COVID News Brief: The news you need to know

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AVAC's weekly COVID News Brief provides a curated perspective on what COVID news is worth your time.
“I share my story, one of love of science and discovery, in hopes of inspiring the next generation to enter health-related careers — and to stay the course, regardless of challenges and surprises that might arise.”
-- Dr. Fauci's essay in The New York Times ([link removed])


** Share of People Who Completed the Initial COVID-19 Vaccination Protocol
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December 15, 2022
Source: Our World in Data ([link removed])


** Table of Contents
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* If You Are in a Hurry (#If You Are in a Hurry)
* The Power of COVID-19 Vaccines (#The Power of COVID-19 Vaccines)
* Did COVAX Work? (#Did COVAX Work?)
* China Deals with New COVID-19 Realities (#China Deals with New COVID-19 Realities)
* Call for Africans to Decide African Health Priorities (#Call for Africans to Decide African Health Priorities)
* Call for Kenyan Government to Put Health at the Top of Agenda (#Call for Kenyan Government to Put Health at the Top of Agenda)
* Zambia’s High COVID-19 Death Toll (#Zambia’s High COVID-19 Death Toll)


* COVID-19 and Politics in the US (#COVID-19 and Politics in the US)
* Media Coverage of Lockdowns in South Africa (#Media Coverage of Lockdowns in South Africa)
* Speeding Clinical Trials for Vaccines Even More (#Speeding Clinical Trials for Vaccines Even More)
* COVID-19 Immunity Now (#COVID-19 Immunity Now)
* Tenofovir and COVID-19 (#Tenofovir and COVID-19)
* Masking Up Again (#Masking Up Again)
* Long COVID Deaths (#Long COVID Deaths)
* Testing a Combo COVID-Flu Vaccine (#Testing a Combo COVID-Flu Vaccine)

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been one of the most important voices in navigating the COVID pandemic. As he prepares to leave his post at NIAID, he writes with a message to the next generation of scientists in a New York Times ([link removed]) (US) guest essay. “I share my story, one of love of science and discovery, in hopes of inspiring the next generation to enter health-related careers — and to stay the course, regardless of challenges and surprises that might arise.”

On COVID-19 he says: “The United States is ‌reminded of the importance of continued investments in basic and clinical biomedical research. The major successes of the C‌‌OVID-19 pandemic have been driven by scientific advances, particularly lifesaving vaccines that were developed, proven safe and effective in clinical trials and made available to the public within one year — an unprecedented feat. Other lessons are painful, such as the failures of certain public health responses domestically and globally. We also must acknowledge that our fight against C‌‌OVID-19 has been hindered by the profound political divisiveness in our society. In a way that we have never seen before, decisions about public health measures such as wearing masks and being vaccinated with highly effective and safe vaccines have been influenced by disinformation and political ideology. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that public health policy decisions are driven by the best available data.”



** If You Are in a Hurry
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* Read a call for an African led movement for global health in Africa in BMJ ([link removed]) .
* Read Time ([link removed]) for a primer on immunity and how our immunity has adapted through the pandemic.
* Read The New York Times ([link removed]) on the first analysis of deaths from long COVID.
* Read Sydney Morning Herald ([link removed]) on test of a combo COVID-Flu vaccine.
* Read Science ([link removed]) on the end of COVAX.
* Read a study in BMJ Open ([link removed]) that looked for COVID-19 deaths in a Lusaka, Zambia morgue. And see a press release ([link removed]) about the study.
* Read aidsmap ([link removed]) on the impact of the older form of the ARV tenofovir on COVID.



**
The Power of COVID-19 Vaccines
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STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports on a new study that shows the power of COVID-19 vaccines to save lives: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. But the study results show the toll would have been even worse had the US had relied upon so-called natural immunity acquired through infection as the only immunological defense against the virus. Without vaccines, the country would have experienced four times as many deaths, 1.5 times more infections, and 3.8 times more hospitalizations in the time since December of 2020. The vaccines also saved the US $1 trillion in additional medical costs.”


** Did COVAX Work?
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Science ([link removed]) (US) reports, “COVAX, the unprecedented global effort to distribute COVID-19 vaccines more fairly, is set to wind down over the next 2 years. On 8 December, the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance—a key partner in the project—voted “in principle” to phase out much of its support for COVID-19 vaccines in middle-income countries starting in 2024, and to incorporate COVID-19 vaccinations into its regular vaccine programs for the poorest countries—if they still want them…. The effort has delivered some 1.84 billion vaccine doses to 146 countries, but many, if not most, arrived too late to have a big impact ([link removed]) …. There’s widespread agreement the world needs to do better the next time a pandemic requires a global vaccination drive. That will require a ‘majo
r rethink,’ [Claudia Patricia Vaca González, an expert on access to medicines at the National University of Colombia, Bogotá] says. ‘We can’t just say, “OK, we did our best. We didn’t really achieve our goal, but let’s wind it down,”’ [Lawrence Gostin, an expert on global health law at Georgetown University] says. ‘We should have a COVAX 2.0 that goes beyond COVID and provides a far more robust way to ensure equitable access.’”

