Japan reverses request to halt reservations for inbound flights

 Japan has reversed its request to halt reservations for inbound flights, citing confusion between government agencies over the country’s efforts to halt the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant, Reuters reported 

The country told airlines on Monday to stop allowing passengers to reserve seats on incoming flights until the end of December due to concerns around the new variant. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the move created confusion, as his Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Kishida asked the transportation ministry to address the needs for returning Japanese passengers, according to Reuters.

"I understand the transport ministry has cancelled its instruction for the blanket suspension of new reservations and asked airlines anew to give sufficient consideration to the needs of returning Japanese nationals," Matsuno told the media.

A Transportation Ministry official said airlines may take new flight reservations as long the number of arrivals stays between the daily limit of 3,500, which is down from last month's figure of 5,000, Reuters noted.

Japanese health officials have confirmed two cases of the omicron variant in the country, Reuters reported. 

South African first detected the new variant, formerly called B.1.1529, last week saying it is “very different” from past mutations from the virus. 

Japan followed other countries by banning foreign travel from South Africa and surrounding countries. 

A ban on foreign entrants to Japan, which was rolled back last month and reimposed on Monday, remains in place, as does a ban on foreign residents in Japan arriving from those 10 African countries, according to Reuters. 

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/584024-japan-reverses-request-to-halt-reservations-for

'Trigger' found for rare blood clots in patients after AstraZeneca vaccine

 Scientists believe they have found the trigger for the rare blood clots in people who have taken the  Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

A study by a team of researchers from the United States and United Kingdom found a protein in the blood — known as platelet factor 4 (PF4) — that reacts to the adenovirus used by the vaccine that then causes a chain reaction involving the immune system.

This reaction can result in the dangerous clots — a condition known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia (TTS).

"These data confirm that PF4 is capable of forming stable complexes with clinically relevant adenoviruses, an important step in unraveling the mechanisms underlying TTS," said an abstract of the study, conducted by researchers at Arizona State University, Cardiff University in Wales, and other institutions. 

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said that although the research is not definitive, it offers interesting insights, and AstraZeneca is exploring ways to leverage these findings in its efforts to remove the rare side effect. 

"This pre-clinical research further advances our knowledge about the potential mechanisms underlying the extremely rare condition, Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia (TTS), which is treatable for the majority of people," the spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.

"It is important to note that the mechanism identified does not demonstrate that it is the cause of TTS and that most individuals that will have PF4 antibodies will not develop TTS," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson noted there is a significantly higher likelihood of developing TTS if a person is unvaccinated and develops COVID-19, than if vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

AstraZeneca's vaccine has not been authorized to be administered in the U.S., although the company has agreed to supply 700,000 doses once an emergency use authorization is granted.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/584017-scientists-find-trigger-for-rare-blood-clots-in

Manchin won't rule out backing GOP effort to defund Biden vaccine mandate

 Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) declined to say Thursday how he would vote on a GOP effort to defund President Biden’s vaccine requirement for larger businesses as part of the debate over a short-term bill to fund the government.

Manchin, asked if he would vote for an amendment to block funding for the mandate, sidestepped the question by saying that he was still “working” through it.

“I’ve been very supportive of a mandate for federal government, for military ... I’ve been less enthused about it in the private sector,” Manchin said.

A small group of conservative senators are pushing for a vote on their proposal to block funding for the mandate as part of the Senate’s consideration of a short-term deal to fund the government into mid-February. Democratic leadership hasn’t publicly opened the door to an amendment vote.

The Senate took a similar vote in September as part of its debate on the first short-term funding bill. Manchin voted with all Democrats against the amendment at the time.

But the threshold for the amendment to get added into the funding bill at the time was three-fifths, meaning even if Manchin or another Democrat had voted "yes," their “no” vote wasn’t critical for Democrats.

But the GOP senators pushing for the vote say that in order for them to consider helping speed up the short-term government funding bill this week, their amendment vote has to be at a simple majority threshold.

