Modi says India self-reliant on COVID-19 vaccines as 1 million inoculated

 On Saturday, India began what the government calls the world’s biggest vaccination programme, using two shots made locally: one licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc, and another developed at home by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

“Our preparation has been such that vaccine is fast reaching every corner of the country,” Modi said while interacting with healthcare workers from his Varanasi constituency through video conferencing.

“And on the world’s biggest need today, we are completely self-reliant. Not just that, India is also helping out many countries with vaccines.”

India, known as the pharmaceutical capital of the world, has gifted vaccines to neighbours and partners such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Maldives. It is starting commercial shipments to Brazil and Morocco on Friday.

The South Asian country’s own vaccination drive kicked off with 30 million healthcare and other front-line workers first in the queue, followed by about 270 million people older than 50 or deemed at high-risk because of pre-existing medical conditions.

That puts 70-year-old Modi in the second category. He reiterated the sequence would be followed but no made reference to when exactly he would take the inoculation.

India, a country of 1.35 billion people, has so far reported 10.63 million COVID-19 cases - the highest after the United States - with 153,032 deaths.

The health ministry says India inoculated more people on its first day than the United States, Britain or France. Still, it has been urging more frontline people to come forward to take the shots as only a handful of states have been able to meet their daily targets.

It said in a statement that 1.04 million people had received their first vaccine doses as of early Friday.

Some doctors have expressed doubt about the Bharat Biotech vaccine, which was given approval for emergency use without efficacy data from late-stage clinical trials. The government says it is safe and effective.

Bharat Biotech said on Friday that 13,000 people participating in the late-stage trial of its COVAXIN had been given the second dose, which could help it soon get some idea about its efficacy. It began the late trial in November, completing registration of a total 25,800 participants by early January.

In the coming months, India is expected to approve two more vaccines, Russia’s Sputnik V and Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCov-D. India’s focus on locally-made shots could force companies such as Pfizer Inc to also look at producing in the country.

The U.S. company was first to seek emergency use authorisation in India early last month, with plans to import the shots, but a top government vaccine official has told Reuters it will need to do a local trial first. The government has also requested the company to consider local production like the Russians have done.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-vaccine/modi-says-india-self-reliant-on-covid-19-vaccines-as-1-million-inoculated-idUSKBN29R11A

West Virginia touts COVID-19 vaccination success as national rollout lags

 Even as President Joe Biden laments the nation’s sluggish COVID-19 immunization launch for a pace he calls “dismal,” West Virginia is touting its relative success in making the most of vaccine supplies it has received so far.

Fewer than half of the nearly 38 million vaccine doses shipped to date by the federal government have actually made it into the arms of Americans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday.

Some individual states have lagged behind with just a third or 40% of their vaccine allotments being administered as of Thursday, marking the one-year anniversary of the first locally transmitted COVID-19 case documented in the United States.

But West Virginia, a mostly rural state of nearly 2 million residents known for its rugged mountain terrain, stands far above the national average, using 72% of the doses it has received to date, CDC data shows. Only North Dakota, home to fewer than 800,000 people, has done that well.

West Virginia also ranks a close second behind Alaska in terms of how much of its population, 9.3%, has been inoculated. Alaska, much larger and more remote geographically, has administered at least the first of the two-dose COVID vaccine to 9.8% of its residents, by comparison.

Biden, who assumed office on Wednesday, has vowed to rapidly accelerate the effort in the weeks ahead, setting a goal of inoculating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his presidency.

He and others have blamed the faltering vaccine rollout in part on scarce funding for state and local governments and the lack of a federal game plan from the administration of former President Donald Trump.

GOING LOCAL

Meanwhile, the hyper-local approach taken by West Virginia is being credited with the progress it has achieved.

West Virginia opted out of the distribution partnership between the federal government and two national pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, for the immunization of residents at nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Instead, the state relied on a network of independent pharmacies and by the end of last month had offered the vaccine to all congregant-care residents.

John Beckner, senior director of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacists Association, said that local approach helped build trust.

