Ottawa’s top cop: Police likely can’t end vaccine protests

 The police chief of Canada’s capital said Wednesday there is likely no policing solution to end a protest against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions that has snarled traffic around Parliament.

He also said there is a “significant element” of the protest’s funding and organization coming from the United States.

Thousands of protesters descended on Ottawa over the weekend, deliberately blocking traffic around Parliament Hill. Police estimate the protest involved 8,000 to 15,000 people Saturday, but has since dwindled to several hundred. But trucks were still blocking traffic.

“We are now aware of a significant element from the United States that have been involved in the funding, the organizing and the demonstrating. They have converged on our city and there are plans for more to come,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said.

Organizers, including one who has espoused white supremacist views, raised millions for the cross-Canada “freedom truck convoy” against vaccine mandates. There was a public GoFundMe page.

The protesting truckers also have received praise from former U.S. President Donald Trump and tweets of support from Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

Ottawa residents frustrated with the incessant blare of truck horns and traffic gridlock are questioning how police have handled the demonstration.

“There is likely no policing solution to this,” Sloly said.

Many Canadians have been angered by some of the crude behavior of the protesters. Some urinated or parked on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A number carried signs and flags with swastikas.

The most visible contingent of protesters were truck drivers who parked their big rigs on Parliament Hill. Some of them were protesting a rule that took effect Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has estimated that 85% of truckers in Canada are vaccinated.

Meanwhile, officials said there had been some movement toward resolving a protest blockade at the United States border in southern Alberta.

Chad Williamson, a lawyer representing truckers blocking access to the crossing at Coutts, Alberta, said they spoke with police and agreed to open some blocked lanes. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Corporal Curtis Peters said there were indications that the lane openings might only be temporary.

Demonstrators began parking their trucks and other vehicles near the crossing Saturday in solidarity with the protest in Ottawa.

The tie-up stranded travelers and cross-border truckers for days. Police tried to peacefully break up the demonstration Tuesday, but demonstrators breached a nearby checkpoint.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-ottawa-canada-40f50e7262f6f0921f865b0379160046

Doctors: Cancer patients cured a decade after gene therapy

 In 2010, doctors treated Doug Olson’s leukemia with an experimental gene therapy that transformed some of his blood cells into cancer killers. More than a decade later, there’s no sign of cancer in his body.

The treatment cured Olson and a second patient, according to the University of Pennsylvania doctors, who said it was the first time the therapy had been studied for so long.

“I’m doing great right now. I’m still very active. I was running half marathons until 2018,” said Olson, 75, who lives in Pleasanton, California. “This is a cure. And they don’t use the word lightly.”

His doctors describe the two cases in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. They say the two examples show the treatment, called CAR-T cell therapy, can attack cancer immediately, then stay inside the body for years and evolve there to keep the disease at bay. Such so-called “living drugs” are now used by thousands around the world to treat certain blood cancers.

Based on the 10-year results, “we can now conclude that CAR-T cells can actually cure patients of leukemia,” said Dr. Carl June, one of the authors of the study.

The one-time treatment involves collecting the patient’s own T cells, white blood cells key to the immune system, and genetically changing them in the lab so that they will find and attack cancer cells. The modified cells are given back to the patient through IV.

By the time Olson got the treatment, he’d been fighting cancer for years. When doctors diagnosed him with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1996, he said, “I thought I had months to live.”

He eventually underwent chemotherapy and, at one point, his physician, Dr. David Porter, suggested he may need a bone marrow transplant. Porter also raised the idea of joining a CAR-T therapy study. Olson, CEO of a New Hampshire lab products company, said he was excited by the science and eager to avoid the transplant.

A couple weeks after getting the treatment, he felt sick for about a week and was hospitalized for three days.

“It was the very next week he sat me down and he said, ’We cannot find a single cancer cell in your body,” Olson recalled.

The other patient, retired corrections officer Bill Ludwig, had similar results.

Over time, researchers said, the modified cells evolved, many turning into “helper” cells that work with the cancer-killing cells. Helper cells eventually became dominant in both patients.

Study author J. Joseph Melenhorst said they were able to isolate and analyze the cells using new technologies, which gave them “very good insight” into how they persisted in the patients’ bodies.

Dr. Armin Ghobadi of Washington University in St. Louis, an expert in gene and cellular immunotherapy for cancer, called the findings “incredible.” Though the word “cure” is rarely used in cancer, he said it appears these patients were “most likely” cured.

He was intrigued by the persistence of the CAR-T cells and the way the living drug evolves.

“That’s just really beautiful to see,” said Ghobadi, who was not involved in the study.

At this point, June said, tens of thousands of patients are being treated with CAR-T cell therapies, which have been approved for certain blood cancers by health authorities around the world, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency first approved a CAR-T therapy treatment in 2017 developed by Penn and the drugmaker Novartis for childhood leukemia.

The Nature study was paid for partly by the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research and partly by National Institutes of Health grants.

Scientists hope to see wider use of CAR-T therapies in the future for other cancers. Last year, a CAR-T cell therapy was approved for multiple myeloma, the most common malignancy of the bone marrow in adults. According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma were expected to make up just under 10% of the 1.9 million new cancer cases in the U.S. last year.

“But the big scientific challenge – and it’s a big one – is how to make this work in solid cancers,” like those in the lung, colon and other places, June said.

Even in blood cancers, there are challenges. The therapies are expensive, running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars just for the drugs. And there’s the risk of significant side effects, including an immune overreaction called “cytokine release syndrome” and nervous system-related problems such as brain swelling.

Both of the Penn patients did extremely well after the treatment. Ludwig traveled the country with his wife in a motor home and celebrated family milestones before dying early last year of COVID-19 complications.

