Tag Archives: vaccines

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – The EU is on course to hit a target of fully vaccinating at least 70% of its adult population by the end of summer, given that same percentage of over-18s has now already received a first dose, the European Commission said.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* Ireland became the latest European Union member state to commit to offering COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 12-15 as it opened its strongly subscribed program to 16 and 17-year old’s.

* Greece said children aged 12-15 could be vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Tokyo’s 2,848 COVID-19 infections are the highest tally that the Olympic host city has reported since the pandemic began, officials said, as media reported that authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients, with the Delta variant driving the surge.

* India will meet its target of supplying more than half a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to its states by the end of this month, the health ministry said, but added not all doses may be administered by then.

* Moderna has pushed back its late-July vaccine shipment schedule for South Korea to August due to supply problems that will also affect other countries awaiting its shots, South Korean health officials said.

* Australia’s Victoria state will lift a strict lockdown, while neighboring New South Wales faces an extension of restrictions after daily new cases spiked to a 16-month peak.

AMERICAS

* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to announce revised mask guidance for fully vaccinated Americans in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.

* Argentina’s government has signed a deal with U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer to acquire 20 million doses of vaccines to be delivered this year, Health Minister Carla Vizzotti told reporters.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Saudi Arabia will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to countries on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ under efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA said.

* Nigeria expects to take delivery of 29 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine in August, allowing it to ramp up its vaccination program just as a third wave of infections takes hold, the health minister said.

* Israel is considering giving a third shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to its elderly population even before FDA approval to help fend off the Delta variant.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Antibodies triggered by Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine decline below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, although a third shot could have a strong booster effect, according to a lab study.

* Russia has given the green light for clinical trials combining a shot from AstraZeneca and Britain’s Oxford University with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to go ahead.

* Moderna is in talks with U.S. regulators to expand the size of an ongoing trial testing its vaccines in children aged between five and 11.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* World stocks fell after investors sold Chinese internet giants for a third straight day, while real U.S. bond yields hit record lows on worries about the economic outlook ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.

* The International Monetary Fund maintained its 6% global growth forecast for 2021, upgrading its outlook for the United States and other wealthy economies but cutting estimates for a number of developing countries struggling with surging COVID-19 infections.

(Compiled by Veronica Snoj and Ramakrishnan M.; Editing by Grant McCool, Maju Samuel, Sriraj Kalluvila and Gareth Jones)

Factbox: Countries make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory

(Reuters) – A sharp upturn in new coronavirus infections due to the highly contagious Delta variant and a slowdown in vaccination rates have pushed governments to make COVID-19 jabs mandatory for health workers and other high-risk groups.

A growing number of countries also stipulate that a jab, or a negative test, will be needed for dining out, among others.

Here are some countries’ vaccine mandates:

AUSTRALIA

Australia decided in late June to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for high-risk aged-care workers and employees in quarantine hotels.

It has also made vaccinations obligatory for Paralympic athletes heading to Tokyo because unvaccinated members on the team could pose a health risk.

BRITAIN

It will be mandatory for care home workers in England to have coronavirus vaccinations from October.

English nightclubs and other venues with large crowds will require patrons to present proof of full vaccination from the end of September.

CANADA

Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat said on July 20 it was considering whether COVID-19 vaccines should be required for certain roles and positions in the federal government, according to CBC.

FRANCE

All health workers in France must get COVID-19 jabs and anyone wanting to get into a cinema or board a train will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative test under new rules announced by President Emmanuel Macron on July 12.

The government said on July 19 that the planned 45,000 euro fine for businesses that do not check that clients have a health pass will be much lower, starting at up to 1,500 euros and increasing progressively for repeat offenders. Fines will not be imposed immediately.

GREECE

Greece on July 12 made vaccinations mandatory for nursing home staff with immediate effect and healthcare workers from September. As part of new measures, only vaccinated customers are allowed indoors in bars, cinemas, theatres and other closed spaces.

