9th Jun 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=677 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

Copenhagen Post Last year Denmark spent around 2.4 billion kroner on coronavirus vaccines a figure that looks set to be surpassed in 2022. The State Serum Institute SSI has revealed that it has agreements in place for this year involving 22 million vaccine doses worth some 2.8 billion kroner. And as the Corona Crisis continues to wane in Denmark some experts question whether so many doses are needed. https://cphpost.dk/?p=134515 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

CNN The United States has a very serious problem with Covid19 vaccination uptake a top health official has warned. Vaccines are by far the most powerful tool available against the coronavirus protecting people from getting seriously ill being hospitalized and dying from the virus. Unlike many less developed countries the US has enough doses to vaccinate everyone as well as the necessary infrastructure to support the rollout. The problem not everyone wants the shot. We do have a problem with vaccine uptake that is very serious in the United States and anything we can do to get people more comfortable to be able to accept these potentially lifesaving medical products is something that we feel we are compelled to do said Dr. Peter Marks director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/08/world/coronavirus-newsletter-intl-06-08-22/index.html 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters DirectorGeneral Ngosi OkonjoIweala has called COVID19 vaccine inequity unconscionable and given top priority to a deal to facilitate the flow of vaccines more widely. Even though demand for COVID19 shots has tapered off India South Africa and some 100 other backers are seeking a potential waiver of intellectual property rights for vaccines and treatments. However WTO members remain divided over a draft deal for vaccines negotiated between the four main parties India South Africa the European Union and the United States that was forged to break an 18month deadlock. Protest groups are urging members to reject it and China has lodged an objection. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wto-chief-says-deals-within-reach-ahead-geneva-meeting-2022-06-08/ 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Shanghai officials are seeking to revive confidence among multinational companies bruised and frustrated by the citys COVID19 lockdown by holding multiple meetings with foreign firms and easing a key border requirement for overseas workers. The image of Chinas most cosmopolitan city and its biggest business hub was badly damaged by the twomonth lockdown with countless expatriates relocating and foreign businesses warning that they are reconsidering investment plans. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/after-lockdown-shanghai-tries-mend-fences-with-foreign-firms-2022-06-08/ 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal Novavax shares jumped 5.4 Wednesday after the agencys vaccine expert panel voted to recommend its twodose vaccine. It is quite the victory for the 35yearold Maryland biotech which was running out of cash in late 2019 before the pandemic came to its rescue. But the nod from the expert group comes as the pool of Americans seeking a booster shot continues to nosedive. The sevenday average for booster shots administered daily was about 55600 this week down from over a million in early December according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency says only about half of boostereligible people have gotten one so fara clear sign of vaccine fatigue. https://www.wsj.com/articles/novavaxs-new-covid-19-vaccine-might-be-late-to-the-party-11654697078 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Vox on MSN.com At this point two and a half years into the pandemic many kids have begun to catch up on experiences they missed. Children under 5 however still arent able to be vaccinated leaving some families unsure how much return to normalcy is really safe or possible. At the same time infants toddlers and preschoolers have gone through crucial years of early social and emotional development at a time of trauma and isolation for many Americans. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/the-kids-who-have-never-known-life-without-covid-19/ar-AAYaQCV 8th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Times of Israel As cases rise indoor masking recommended for the public virus czar says 5th vaccine dose may be needed transmission rate continues to rise positive test rate over 20 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-to-hold-meeting-as-officials-warn-of-new-covid-wave-say-5th-dose-may-be-needed/ 8th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Evening Standard On 31 March 2022 the French government relaxed Covid border restrictions to allow unvaccinated travellers entry to the country for leisure and work purposes. Previously only vaccinated travellers were permitted entry for leisure and work while unjabbed travellers could only visit the country if they had a compelling reason. Unvaccinated travellers should provide proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in France or an antigen test taken no more than 48 hours before arrival. They will no longer need to quarantine for seven days on entering the country. Rules for vaccinated travellers were also relaxed. They no longer need to submit a sworn declaration form stating that they show no Covid symptoms. They are only required to present proof of vaccination. https://www.standard.co.uk/esmoney/travel-insurance/what-are-the-entry-requirements-for-france-b955365.html 9th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