Olson said he’s extremely grateful for the decade of life since doctors used cutting-edge science to save him.

“What’s changed is the dimension of hope. The pace of discovery takes your breath away,” he said. “It’s a brand new world.”

https://apnews.com/article/science-health-cancer-leukemia-gene-therapy-7bb38e71a15c83c84f201a0fa19b0a3d

Germany to allow large events with up to 10,000 spectators

 Germany will allow up to 10,000 spectators at major outdoor events such as Bundesliga soccer games, the 16 federal states agreed on Wednesday.

The decision, which also allows up to 4,000 participants in indoor spaces, aims to harmonize currently varying rules for stadium attendance at a state-by-state level. The new rules take effect as soon as the federal states update their regulation.

Masks must be worn, and proof of vaccination or recovery, as well as a booster shot or negative test status, depending on the state, will also be required, said the resolution seen by Reuters.

Events that do not qualify as national major events with over 2,000 spectators still fall under state-specific rules.

Germany hit a new coronavirus record on Wednesday, with the 208,498 more cases reported within 24 hours carrying it past the 10-million mark for total infections.

For comparison, 12,515 new cases were reported on Jan. 2.

The seven-day incidence rate also hit an all-time high of 1,227.5 cases per 100,000 residents, as the highly contagious Omicron variant raced through the country.

The death toll rose by 196 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 118,170.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has said that he expects the Omicron wave to peak in mid-February, bringing with it 400,000 new infections daily before dropping, and has brought up the possibility of easing restrictions in late February or early March if the situation remains under control.

https://sports.yahoo.com/germany-passes-10-million-mark-081611051.html

German vaccine commission to recommend fourth COVID-19 shot

 Germany's expert panel on vaccine use (STIKO) is preparing to recommend a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, the committee's head, Thomas Mertens, told media group Funke on Thursday.

"We have data from Israel that shows a fourth dose significantly improves protection from a severe case of illness," Mertens told Funke. "The STIKO will make the recommendation soon," he added.

The panel would recommend booster shots only with vaccines that are already available, Mertens added.

On vaccines that have been adapted to work against the Omicron coronavirus variant, STIKO would have to wait for clinical data from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, the media group cited Mertens as saying.

Some countries have already started offering additional booster doses, but a recent study from Israel showed that while a fourth dose of an mRNA vaccine boosted antibodies, the level was not high enough to prevent Omicron infection.

https://news.yahoo.com/german-vaccine-commission-recommend-fourth-000603521.html

Airlines Urge White House to End COVID International Travel Testing Rules

 Major airlines, business and travel groups urged the White House on Wednesday to end COVID-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers traveling to the United States.

Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, International Air Transport Association, Aerospace Industries Association, the U.S. Travel Association and other groups called for change in a letter to White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.

"Surveys of air passengers indicate that pre-departure testing is a leading factor in the decision not to travel internationally. People simply are unwilling to take the chance that they will be unable to return to the U.S.," they wrote.

The White House declined to comment. Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc, United Airlines Holdings and others said as of last week international air travel was down 38% over 2019 levels.

In December, the Biden administration imposed tougher new rules requiring international air travelers arriving in the United States to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel.

Under prior rules, vaccinated international air travelers could present a negative test result obtained within three days of their day of departure.

The White House and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) previously considered but have never imposed testing requirements for Americans to board domestic flights.

The letter noted that more than 74.3 million people have had COVID-19 in the United States, meaning that at least 22% of the population has had the virus.

"Clearly COVID is widespread throughout the U.S. and attempts to control its importation via air travel under today’s circumstances are unlikely to change that fact," it said.

If any new threatening variants appeared "pre-departure testing could be easily reinstituted," it added.

The European Union recommended countries remove intra-Europe COVID travel restrictions, the letter noted. Britain will end COVID predeparture testing for vaccinated air travelers to enter the country starting Feb. 11.

The groups said "travel and aviation’s recovery is dependent on the government taking steps to remove travel restrictions that are no longer justified by current circumstances."

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-02-02/airlines-urge-white-house-to-end-covid-international-travel-testing-rules

Viatris Unit Gets FDA OK of First Generic of AbbVie's Restasis

 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said it granted a unit of generic-drug giant Viatris Inc. approval of the first generic version of AbbVie Inc.'s blockbuster dry-eye drug Restasis.

The agency said it approved the generic cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% single-use vials from Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. to increase tear output in patients whose production is presumed to be suppressed due to ocular inflammation associated with keratoconjunctivitis sicca, commonly known as dry eye.

AbbVie earlier Wednesday reported 2021 revenue of $1.29 billion for Restasis, which was part of its roughly $63 billion acquisition of Allergan in 2020.

Mylan is part of Viatris, the company formed by the 2020 merger of Pfizer Inc.'s off-patent drugs business Upjohn with generic drugmaker Mylan NV.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/VIATRIS-INC-115117632/news/Viatris-Unit-Gets-FDA-OK-of-First-Generic-of-AbbVie-s-Restasis-37726301/

Syros Gets FDA Orphan Drug Designation for Tamibarotene

 Shares of Syros Pharmaceuticals are trading higher in Wednesday's after-hours market, following the company's announcement the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug designation to tamibarotene to treat myelodysplastic syndrome.

The FDA grants orphan drug status to treatments for rare diseases and the designation qualifies the sponsor of the drug for various development incentives, including tax credits for qualified clinical testing.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SYROS-PHARMACEUTICALS-IN-29688130/news/Syros-Shares-Up-10-After-Getting-FDA-Orphan-Drug-Designation-for-Tamibarotene-37727696/