INDONESIA

Indonesia made COVID-19 inoculations mandatory in February, with capital Jakarta threatening fines of up to 5 million rupiah ($357) for refusing the vaccine.

ITALY

A decree approved by the Italian government in March mandates that health workers, including pharmacists, get vaccinated. Those who refuse could be suspended without pay for the rest of the year.

KAZAKHSTAN

Kazakhstan will introduce mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for people working in groups of more than 20, the health ministry said on June 23.

POLAND

Poland could make vaccinations obligatory for some people at high risk from COVID-19 from August.

RUSSIA

The Russian capital has unveiled a plan requiring 60% of all service sector workers to be fully vaccinated by Aug. 15, according to the Moscow Times.

Moscow residents no longer have to present a QR code demonstrating they have been vaccinated or have immunity in order to sit inside cafes, restaurants and bars from July 19.

SAUDI ARABIA

In May, Saudi Arabia mandated all public and private sector workers wishing to attend a workplace get vaccinated, without specifying when this would be implemented.

Vaccination will also be required to enter any governmental, private, or educational establishments and to use public transportation as of Aug. 1.

Saudi citizens will need two COVID-19 vaccine doses before they can travel outside the kingdom from Aug. 9, state news agency SPA reported on July 19, citing the ministry of interior.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan’s healthcare ministry said on July 7 it was making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all residents aged 18 and over.

(Compiled by Paulina Cwikowska, Dagmarah Mackos and Oben Mumcuoglu; editing by Milla Nissi and Steve Orlofsky)

COVID-19 crisis could return quickly as infections surge, UK adviser warns

By Alistair Smout and Kanishka Singh

LONDON (Reuters) -England’s coronavirus crisis could return again surprisingly quickly and the country is not yet out of the woods, the British government’s chief medical adviser said, as infections surged ahead of the lifting of legal restrictions.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is removing most pandemic restrictions in England from July 19, saying a rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has largely broken the link between infections and serious illness or death.

Some scientists are worried, though. Daily reported cases are at their highest since January, while the reproduction “R” number remains above one, indicating a continued exponential growth of cases.

“We are not by any means out of the woods yet on this,” Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said late on Thursday during a webinar hosted by the Science Museum.

He added that the doubling time for hospitalizations was around three weeks, and that low numbers of people in hospital currently could escalate in next couple of months.

“It doesn’t take many doublings until we’re in actually quite scary numbers again … I don’t think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast,” Whitty said.

The Office for National Statistics estimated as many as 1 in 95 people in England were infected with COVID-19 in the week to July 10, the highest prevalence since February.

“New cases of Delta will lead to long COVID, hospital admissions and deaths,” said James Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute

“The ratios between these have been massively changed by the safe and effective vaccines we are administering but the link is not eliminated.”

WRECKING THE ECONOMY

Britain’s COVID-19 death toll is among the highest in the world but two-thirds of its adult population have been fully vaccinated.

On Monday, the last remaining businesses still closed in England, including nightclubs, can finally reopen, but business leaders have warned that the self-isolation requirement for people exposed to positive cases could hinder the economy.

Over 520,000 contact tracing alerts were sent through the National Health Service app in the week to July 7.

“The hospitality sector, 20% of staff are isolating, the health service up to 25% of staff are absent, and buses and trains delayed,” Karan Bilimoria, president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told LBC radio.

“This cannot go on … This is wrecking the economy.”