“It’s a complicated situation when you go into a nursing home,” Beckner told Reuters. “These folks are, for the most part, bedridden, they’ve got complex health conditions. Seeing a familiar face, a trusted face, goes a long way.”

West Virginia pharmacies have since moved on to school teachers, whose inoculations have likewise been coordinated at the state level, before opening up vaccines to a wider segment of the public through individually scheduled appointments.

“Every dose that arrives in the state, they have pre-planned who is to get that,” said Heidi Romero, a third-generation pharmacist at Griffith & Feil Drug in Kenova, West Virginia.

While West Virginia may lead most other states in the uptake of its initial vaccine supplies and in the portion of its population receiving their first shots, it pales in comparison to more populous states in the aggregate.

CDC figures show California, for example, has administered 37% of its vaccine supplies, with initial doses reaching just 3.8% of its 40 million residents. But that translates into shots for more than 1.3 million people, compared with 136,000 injections in West Virginia.

URGENCY GROWS

The urgency of vaccines has grown with the emergence of new coronavirus variants believed to be more transmissible even as infections, hospitalizations and deaths continued to climb, though at rates leveling off from weeks of surging virtually unchecked.

The United States reported 4,342 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday alone, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began, according to a Reuters analysis of public health data, bringing the cumulative number of U.S. lives lost to more than 405,000 out of some 24.3 million known infections.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, said Thursday that COVID case loads may be about to plateau, and predicted that most Americans would likely be vaccinated by the middle of this year.

Donnalie Hope, 78, of Petersburg, West Virginia, said she received her first vaccine dose on Jan. 14 after the health department in a neighboring county telephoned and instructed her to go to the National Guard Armory in nearby Moorefield.

She said she had been keen to schedule an appointment for weeks.

“I called every day. I said I’m here. I’m waiting,” Hope said. “They were very kind. I explained that I didn’t want to get ahead of anybody. I just wanted to get in line.”

In New York City, Councilman Mark Levine said municipal health authorities were forced to cancel tens of thousands of vaccine appointments this week. He blamed a federal supply chain failing to keep pace with demand among top-priority recipients, including healthcare workers, the elderly and essential front-line workers.

“We are receiving about 100,000 doses every week in a city where 2.5 million people are eligible, and even that low number has been unstable and unreliable,” he said. “We are so far behind the pace we need to be vaccinating at.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/west-virginia-touts-covid-19-vaccination-success-story-as-national-rollout-sputters-idUSKBN29Q320

Biden to sign order to increase pandemic-related food aid

 U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday will sign two executive orders aimed at speeding pandemic stimulus checks to families who need it most and increasing food aid for children who normally rely on school meals as a main source for nutrition.

Biden, who has proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, is using the two orders to try to ease the burden on people while the legislation is negotiated in Congress. He has made fighting the pandemic an early focus of his new administration.

The pandemic recession has hit Americans hard. Some 16 million are now receiving some type of unemployment benefit, and an estimated 29 million don’t have enough to eat. Women, minorities and low-income service workers have been disproportionately impacted, with Black and Hispanic workers facing higher jobless rates than white workers.

“We’re at a precarious moment in our economy,” Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters in a preview of the orders.

He said the actions are not a substitute for comprehensive legislative relief, “but they will provide a critical lifeline to millions of American families.”

In the first order, Biden will ask the Treasury Department to consider taking steps to expand and improve delivery of stimulus checks, such as establishing online tools for claiming payments.

“Many Americans faced challenges receiving the first round of direct payments and as many as 8 million eligible households did not receive the payments issued in March,” a White House fact sheet said.

Biden will also seek to increase access to food for millions of children who are missing meals because schools are closed due to the pandemic.

He will ask the Agriculture Department (USDA) to consider issuing new guidance that would increase the aid given to families who normally rely on schools to provide a main meal of the day for their children.

It could provide a family with three children more than $100 of additional support every two months.