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports GAVI’s Seth Berkley said in a briefing, “"We're done with the virus but the virus is not done with us.” “At the same news briefing, Berkley said he expected demand for COVID-19 vaccines to remain strong in 2023. ‘We expect hundreds and hundreds of millions of doses to be requested. That's what countries are saying they want,’ he said. A GAVI official said his comments were based on an ongoing dialogue with recipient countries about their needs for next year, of which about half have so far responded.”


** China Deals with New COVID-19 Realities
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Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “Beijing's COVID-19 gloom deepened on Sunday with many shops and other businesses closed, and an expert warned of many thousands of new coronavirus cases as anger over China's previous COVID-19 policies gave way to worry about coping with infection…. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many other people are deciding not to go out because of the higher risk of infection.”

AP ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals as it rolls back anti-virus controls that confined millions of people to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests. President Xi Jinping’s government is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try. But the latest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses as it winds down its “zero-COVID” strategy.”

South China Morning Post ([link removed]) (Hong Kong) reports, “Since China announced loosening COVID-19 controls last week, the mainland public has been in a hoarding frenzy, buying everything from N95 masks and cold remedy drugs to rapid antigen test kits. But it is the canned yellow peaches that have captured the public buying mood most…. Virologist Chang Rongshan told the Beijing News that the foodstuff cannot substitute medicine.

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “A growing number of China's doctors and nurses are catching COVID-19 and some have been asked to keep working, as people showing mostly moderate symptoms throng hospitals and clinics, according to medical staff and dozens of posts on social media…. Health experts say China's sudden loosening of strict COVID-19 rules is likely to trigger a surge in severe cases in coming months, and hospitals in big cities are already showing signs of strain.”


** Call for Africans to Decide African Health Priorities
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Former Minister of health in Rwanda Agnes Binagwaho and Africa CDC’s Shingai Machingaidze call in BMJ ([link removed]) (UK) for “a new [African led] era for public health in Africa, arguing, “’African led’ does not, however, mean ‘African only.’ Global actors still have a part to play. Africa’s health challenges are vast and cannot be contained by borders. Finding solutions will require a broad coalition of partners. International partners should continue to invest in health in Africa, but we must recognise that the donor-driven charity model no longer works. Partnerships should be innovative, action oriented, sustainable, and respectful of Africa’s health priorities and urgent needs.


** Call for Kenyan Government to Put Health at the Top of Agenda
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An opinion piece in The Standard ([link removed]) (Kenya) argues, “It is important that the government fulfills its health responsibility with a commitment to evidence-based scientific healthcare. Unfortunately, healthcare is not a priority agenda for any political party. The government should strive for universal health care and declare health a fundamental right. This should be its main agenda…. Political parties are driven by public opinion. Therefore, it is necessary for civil society and public organisations to raise their voice on the issue of the fundamental right to health and for every political party be forced to demand the fundamental right to health as their priority agenda.”


** Zambia’s High COVID-19 Death Toll
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A new study in BMJ Open ([link removed]) (UK) found “COVID-19 was common among deceased individuals in Lusaka [Zambia]. Antemortem testing was rarely done, and almost never for community deaths. Suspicion that COVID-19 was the cause of deaths was highest for those with a respiratory syndrome and lowest for individuals <19 years.” A press release ([link removed]) from the Boston University School of Public Health about the study notes, “the study found that nearly 90 percent of deceased individuals at a crowded morgue in Lusaka, Zambia were infected with COVID-19 during peak transmission periods between July 2020-June 2021—and only 10 percent of these individuals tested positive for COVID-19 while alive.”


** COVID-19 and Politics in the US
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Washington Post ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is forming a new state committee to counter policy recommendations from federal health agencies — a decision that medical professionals said will further politicize medicine in the Sunshine State…. DeSantis made the announcements during a roundtable discussion featuring coronavirus vaccine skeptics. Among the speakers were doctors and researchers who had signed the Great Barrington Declaration, a statement released in 2020 that advocated against COVID-19 restrictions and in support of herd immunity. The declaration is not a scientific document, and critics have pointed out it presents no data. The governor said the new public health committee will be led by Ladapo, who has recommended against vaccinating children for COVID-19 and questioned the efficacy of the vaccines for anyone but the elderly.”