A spokesperson for Johnson said that “self-isolation remains one of the best tools that we have to tackle the virus”.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout in London; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Kate Holton and Elizabeth Piper in London; Editing by Karishma Singh, Guy Faulconbridge, Catherine Evans and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Vaccines may curb new virus mutations; teens use soft drinks to fake positive COVID-19 tests

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

COVID-19 vaccines may be curbing new virus mutations

Along with preventing illness and deaths, COVID-19 vaccines may also be curbing the “rampant evolution” of the new coronavirus by limiting new mutations that allow it to evade antibodies, researchers believe. As part of a larger study, they closely analyzed gene sequences in virus samples obtained from 30 COVID-19 patients who had not been vaccinated and 23 vaccinated individuals with so-called breakthrough cases of COVID-19. In particular, they looked at genes associated with the spike the virus uses to break into cells. The spikes are targeted by the antibodies unleashed by current treatments and vaccines. The more the spike mutates, or changes, the less likely the antibodies will be fully effective. Compared to virus samples from unvaccinated patients, samples from vaccine breakthrough patients showed significantly fewer mutations on the spike, researchers from data analytics company nference reported on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. The more people get infected, the more opportunities the virus has to mutate as it makes copies of itself inside the body. It is possible that by suppressing the number of copies made in vaccinated people, the chances to mutate are reduced as well, the authors suggest. “This study presents the first known evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are fundamentally restricting the … escape pathways accessible to SARS-CoV-2,” they concluded.

Some teens are faking positive COVID-19 tests

Teenagers have figured out how to use soft drinks to fake a positive COVID-19 test, and the authors of a new study warn schools and other groups to be aware. As of July 1, videos uploaded to social media under the search term #fakecovidtest, featuring young people applying various liquids to rapid antigen COVID-19 tests, had been viewed millions of times, according to the British news website inews.co.uk. That report, and others, prompted University of Liverpool researchers to study the effects of applying soft drinks and artificial sweeteners to the test swabs. All four sweeteners tested produced negative results on rapid COVID-19 tests, as did spring water. But 10 of 14 soft drinks produced positive or weakly positive results, with no apparent link between the test results and the soft drinks’ ingredients, the researchers reported on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. Since March, UK schools have asked pupils without symptoms to test twice weekly, the authors note. A positive test can result in an entire class having to isolate at home. Based on their findings, they advise, testing “should be performed first thing in the morning, prior to the consumption of any food or drinks, and supervised where feasible.”

Rapid COVID-19 tests are generally reliable

Used properly, “rapid antigen” COVID-19 tests that give fast results are generally reliable, a new study suggests. The tests have “good” sensitivity, or the ability to correctly identify patients who are infected with the coronavirus, and “excellent” specificity, or the ability to correctly identify people who are not infected, UK researchers reported in The Lancet Microbe. Unlike gold-standard PCR tests, which involve complex lab equipment and highly trained staff, rapid antigen tests can be processed on the spot. The researchers evaluated six commercially available tests. Compared to PCR, their accuracy at diagnosing infection varied from 65% to 89% and rose above 90% in patients with high viral loads. The researchers warn that correct use of the tests is essential, which may happen less often with members of the public than when administered by trained healthcare workers. Although PCR-based testing is more accurate, they conclude, the rapid tests’ “versatility in terms of cost and portability,” and their usefulness in disrupting transmission from infected asymptomatic individuals who would otherwise go undetected “could outweigh the risk of missing positive cases.”

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Megan Brooks; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – The Euro 2020 soccer tournament was blamed for a surge in cases as fans have flocked to stadiums, bars and spectator zones across Europe to watch the action while the pandemic still raged.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* Europe’s drug regulator said the vaccines approved in the European Union offered protection against all coronavirus variants, including Delta, but called for active monitoring by vaccine manufacturers to stay alert.

* Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was confident Britons fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would be able to travel abroad this year.

* A 10-week decline in new infections across Europe has come to an end and a new wave of infections is inevitable if citizens and lawmakers do not remain disciplined, the head of WHO in Europe, Hans Kluge, told a news briefing.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia will impose emergency measures until July 20 to contain an exponential spike in cases that has strained the medical system.

* Japan is considering an extension of two weeks to a month for coronavirus prevention measures in Tokyo and other areas, Japanese media said.