“USDA will consider issuing new guidance that would allow states to increase SNAP emergency allotments for those who need it most. This would be the first step to ensuring that an additional 12 million people get enhanced SNAP benefits to keep nutritious food on the table,” the fact sheet said.

Biden’s second order will restore collective bargaining power and worker protections by revoking three related orders issued by President Donald Trump during his term, which ended on Wednesday. It also promotes a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

The federal minimum wage has been at $7.25 an hour since 2009.

Biden’s directive also eliminates a Trump order that allowed federal agencies to move many career federal employees into a category without job protections and putting them at risk of being fired.

The White House fact sheet called the Trump order “nothing more than an attempt to gut the career civil servant class and further marginalize career civil service employees.”

“Its existence threatens the critical protections of career employees and provides a pathway to burrow political appointees into the civil service,” it said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden/biden-to-sign-order-to-increase-pandemic-related-food-aid-idUSKBN29R122

Biden seeks to require international air passengers to quarantine upon arrival

 U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Thursday that would require international air travelers to quarantine upon U.S. arrival, and directed U.S. agencies to implement a federal mask mandate in interstate transportation.

Biden’s order says “to the extent feasible” air travelers must comply with applicable U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines concerning international travel “including recommended periods of self-quarantine.” It does not explain how it will be enforced.

The order also directs U.S. agencies to hold talks with Canada and Mexico “regarding public health protocols for land ports of entry” including implementing CDC guidelines. Nearly all non-essential travel at U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico is suspended through Feb. 21.

The CDC recommends a seven-day quarantine for people arriving in the Unites States from nearly all countries.

The order calls on agencies to “immediately take action” to require masks on or in airports, commercial aircraft, trains, public maritime vessels, including ferries, intercity bus services and all public transportation, but grants them the ability to issue exemptions.

Biden is directing agencies to reconsider international contact tracing requirements for U.S.-bound passengers, which was abandoned by the Trump White House, as well as the possibility of follow-up COVID-19 testing for travelers after they arrive in the United States.

The Biden administration is implementing new coronavirus testing requirements for nearly all international air passengers beginning on Tuesday, following a CDC order last week. Under the new rules, all U.S.-bound passengers age 2 and over must get negative COVID-19 test results within three calendar days of travel.

The Biden administration announced it would reimpose entry bans on most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and most of continental Europe after President Donald Trump issued an order on Monday lifting them effective the same day the new testing rules take effect.

Biden also wants new public health measures at U.S. sea ports. In October, the CDC let a no-sail order expire for cruise ships. A U.S. House committee said the White House had blocked the CDC from extending the pandemic-related no-sail order through mid-February.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-masks-quarantine/biden-seeks-to-require-international-air-passengers-to-quarantine-upon-arrival-idUSKBN29Q2X3

Med tech SPAC Priveterra Acquisition files for a $200 million IPO

 Priveterra Acquisition, a blank check company targeting the medical technology sector, filed on Thursday with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.

The Fort Lauderdale, FL-based company plans to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one-third of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the proposed deal size, Priveterra Acquisition would command a market value of $250 million.

The company is led by CEO and Chairman Robert Palmisano, who previously served as CEO of Wright Medical Group until it was acquired by Stryker in 2020, and also served as CEO of ev3 until it was acquired by Covidien. The company plans to target the medical technology sector.

Priveterra Acquisition was founded in 2020 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol PMGMU. The company filed confidentially on December 23, 2020. Wells Fargo Securities and Guggenheim Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Relevant Profile: PMGMU

https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/75459/Medical-technology-SPAC-Priveterra-Acquisition-files-for-a-$200-million-IPO

SPAC Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition files for a $150 million IPO

 Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition, a blank check company targeting healthcare innovation, filed on Thursday with the SEC to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering.

The St. Petersburg, FL-based company plans to raise $150 million by offering 15 million units at $10. Each unit will consist of one share of common stock and one-half of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the proposed deal size, Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition would command a market value of $190 million.