CNN The White House issued a new warning to Congress Wednesday on the continued urgent need for Covid19 funding highlighting new unacceptable tradeoffs as it reallocates and reprioritizes remaining funding toward new vaccines in the absence of congressional action. Due to a lack of additional funding a White House official told CNN in a statement the Department of Health and Human Services is now forced to pull funds from other essential elements of our response to meet some basic Covid19 response needs. The official continued This will allow the US to get in line to procure some additional lifesaving vaccines for the fall including nextgeneration vaccines if available and procure additional lifesaving treatments. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/08/politics/white-house-covid-19-response-congress/index.html 8th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

San Francisco Chronicle The U.S. Food and Drug Administrations vaccine advisory committee on Tuesday recommended the agency grant emergency use authorization for the COVID19 vaccine made by Novavax. If approved it would become the fourth coronavirus vaccine available in the U.S. along with the Pfizer Moderna and Johnson Johnson versions. Californias chief justice Tani CantilSakauye has tested positive for COVID19 and has mild symptoms court officials say. https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/COVID-California-17226295.php 8th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

ABC News Dogs will be used to sniff for COVID19 among patients and visitors at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Patients and visitors to the emergency department will still have to undergo more mainstream testing. The hospital has faced criticism for its COVID19 policies https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-08/dogs-sniff-for-covid19-during-adelaide-hospital-trial/101135162 8th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Associated Press The Biden administration said Wednesday that a funding crunch is forcing it to divert more than 10 billion in coronavirus relief from test procurement and other efforts as it tries to come up with money to secure the next generation of vaccines and treatments for some highrisk Americans. The White House said it has been left with no choice but to cut back on orders of athome rapid tests that have supported a domestic manufacturing base for the easy diagnostic tests. It also is scaling back funding for research and development of new COVID19 vaccines and limiting orders of personal protective equipment in an effort to maintain some stockpiles of vaccines and treatments for Americans heading into the winter. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-congress-government-and-politics-237a94c5400216503c24d524c04b29da 8th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Shares of Novavax Inc surged nearly 20 on Wednesday after advisers to the Food and Drug Administration overwhelmingly backed the use of its COVID19 vaccine bringing the shot a step closer to a U.S. launch. The stock tumbled about 20 on Friday after the heath regulators reviewers flagged concerns of a type of heart inflammation following the vaccination adding uncertainty over the outcome of Tuesdays meeting. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novavax-shares-jump-fda-panel-backs-covid-vaccine-2022-06-08/ 8th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

ABC News An education level of year 10 or above would have been required to understand much of the material the study found. About half of the Australian population reads at an education level of year 10 or below. The state government defended its public health messages which it said had been critical in reaching high levels of vaccination coverage https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-08/covid-public-health-information-victorian-government-study/101134738 8th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters A leading airline industry official on Tuesday blasted British politicians for criticizing long airport lines and canceled flights once COVID19 cases eased and in turn assailed Prime Minister Boris Johnsons own response to the pandemic. You look at the UK Boris Johnson he highlights one of the reasons why he should continue to be prime minister as being the way he handled the pandemic. What a joke. They should have done a hell of a lot better Willie Walsh director general of the International Air Transport Association IATA told the Paris Air Forum. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/uk-should-have-done-better-covid-19-iata-director-general-2022-06-07/ 8th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

The Associated Press Vietnams health minister and the mayor of the capital Hanoi have been arrested as part of an expanding investigation into massive price gouging of COVID19 tests state media reported. Nguyen Thanh Long was dismissed from his ministry post and Chu Ngoc Anh who previously was the science minister was fired as Hanoi mayor Tuoi Tre online news outlet reported Tuesday. They are being investigated for abuse of power according to the Ministry of Public Security and have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party. An investigation concluded earlier that mismanagement in the science and health ministries had allowed Viet A Technology Corporation to inflate prices for test kits supplied to hospitals and health centers in Vietnam. https://apnews.com/article/covid-politics-health-business-vietnam-5cf5c71b07923bfb7f0bdfba6836ce45 8th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

