San Francisco-area county bans large gatherings

 A California county has prohibited gatherings of over 50 people indoors and over 100 people outdoors in an effort to combat the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant. 

In addition to the limits on gatherings, Sonoma County has also recommended that residents voluntarily shelter in place and avoid contact with people outside of their households for 30 days in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

The ban begins at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday and is set to remain in place until Feb. 11.

“Our case rates are at their highest level since the pandemic began and our hospitalizations are climbing at an alarming rate as well,” Dr. Sundari Mase, who is the Sonoma County health officer, said. “We are seeing widespread transmission occurring within unvaccinated groups as well as some transmission among vaccinated individuals.”

Mase also warned of potential surges at local hospitals despite omicron seeming to lead to less hospitalization than previous variants of the virus.

“We know what we need to do to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed,” Mase added. “The next 30 days will be key to helping us stop this rapid spread of this highly contagious variant in our community.”

Sonoma County is the first in California's Bay Area to return to a limit on gatherers as the highly contagious omicron variant contributes to the rapid spread of COVID-19, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

The new policies come after Sonoma County saw COVID-19 case rates increase by 398 percent in 14 days and test positivity rates are higher than they have been at any point in the pandemic. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/589365-san-francisco-area-county-bans-large-gathering

Europe's FDA Warns Against Vaccine Boosters, Expresses Concerns Over Immune Response

 by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times,

The European Union’s drug regulator expressed doubts about whether a second booster dose of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines would be a sustainable long-term approach.

Marco Cavaleri, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) head of vaccines strategy, told a media briefing, “There is an emergency discussion around the possibility of giving a second booster dose with the same vaccine currently in use. Data has not yet been generated to support this approach.”

“We have not yet seen data with respect to a fourth dose,” he also said later. “We would like to see this data before we can make any recommendation, but at the same time we are rather concerned about a strategy that [involves] repeated vaccinations within a short term.”

Cavaleri said an additional booster shot “could be considered as part of a contingency plan,” but “repeated vaccinations within short intervals will not represent a sustainable long term strategy.”

Concerns Over Immune Response

When asked to expand on his statements, Cavaleri said that for a hypothetical approach of giving boosters frequently, such as every four months, “we will end up potentially having problems with immune response and immune response may end up not being as good as we would like it to be, so we should be careful in not overloading the immune system with repeated immunization.”

He added that continuous administration of boosters can also lead to fatigue in the population.

“It will be much better to start thinking about an administration of boosters that is more spaced in time,” Cavaleri said.

The EMA is in conversation with vaccine developers in case there is a need to update the current vaccines, he said, but noted that any change “would have to be coordinated globally.”

A screen grab from laptop shows Marco Cavaleri, Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy, speaks during an online press conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Dec. 21, 2020. (Pieter Stam de Jonge/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, more data on the impact of the new variant—in this case, Omicron—on vaccines and a better understanding of the evolution of the current wave were needed to decide whether an Omicron-specific vaccine was needed.

“While a monovalent Omicron vaccine would represent an obvious candidate to be investigated, other options such as a multivalent vaccine cannot be ruled out as potential alternatives,” Cavaleri said.

A Strategy to ‘Anticipate the Next Move’

He added, “It is important that there is a good discussion around the choice of the composition of the vaccine to make sure that we have a strategy that is not just reactive after the virus changes, but try to anticipate what could be the next move, and try to come up with an approach that will be suitable in order to prevent a future variant that, in any case, will emerge.”

The EMA has called for a meeting with global regulators on Wednesday, which will include officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Tomorrow we will be looking at all the evidence that we have so far with the current vaccine, so the extent by which they are still providing vaccine effectiveness and whether indeed we should still think that giving a booster shot at this point in time is the best strategy,” Cavaleri said.

He added that the World Health Organization (WHO) “will play a critical role” in decision-making.

Cavaleri noted that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, “is still behaving as a pandemic virus, and the Omicron emergency is currently showing that.”

“So we should not forget we are still in a pandemic. Nevertheless, with increase of immunity in the population and with Omicron there will be a lot of natural immunity taking place on top of vaccination, we will be vastly moving toward a scenario that will be closer to endemicity,” he said.

