All Adults in Pennsylvania Eligible Tomorrow to Schedule COVID-19 Vaccination

 Governor Tom Wolf and the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force announced that effective tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13, all Pennsylvania adults will be eligible to schedule an appointment for the COVID -19 vaccine.

“We need to maintain acceleration of the vaccine rollout, especially as case counts and hospitalization rates have increased,” Gov. Wolf said. “Therefore, just as President Biden has brought forward universal adult access to vaccines from May 1 to April 19, we are moving Pennsylvania’s timeline of universal adult access to April 13.”

The Department of Health noted that there is ongoing appointment availability in many parts of the state even as Phase 1A and B continue and 1C begins today. With the change in eligibility, those in Phase 2 will become eligible, opening up vaccines to all. Our ongoing initiative with the Area Agencies on Aging to provide assistance to vulnerable seniors for accessing vaccine will continue, as will our other equity initiatives.

“Everyone needs and should be afforded the opportunity to access the vaccine as soon as possible,” Acting Sec. of Health Alison Beam said. “And, this change provides earlier access for many, including college students increasing the likelihood of completion of two-dose regimens prior to leaving campus for the summer. It also means simpler, streamlined operations for vaccine providers that no longer need to check eligibility of people making appointments.”

To date, Pennsylvania providers have administered more than 6 million vaccines and the state is ranked among the top 20 states for first-dose vaccinations. More than 2.4 million Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated.

Pennsylvanians can find providers on the COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Map here.

https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/gov-wolf-and-covid-19-vaccine-task-force-announce-that-all-adults-in-pennsylvania-are-eligible-tomorrow-to-schedule-covid-19-vaccination-appointments/

Gottlieb: U.S. vaccine supply will soon exceed demand

  Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and current Pfizer board member, said Sunday that the United States' vaccine supply will soon outstrip demand.

Gottlieb told CBS News' Face the Nation that the United States should stand by its plan to deliver doses to states based on population side as he expects supply to exceed demand in as early as three weeks.

"I think a lot of states are going to see themselves with excess supply and excess appointments. So it's going to be a shame and look back in retrospect and realize that we probably should have put more vaccine into some of these hot spots to snuff them out earlier," he said.

The United States has reported a total of 31,189,567 COVID-19 cases and 562,059 deaths since the start of the pandemic as of Sunday -- both the highest totals in the world -- while reporting 66,533 infections and 709 fatalities from Saturday, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. The nation has also administered a total of 183,467,709 vaccine doses with 35.3% of the population having received at least one dose and 21.3% fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gottlieb's comments came amid a surge of virus cases in Michigan as the state, which does not report COVID-19 data on Sunday, tallied 6,892 new cases and 74 deaths on Saturday, after reporting 7,834 cases Friday for a total of 738,023 cases and 16,500 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday told Face the Nation has asked the White House to provide the state with additional vaccines to combat the surge and asked the state to take a two-week "pause" including urging high schools to suspend in-person classes, youth sport games, and indoor dining and gatherings.

"Right now, we know we've got even greater capacity. We could get more vaccines in arms. And when there's a surge, we think it's important that we rush in to meet where that need is, because what's happening in Michigan today could be what's happening in other states tomorrow," Whitmer said.

Gottlieb said the White House should adopt a habit of surging COVID-19 resources to hotspots.

"They never perceived that there was going to be a confluent national epidemic, but there were going to be localized outbreaks," he said. "That, in fact, is likely what we're going to see going forward. We're not going to see a confluent epidemic, but we'll see those hotspots, so we need to get in the habit of trying to surge resources into those hotspots to put out those fires of spread."

Elsewhere, Los Angeles opened vaccination appointments up to residents 16 and older as the state prepares to expand vaccine eligibility to those in that group.

California reported 4,954 new cases and 105 deaths on Sunday, noting that the tally includes cases from previous months that had not been counted. Since the start of the pandemic, California leads the nation with 3,600,178 cases and 59,218 deaths.

To date, California has administered 22,777,893 vaccine doses with 6,294,860 people fully vaccinated.

Texas ranks second in cases with 2,422,139 since the start of the pandemic along with 48,211 deaths after reporting 1,516 new cases and 26 fatalities on Sunday. The state has administered 14,312,547 vaccine doses with 5,613,265 people fully vaccinated.

Third-ranked Florida reported 5,520 new infections and seven resident fatalities on Sunday, bringing its totals to 2,124,233 cases and 34,021 resident deaths. Florida has administered 11,161,697 vaccine doses with 4,400,166 people fully vaccinated.

New York ranks fourth in the nation with 1,949,964 cases and second in 51,036 deaths since the start of the pandemic as it added 6,764 new positive tests and 53 deaths Sunday. New York has administered 11,811,282 vaccine doses and 4,871,118 people have been fully vaccinated.