KFVS12 A former top official at the St. Louis County jail appointed by County Executive Sam Page has been indicted. Anthony Tony Weaver Sr. turned himself in to federal authorities Tuesday. On May 6 2020 the indictment alleged that he approached a man who owned several small businesses in St. Louis County with a plan to fraudulently apply for grants from the Small Business Relief Program SBR in exchange for a share of the proceeds. Weaver was indicted on May 25 2022 on four felony counts of wire fraud. https://www.kfvs12.com/2022/06/07/st-louis-county-top-official-indicted-alleged-covid-19-funding-scam/ 8th Jun 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters A major Toyota Motor Corp supplier has asked employees to take a day off with reduced pay this month a spokesperson for the supplier Toyoda Gosei Co said on Wednesday reflecting the impact of the chip shortage and China lockdowns. Toyoda Gosei which makes air bags brake hoses and radiator grilles has asked domestic employees to take a day of leave in June following production suspensions by Toyota and other automakers the spokesperson confirmed to Reuters declining to name the automakers. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota-supplier-toyoda-gosei-asks-employees-take-leave-lockdown-bites-2022-06-08/ 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

News-Medical.Net The current study discusses the discovery of a novel betaCoV in Swedish bank voles and presents its full sequence for the first time. The failure to detect this virus using a published panCoV PCR test is traceable to the highly divergent RNA sequence of the Grimso virus. The use of specific spike gene primers in the customized PCR used in the present study yielded several samples over the threeyear study period. The two complete sequences obtained in this study showed almost 3.5 nonidentity which amounted to about 1340 differences at the nucleotide level. This exceeds the expected rate of nucleotide substitution over three years. Either several strains of the Grimso virus are cocirculating in this rodent species or the true reservoir of this virus includes other species that regularly transmit it to bank voles. The prevalence of the Grimso virus in this rodent species was about 3.4 thus suggesting that this animal is a suitable host for the virus. As a result the Grimso virus presents a potential zoonotic host for spillover events between bank voles and human beings. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220607/A-new-coronavirus-found-in-Swedish-bank-voles.aspx 9th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The New York Times Moderna released preliminary results on Wednesday on an updated coronavirus vaccine that targets the Omicron variant calling it our lead candidate to serve as a U.S. booster shot in the fall. The firms researchers tested a booster dose combining the original vaccine with one that specifically targeted Omicron the variant that became dominant last winter. They found that among those with no evidence of prior coronavirus infection the combination produced 1.75 times the level of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron as the existing Moderna vaccine did alone. While those results may seem encouraging on their face many experts worry that the virus is evolving so quickly that it is outpacing the ability to modify vaccines at least as long as the United States relies on human clinical trials for results. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/us/politics/moderna-vaccine-omicron-variant.html 9th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Pharma Letter The US Food and Drug Administration FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee VRBPAC yesterday voted 21 to 0 with one abstention to recommend that the FDA grant Emergency Use Authorization EUA for the Novavax COVID19 vaccine NVXCoV2373 for individuals aged 18 years and over. The vaccine was developed by US biotech firm Novavax Nasdaq NVAX whose shares leapt 22 to 58.05 in afterhours trading on Tuesday. https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/fda-adcom-strongly-backs-eua-of-novavax-covid-19-vaccine 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