Separately, he noted, “Ideally, if you want to move toward a scenario of endemicity, then such boosters should be synchronized with the arrival of the cold seasons in each of the hemispheres, similarly to what we’re doing with influenza vaccines.”

Pfizer Looking at Omicron-Targeted Vaccine

On Monday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said a COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant of the virus as well as already circulating variants “will be ready in March,” adding that the company is “already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk.”

Bourla said Pfizer is ready to file for U.S. regulatory approval for the redesigned COVID-19 vaccine, and that the company has built up ample manufacturing capacity, such that it will not be a problem to switch immediately. He also noted on Monday that COVID-19 vaccines eventually could be an annual shot for most people, and some high-risk groups might be eligible to receive the shots more often than that.

On Tuesday, Cavaleri said that April or May would be the soonest the EMA could approve any variant-targeted vaccine.

“In terms of the switch of the manufacturing, this is a decision that is beyond EMA and it will be very important there is a global discussion around the best option here in the interest of public health,” he commented.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/europes-fda-warns-against-vaccine-boosters-expresses-concerns-over-immune-response

Biogen prez fears CMS will finalize restrictive coverage for Aduhelm, plans to flood NCD with comments

 While lamenting yesterday’s proposed national coverage decision for its controversial Alzheimer’s drug, Biogen’s US president Alisha Alaimo pledged to flood CMS with comments over the next 30 days in an attempt to ensure the final version does not reflect Tuesday’s draft, according to an internal email reviewed by Endpoints News.

“We were prepared for the range of scenarios. Unfortunately, this is one of the most restrictive options CMS could have chosen,” Alaimo said in an email to staff on Wednesday. “If this draft becomes final in April, it will significantly limit Medicare reimbursement for Aduhelm and future therapies in this class.”

https://endpts.com/biogen-president-fears-cms-will-finalize-restrictive-coverage-decision-for-aduhelm-preps-plans-to-flood-ncd-with-comments/

CDC warns against travel to Canada

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday warned against travel to Canada after updating its COVID-19 travel guidelines on Sunday.

Canada is now rated at level four, the highest rating the CDC holds, called “COVID-19 Very High.” Travelers are told to avoid countries on the level four rating and be fully vaccinated if they do have to travel there. 

The warning comes two months after the U.S. lifted travel restrictions to and from Canada for fully vaccinated individuals.

"We are aware of the latest CDC advice," a spokeswoman for Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, Reuters reported.

The CDC has placed around 80 countries on the level four rating as COVID-19 cases have surged across the world due to the omicron variant. 

The surge from omicron has caused Canada to recently record its highest one-day COVID-19 hospitalizations throughout the pandemic, according to Reuters. 

The level four rating has been placed on a number of popular tourist destinations for U.S. travelers, including Aruba, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. 

Only a little more than 30 countries are labeled at the CDC’s lowest COVID-19 level, including Taiwan, India and Japan.

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/589139-cdc-warns-against-travel-to-canada

New study says air knocks down COVID-19 infection rate by 90 percent

 

• New research found that after COVID-19 becomes airborne, the virus loses infectivity by 50 to 60 percent within seconds.
• By the first two minutes, the infectivity rate of COVID-19 dropped further by 90 percent.
• The new research was published out of the U.K. and has yet to be peer-reviewed.

New research from the U.K. is challenging perceptions of how the coronavirus travels and infects people, with researchers saying COVID-19's infectivity rate begins dropping minutes after virus is released into the air. 

 

In a study uploaded to a preprint server this week, but is yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers in the U.K. found that the airborne infectivity rate of COVID-19 declines over the first 20 minutes after it's been released into the air. The research emphasizes that physical distancing and wearing masks are the strongest tools to prevent a COVID-19 infection. 

Researchers studied the infectivity rate of COVID-19 over the course of 20 minutes and found a decrease almost immediately, with the virus losing infectivity by 50 to 60 percent within seconds of being released into the air and by the first two minutes the infectivity dropped further by 90 percent. After 10 minutes, only 10 percent of the virus remained infectious.  

