Omicron may have affected risk in England, but other factors could include vaccination and severity of previous infection

Covid reinfection: how likely are you to catch virus multiple times?

What that means for public health

Trust in Science is Changing

10.1172/JCI149072

The initial United States government response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was marked by a frequent disconnect between government policies and the recommendations of scientific experts. A disinformation campaign from the Trump White House convinced many Americans that COVID-19 injuries and its death toll were exaggerated, leading many to ignore public health recommendations (1). Those who dismissed the severity of COVID-19 were more likely to shun face masks and ignore recommendations to socially distance from non–household members (2). Such individuals were more likely Republicans than Democrats by a wide margin (2), and under a flag of health or medical freedom, an outright defiance of masks and social distancing came to symbolize allegiance to President Trump (1). This contributed to the rampant spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, which have taken the lives of one-half million Americans (1). Misguided ideologies from populist regimes in Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and Tanzania bear varying degrees of resemblance to health freedom and contribute to the global COVID-19 death toll (3). Here, I explore the anti-science movement in America, emphasizing our unique historical connections to health and medical freedom.

America’s deadly flirtation with antiscience and the medical freedom movement

And the ones who did die? Well we don't hear so much from them.

Analysis: Experts say when the rules are relaxed there tends to be a gradual erosion of protective behaviours

Mixed messages? How end of Covid plan B could change behaviour in England

That whole opening up going well for Australian inbound tourism then. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-australia

As its been getting increasing attention recently, I'm going to write a short thread on what we currently know about BA.2. -what is BA.2? -what is BA.2 doing currently? -Should we be concerned about it?

10.1093/braincomms/fcab295

Recent studies indicate that COVID-19 infection can lead to serious neurological consequences in a small percentage of individuals. However, in the months following acute illness, many more suffer from fatigue, low motivation, disturbed mood, poor sleep and cognitive symptoms, colloquially referred to as ‘brain fog’. But what about individuals who had asymptomatic to moderate COVID-19 and reported no concerns after recovering from COVID-19? Here, we examined a wide range of cognitive functions critical for daily life (including sustained attention, memory, motor control, planning, semantic reasoning, mental rotation and spatial–visual attention) in people who had previously suffered from COVID-19 but were not significantly different from a control group on self-reported fatigue, forgetfulness, sleep abnormality, motivation, depression, anxiety and personality profile. Reassuringly, COVID-19 survivors performed well in most abilities tested, including working memory, executive function, planning and mental rotation. However, they displayed significantly worse episodic memory (up to 6 months post-infection) and greater decline in vigilance with time on task (for up to 9 months). Overall, the results show that specific chronic cognitive changes following COVID-19 are evident on objective testing even amongst those who do not report a greater symptom burden. Importantly, in the sample tested here, these were not significantly different from normal after 6–9 months, demonstrating evidence of recovery over time.

Rapid vigilance and episodic memory decrements in COVID-19 survivors

How are digital technologies changing the way people interact with information?  What technologies are there that can fabricate and detect misinformation?  And what role does technology have to play in creating a better information environment? The online information environment (PDF) report addresses these questions, providing an overview of how the internet has changed, and continues to change, the way society engages with scientific information, and how it may be affecting people’s decision-making behaviour – from taking up vaccines to responding to evidence on climate change. It highlights key challenges for creating a healthy online information environment and makes a series of recommendations for policymakers, academics, and online platforms.

The online information environment

While "eye-popping," the spike in pediatric cases is a reflection of the widespread transmission of Covid-19's omicron variant.

