Radio Free Wall Street
Great Plague… Worst Is Yet To Come
In days of defending your castle there would be a kill zone in front where the archers could pick off the enemies that were coming. Then there was a moat filled with crocodiles and then a great wall near impossible to scale. Armies to this day use a multi-layered defense strategy. In this show, I will present to you our multi-layer strategy. I don’t want to ruin your day but the golden shot will not save you.
US army scientists examine new UK coronavirus variant to see if it might be resistant to vaccine
(CNN)Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to know in the next few days if there’s a concern that the coronavirus vaccines might not work against a mutated variant of the virus that’s rapidly spreading in parts of England, according to the institute’s top vaccine researcher. While there’s always a worry that a vaccine won’t work if a virus mutates significantly, the Walter Reed scientists still expect the vaccine will be effective against this new variant, said Dr. Nelson Michael, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. “It stands to reason that this mutation isn’t a threat, but you never know. We still have to be diligent and continue to look,” Michael said. On Thursday, the Walter Reed team started examining genetic sequences of the new UK variant posted online by British researchers. They’re doing a computer analysis as a first step. “The computer analysis will allow us to gauge how much concern we should have,” Michael said. “Other teams around the world are doing this analysis, too.” If the computer analysis show there’s a concern, then studies would need to be done in the laboratory and in animals to more definitively determine if the vaccine will work on this variant.
At a press conference Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new holiday lockdowns in parts of England that have seen the spread of the new mutation.
“There’s no evidence to suggest the vaccine will be any less effective against the new variant. Our experts will continue their work to improve our understanding as fast as we can,” Johnson said. The UK’s chief scientific advisor agreed. “Our working assumption at the moment from all of the scientists is that the vaccine response should be adequate for this virus,” Dr. Patrick Vallance said at the press conference.
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized two vaccines, one by Pfizer and the other by Moderna. Both work by creating a genetic blueprint for the spikes that appear on the surface of the novel coronavirus. The immune system “sees” the spikes and learns how to launch an attack against it.
As with other new variants or strains of Covid-19, this one carries a genetic fingerprint that makes it easy to track, and it happens to be one that is now common. That does not mean the mutation has made it spread more easily, nor does it not necessarily mean this variation is more dangerous. Multiple experts in the genetics and epidemiology of viruses are noting that this one could be just a “lucky” strain that’s been amplified because of a superspreader event; it could be the mutation somehow makes it spread more easily without causing more serious illness; or it could just be by chance.
In August, the Walter Reed team published a study showing that the vaccines still worked against several other mutations of the coronavirus. The vaccines are still useful because viruses mutate constantly, but typically not in ways that would render a vaccine useless, said Dr. William Schaffner, an advisor to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines.
FDA investigating allergic reactions to Pfizer vaccine reported in multiple states
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating allergic reactions to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that were reported in multiple states after it began to be administered this week. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told reporters late Friday that the reactions had been reported in more than one state besides Alaska and that the FDA is probing five reactions. “We are working hand in hand with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we’ve actually been working closely with our United Kingdom colleagues, who of course reported the allergic reaction. I think we’ll be looking at all the data we can from each of these reactions to sort out exactly what happened, and we’ll also be looking to try to understand which component of the vaccine might be helping to produce them,” Marks said. “I think we have at this point the right … mitigation strategy with the availability of treatment for a severe allergic reaction being at the ready, and we’ll continue to monitor it very closely,” he added. Marks said the FDA was not certain what caused the reactions but indicated a chemical called polyethylene glycol, which is present in the vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as by Moderna “could be the culprit.” He added that the reaction some people have experienced could be more common than once thought. “We’ll obviously be monitoring very closely what’s going on. We’re working very closely with the CDC on these, and there have been meetings between the CDC and FDA pretty much every day this week making sure we’re keeping very close track of what’s going on,” he said. The reports of allergic reactions in Alaska follow two similar cases reported last week in Britain, the first nation to approve Pfizer’s vaccine. The FDA’s current guidance says that most Americans with allergies should be cleared to take the vaccine but that people who’ve had severe reactions to other vaccines should not get vaccinated. It also said Friday that people with a history of severe allergic reactions to any components of the Moderna shot should avoid getting that vaccine. “FDA takes very seriously the safety of the medical products that we authorize and approve, and certainly in a vaccine setting, it’s one of the reasons Dr. Marks and his team, in collaboration with the CDC, has set up a very robust surveillance system for assessing safety. One of the things that FDA does very well and uniquely is really getting to the bottom of events like allergic reactions so we can completely understand the circumstances and better inform the public and also our regulatory decisions,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
UK’s New strain of coronavirus spreads more quickly
LONDON (Reuters) – A new strain of COVID-19 identified in the United Kingdom can spread more quickly and urgent work is under way to confirm that it does not cause a higher mortality rate, England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Saturday.