AMERICAS

* Bolivia’s government is looking to stabilize the country’s economy, which last year plunged the most in over half a century, with a mix of fiscal spending, vaccines and gold.

* Dominican health authorities will on Thursday begin distributing a third dose of vaccine in an effort to protect against more contagious new variants.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* The United States will begin shipping the first batch of vaccines it has donated to Africa from this weekend, a special envoy of the African Union said, as the continent sees a surge in cases fueled by variants.

* The South African Medical Association threatened to take the government to court because scores of new junior doctors cannot find work placements despite staff shortages during the pandemic.

* Police in Uganda have arrested two nurses and were hunting for a man who had posed as a doctor to sell and administer fake vaccines to hundreds of people, authorities said, amid a rising second wave of infections.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila said it has applied for emergency use approval of its three-dose vaccine that showed efficacy of 66.6% in an interim study and could become the second home-grown shot if regulators consent.

* CureVac said its COVID-19 vaccine was 48% effective in the final analysis of its pivotal mass trial, only marginally better than the 47% reported after an initial read-out two weeks ago.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global stock markets rose on strong European and U.S. shares on Thursday, with stocks brushing off a rapid re-acceleration in coronavirus cases and oil and the dollar extending their first-half rallies.

* Mexico’s factories deteriorated for a 16th straight month in June amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and local restrictions, though the pace of contraction was the slowest since the effects of the pandemic first hit Mexico, a survey showed.

* Turkey’s pandemic-era ban on layoffs and a government wage support system, both adopted in early 2020, expired as most remaining restrictions were also lifted, setting the stage for a rise in unemployment.

* The IMF’s executive board approved the second review of Jordan’s four-year reform program and commended it for meeting its fiscal targets despite the fallout from the coronavirus, the finance ministry said.

(Compiled by Federico Maccioni, Amy Caren Daniel and Jagoda Darlak; Edited William Maclean)

Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) – Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday it was on schedule to meet its commitments for supplying coronavirus vaccines in Southeast Asia after some initial delays in regional production and delivery.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* Britain is looking on course to be able to ease COVID-19 restrictions on July 19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, according to The Sun newspaper.

* Passengers arriving in Portugal from Britain must quarantine for 14 days from Monday if they are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Portuguese government said.

* Spain will demand a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination from British tourists who want to enter Mallorca, Ibiza and other Balearic Islands, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

* Greece will offer young people a cash reward for receiving their first shot against COVID-19 as part of a government drive to boost vaccination rates ahead of the summer holiday season.

* German states will discuss with Angela Merkel’s chancellery testing and quarantine restrictions for returning travelers amid concern over the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of coronavirus, daily Bild reported.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Hong Kong will ban all passenger flights from the United Kingdom from Thursday to curb the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the government said.

* Australia decided to make vaccinations mandatory for high-risk aged-care workers and employees in quarantine hotels after a surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide.

* Indonesia’s health minister is leading a push for stricter controls as coronavirus infections surge to unprecedented levels, according to sources familiar with government discussions.

* Indonesia’s food and drug agency has recommended the vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech for children aged 12-17, the country’s COVID-19 task force said, as it seeks to extend inoculations amid a surge in infections. President Joko Widodo said vaccination for children could start soon.

* New Zealand is considering making masks compulsory at high alert levels as well as compulsory scanning of QR codes to boost contact tracing in efforts to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

AMERICAS

* The U.S. drug regulator added a warning to the literature that accompanies Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shots to indicate the rare risk of heart inflammation after its use.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South Africa will tighten COVID-19 restrictions for 14 days as current containment measures are insufficient to cope with the speed and scale of new infections, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* A third shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produces a strong immune response, researchers said, adding there was not yet evidence that such shots were needed, especially given shortages in some countries.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global shares began the week with a cautious start as Asian and European markets fell after a rise in coronavirus cases across Asia over the weekend hurt investor sentiment while oil hovered around 2-1/2 year highs. [nL2N2OA0QH][MKTS/GLOB]

* India has extended a federal guarantee on bank loans to health and tourism services while waiving visa fees for 500,000 foreign tourists, the finance minister said.

* Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a 150 billion ringgit ($36.22 billion) aid package, including cash aid and wage subsidies, a day after extending a nationwide lockdown indefinitely.

* Thailand’s government has prepared about 7.5 billion baht ($235 million) to help ease the impact of restrictions imposed to curb a recent rise in infections.

(Compiled by Jagoda Darlak; Edited by Angus MacSwan)

India’s richest state shuts malls, cinemas as new variant spreads

By Rajendra Jadhav and Bhargav Acharya

MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s richest state on Friday ordered malls and cinema halls to close as it scrambles to control a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus that has scuppered plans to ease lockdown measures.

At least 20 cases in Maharashtra state have been found linked to the new Delta Plus variant that India designated a variant of concern on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

While it is not known where the variant originated, Public Health England first reported on Delta Plus in a June 11 bulletin, calling it a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first detected in India last year.

The Delta variant was partly responsible for a ferocious second wave in India that triggered a flood of cases and overwhelmed the health system.

Scientists fear Delta Plus could trigger another wave of infections as India recovers from the second wave. Many states, including Maharashtra, have been easing lockdown rules imposed in April.

“Positivity rate and daily infections were going down consistently until a week ago, but in some regions again cases have started to rise,” a senior government official in Maharashtra told Reuters, declining to be named.

“We don’t know whether this is due to easing restrictions or the new variant, but this is a concern,” the official added.

At least 11 other countries have reported cases of Delta Plus.

New variants are a concern in India, where more than half the population is still not vaccinated. Only about 5.6% of India’s adult population of 950 million has received two doses.

The country has reported 48 cases of Delta Plus, and studies are ongoing to test the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the variant.

“We should have the results in about 7 to 10 days time whether the vaccine is working against the Delta Plus,” said Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

In Maharashtra, a state of around 126 million people, only around 30 million have received a first dose.

“If citizens start doing business and crowding places without following guidelines, then infections may increase … local authorities should not open businesses in a hurry,” the state’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said.

India reported 51,667 new infections and 1,329 deaths on Friday, taking total infections to 30.13 million with 393,310 deaths.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Ankur Banerjee and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Zeba Siddiqui and Giles Elgood)

Vaccines effective vs variants despite diminished antibodies; kids may be as contagious as adults

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Vaccines protect against variants despite diminished antibodies

The one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and the two-dose vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech appear to protect against worrisome coronavirus variants despite diminished levels of antibodies that can neutralize the newer versions of the virus, two studies in the journal Nature suggest. The authors of both studies said other immune responses may be compensating. In one study, published on Wednesday, researchers experimented with blood from people who had received the J&J vaccine two months earlier. Compared to their levels of neutralizing antibodies against the virus that was circulating early in the pandemic, levels of neutralizing antibodies against variants first identified in the UK, South Africa, Brazil and California were about three-fold lower. However, the researchers observed other “robust” immune activity and cells whose responses against the variants were undiminished. In clinical trials, the researchers noted, the J&J vaccine protected against symptomatic COVID-19 in South Africa and in Brazil, where most cases were caused by the variants. Its effectiveness in these regions raises the possibility that these other immune responses may be contributing to protection, coauthor Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in a statement. In a separate study using blood from recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech shots, levels of antibodies that could neutralize concerning variants first identified in India and Nigeria were lower compared to an earlier version of the virus, researchers reported on Thursday. Still, they reported “robust neutralization” of all tested variants. Neutralizing antibodies, the researchers said, do not reflect all potentially protective vaccine responses.