That means if Manchin and every Republican voted for the amendment to defund the vaccine mandate, it would be inserted into the short-term government funding bill.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said an amendment vote, which he stressed would have to be at a simple majority, in exchange for speeding up the government funding bill was “on the table right now.”

“Sen. Lee, Sen. Cruz and myself will be talking with leadership and seeing what that amendment opportunity looks like,” he said, referring to Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Congress has until the end of Friday to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. Because of Senate rules, and the time crunch, any one senator can drag the process out past the deadline.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/584004-manchin-wont-rule-out-backing-gop-effort-to-defund-biden-vaccine-mandate

GoodRx started at Buy by Jefferies

 Target $47

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=gdrx&ty=c&ta=1&p=d

Hims & Hers started at Hold by Jefferies

 Target $7

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=hims

2nd US Omicron Case Is Vaccinated Adult Male Whose 'Mild Symptoms' Fully Resolved

 Update 10:55am: Here is another reason to be optimistic - not suicidal - by the news that the Omicron variant is spreading. As we, Ackman and Kolanovic, all said, the Omicron variant could be the best thing that happened to the pandemic as it is much more "mild" than Delta, and because it is much more transmissible could soon become the dominant version.

As the Minnesota Dept of Health said in its press release on the second identified US covid case, the "Infected Minnesota resident recently returned from domestic travel; variant was found through MDH variant surveillance program, which is one of the strongest surveillance programs in the nation"

And the punchline:

"The person with the Omicron variant is an adult male, is a resident of Hennepin County, and had been vaccinated. The person developed mild symptoms on Nov. 22 and sought COVID-19 testing on Nov. 24. The person’s symptoms have resolved." 

In other words, just as we noted, Omicron continues to manifest itself in an extremely mild fashion, and its symptoms go away in days (it is unclear how it progresses in unvaccinated people so far).

We also know what happens next: according to the press release...

The person spoke with MDH case investigators and reported traveling to New York City and attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center from Nov. 19-21. The person was advised to isolate from others. Minnesota epidemiologists will continue to investigate in collaboration with New York City and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Said otherwise, expect a cluster of Omicron cases in NYC in the next 24-48 hours. And more importantly, with physicians hoping to get an accurate picture of the symptoms of the new strain, we should have a clear picture of just how benign Omicron is within the next 72 or so hours.

* * *

Earlier

The first time that algos dumped everything on news that an Omicron case had been identified in the US in San Francisco, that was at least somewhat understandable even if virtually everyone knew it was just a matter of time before the "extremely transmissible" Omicron made its way to the US. However, when moments ago Reuters reported that a second Omicron cade had been identified in Minnesota...

• OMICRON COVID-19 VARIANT CASE IDENTIFIED IN MINNESOTA -STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT

... for algos to pull off the same exact stunt was borderline stupid - after all, every incremental omicron case brings us closer to trillions in stimmies which as everyone by now knows send stocks soaring (inflation will be ignored by everyone if stonks are surging faster than prices are rising). And yet, the dump we just observed is precisely the same that took place yesterday, prompting some - such as us - to ask just what 13-year-olds are programming these algos, that trade the market in the dumbest possible way.

It wasn't just stocks: everything tumbled - yields, cryptos, you name it...

So for all those confused what they should be doing here, let us repeat, what we have been saying and what Rabobank said just moments ago - Omicron "will of course be used as an argument for more stimulus ahead."  Those selling stocks on this news clearly have not been paying any attention to what happened in the past year.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/everything-tumbles-after-second-us-omicron-case-identified-minnesota

Pfizer Jab & GSK's Antibody Drug Called Effective Against Omicron

 After teasing various aspects of his plan to protect Americans from the omciron variant (which is arriving at the start of the latest 'winter wave') while the CDC quietly collects names of travelers who recently visited southern Africa, President Joe Biden is preparing to share his plan, which will impose tighter restrictions on foreign travelers while extending a mask mandate and (potentially) double down on vaccine restrictions for American workers (even as multiple federal judges have rejected the mandate).

