SimplyInfo.org Coronavirus Live Blog 02.25.2022

This is an ongoing weekly update of news headlines, new studies, and data related to the coronavirus outbreak. The newest information is at the top. If you have a question or want to discuss this issue in-depth, we have been discussing this issue in our chat system. Covid blog Information is updated once a week.

Last week’s blog post from 02.16.22 can be found here

We have moved older live blog posts to an archive that can be found in the right-side navigation.
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Vaccine Related Information:

Xanadu Bio licenses Yale delivery tech for intranasal SARS CoV-2 vaccine booster
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/515872-xanadu-bio-licenses-yale-delivery-tech-for-intranasal-sars-cov-2-vaccine-booster

Got a Covid Booster? You Probably Won’t Need Another for a Long Time A flurry of
new studies suggest that several parts of the immune system can mount a sustained,
potent response to any coronavirus variant.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/health/covid-vaccine-antibodies-t-cells.html

“FDA considers 2nd COVID-19 booster for fall”
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/fda-considers-2nd-covid-19-booster-for-fall.html

A fourth Covid-19 shot might be recommended this fall, as officials ‘continually’ look at emerging data
https://www.wlfi.com/news/a-fourth-covid-19-shot-might-be-recommended-this-fall-as-officials-continually-look-at/article_4c24d655-99bb-54f5-998e-739c4fde6260.html

FDA considering a second booster in fall
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/97299

A new Covid vaccine shows 100 percent efficacy against severe disease and hospitalizations, its makers say.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/23/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine/a-new-covid-vaccine-shows-100-percent-efficacy-against-severe-disease-and-hospitalizations-its-makers-say

Study explores the effectiveness of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine against omicron, delta variants
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220223/Study-explores-the-effectiveness-of-Moderna-COVID-19-vaccine-against-omicron-delta-variants.aspx

3 Moderna doses 99% effective against omicron, delta hospitalization
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/3-moderna-doses-99-effective-against-omicron-delta-hospitalization.html

 

Testing:

CDC covid wastewater monitoring is available online now
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

FDA recalls unauthorized rapid covid tests
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-device-recalls/e25bio-recalls-covid-19-direct-antigen-rapid-tests-are-not-authorized-cleared-or-approved-fda-and

 

Scientific Research & Variants:

Global cases are dropping, but an Omicron subvariant is spreading, the W.H.O. says.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/17/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine/global-cases-are-dropping-but-an-omicron-subvariant-is-spreading-the-who-says

Estimated 73% of U.S. now immune to Omicron: Is that enough?
https://www.aol.com/news/estimated-73-us-now-immune-060330818-102326541.html

Full Data on Pfizer’s Oral COVID Drug Now Published — Journal paper adds details supporting press release claims, FDA authorization https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/97244

COVID Infection Linked to Slew of Mental Health Conditions — Including higher risk for new disorders and medications https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/97233

“New Data: Omicron BA.2 More Contagious and Severe than BA.1, Yet Officials Committed to Relaxing Protections”
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/new-data-omicron-ba-2-more-contagious-and-severe-than-ba-1-yet-officials-committed-to-relaxing-protections.html

study link: “Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant”
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.14.480335v1.full

“Prevalence of Immunosuppressive Drug Use Among Commercially Insured US Adults, 2018-2019”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780270

A turkish man has been positive for 14 months due to being imunocompromised
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/turk-sets-unenviable-covid-record-by-testing-positive-14-straight-months-2022-02-14/

Ivermectin doesn’t prevent severe disease from Covid-19, new study finds
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/18/health/ivermectin-severe-covid-19/index.html

study link: “Efficacy of Ivermectin Treatment on Disease Progression Among Adults
With Mild to Moderate COVID-19 and Comorbidities – The I-TECH Randomized Clinical Trial”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2789362

More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/21/1081810074/omicron-ba2-variant-spread

Health Officials Warily Eye Rising New BA.2 Omicron Strain – Cases of the
omicron subvariant are increasing, but the health impact is still unclear.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/covid-omicron-ba2-increasing-who-uncertain-health-effects_n_62132c45e4b0f93b261ab1cb

Occurrence and significance of Omicron BA.1 infection followed by BA.2 reinfection
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.19.22271112v1

Is omicron leading us closer to herd immunity against COVID?
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/02/23/is-omicron-leading-us-closer-to-herd-immunity-against-covid