The company is led by Chairman Allen Weiss, who has been a Partner at Apollo Capital Management since 2011 and previously served as President of World Wide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. He is joined by CEO and Director Robert Whitehead, who previously co-founded and helmed Sprout Pharmaceuticals and Slate Pharmaceuticals, and CFO and Director Dan Halvorson, who previously served as CFO of Brain Corporation and Ingenu prior to that. 

Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition intends to pursue prospective targets that are focused on healthcare innovation, with a particular focus on companies domiciled in North America, Europe, and Asia that are developing assets in the biopharmaceutical and, medical technology/medical device space, which aligns with the management team’s experience in operating healthcare companies and in drug and device/technology development.

Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition was founded in 2020 and plans to list on the Nasdaq, but has not selected a symbol yet (RC ticker: IHAU.RC). I-Bankers Securities is the sole bookrunner on the deal.

Relevant Profile: IHAU.RC

https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/75467/Healthcare-SPAC-Isleworth-Healthcare-Acquisition-files-for-a-$150-million-I

Age may provide buffer to pandemic's mental health impact

 Older adults are managing the stress of the coronavirus pandemic better than younger adults, reporting less depression and anxiety despite also experiencing greater general concern about COVID-19, according to a study recently published by researchers at the UConn School of Nursing.

Their somewhat paradoxical findings, published last month in the journal Aging and Mental Health, suggest that although greater psychological distress has been reported during the pandemic, older age may offer a buffer against negative feelings brought on by the virus's impact.

"When you think about older adulthood, oftentimes, there are downsides. For example, with regard to physical well-being, we don't recover as well from injury or illness as we get older," says Natalie J. Shook, a social psychologist, associate professor, and principal investigator for the study. "But, on average, older adults tend to have better emotional well-being than younger adults. They tend to report a more positive mood, are happier and more satisfied with life. And so we wanted to look at this question, with regard to COVID, because we know older adults are much more likely to have serious complications."

While Shook and her team found a significant positive association between the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 and feelings of anxiety in study respondents between the ages of 18 and 49, that relationship did not exist for older participants. The finding, the researchers wrote, aligns with other research showing better emotional management of stress in older age.

"What we see within our data is that there seems to be kind of this age buffering where, despite greater concerns about COVID and rightly so, our older adults are not reporting higher rates of anxiety or depression than younger adults," Shook says. "The data suggest that older adults are better able to regulate their emotions and better able to cope with all of the stress and uncertainty right now."

Older adults may be choosing to focus more on the positives of the current moment, the researchers write, but the risks of the virus don't appear to be lost on them. Older age was related to greater concern about COVID-19 and greater perceived likelihood of dying if they contracted the disease.

Shook says the findings present an opportunity for policymakers and public health officials to learn from the ways older adults manage stress and deal with unusual circumstances to inform positive mental and behavioral health strategies for other age groups. Potentially, mindfulness practices or exercises that focus on the present moment, rather than focusing on the future or worrying about the past, may help support mental health.

Shook is also quick to say the findings don't diminish the need to check in on older adults to ensure they're managing well.

"Older adults still experience depression and anxiety, and it's not that we're not seeing that; we're just seeing less than in our younger adults," she says.

But the researchers also warned that perceiving a higher risk of COVID-19 infection generally predicts greater engagement in preventative health behaviors and that, if older adults perceive a low risk of infection, they may be less likely to follow behavioral guidelines meant to limit potential exposure.

"t is important to emphasize to the public how highly contagious COVID-19 is, particularly highlighting that those of older ages are more vulnerable to contracting the disease," they write.

The findings are part of a year-long examination of how behavior and social attitudes change, and what factors influence those changes, when people in the United States are faced with the threat of widespread disease. Supported by a National Science Foundation grant, the study is tracking the well-being, feelings, and behavioral practices of about 1,000 individuals across the United States.

More information: Jenna M. Wilson et al. COVID-19 worries and mental health: the moderating effect of age, Aging & Mental Health (2020). DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1856778

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-age-buffer-pandemic-mental-health.html