Children with COVID-19 may be as contagious as adults

In a community-based study of COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized, U.S. researchers found that children and adults with symptoms had similar viral loads, which suggests children can be just as contagious as grownups. “There has been a lot of debate around school openings and about whether children could transmit the virus and we thought this study could help answer some of these questions,” said Dr. Helen Chu of the University of Washington, who coauthored a report published on Friday in JAMA Pediatrics. Her team looked at 123 children and 432 adults with COVID-19 and found that nearly all of the adults had symptoms, compared to about two-thirds of the children. “Overall, people with symptoms had higher virus levels than people without symptoms,” Chu said. “However, when you looked within these groups – those with symptoms or those without – viral load was the same whether you were a child or an adult.” She noted that swab tests were only done once, so researchers cannot be sure they took place when patients’ viral loads were highest. But overall, she said, children in the community with SARS-CoV-2 infection can have virus levels similar to adults and can transmit it to others.

Oral booster vaccine shows promise in animal tests

An experimental “booster” vaccine against COVID-19 that is taken by mouth has yielded promising early results in studies in rats, Israeli researchers said. The oral vaccine, MigVax-101, targets multiple sites on the coronavirus. Along with the spike protein on the surface of the virus, which is the target of currently available vaccines, the oral vaccine also targets two sites on the virus shell, which encapsulates its genetic material. In laboratory experiments, rats that had received two doses of vaccines that targeted the spike protein were given the oral booster. “These rats developed a much higher level of antibodies for neutralizing the disease than did control group rats that received a placebo or a third injection of the (original) vaccine,” said David Zigdon of MIGAL Galilee Research Institute Ltd, who coauthored a report posted on Wednesday on bioRxiv ahead of peer review. If it is proven safe for humans, an oral vaccine might trigger strong immune responses in the mucosal surfaces of the mouth and upper respiratory tract, which would in turn help block viral entry, the researchers speculated. An oral vaccine could be particularly useful in developing countries because it would avoid the need for distribution of needles and could be self-administered.

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Christine Soares; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

India COVID-19 variant exhibits resistance; antibody drug shows promise

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

India variant shows resistance to antibody drugs, vaccines

Antibody drugs and COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against a coronavirus variant that was first detected in India, according to researchers. The variant, known as B.1.617.2, has mutations that make it more transmissible. It is now predominant in some parts of India and has spread to many other countries. A multicenter team of scientists in France studied a B.1.617.2 variant isolated from a traveler returning from India. Compared to the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain, the India variant was more resistant to antibody drugs, although three currently approved drugs still remained effective against it, they found. Antibodies in blood from unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors and from people who received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were 3-fold to 6-fold less potent against the India variant than against the UK variant and a variant first identified in South Africa, according to a report posted on Thursday on the website bioRxiv ahead of peer review. The two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not protect against the South Africa variant, is likely to be ineffective against the India variant as well. Antibodies from people who had received their first dose “barely inhibited” this India variant, said study co-author Olivier Schwartz of Institut Pasteur. The study, Schwartz added, shows that the rapid spread of the India variant is associated with its ability to “escape” the effect of neutralizing antibodies.

New antibody drug keeps mild COVID-19 from worsening

An antibody drug from Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline that protects against progression of COVID-19 in high-risk patients with mild to moderate disease received emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday. In a large randomized trial, patient risk of progression to more severe illness was reduced by 85% with the drug, sotrovimab, compared to a placebo, according to an interim report from the trial posted on Friday on the medRxiv website in advance of peer review. Everyone in the trial had risk factors for severe COVID-19 such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and old age. Three of 291 patients (1%) in the sotrovimab group became sick enough to be hospitalized, versus 21 of 292 (7%) in the placebo group, researchers said. All five patients who needed to be admitted to intensive care received placebo, they reported. Serious complications were less common with sotrovimab than with placebo, they added. The antibody treatment will be available for COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks, GSK and Vir said on Wednesday.