“As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance,” Whitty said in a statement.
“As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.”
Congress averts shutdown; fight continues over pandemic aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying yet more time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. The virus aid talks remained on track, both sides said, but closing out final disagreements was proving difficult. Weekend sessions were on tap, and House leaders hoped for a vote on Sunday on the massive package, which wraps much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished 2020 business into a take-it-or-leave-it behemoth that promises to be a foot thick — or more. The House passed the temporary funding bill by a 320-60 vote. The Senate approved it by voice vote almost immediately afterward, and President Donald Trump signed it late Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said both sides remain intent on closing the deal, even as Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. The Democrats said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.
Negotiations continued into Friday night but an agreement wasn’t likely before Saturday, lawmakers and aides said. House lawmakers were told they wouldn’t have to report to work on Saturday but that a Sunday session was likely. The Senate will be voting on nominations.
The $900 billion package comes as the pandemic is delivering its most fearsome surge yet, killing more than 3,000 victims per day and straining the nation’s health care system. While vaccines are on the way, most people won’t get them for months. Jobless claims are on the rise. The emerging agreement would deliver more than $300 billion in aid to businesses and provide the jobless a $300-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit and renewal of state benefits that would otherwise expire right after Christmas. It also includes $600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid. Democrats on Friday came out swinging at a key obstacle: a provision by conservative Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would close down more than $400 billion in potential Federal Reserve lending powers established under a relief bill in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey’s language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden’s hands and put the economy at risk.
Ivermectin 3.5 bilion doses of this medicine has been given. Its a life saver!
Ivermectin has shown promise against Covid-19 in a clinical trial and patients receiving a five-day course of ivermectin have shown an early viral clearance and improvements of blood biomarkers compared with other two groups.
icddr,b on Monday organised a dissemination seminar to share preliminary findings of a recently concluded study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of ivermectin in combination with antibiotic doxycycline or ivermectin alone for the treatment of confirmed mild cases of Covid-19 in a hospital setting in Dhaka.
“It’s extremely important to find an affordable and easy-to-use treatment option to fight against this pandemic in low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh. We believe a larger clinical trial with ivermectin may help facilitate decision makers to include it in the Covid-19 treatment protocol and we’re exploring for support,” he said. National public health experts, representatives from the DGHS, DGDA, BMRC, icddr,b, BPL and media were also present at the seminar. The study, conducted during July-September 2020, was funded by Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and the company also provided all the drugs used in this trial.
Pfizer says ‘millions’ of vaccine doses are waiting to be shipped — but the government hasn’t told them where to go
Vitamin D and COVID 19: The Evidence for Prevention and Treatment of Coronavirus (SARS CoV 2)
Evidence suggests that vitamin D supplementation could potentially be effective either in treatment or prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid‐19). Indeed, several studies and trials have begun to investigate the impact of vitamin D supplementation on patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection. In this review, we focus on the potential mechanisms of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of Covid‐19. We consider whether deficiency of vitamin D may be one of the underlying biological factors that could explain the excess mortality seen among non‐Caucasians. We also raise several important questions which need to be addressed to provide a clear picture of the extent to which vitamin D supplementation may benefit patients with Covid‐19, particularly those with underlying risk factors.
New Covid-19 strain features 17 mutations sparking fears vaccine won’t work
The new strain of Covid-19 has 17 mutations, scientists have discovered. UK experts have been analysing the new variant of coronavirus and say they have uncovered 17 alterations from the original strain of the killer disease, which they described as “a lot”. Many of the changes have happened to the virus’s spike protein, which it uses to latch onto human cells and cause illness. This is significant because most Covid-19 vaccines being developed, including the Pfizer jab that has already begun to be rolled out in the UK, are effective by targeting this protein. It is feared this could stop people becoming immune to coronavirus if they have been infected with a different strain than the vaccine can protect them against.
Scientists including England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty have said there is “currently no evidence” that the new variant will stop the vaccine from working. The strain has also been spotted in Denmark and Australia. Professor Nick Loman, from the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham, is a member of the UK’s Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium which is studying the mutations. He said: “There are actually 17 changes that would affect the protein structure in some way that distinguishes this variant from its kind of common ancestor of other variants that are circulating, which is a lot. “It’s striking. There’s a really long branch going back to the common ancestor, and it’s a matter of great interest as to why that is the case.” Most vaccines work by training the immune system to recognise the virus’s spike proteins and attack them when the virus tries to infect them. But if the spike proteins are altered through mutations, it is possible the virus may be able to slip past the body’s defences. The new strain, called VUI – 202012/01 was first picked up in September in Kent. It has been linked to the explosion in cases in London and the South East of England which saw the capital and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire placed into Tier 3 lockdown restrictions from today. There have been more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the new strain, mostly in southern England. The exact locations have not been revealed.