Where are the Variant Specific Boosters?

 by  Alex Tabarrok January 11, 2022 at 7:25 am in 

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I wasn’t shocked at the failures of the CDC and the FDA. I am shocked that our government still can’t get its act together in the third year of the pandemic. Consider how lucky, yes lucky, we have been. Here’s Eric Topol:

…the original vaccines were targeted to the Wuhan ancestral strain’s spike protein from 2019. The spike protein, no less the rest of the original SARS-CoV-2 structure, is almost unrecognizable now in the form of the Omicron strain (see antigenic drift from prior post). While there’s naturally been much focus on the extraordinary number of mutations in the receptor binding domain and the rest of the spike protein, over 50 mutations are spread out throughout Omicron, making the prior major variants of concern (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta) lightweights with respect to changes in structure that are not just linear or uni-dimensional. Each mutation can interact with others (epistasis); any mutation or combination of mutations has the potential to change the 3D structure of the virus. In this sense, Omicron is an overwhelming reboot of the ancestral strain.

Omicron is very different from the Wuhan ancestral strain and it’s only a matter of luck that the vaccines continue to work and that Omicron is likely less severe than Delta. Don’t tell me that viruses evolve to be less severe over time–that isn’t correct in theory or practice. The most one might say is that a very deadly virus may be difficult to transmit but that only closes off a small part of the evolutionary design-space. There is plenty of room for transmission and lethality to both increase. So the vaccines continue to work well. We got lucky. But for how long will our luck last? Do we really have to wait for a more transmissible, more deadly, more vaccine escaping variant before we act?

Where are the variant-specific boosters? The FDA has said they would approve them quickly, without new efficacy trials so I don’t think the problem is primarily regulatory. Why not catch-up to the virus and maybe even get a jump ahead with pan-coronavirus vaccines?

More generally, in our February 2021 paper in Science my co-authors and I argued that we were still leaving trillion dollar bills on the sidewalk by not investing in more vaccine capacity. I am sorry to say that we were right. Why the failure to invest more broadly?

Mostly I blame American lethargy. After 9/11 the country was angry and united and we had troops in Afghanistan within a matter of weeks and we had taken over the country in a matter of months. For better or worse, we acted quickly and with resolve. Yet, when the virus was killing at 9/11 levels every day the public never reached the same level of anger or resolve. Even now Congress has spent trillions on unemployment insurance, business protection, money for schools and stimulus but has not passed the American Pandemic Preparedness Plan, a pretty decent, mostly science-based investment plan.

80,000 hours ranks research and investment against Global Catastrophic Biologic Risk (GCBR) as among the most pressing and yet tractable problems to work on and yet they estimate that quality-adjusted only about a billion dollars is being spent on these risks. Moreover, COVID doesn’t even count as a GCBR, i.e. 80000 hours at least recognizes that things could be much worse.

I understand that future people don’t vote but even so I expected a little bit more foresight.

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Passengers stuck at sea after Norwegian cancels cruise mid-voyage

 Passengers aboard a Norwegian cruise ship are stuck at sea this week after the cruise line decided to cancel the cruise mid-voyage due to COVID-19 concerns.

Aimee Focaraccio, who boarded a 10-day cruise on the Norwegian Gem from New York, told USA Today that she was notified on Thursday that the cruise would be canceled due to issues related to COVID-19, but was not provided an early return date.

"We will arrive as per schedule on the 19th in the morning," cruise ship personnel reportedly said, according to a recording Focaraccio provided the news outlet.

Focaraccio detailed that after the ship made a stop in St. Maarten on Friday, it would not be making any other stops at ports or islands.

"I really can’t imagine four more sea days back to back without much to do," she told USA Today.

She also added that earlier on Friday the ship made the decision to forgo port calls in Grand Turk, St. Thomas and Tortola prior to its arrival in St. Maarten and before the decision was made to cancel the remainder of the stops.

Norwegian Cruise Line's senior vice president of branding and communication Christine Da Silva told USA Today that the Norwegian Gem was scheduled to return to New York "shortly," without providing a definite date.

"As we continue to navigate the fluid public health environment, while focusing on delivering a safe experience for all on board, today, we made the difficult decision to cancel Norwegian Gem’s current Caribbean sailing, due to COVID-related circumstances," Da Silva reportedly said.  

Despite the cruise line's assertion that "COVID-related circumstances" were the reason for canceling sailing, Focaraccio told USA Today that she was not made aware of coronavirus cases on the ship.

All passengers on the Norwegian Gem were reportedly given a full refund or cruise credit and an additional cruise credit equivalent to 50 percent of the current trip fare for to be applied to a future cruise by May 2023.

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/ports-waterways/589881-passengers-stuck-at-sea-after-norwegian-cancels-cruise

CDC reupdates N95 mask guides, 'provides most protection against COVID-19'

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask guidance on Friday, saying that N95 masks provide the most protection against COVID-19.