Joint and muscle disease drugs may limit vaccine response

The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna may be less effective in patients taking immunosuppressant drugs for rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, researchers said. “While additional research is required, patients on immunosuppressants should be aware that they may not be fully protected against COVID even after full vaccination. Therefore, patients should talk to their providers before relaxing precautions,” said Dr. Julie Paik of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. In an earlier study, her team found that most patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases do respond appropriately to the vaccines. Looking more closely at 20 people whose immune systems did not respond well – that is, no antibodies were detectable after vaccination – the researchers found that most were receiving multiple immunosuppressive agents. “A unifying factor” among the patients was their use of medications such as rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil that affect immune cells called lymphocytes that produce antibodies and help control immune responses, the researchers reported on Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. “Our study highlights the need for physicians and patients to be aware that immunosuppressants may prevent an appropriate vaccine response against SARS-CoV-2,” Paik said.

Robust, coordinated immune response marks mild COVID-19

In COVID-19 patients who do not become seriously ill, the immune system reacts to the virus “robustly,” with a highly coordinated response, and this coordination may be one key to ensuring a mild illness, according to researchers. Detailed studies of immune system behavior in COVID-19 patients have focused primarily on those with moderate or severe illness and have found “uncoordinated” immune responses. The new study, posted Wednesday on the bioRxiv website ahead of peer review, “used cutting-edge methods to deeply study immune cells” in 18 patients with only mild illness, said study co-author Greg Szeto of the Allen Institute for Immunology in Seattle. In these mildly ill volunteers, the more intense the immune response in early infection, the higher the levels of antibodies in their blood after recovery, the multicenter research team found. And compared to participants who recovered, participants who had lingering troublesome symptoms – so-called Long Covid – had weaker immune responses to the virus in early infection, Szeto added. The differences the study found between mildly ill patients who did and did not develop Long Covid may help researchers devise more personalized ways to monitor immune responses to the virus and better methods for treatment, Szeto’s team concluded.

 

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Megan Brooks; Editing by Will Dunham)

Argentina’s gravediggers plead for vaccines as death toll climbs

By Miguel Lo Bianco and Agustin Geist

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Ernesto Fabián Aguirre, a gravedigger in the Memorial cemetery in the suburbs of Argentine capital Buenos Aires, feels like he is going into battle every day as the country’s coronavirus death toll mounts amid a new wave of infections.

Argentina’s gravediggers are threatening to strike over demands that cemetery workers burying the dead are vaccinated against COVID-19, a test for the South American country’s government which has faced hold-ups to its vaccine roll-out.

“We face a daily war in this place,” Aguirre told Reuters. “The fear is real, that’s why we want the vaccine to arrive for everyone so that, at least, we can live a couple more years,” he said with a wry laugh.

Argentina is seeing a sharp second wave of the pandemic, with the average daily death toll hitting a record at over 450 lives lost a day. The country has recorded over 70,000 deaths since the pandemic hit. Daily new cases now average just below 25,000, prompting calls for tighter restrictions.

Meanwhile the country’s inoculation campaign has only fully inoculated 4.5% of the population and 18% has received at least one dose, according to a Reuters analysis. At an average of 132,000 doses given per day, it will take another 69 days to inoculate another 10% of the population.

Argentina’s union representing cemetery, crematorium and funeral workers has threatened a national strike if it does not reach a deal with the government on vaccines. The strike could start this week after a government-enforced conciliation period ends.

The burial protocol for COVID-19 victims involves disinfecting and handling the coffin, where workers have to wear protective gear including body suits, face masks, goggles and gloves.

“It is a very hard work every day and I would like if it could be possible for us to be vaccinated because each day we have to take good care of ourselves and the COVID-19 issue is raging,” said Juan Polig, the cemetery’s manager.

Polig explained that beyond the physical risk of infection, workers had to deal with the emotional pain of consoling relatives and having to restrict how many family members can visit the grave due to COVID protocol measures.

“It’s hugely sad and complicated,” he said.

(Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco and Agustín Geist; Writing by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Lisa Shumaker)