“It means that if I’m meeting friends for lunch in a pub today, the primary [risk] is likely to be me transmitting it to my friends, or my friends transmitting it to me, rather than it being transmitted from someone on the other side of the room,” said Jonathan Reid, a professor at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, to The Guardian.  

The loss of infectivity of COVID-19 has to do with the elevation in pH in virus droplets, with researchers suggesting that as the viral particles leave the moist and carbon dioxide-rich lungs of humans, they begin to rapidly lose water and dry out once they hit the air outside our lungs. That transition to lower levels of carbon dioxide is associated with an increase in pH. 

Researchers said the temperature of the air didn’t make any difference in how infectious the virus was, which contradicts previous theories that COVID-19 doesn’t spread as easily in higher temperatures. 

However, researchers did say that airborne droplets are notoriously difficult to study, as the vast majority of indoor aerosols originate from candles, dust, outdoor air, pollution and food cookers. However, under most conditions, exhaled aerosol droplets rapidly lose both moisture and heat through evaporation.   

Researchers only studied three COVID-19 variants, which included the alpha variant. They hope to continue experiments that look at the infectivity rate of the omicron variant in the coming weeks. 

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/589262-new-study-says-air-knocks-down-covid-19

Fauci: Omicron will infect 'just about everybody'

 Infectious disease expert and White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that “just about everybody” will eventually be infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus. 

“Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will, ultimately, find just about everybody,” Fauci told the Center for Strategic and International Studies during a “fireside chat.”

“Those who have been vaccinated and vaccinated and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death,” he added. 

The omicron variant was discovered in November and has since caused a surge in cases around the world, prompting some countries, states and cities to put restrictions back in place.

Omicron is the most transmissible variant to appear so far, but seems to cause fewer hospitalization and deaths than previous mutations of the virus. 

Fauci’s comment follows a similar remark he made at a Senate hearing Tuesday, where he said “it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID.”

Although individuals who are vaccinated or have been previously infected with COVID-19 can contract omicron, hospitalizations and deaths are significantly higher among those who are unvaccinated. 

Hospitals around the country are becoming overwhelmed with cases as some states, including New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia, have declared states of emergency to deal with the surge caused by omicron. 

In light of the new variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly considering recommending Americans wear higher quality N95 or KN95 masks.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/589344-fauci-omicron-will-infect-just-about-everybody

Students walk out of classes in New York City over COVID-19 protections

 Hundreds of students in New York City staged walkouts on Tuesday to protest what they said is a lack of COVID-19 safety protocols in city schools.

Brooklyn Technical High School, a public magnet school with a few thousand students, saw a large walkout, with about 200 students leaving the school on Tuesday to demand remote or hybrid learning amid concerns about the uptick in cases driven by the omicron variant, according to ABC 7.

One student from the school, Jaida Sahin, told ABC 7 that she believed "having all these children stacked on top of each other especially in schools as large as Brooklyn Tech is not ideal."

"I think just having that hybrid option would just alleviate the stress and make everything a little bit safer for everyone," she said.

A significant walkout was also reported at Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, where students clamored for similar pandemic protocols. Three students at that school, who were upset with the lack of virtual options, had coordinated the walkouts on social media and looped in other schools like Brooklyn Tech, amNY reported.

In a tweet on Tuesday, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks said he would meet with students to discuss strategies to navigate the latest wave of the pandemic.

"We understand the concerns of our school communities during this crisis," he wrote. "The best decisions are made when everyone has a seat at the table—I’m inviting student leaders to meet with me so we can work together for safe and open schools."

The protests are the latest development in a clash over how schools should operate during the pandemic, with some advocating for hybrid and remote options to keep people safe and others arguing that depriving students of in-person learning hinders their education.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teacher's Union ended a multi-day strike after reaching a deal with city leaders and the school district on pandemic safety protocols. And in Oakland, Calif., more than 900 students signed a petition saying they will walk out and not attend classes if their demands for COVID-19 safety protocols are not met, according to The Washington Post.

New York City has reported more than 32,000 COVID-19 cases each day for the past week's seven-day average and 657 daily average hospitalizations, according to city data.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/589350-students-walk-out-of-classes-in-new-york-city-over-covid-19-protections