The update comes days after Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC, said the website is “in need of updating right now” to elaborate on the “different levels of protection different masks provide.”

The CDC said the N95 and KN95 masks provide the best protection due to its "filtering facepiece respirators." 

“When worn consistently and properly, they provide the highest level of protection from particles, including the virus that causes COVID-19. Additionally, they contain your respiratory droplets and particles so you do not expose others,” the CDC said. 

When properly fitted, the masks filter 95 percent of particles. The CDC warns individuals who choose an KN95 mask to be careful, as 60 percent of the masks in 2020 and 2021 were fake. 

The CDC also recommends people not buy the masks labeled “surgical” N95 as they should be reserved for health care workers. 

However, the CDC removed its concerns about a shortage of normal N95 masks for health care workers. At the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC advised against N95 masks as there were fears there would not be enough for health care workers if the general public sought them. 

The CDC says cloth masks are the least protective, but the official recommendation for masks remains that any mask a person will wear is better than no mask at all. 

“We do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID 19,” Walensky said at a White House briefing Wednesday. “And the recommendation is not going to change.”

The updated mask guidance comes as the omicron variant has caused a surge in cases around the U.S. due to its high transmissibility. 

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/589861-cdc-says-n95-masks-provide-the-most-protection-against-covid-19

Beijing Initiates "Olympic Bubble" Measures For Pandemic Control

 by Jenny Li via The Epoch Times,

A coronavirus outbreak in Beijing’s neighboring city of Tianjin comes just four weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital.

This means all 15 million Tianjin residents are barred from entering Beijing which is 100 kilometers away. Meanwhile, Beijing’s so-called “Closed Loop” or “Bubble” measures for the Winter Olympics are now in full swing. The Olympics begin Feb. 4.

On Jan. 9, the Jinnan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Tianjin reported that 20 more people tested positive through COVID-19 PCR testing, a day after 20 others were found to have the virus. Those infected are linked to educational facilities, and the outbreak has spread to at least three schools.

The Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention conducted genetic sequencing of the virus in two of the cases and identified the virus at the new Omicron variant.

On Jan. 9, the Tianjin municipal government decided to carry out nucleic acid testing on all its staff. Other testing measures for the public are likewise taking place.

“People in four districts, Jinan, Dongli, Xiqing, and Nankai are taking nucleic acid testing today,” Mr. Zhang from Nankai District, Tianjin told The Epoch Times on Jan. 9.

“The rest will take them tomorrow. Nankai District has notified the closure of the district. People in Jinan District have basically all done nucleic acid yesterday,” he said.

“People were still lining up at 3:00 am. At four o’clock in the morning, the inspectors started going door to door to administer nucleic acid [testing] to elderly people who had not taken it.”

Meanwhile, the Tianjin Municipal Examination Institute announced that all interviews for a teacher qualification examination scheduled for Jan. 9 had been canceled.

“There is a teacher qualification exam these two days,” Zhang said.

“I learned online that those who finished the exam on the 8th were required to quarantine, but it was announced at 11.30 p.m. yesterday that the test on the 9th was canceled,” he said.

“A lot of people came to Tianjin [for the exam] and live in a hotel. Now they just can’t go back. They may need to quarantine at their own expense. I saw someone saying online that he had no money, no food, and couldn’t go out.”

On Jan. 9, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a notice urging “Beijing residents not to go to Tianjin unless it is necessary, and Tianjin residents do not come to Beijing unless it is necessary.”

Officials at the Yingsi checkpoint on the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway told the state-run Beijing News that they had turned back many people and vehicles entering Beijing over the past two days.

The official request is understood not to be a “travel advisory” but an executive order.

In October 2021, Beijing issued a clear order banning entry into Beijing of the so-called “four categories of people,” including “people in the county with one or more local COVID infection(s) and those with travel history in that county within 14 days”. In other words, as long as there is a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in a county, everyone from that county is not allowed to enter Beijing, including Beijing residents who stayed there within 14 days.

Zhang said the authorities are not concerned about the treatment of those who are ill from the virus.

“The media and the government have always focused on how many people have been tested positive,” he said. “But how many have been infected, and how many have been isolated, but how are these patients doing? How long does it take to recover? How effective is the treatment? Almost nothing is seen. Why is there no follow-up on concerns about lasting adverse effects from vaccines?”

Other than being nervous about the outbreak in Tianjin, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities are further worried that the virus could spread from Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, through similarly named Shanxi Province, plus Henan, and Hebei provinces, and then on to Beijing.

The cities of Zhengzhou and Xuchang in Henan Province, south of Beijing, have been hit by the virus. Henan is a major transportation route into Beijing and currently all passengers traveling by train through the province will not be allowed to enter Beijing.