 

 

Outbreaks & Restrictions:

South Korea shifts its approach to the virus.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/17/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine/south-korea-shifts-its-approach-to-the-virus

Malaysia, South Korea face record cases amid Asia-Pacific omicron surge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/17/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/#link-QLB423JYS5HFTPWGIW43NXPCEU

California to unveil shift to ‘endemic’ approach to virus
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-to-unveil-shift-to-endemic-approach-16925582.php

California Introduces Post-Pandemic “S.M.A.R.T.E.R.” Plan For Next Phase Of Covid
https://deadline.com/2022/02/california-smarter-covid-plan-1234956260/

Coronavirus: China bans unauthorised lockdowns to support ‘in difficulty’ services sector
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3167601/coronavirus-china-bans-unauthorised-lockdowns-support

UK: Ending all Covid restrictions ‘premature and not based on evidence’, says BMA Council
chair says decision not guided by data or made in consultation with health profession
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/18/ending-covid-tests-and-isolation-may-cause-rapid-rise-in-virus-say-experts

UK drops covid restrictions
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/21/uk/boris-johnson-drops-covid-restrictions-intl-gbr/index.html

Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Active cases, ICU needs fall to 6-month lows
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/02/23/latest-on-covid19-in-mn

Santa Clara Co. ‘confident’ it will lift indoor masking requirement on March 2 –
Dr. Sara Cody credited the steady decline in cases as a reason for the mask mandate update
https://abc7news.com/santa-clara-county-mask-mandate-co-covid-california-omicron-cases/11596351/

 

All Other Covid News:

Canadian police set to remove protesters
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/17/world/canada-protests-news

White House says it will make high-quality masks available to children
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/17/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/#link-23IYZHWYAFCWHJCIDN4H67W7FI

New York mayor tells CEOs to bring workers back to the office: ‘We can’t send mixed messages’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/17/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/#link-43JXCC4KDRATNF5Y2I2EIXXJGM

US covid19 death rate trending down, still over 2k/day and worse than Delta peak
https://i.postimg.cc/Rh0L34hz/Covid19-Deaths-20220217.png

Minnesota rural hospital workers feel the strain as colleagues leave, COVID stays
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/02/17/minnesota-rural-hospital-workers-feel-the-strain-as-colleagues-leave-covid-stays

Florida Woman Used Pandemic-Relief Loan to Pay a Hit Man, Police Say
The authorities say that Jasmine Martinez, 33, of Miami, received the loan
two weeks before the shooting death of Le’Shonte Jones as she walked with her toddler.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/us/jasmine-martinez-hitman-paycheck-protection-program.html

A New York City anime convention was not a superspreader event, a C.D.C. study finds.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/health/nyc-anime-convention-2021-superspreader-event.html

Illinois House Democrats vote to remove unmasked Republicans from state chamber
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/17/politics/illinois-republicans-masks-removed-house/index.html

US Surgeon general tests positive for COVID-19
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/594904-surgeon-general-tests-positive-for-covid-19

Wild animals prized as delicacies in China contain a bevy of threatening viruses –
New study spotlights pandemic risks of the exotic game trade
https://www.science.org/content/article/wild-animals-prized-delicacies-china-contain-bevy-threatening-viruses

Tech Companies Face a Fresh Crisis: Hiring Recruiters in tech are desperate for workers. But candidates are the ones who hold all the power. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/magazine/tech-company-recruiters.html

Police Clamp Down on Ottawa Demonstrators
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/18/world/canada-ottawa-protests-news

Red Covid, an Update The partisan gap in Covid deaths is still growing, but more slowly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/briefing/red-covid-partisan-deaths-vaccines.html

How Long Covid Exhausts the Body
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/19/science/long-covid-causes.html

Nowhere is safe: Record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in January –
More hospital patients contracted Covid-19 last month than at any point of the pandemic,
a POLITICO analysis of federal health data shows.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/19/covid-hospitals-data-00010283

The Queen tests positive for Covid
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/20/queen-tests-positive-for-covid

(from NYT) Red Covid: The partisan gap in Covid deaths is still growing, but more slowly
https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/redcovid-768×577.png

A mild U.S. flu season is waning, but is it really over?
https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/20/mild-us-flu-season-waning/ 