Nearly 1 million pediatric Covid cases reported last week

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, and SK bioscience, Co. Limited, a vaccine business subsidiary of Korea-based SK Group, today announced that South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has approved a Biologics License Application (BLA) from SK bioscience for Nuvaxovid™ COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted) for active immunization in individuals 18 years of age and older for the prevention of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Nuvaxovid™, Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine also known as NVX-CoV2373, is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for commercial use in South Korea and will be manufactured and marketed in the country by SK bioscience. "Novavax is proud to bring our COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea at a critical time in the pandemic as both the Delta and Omicron variants have taken hold," said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. "We thank our partners at SK bioscience for their commitment to this public health challenge and the MFDS for its thorough assessment of our data as we look forward to helping address major obstacles to controlling the pandemic through the additional option of our protein-based vaccine." SK bioscience has an advance purchase agreement with the South Korean government to supply 40 million doses of Novavax' vaccine. The companies also recently announced expanded collaboration and license agreements that are expected to increase manufacturing capacity and provide SK bioscience with additional non-exclusive territories. Novavax' vaccine also recently received conditional marketing authorization (CMA) in the European Union and emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO) under the brand name Nuvaxovid. The Novavax/Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. vaccine (brand name, Covovax™) recently received emergency use authorization (EUA) in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as WHO EUL. Together, the WHO EULs for the vaccine from both companies reflect the potential opportunity for authorization in over 170 countries. The vaccine is also currently under review by multiple additional regulatory agencies worldwide and the company expects to receive additional worldwide authorizations in the first half of 2022. This includes the submission of its complete chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) data package to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of 2021. The company expects to submit a request for EUA for the vaccine in the U.S. after one month in accordance with guidance from the FDA regarding submission of all EUA vaccines.

South Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Approves Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine

10.1101/2022.01.18.476786

SARS-CoV-2 has been found capable of inducing prolonged pathologies collectively referred to as Long-COVID. To better understand this biology, we compared the short- and long-term systemic responses in the golden hamster following either SARS-CoV-2 or influenza A virus (IAV) infection. While SARS-CoV-2 exceeded IAV in its capacity to cause injury to the lung and kidney, the most significant changes were observed in the olfactory bulb (OB) and olfactory epithelium (OE) where inflammation was visible beyond one month post SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite a lack of detectable virus, OB/OE demonstrated microglial and T cell activation, proinflammatory cytokine production, and interferon responses that correlated with behavioral changes. These findings could be corroborated through sequencing of individuals who recovered from COVID-19, as sustained inflammation in OB/OE tissue remained evident months beyond disease resolution. These data highlight a molecular mechanism for persistent COVID-19 symptomology and characterize a small animal model to develop future therapeutics.

SARS-CoV-2 infection results in lasting and systemic perturbations post recovery

where is the longer term plan for actually making our environments safer to enable us to mix more safely? e.g. cleaner indoor air? better building design for all new builds? We need to take *positive steps* to enable return to normal - not just pretend that Covid has gone away.

This makes it so clear that the release of *all* measures right now (esp masks, esp schools) is only to protect himself & his job. Boris has zero interest in protecting others from getting sick, needing hospital or dying. Or protecting businesses, schools, NHS from disruption.

This would be an astonishing percentage if @trvrb is right that only 1 in 4 or so cases detected in US.

As the nation reaches the deadliest stage of the entire coronavirus pandemic, the protective effects of the vaccine remain clear

Australia has had its deadliest day yet of the pandemic – here’s what we know about who is dying

How do you solve a problem like bad information?

Should bad science be censored on social media?

Mask-wearing is associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 transmission and factors other than mandates contributed to the global uptake of mask-wearing in 2020, new research has found.

Mask-wearing reduces COVID-19 transmission, study finds

South Korea on Thursday received its first supply of Pfizer's antiviral COVID-19 pills to treat patients with mild or moderate symptoms.

South Korea gets first supply of Pfizer's COVID-19 pills

It was a landmark hearing for Ontario. Four doctors —  Rochagne Kilian, Mary O’Connor, Mark Trozzi and Patrick Phillips — had been scheduled to appear to fight legal proceedings brought by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) late last year.Trozzi, O’Connor and Kilian have been accused by the CPSO of failing to comply with investigations into allegations they issued false medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Phillips, the CPSO says, is threatening to re-release a tranche of confidential documents on Twitter.