News-Medical.Net A medical research team from the University of Hong Kong HKU will start a largescale clinical trial on a new COVID19 inactivated vaccine Omicron variant developed by China National Biotec Group Sinopharm. Led by Professor Ivan Hung Chief of Division of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Professor of Department of Medicine LKS Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong HKUMed and with the coordination and technical support by HKU Clinical Trials Centre HKUCTC the study aims to evaluate the investigational vaccines safety and immune response as a booster for adults and will last for around a year. 1800 adult volunteers who have already received two or three doses of inactivated or mRNA COVID19 vaccines will be recruited to take part in the study. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220608/Researchers-plan-to-commence-a-clinical-trial-on-new-COVID-19-inactivated-vaccine.aspx 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Bloomberg Pfizer Inc. and BioNTechs Covid19 vaccine appears to largely prevent severe disease from the coronavirus omicron variants sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 a study by South Africas biggest health insurer shows. The twoshot Pfizer course offers 87 protection against being hospitalized with the strains that are driving the countrys fifth wave of infections Discovery Health Ltd. basing its study on the the more than 1 million clients it has in Gauteng province. That level of protection was based on infection in patients one to two months after receiving their second dose. The study showed that protection waned to 84 three to four months after the second dose and 63 at five to six months post inoculation Ryan Noach the companys chief executive officer said in a LinkedIn post dated June 6. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-08/pfizer-protects-against-omicron-sublineages-discovery-says 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNN Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration decided Tuesday that authorizing Novavaxs Covid19 vaccine which uses different technology from the three vaccines currently in use in the US for emergency use in adults would be beneficial. Most of the FDAs Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted yes in response to a question of whether the benefits of Novavaxs vaccine given as a twodose primary series outweigh its risks in people 18 and older based on available evidence. Twentyone members voted yes one abstained and none voted no. If the full FDA gives the vaccine the green light it will become the fourth Covid19 vaccine authorized in the United States. Novavaxs vaccine is made using small laboratorybuilt pieces of the coronavirus to stimulate immunity. This proteinbased approach is a more traditional one for vaccine development than the mRNA vaccines from PfizerBioNTech and Moderna. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/health/novavax-covid-vaccine-fda/index.html 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Business Insider Biotechnology company Moderna Inc. said Wednesday that its omicroncontaining bivalent booster candidate mRNA1273.214 which contained mRNA1273 Spikevax and a vaccine candidate targeting the Omicron variant of concern demonstrated superior antibody response against omicron. According to the company mRNA1273.214 met all primary endpoints in the phase 23 trial including neutralizing antibody response against Omicron when compared to a 50 micrograms booster dose of mRNA1273 in baseline seronegative participants. The study results showed mRNA1273.214 exhibited an eightfold boost in neutralizing geometric mean titers against omicron among baseline seronegative participant https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/moderna-says-bivalent-covid-19-booster-shows-superior-antibody-response-against-omicron-1031516215 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CBS News Adriana Vaughan tested positive for COVID19 in October 2021. Eight months later the 12yearold has a string of new medical issues fatigue headaches stomach problems and more. Vaughan cant even walk for six minutes without losing her breath. She says swimming which she did before getting COVID is also hard. I do really love the water and swimming. I tried to do it a few days ago it was really a lot for me Vaughan told CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-long-haul-kids-effects/ 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Wall Street Journal When my 14yearold son had a sore throat and congestion recently I whipped out a Covid19 rapid antigen test. Negative. The next day I tested him again. Negative. Days later when his friend tested positive for Covid19 and my son still had cold symptoms we tested again. Negative again. Could I safely assume he was Covid19 free Its a question many people are asking now as Omicron subvariants circulate alongside colds allergies and other viruses. With Americans largely returning to prepandemic habits and precautions such as mask mandates dropped many people have come to rely on rapid testing to avoid spreading the virus. But with so many people having symptoms and still testing negative its hard to know whether to trust the results. A positive test has ramifications well beyond validating symptoms potentially keeping you out of work or your children out of school. https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-i-trust-my-rapid-covid-19-test-if-it-says-im-negative-11654650057?mod=hp_listc_pos2 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Boston.com A new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School Boston Childrens Hospital and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows that fewer than 10 percent of kids who contracted COVID19 in 2020 or early 2021 developed antibodies capable of warding off the Omicron variant of the virus according to a statement posted to the medical schools website. The statement said the study findings published May 27 in the journal Nature Communications track with prior studies of adults that showed getting COVID19 once sadly doesnt guarantee antibody protection against repeat infection at a later date. I hear parents say oh my kid had COVID last year said Dr. Adrienne G. Randolph a cosenior investigator on the HMSChildrens study and HMS professor of anesthesia and of pediatrics at Boston Childrens in the statement. But we found that antibodies children produced during prior infections dont neutralize Omicron. https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2022/06/08/study-many-children-who-contracted-covid-19-did-not-develop-antibodies-to-ward-off-omicron/ 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNN on MSN.com Moderna said on Wednesday its bivalent Covid19 vaccine booster that contained a vaccine targeting the Omicron variant showed a stronger immune response against the variant. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/moderna-says-updated-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shows-stronger-antibody-response-against-omicron/ar-AAYdGc6 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Pharmaceutical Technology Catalent and Israeli biopharmaceutical firm MigVax have entered a development agreement to use the formers Zydis Bio orally disintegrating tablet ODT technology for delivering the Covid19 vaccine MigVax101. A lead oral vaccine programme of MigVax MigVax101 is an orally disintegrating freezedried tablet vaccine against Covid19. It demonstrated positive data in preclinical tests. The oral formulation of the vaccine could provide substantial potential benefits in lowand middleincome nations over the existing firstgeneration injected vaccines. These benefits include ease of dosing storage and transportation the potential to address variants in the future and applicability to a wider population. https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/catalent-migvax-vaccine-covid/ 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the agency authorize Novavax Incs NVAX.O COVID19 vaccine for use in adults which the drugmaker hopes can become the shot of choice among some American vaccine skeptics. The panel of outside vaccine experts voted 210 with one abstention in favor of the vaccine for those 18 and older after discussing whether the shots benefits outweigh risks including rare occurrences of heart inflammation that may be associated with the vaccine. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/novavax-covid-vaccine-heads-us-fda-advisory-committee-2022-06-07/ 8th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Moderna Inc said on Wednesday a new version of its coronavirus vaccine produced a better immune response against Omicron than the original shot as the drugmaker pursues a booster against a surge in infections in the fall season. The vaccine which was given as a fourth dose in a trial that enrolled more than 800 people raised virusneutralizing antibodies by eightfold against Omicron. The company said it plans to submit data on the vaccine which targets Omicron as well as the original coronavirus strain to regulators in the coming weeks and the doses could be available to consumers in late summer sending its shares up 3. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-says-omicron-specific-booster-generates-strong-immune-response-2022-06-08/ 8th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

