of breath, but that a quick reaction and treatment by the Australian Olympic Committee medical staff reacted quickly to minimize the impact on his performance.

According to the AAP, The AOC’s chief medical officer said that they ran 84 PCR tests in the Athletes’ village and about half were positive for some respiratory illness – including COVID and Influenza A.


Zac Stubblety-Cook (photo: Jack Spitser)
Lani Pallister also missed heats of the women’s 1500 free with COVID-19, though she was able to return to racing and win a gold medal as part of Australia’s 800 free relay.

Several other non-Australian swimmers also announced positive tests for COVID-19, including 100 breaststroke silver medalist Adam Peaty, and Americans David Johnston, Luke Whitlock, and Blake Pieroni.

At least five members of the Australian Olympic women’s water polo team tested positive for COVID before the meet. In spite of that, they finished atop Group A and earned a top seed into the knockout stage of the tournament, which begins on Tuesday.

There are no universal COVID protocols at the Paris Olympics and athletes are not required to miss competition after a positive test. Later in the meet, after a number of positive tests, more athletes were seen wearing masks in the ready room before their races.

Also on their podcast in the last week, Magnussen lamented the recruiting power of Australian Rules Football and rugby taking all of the best male athletes away from the pool.

 

[Yommie]

Alaska sees summer COVID-19 wave of cases with FLiRT variants

Alaska is experiencing a summer COVID wave, fueled by the new so-called “FLiRT variants,” new Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus.

alaskapublic.org

Alaska sees summer COVID-19 wave of cases with FLiRT variants​

By
Rachel Cassandra, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage
-
August 6, 2024

An unused COVID-19 at-home test kit. (Rachel Cassandra/AKPM)
Alaska is experiencing a summer COVID wave, fueled by the new so-called “FLiRT variants,” new Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Joe McLaughlin, an epidemiologist with the state’s division of public health, said the wave is partly due to waning immunity. He said only about 18% of Alaskans got a COVID vaccine this past year.

“Anytime you get these variants that are driving the wave, typically, what’s happening is they’ve had some sort of a mutation, at least one or a couple, that typically will give them the capability to evade prior immunity better than other strains that are circulating,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said vaccination and boosters can help with immunity and that growing evidence shows vaccination helps reduce the risk of long COVID.

McLaughlin said it now may take two to three days for people with COVID-19 to test positive with at-home test kits. And anyone over 12 years old is eligible for prescription antivirals like Paxlovid, if their healthcare provider feels they’re at a higher risk of complications. Antivirals can reduce the strength of COVID symptoms and lower risks of hospitalization and death.

McLaughlin said the summer COVID wave shows no signs of abating.

He said recommendations for how people should isolate if they get COVID have changed. He said now people should stay home 24 hours after their symptoms, including a fever, resolve without fever-reducing medications like acetaminophen.

“That’s the general recommendation,” McLaughlin said. “It’s not five days. It’s not 10 days. It’s really based on your symptoms.”

McLaughlin said people over 65 years old and people who are immunocompromised are eligible to get a second COVID booster vaccine this season. He said people should wait at least four months between boosters and Alaskans can expect a new COVID booster to be released in the next two to three months.

 

[Yommie]

Tuesday's Pandemic Update: The US Is Up To 1 Million Covid Cases A Day​

 

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Uptick in Covid-19 has medical experts encouraging Covid-19 vaccines​

 

[Yommie]

Why are COVID-19 cases rising? Mass. doctor explains​

 

[Yommie]

Summer COVID Surge​

 

[Yommie]

Central Valley health officials warn about COVID-19 spread​