Illinois has the nation's fifth-greatest total of COVID-19 cases at 1,279,772 along with 21,505 fatalities adding 2,942 infections and 16 deaths on Sunday. A total of 7,047,326 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the state and 2,853,739 people have been fully vaccinated.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/04/11/Scott-Gottlieb-coronavirus-vaccines-supply-soon-exceed-demand-Michigan/5951618171619/

98% of leaders plan to change employee benefits post-pandemic

 Business leaders in charge of employee benefits are altering their offerings, according to research published in an April 7 Harvard Business Review report.

The study was conducted by Care.com between Dec. 16 and Jan. 6. Care.com surveyed 500 C-suite human resources leaders and managers in the U.S. on what benefits they plan to keep, get rid of, add or expand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five survey findings:

1. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said they plan to newly offer or expand at least one employee benefit.
   
   
2. Eighty-nine percent said they are deprioritizing at least one type of employee benefits due to COVID-19 to prioritize others.
   
   
3. Forty-eight percent of respondents said paid vacation days are getting deprioritized, followed by commuter benefits (40 percent), tuition reimbursement (40 percent), meal vouchers (39 percent) and on-site child care (37 percent).
   
   
4. Sixty-six percent said to combat the attrition from COVID-19, they intend to increase work flexibility benefits, followed by 63 percent who said they plan to increase their child care benefits and 41 percent who said they plan to increase their older adult care offerings.
   
   
5. Forty-one percent of respondents said they plan to expand mental health benefits this year, and 59 percent cited improved mental health as one of the primary outcomes of caregiving benefits.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/98-of-leaders-plan-to-change-employee-benefits-post-pandemic-5-details.html

Germany to make regular COVID-19 tests compulsory for firms - draft law

 German companies will be obliged to offer staff regular COVID-19 self-testing kits at least once a week, according to a draft amendment to occupational health and safety regulations seen by Reuters on Monday.

The amendment will be submitted to the German cabinet on Tuesday where ministers are expected to agree on unified measures to impose restrictions in a bid to contain a third wave of the pandemic.

Under the amendment from Labour Minister Hubertus Heil, employees at high risk of infection, such as those who are housed in communal accommodation or work in closed rooms, will be offered two tests per week.

The tests will be paid for by employers. The government also plans to extend until June 30 other measures to prevent coronavirus infections, including requiring employers to offer workers the option of working from home.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed the 3-million mark on Monday, data from the Robert Koch Institute showed.

Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to amend the Infection Protection Act to impose unified measures nationally after a patchwork of different measures across regions failed to contain the virus.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-businesses/germany-to-make-regular-covid-19-tests-compulsory-for-firms-draft-law-idUSKBN2BZ1LI

Gilead to stop late-stage study of COVID-19 treatment

 Gilead Sciences Inc said on Monday it had decided to stop a late-stage trial of its intravenous treatment, Veklury, in high-risk non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

The company said it no longer believes that developing a multiple day injection that requires administration in a healthcare setting addresses an unmet need for non-hospitalized patients.

The decision to stop the study is not due to efficacy or safety concerns, Gilead said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gilead/gilead-to-stop-late-stage-study-of-covid-19-treatment-idUSKBN2BZ2MJ

Replimune: New Biomarker, Pre-clinical Data for Lead Oncolytic Immunotherapy Programs at AACR

 Data confirms potent anti-tumor activity & activation of robust systemic immune responses by RP1 and RP2

• Increased infiltration of CD8+ T cells and PD-L1 expression for patients dosed with RP1 in combination with Opdivo® (nivolumab) and single agent RP2 in human biomarker samples

• Pre-clinical evidence of innate immune activation mediated by GALV-GP R- expression

• Gene expression profiling supportive of broad immune activation in both humans & mice

• Further pre-clinical demonstration of potent lytic activity in tumors

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/replimune-present-biomarker-pre-clinical-200100089.html

Immunocore presents phase 3 melanoma data at AACR

 Tebentafusp is the first investigational therapy to improve Overall Survival (OS) in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma

First positive Phase 3 clinical trial for any T cell receptor therapeutic and first for any bispecific in a solid tumor

Tebentafusp demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) as a first-line treatment in mUM. The OS Hazard Ratio (HR) in the intent-to-treat population favored tebentafusp, HR=0.51 (95% CI: 0.37, 0.71); p< 0.0001, over investigator’s choice (82% pembrolizumab; 12% ipilimumab; 6% dacarbazine). Treatment-related adverse events were manageable and consistent with the proposed mechanism.

“This is the first investigational therapy to demonstrate improved OS in metastatic uveal melanoma,” said Bahija Jallal, Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore. “We believe these data demonstrate that tebentafusp has the potential to provide a meaningful difference in the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma, a highly aggressive disease for which there is no effective standard of care.

In a separate oral presentation on Monday April 12, Marcus O. Butler shared an analysis of previously treated uveal melanoma patients who had prolonged survival.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/immunocore-presents-phase-3-data-203000430.html