**
Media Coverage of Lockdowns in South Africa
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A PLOS ([link removed]) (US) study looks at media coverage of a lockdown-related tobacco ban in South Africa in the early months of the pandemic.” The results show how strategic the industry was in creating a narrative that the public should follow, including organizing online protests and promoting the notion that the ban has led to an increase in illicit trade and loss of jobs and tax revenue. While the tactics used by the tobacco industry in South Africa are common strategies used around the world, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), the anti-sales ban theme carries examples of the industry’s discursive strategies in the media.” The authors argue, “The media, being an important component of society, needs to be included in tobacco control efforts. Media platforms can be used to send the right information about government policies and programmes that would benefit tobacco control and public health in
general. The media can play a huge role in spreading awareness or spreading misinformation as well as mobilizing the public in support for or against public health policies. The media may have been used to mobilize citizens against the ban. The health benefits of smoking cessation were scarcely discussed in the media during the period suggesting that this is a missed opportunity for public health.”


** Speeding Clinical Trials for Vaccines Even More
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STAT ([link removed]) (US) reports the effort to get a clinical trial started for vaccines to quell the latest Ebola outbreak in Uganda took an unprecedented 80 days, but WHO and others “also learned that the work needs to be done faster still — and that there are ways to streamline these critical endeavors. They will, though, cost money…. Had these experimental vaccines been available to push into the field earlier, in ready-to-use vials, that outcome could well have been different. But Ebola Sudan outbreaks are rare; in fact this is the first in a decade. Having vaccine doses in vials at the ready could well mean making vaccine that would end up being discarded, doses that would need to be replaced. And not just for Ebola Sudan, but for a number of other rare but high-consequence pathogens like Marburg virus or Nipah virus, said Mike Ryan, who heads the WHO’s health emergencies program.”


**
COVID-19 Immunity Now
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Time ([link removed]) (US) looks at the state of our immunity three years into the pandemic. “Vaccines, boosters, and infections have increased our immunity to varying degrees…. Immunization is the most effective way to launch this antibody production against SARS-CoV-2. Getting infected with the virus itself also triggers the process, but to a lesser extent. Studies show that levels of antibodies against the COVID-19 virus are higher among people who are vaccinated than among those who are unvaccinated and get infected.”


** Tenofovir and COVID-19
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Aidsmap ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “People with HIV who took the older formulation of tenofovir with emtricitabine during 2020 had a substantially lower risk of hospital admission due to COVID-19 than people taking the new formulation of tenofovir or abacavir/lamivudine, a large Spanish study has reported. However, the effect was only clear-cut in people aged 50 and over, probably due to the small number of cases of severe illness requiring hospital treatment in the under-50s.”


** Masking Up Again
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As winter hits in the northern hemisphere COVID-19 rates in many places are predictably going up as are other respiratory infections. Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “A northern Mexican state reintroduced the obligatory use of face masks in closed public spaces, officials said on Monday, in a bid to reduce rising COVID-19 infections, as well as the spread of other respiratory diseases.

The New York Times ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Masks are back, and, this time, they’re not just for COVID-19. A “tripledemic” of the coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, sweeping through the United States has prompted several cities and counties, including New York City and Los Angeles County, to encourage people to wear a mask in indoor public spaces once again.”


** Long COVID Deaths
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The New York Times ([link removed]) US) reports, “Long COVID has caused or contributed to at least 3,500 deaths in the United States, an analysis of death certificates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The study, published on Wednesday, is believed to be the first nationwide examination of whether long Covid or related terms appear in official American death records. While it found that such phrases were recorded in only a tiny proportion of the more than a million deaths tied to infection with the coronavirus, the researchers and other experts said the results added to growing recognition of how serious long-term post-COVID medical problems can be.” Read the CDC analysis ([link removed]) .


** Testing a Combo COVID-Flu Vaccine
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Sydney Morning Herald ([link removed]) (Australia) reports, “Pharmaceutical company Novavax is beginning a trial of a combined COVID-19 and flu vaccine that would enable people to get one shot every year to protect them from both viruses. About 1500 participants will be recruited for the trial from 25 Australian and nine New Zealand clinical trial sites by the end of the year, the company’s executive vice president John Trizzino announced on Wednesday. ‘We’re transitioning out of the pandemic phase and heading into what I and most of the opinion leaders around the world view as annual vaccinations,’ Trizzino said.”
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