Another province joining Shaanxi and Hebei provinces is Shanxi. On Jan. 6, the Shanxi Provincial Office of Epidemic Prevention and Control issued a notice requiring people not to go out of the province unless necessary. The notice also requires people entering or returning to Shanxi to immediately report to their workplaces, communities, or hotels and take nucleic acid tests.

On Jan. 9, the Epidemic Prevention and Control Office in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province said that because “the epidemic situation around our city is becoming increasingly severe,” it will be “strictly” tightening controls. Among such measures are prohibiting access to county and village roads in Henan Province to Jincheng and discouraging the return of foreign vehicles and people with a history of travel to Henan Province via high-speed, national, and provincial roads and high-speed trains.

With the 2022 Winter Olympics set to kick off in Beijing on Feb. 4, the CCP hopes to demonstrate its “institutional confidence” to the world with its anti-epidemic measures.

Beijing has also carried out its “bubble management” in the lead-up to the event to ensure that people associated with the Games, including members of foreign sports teams and Chinese participants, do not come into contact with other “ordinary Chinese.”

Given that pandemic data released by the CCP is largely regarded as illogical, it is generally not recognized by the international community. It is incomprehensible for the international community that the city of Xi’an with a population of some 12 million people has been sealed off after less than 100 officially positive infections have been found.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/beijing-initiates-olympic-bubble-measures-pandemic-control

GE Abandons Biden's Vax Mandate After SCOTUS Ruling While Nike Doubles Down

 Now that the Supreme Court has blocked President Biden's push to mandate vaccinations for all workers at companies with more than 100 workers, companies are finally backing away from the government's edict. To wit, General Electric has just announced that it has abandoned its vaccine require  

According to Bloomberg, the maker of jet engines, wind turbines and medical scanners confirmed the decision Friday via email. GE is the first major company to announce a halt after SCOTUS's decision Thursday to block the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s push to boost COVID vaccinations.

Vaccine rules have taken on greater significance as the surging omicron variant has disrupted companies' plans to order workers to return to the office.

Without the federal mandate, which would have applied to employers with 100 or more workers, the choice is now up to individual workers.

Of course, not every company is backing away from the rule now that SCOTUS has shot it down: Nike, for example, is charging full-steam ahead.

To wit, Nike sent a defiant letter to its remaining unvaccinated employees warning that they will be fired by Jan. 15 if they fail get vaccinated against COVID. Republicans attacked Nike’s mandate, but the company held its ground.

Unfortunately for Nike's remaining unvaccinated employees, social media accounts belonging to Democratic "grass roots" organizations are cheering Nike on.

A separate rule that would apply to federal contractors remains in limbo after it was blocked by a federal judge last month, but if it's blocked, we suspect companies to which it would apply will react in a similar fashion. After all, what company wants to take on additional responsibilities?

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/general-electric-abandons-bidens-vax-mandate-after-scotus-ruling-while-nike-doubles-down

What I Wish People Knew About Dementia, From Someone Who Knows, by Wendy Mitchell

 The first symptoms of the brain disease that is destroying my mother and derailing our family became apparent seven years ago. It had probably been lurking around, undetected, far longer than that.

Dementia camouflages itself until the neurological damage is well underway. There is no cure. Unlike with cancer, the diagnosis comes without aftercare. Despite the fact that it afflicts one in 14 people over the age of 60 and one in six people over the age of 80, we have very little understanding of what it is like for those who have this cursed condition.

Currently 50 million people worldwide live with dementia; it is estimated this will increase to 152 million by 2050. So we’d better all buy this godsend of a book.

Everything I know about dementia comes from What I Wish People Knew About Dementia, From Someone Who Knows. That means everything I know about dementia I have known since yesterday, when I absorbed the book in a single sitting.

I didn’t realise, until then, that my mother can probably no longer see the colour black. What she sees instead is emptiness. A black tablecloth looks like ‘a giant sinkhole in the middle of the dining room’. When I visit her in my black coat, black scarf and black trousers, I look like a floating head, half of which is covered by a mask.

She could have a similar problem with whiteness, meaning that mashed potatoes and chicken disappear on a white plate. In order to see white food, it should be served on a plate that is yellow or blue.

I now also understand that her taste buds will have changed: her beloved cup of tea probably tastes like swede. When she’s eating with other people, all she hears is the deafening clang of cutlery.

This book follows on from Wendy Mitchell’s bestselling memoir Somebody I Used to Know (2018), where she described being diagnosed, aged 58, with young-onset Alzheimer’s. She hadn’t planned on being around this long, Wendy confesses on her first page, but ‘Here I still am.’

Her aim is to share what she has learned so far, in the hope that ‘it will help you to live the best life you are able to with the disease, or support someone you know far better’.