Revealed: How a web of Canadian doctors are undermining the fight against COVID-19

10.1001/jama.2021.23262

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine immunogenicity and effectiveness are well established in adolescents.1 However, the effect of vaccination on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C),2 a severe complication associated with SARS-CoV-2,3 has not yet been described. Summer 2021 in France was marked by both a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, with a peak in August 2021, and by the recommendation of the French Public Health Agency to vaccinate children aged 12 years or older. We estimated the risk of MIS-C among adolescents by COVID-19 vaccination status during September 2021 and October 2021.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children by COVID-19 Vaccination Status of Adolescents in France

10.3389/fimmu.2021.676932

Objectives: The immunological and inflammatory changes following acute COVID-19 are hugely variable. Persistent clinical symptoms following resolution of initial infection, termed long COVID, are also hugely variable, but association with immunological changes has not been described. We investigate changing immunological parameters in convalescent COVID-19 and interrogate their potential relationships with persistent symptoms.Methods: We performed paired immunophenotyping at initial SARS-CoV-2 infection and convalescence (n=40, median 68 days) and validated findings in 71 further patients at median 101 days convalescence. Results were compared to 40 pre-pandemic controls. Fatigue and exercise tolerance were assessed as cardinal features of long COVID using the Chalder Fatigue Scale and 6-minute-walk test. The relationships between these clinical outcomes and convalescent immunological results were investigated.Results: We identify persistent expansion of intermediate monocytes, effector CD8+, activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and reduced naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells at 68 days, with activated CD8+ T cells remaining increased at 101 days. Patients >60 years also demonstrate reduced naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and expanded activated CD4+ T cells at 101 days. Ill-health, fatigue, and reduced exercise tolerance were common in this cohort. These symptoms were not associated with immune cell populations or circulating inflammatory cytokines.Conclusion: We demonstrate myeloid recovery but persistent T cell abnormalities in convalescent COVID-19 patients more than three months after initial infection. These changes are more marked with age and are independent of ongoing subjective ill-health, fatigue and reduced exercise tolerance.

Longitudinal Analysis of COVID-19 Patients Shows Age-Associated T Cell Changes Independent of Ongoing Ill-Health

COVID’s winter surge holds a deeper lesson about the perils of interpreting data without a full appreciation of the context.

Do the Omicron Numbers Mean What We Think They Mean?

Researchers concluded vaccine hesitancy is associated with being less oriented toward the future, and more likely to choose a smaller reward today than wait for a better one later

Living for the moment: Study points to cognitive differences in people who are vaccine hesitant

No RCTs necessary to slay all you myocarditis downplayers

Experts on whether getting Covid is inevitable and why, despite claims of ‘mildness’, the variant is highly dangerous

‘I have no intention of getting infected’: understanding Omicron’s severity

After nearly two years of pandemic, 5,000 inpatients and 1,000 deaths, the staff of one of the largest hospitals in north-west England are frustrated and exhausted

‘Christmas was awful’: on the Omicron frontline at the Royal Preston hospital

Cutting the Covid self-isolation period to five days would "certainly help", a cabinet minister has said.

Covid-19: Cutting self-isolation to five days would be helpful, Nadhim Zahawi says

Version with fewer ages and the CIs plotted:

I hate it when I have to keep increasing the y-axis... #Omicron is #NotMild #LongCovidKids #SpotCovid

Marianna Parker, a Boston-area pediatrician, wanted to make sure she, her husband, and her toddler didn’t have Covid-19 when they developed a nasty cold around Dec. 18. Over the course of a week she used five Covid rapid tests and took three PCR tests, testing negative. Her husband tested negative on a rapid test on his second day of infection but positive on his sixth, a result that was confirmed via PCR. “If he hadn’t decided to do that random test on day 6 we would never have known,” she said. Nevertheless, she’s convinced all three of them had Covid, and that the tests simply produced the wrong results. In a Facebook post, she advised friends to remember that if they are vaccinated, their tests might only be positive for a short period of time. Parker is not alone in puzzling over how to interpret the antigen tests. Social media platforms are rife with anecdotes from people who contracted Covid but who report that rapid tests came back negative. Meantime, a small, 30-patient study this week cast doubts about rapid Covid tests’ reliability early on after infection, showing that the tests took several days after infection before detecting the virus.