Biden's comments are expected later on Thursday, but during the early hours of the US session, Germany's outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, Olaf Scholz, agreed on a plan to effectively mandate vaccinations by imposing stringent restrictions on Germans who haven't voluntarily gotten the jab.

As governments scramble to use omicron as an excuse to crack down on the unvaccinated, makers of vaccines and COVID remedies have continued to share data about their products' efficacy at combating the omicron variant. And unsurprisingly, many of the big-name firms are saying they expect their jabs to "hold up" against the variant.

Despite Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel's market-rattling warnings that the first generation of mRNA vaccines - including Moderna's - might need to be retooled in order for them to protect against omicron, a senior Pfizer executive told Bloomberg that the company expects its jabs to offer significant protection against omicron, with more data expected in the coming weeks.

"We don’t expect that there will be a significant drop in effectiveness," Ralf Rene Reinert, vice president of vaccines for international developed markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "But again, this is speculation. We will check this. We will have the data in the next couple of weeks."

Pfizer has already started working on new versions of its vaccine twice, with the emergence of the beta and delta variants, and concluded both times that the original shot provided good protection, Reinert said. Now its scientists will evaluate whether that’s the case for omicron, Bloomberg reports.

"It’s not that we start from scratch," Reinert said. "We know what we have to do."

These reassurances have arrived at a critical time: on Wednesday afternoon, the US became the 29th country to identify a case of the omicron variant. A US traveler in the San Francisco area was identified as the first patient known to be infected with the new variant (though it's likely that many others have already been infected, since the variant has been detected in Europe more than two weeks ago).

The US has seen a slight uptick in new cases in recent weeks as the 'winter wave' appears to be starting.

Source: Reuters

The global trend is moving in the same direction as Europe and other continents see rising numbers of cases.

Source: Reuters

And on the medical front, Pfizer isn't alone: GlaxoSmithKline said Thursday that its COVID antibody treatment looks to be effective against the new omicron variant in early tests.

Lab tests of the mutations found in the variant showed the drug is still active against the virus, Glaxo said in a statement on Thursday. GSK is now conducting in vitro experiments to confirm the response against a combination of all the omicron mutations.

As a result, Sotrovimab, the GSK antibody treatment, has been approved by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency following a "rigorous" review of its safety.

Meanwhile, back in South Africa, scientists are tweaking their initial warnings about the variant. One day after reporting a massive surge in new cases (which some dismissed as a quirk resulting from a change in how public health officials count positive cases), scientists for the Diseases Institute are saying that while they expect a surge in cases due to omicron, the intensity of infections should be markedly more mild. Above all, the scientists expect fewer active cases and hospitalizations during this wave.

Here are some additional omicron-related headlines from Thursday:

• Indian officials have seen mild cases in Omicron patients. India reported two cases of the variant.
• UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced the UK secured 54mln additional doses of the Pfizer (PFE) / BioNTech (BNTX) jabs and 60mln additional doses of the Moderna (MRNA) vaccine for the next two years which he said will help the UK to "buy time" with the new variant.
• South Korea's government is considering coronavirus measures including banning social gatherings and reducing business hours, while it was also reported that South Korea is considering halting its gradual return to normal life as COVID-19 infections rise and it also reported a fresh record daily increase in cases, as well as confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant.
• The Japanese government will temporarily invalidate special visas issued to foreign nationals who meet certain conditions in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

Finally, President Biden is planning to include additional measures like forcing insurers to pay for at-home COVID tests as part of his plan for mitigating the 'winter wave' of COVID cases. Private insurers already cover COVID tests administered in doctor’s offices and other medical facilities, but there are now at least eight at-home tests on the US market that can be used by individuals at home. Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks on his 'winter plan' beginning just before 1400ET on Thursday. He will be speaking from Bethesda, Maryland.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/pfizer-jab-gsks-antibody-drug-are-effective-against-omicron