Now in her mid-sixties, she is holding on to her independence, still living alone in her village and taking regular country walks with her camera (in northern Europe, a third to half of those living with dementia live alone).

She has no carers, but her daughters keep a close eye on her. They have trackers on their phones so they know at any point where their mother can be found. Alarms on Wendy’s iPad remind her to eat (she no longer feels hunger) and Alexa, the household computer, tells her to take her medication. A technophile, she continues to blog, tweet and Zoom.

What she has to say, Wendy warns us, may come as a surprise. The first surprise is that amnesia plays such a minor role in living with dementia.

She explores the major effects of the disease on six areas of her life: senses, relationships, emotions, environment, communication and attitude. The chapter on the senses is as extraordinary as anything by Oliver Sacks. The memory of a smell, such as burning wood or cat pee, is released from the past in what is known an ‘olfactory hallucination’. These hallucinations can be so real that the fire brigade might be called to tackle a non-existent blaze.

Wendy also explains how, when confronted with a flight of stairs, she needs first to decipher whether she is approaching an escalator or a slide. If the steps are all the same colour, she has no idea where to put her feet. Patterned carpet is the worst.

Meanwhile, the challenge of looking for a phone or spectacles comes from no longer being able to picture what a phone or spectacles look like.

Touch becomes more important than ever: a ten-minute massage makes all the difference to someone who is feeling disengaged from their world.

Communication, Wendy reminds us, need not always be verbal, but it is important to keep talking, even when there is a confused response. After all, we chatter lovingly to babies despite the fact that they can’t understand us.

The most surprising revelation of all is Wendy’s admission that ‘I feel guilty for the happiness I have found and wish that I could give some of it away’.

What does happiness mean when you live from moment to moment? ‘Seeing a bird singing away to its friend, being out for a trundle, capturing a squirrel peering out from the trunk of a tree.’

Wendy Mitchell is a life-saver.

Frances Wilson is author of Burning Man: The Ascent of D H Lawrence

https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/what-i-wish-people-knew-about-dementia-from-someone-who-knows-by-wendy-mitchell-frances-wilson

New direct trigger for cell death discovered

 Scientists led by Professor Ana J. Garcia-Saez at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne have shown that apoptosis, the programmed cell death, involves a direct physical interplay between the two proteins BAX and DRP1. DRP1 can serve as a direct cell death activator by binding to BAX without the need for other cell death triggers. This finding could lead to the development of new cell death regulators for cancer therapies, for example. The article, 'DRP1 interacts directly with BAX to induce its activation and apoptosis' was published in The EMBO Journal.

It is known that the so-called 'apoptotic enforcer protein' BAX encounters DRP1 in the cell at the mitochondrial membrane. The latter is a dynamin-like protein that plays a critical role in mitochondrial division. However, the functional implications of their interaction and the contribution of DRP1 to apoptosis have been highly controversial.

BAX is a key protein in the pathway to cell death. Understanding the mechanism of action of BAX is critical for therapeutic regulation of apoptosis. Using super-resolution confocal fluorescence microscopy and biochemical as well as biophysical methods in model membrane systems, the research team was able to demonstrate the direct interaction of the two proteins in dying cells. In addition, using a system that artificially brings the two proteins together, they investigated the functional consequences of the interaction of BAX and DRP1.

"When we artificially force the interaction of the two proteins, they move from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria, where the protein complex triggers a reorganization of the mitochondria. This leads to pores in the membrane. The contents of the mitochondria enter the cell plasma, which ultimately leads to cell death," said Andreas Jenner, first author of the study.

By combining methods such as the dimerization-dependent fluorescence technique, cross-linked mass spectrometry and the analysis of different protein pieces, the interaction surface could also be identified for the first time. DRP1 binds to the front end (N-terminus) of the amino acid chain of BAX, which is shown to be a regulatory region for BAX activity. 'It was impressive to see that cells started to die just by forcing the interaction between BAX and DRP1, without the need for another death trigger,' Garcia-Saez said. 'It's great that we now know that DRP1 can act as a direct apoptosis activator, which for the first time gives functional significance to the connection between the two proteins. This could pave the way for the development of new BAX regulators for therapeutic applications."

Work for this study began at the IFIB (Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry) in Tübingen, Germany, and was completed at the CECAD Research Center, Institute of Genetics, in Garcia-Saez's laboratory.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Cologne. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Andreas Jenner, Aida Peña‐Blanco, Raquel Salvador‐Gallego, Begoña Ugarte‐Uribe, Cristiana Zollo, Tariq Ganief, Jan Bierlmeier, Marcus Mund, Jason E Lee, Jonas Ries, Dirk Schwarzer, Boris Macek, Ana J Garcia‐Saez. DRP1 interacts directly with BAX to induce its activation and apoptosis. The EMBO Journal, 2022; DOI: 10.15252/embj.2021108587

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220113111451.htm