No One Is Coming to Help — Rural hospitals have been fighting a losing battle during the COVID pandemic
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/rural/97281

Minnesota health insurers passing more COVID costs to patients – Health plans are
now treating the financial consequences of the infectious disease like other ailments.
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-health-insurers-passing-more-covid-costs-to-patients/600148539/ 

Canadian police secure downtown Ottawa as truckers’ protest ends
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/20/canadian-police-ottawa-truckers-protest

Canadian authorities freeze financial assets for those involved in ongoing protests in Ottawa
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/20/americas/canada-trucker-protest-covid-sunday/index.html

“Just Scandalous”: CDC Withholding Most of the Covid Data It Gathers. What Is It Trying to Hide?
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/02/just-scandalous-cdc-withholding-most-of-the-covid-data-it-gathers-what-is-it-trying-to-hide.html#comment-3682032

The C.D.C. Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/health/covid-cdc-data.html

Kotok: What Long Covid Means for Financial Markets
https://ritholtz.com/2022/02/kotok-what-long-covid-means-for-financial-markets/

Pandemic predictions are tricky. Except this one: U.S. hospitals are not ready for the new normal
https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/21/pandemic-prediction-us-hospitals-not-ready-for-new-normal/

THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE STUCK IN PANDEMIC LIMBO –
What does society owe immunocompromised people?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/02/covid-pandemic-immunocompromised-risk-vaccines/622094/

Fox’s Neil Cavuto returns to air, says he was in ICU with COVID-19
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/595193-foxs-neil-cavuto-returns-to-air-says-he-was-in-icu-with-covid-19

Nine’s COVID ‘mistake’ seized on by anti-vaxxers
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2022/02/22/nine-covid-queen-ivermectin/

Is Queen Elizabeth II taking ivermectin? TV blunder fuels false rumours about her COVID treatment
https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/22/is-queen-elizabeth-ii-taking-ivermectin-tv-blunder-fuels-false-rumours

The Queen, 95, is forced to call off virtual audience today by ‘cold-like’ Covid symptoms – but palace says she’ll carry on with light duties https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10538395/Queen-calls-virtual-audience-catching-Covid.html

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Maine Vaccine Mandate – The court had already
turned down two emergency applications that sought to stop the mandate from going into effect.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-maine-vaccine-mandate_n_62152b82e4b03d0c802fc506

Louisiana reports 3 more pediatric COVID-19 deaths
https://www.wdsu.com/article/louisiana-children-pediatric-deaths-covid/39176813

The Coronavirus Menagerie With the virus widespread in white-tailed deer, scientists wonder which animals might be next. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/health/coronavirus-animals.html

Moderna announces three new mRNA vaccine candidates. And one could cancel cancer
https://interestingengineering.com/moderna-cancer-mrna-vaccine

The U.S. mask mandate for air travel is due to expire in March, but some flight attendants say that’s too soon.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/23/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine/the-us-mask-mandate-for-air-travel-will-expire-next-month-but-some-flight-attendants-say-its-too-soon

Fed Up With Google, Conspiracy Theorists Turn to DuckDuckGo The embrace by some
conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists is part of a broader effort to shift people away from Big Tech.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/23/technology/duckduckgo-conspiracy-theories.html

Will a rising Omicron variant scramble antibody treatments? – The BA.2 COVID variant now
spreading worldwide disarms a crucial monoclonal-antibody therapy in laboratory tests.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00419-6

Mysterious Medical Organizations Are Calling for an End to COVID Vaccines – Blandly-named pseudo-medical
organizations are promoting bad science, discredited drugs, and creating an industry of COVID denial.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7nqm7/mysterious-medical-organizations-are-calling-for-an-end-to-covid-vaccines

Doc Group Pushes Ivermectin for Long COVID — FLCCC promotes 20
therapies: like “throwing spaghetti against the wall,” one expert says
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/97247

Moderna expects COVID to become endemic in 2023, and
Los Angeles County is latest to unveil plan to end face-mask mandates indoors
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-expects-covid-to-become-endemic-in-2023-and-los-angeles-county-is-latest-to-unveil-plan-to-end-face-mask-mandates-indoors-11645716595

Google won’t fire or suspend unvaccinated employees, but they
need approval to visit the office – It is relaxing COVID-19 policies for campus amenities
https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/23/22948219/google-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-employees-mask-policy

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