Scientists try to pinpoint why rapid Covid tests are missing some cases

Just under a million boosters given. 4 confirmed myocarditis cases, 9 under review. All 4 have recovered.

Booster coverage by deprivation and age in England @IndependentSage

We spoke to Professor Peter Openshaw of Imperial College London who’s also Vice Chair of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group. We began by asking him whether he thought the measures introduced in Plan B were the right ones – given the strains on the NHS.

Covid: 150 deaths a day in UK an ‘unacceptably high number’, says professor

A new variant is changing vaccination strategies, as many people still wait for their first shots.

Omicron collides with a struggling global vaccination campaign

Apparently, the often scolded silent majority in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia has had enough: More and more people are taking a stand against the demonstrators who are demonstrating against the corona protection measures with "walks", torchlight processions or candle actions: In a sample of the MDR, more than 40,000 signatures under open letters and petitions counted.

How civil society is increasingly fighting the Corona protests

A study led by researchers from the LKS Faculty of Medicine at The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) provides the first information on how the novel Variant of Concern (VOC) of SARS-CoV-2, the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infect human respiratory tract. The researchers found that Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and original SARS-CoV-2 in human bronchus, which may explain why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than previous variants. Their study also showed that the Omicron infection in the lung is significantly lower than the original SARS-CoV-2, which may be an indicator of lower disease severity. This research is currently under peer review for publication.

HKUMed finds Omicron SARS-CoV-2 can infect faster and better than Delta in human bronchus but with less severe infection in lung

Where the “Omikron Wall” is already there: the example of Denmark shows what could be in store for us

Corona in Denmark: where Omikron’s wall is already there | News Headlines Denmark

If the Covid pandemic has made one thing is clear, it is that we are interdependent in terms of risk and safety. So a collective response is required. From distancing, through ventilation, to vaccination programmes, decisions needed to be taken at the level of the whole community, society, and indeed the world. We need a coordinated response that prioritizes and supports the most urgent actions. Leadership is therefore essential. Three forms of leadership have been particularly evident over the course of the pandemic: identity leadership, coercive leadership, and laissez faire leadership. Only one of these is actually effective in enabling the collective response we need.

Three forms of Covid leadership

The new variant poses a far graver threat at the collective level than the individual one—the kind of test that the U.S. has repeatedly failed.

America Is Not Ready for Omicron

The holiday travel season in the United States this year is looking a lot more like 2019.Airlines are projected to carry 6.4 million passengers, according to travel organization AAA. That's about triple the number from last year when the pandemic significantly curtailed holiday air travel.

Holiday travel heats up as the Omicron situation unfolds

The British leader says the government is monitoring Omicron closely and does not rule out new measures after Christmas.

UK PM Johnson rules out new COVID curbs before Christmas

Country’s highest court calls for legally binding guidelines if hospitals are forced to choose which patients need treatment

German court rules disabled people must be protected in Covid triage cases

Great thread by @flodebarre on latest genotyping results in France: shows a small increase in potential B.1.640.2 during December in southern France thats now on the decline as Omicron is growing

For those interested first upload of B.1.640.2 onto GISAID was on 4th Nov 2021 from Paris by Roquebert et al, first uploaded Omi was almost 3 weeks later on 22nd Nov 2021 from HK by Alan et al

and as @shay_fleishon pointed out there havent been any new sequences uploaded since before Christmas... this virus has had a decent chance to cause trouble but never really materialised (as far as we can tell at least...)

Lots of chat about B.1.640.2 in the last few days - just a few points to keep in mind: - B.1.640.2 actually predates Omicron - in all that time there are exactly... 20 sequences (compared to the >120k Omis in less time) Def not one worth worrying about too much at the mo...