South China Morning Post After too many residents submitted misleading results government now only includes checked results in daily tally. All residents who declare a positive RAT result on the official online portal must take a confirmatory PCR test https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3180876/coronavirus-hong-kong-logs-558-new-cases-even 8th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Business Standard Article reports that South Korea reported 13358 new COVID19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago raising the total number of infections to 18188200 the health authorities said Wednesday. The daily caseload was up from 6172 in the previous day but it was lower than 15790 tallied a week ago according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency KDCA. For the past week the daily average number of confirmed cases was 9839. Among the new cases 59 were imported from overseas lifting the total to 33117. https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/south-korea-reports-13-358-new-covid-19-cases-tally-rises-to-18-188-200-122060800394_1.html 8th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron are estimated to make up nearly 5 and 8 of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of June 4 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC said on Tuesday. The two sublineages which were added to the World Health Organizations monitoring list in March and designated as variants of concern by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ECDC were present in all U.S. regions. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/omicron-sub-variants-ba4-ba5-account-up-13-covid-variants-us-cdc-2022-06-07/ 8th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Business Standard Daily coronavirus infections in India were recorded above 5000 after 93 days taking the total tally of Covid19 cases to 43190282 while the active cases rose to 28857 according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. A total of 5233 infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours while the death toll climbed to 524715 with seven fresh fatalities the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections while the national Covid19 recovery rate was 98.72 per cent the ministry said. https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/new-coronavirus-infections-in-india-jump-to-cross-5-000-mark-122060900074_1.html 8th Jun 2022