WHO reseachers in Wuhan; Moderna vaccine trial; US deaths
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In the headlines:
► A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was first detected, to investigate its origins.
► The Mississippi Health Department said the state cannot take any more appointments for coronavirus vaccinations because of a “monumental surge” in demand after Gov. Tate Reeves announced that more people are eligible for the shots.
► Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Wednesday he is removing pandemic mandates issued by his predecessor. Under the new rules that take effect Friday, restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos will no longer be required to close at 10 p.m. and will not be required to limit capacity to 50%.
► Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. hit another one-day high at more than 4,300. The nation’s overall death toll from coronavirus has eclipsed 383,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. It is closing in fast on the number of Americans killed in World War II, about 405,000. The U.S. recorded 4,327 deaths on Tuesday.
► California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the state is removing restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines for all residents 65 and older. But Los Angeles County, the region hardest hit in the state, has already said that they will continue giving priority to healthcare workers. Approximately 1 in 3 people in the county have been infected with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, officials said Wednesday.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has more than 23 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 384,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 92.3 million cases and 1.97 million deaths.
📘 What we’re reading: The seasonal flu has all but vanished, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That speaks volumes about the transmissibility of COVID-19, health experts say. Read more here.
Dr. Michael Roach shows his vaccination card on Wednesday after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a site for health care workers in Pacoima, Calif. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)
Moderna needs at least 3K adolescent volunteers for vaccine trial
Not enough adolescents are signing up for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, a federal official said this week, potentially delaying vaccine authorization for this age group.
Moncef Slaoui, the scientific head of Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccine effort, said Tuesday that while a vaccine trial in adults is accruing 800 volunteers per day, the teen trial is getting only about 800 per month.
The study needs at least 3,000 participants, he said, to provide valid safety and effectiveness data, and get authorization from the FDA.
“It’s really very important for all of us, for all the population in America, to realize that we can’t have that indication unless adolescents aged 12 to 18 decide to participate,” Slaoui said.
– Karen Weintraub
Some Wisconsin hospitals offer vaccine to staff who don’t care for patients
Faced with no-shows at immunization clinics and leftover doses, some Wisconsin hospital systems are offering COVID-19 vaccines to staff who do not work with patients or in medical settings, under an interpretation of vaccine prioritization guidelines that federal advisers say is a stretch.
At least one hospital system — Advocate Aurora — has opened up vaccine appointments to all employees. At other health systems, employees listed as administrators or public relations specialists have received vaccines, according to social media posts.
Wisconsin is still finishing the first phase of its vaccine rollout plan, which includes long-term care facilities and health care personnel, with a focus on front-line hospital staff.
The decisions by some hospitals to include employees who work from home and do not interact with patients have raised eyebrows in Wisconsin and other states.
– Daphne Chen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
What will COVID-19 look like in future? Maybe another common cold, study says
SARS-CoV-2 “could join the ranks of mild, cold-causing … human coronaviruses in the long run,” according to a model developed by Emory University and Penn State University scientists.
The model, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Science, compares the deadly virus to four common cold coronaviruses plus the SARS and MERS viruses, which surfaced in 2003 and 2012, respectively.
Researchers determined from the model that if the coronavirus continues to circulate in the general population and most people are exposed to it from childhood, it could be added to the list of common colds.
Study authors concede the model makes some assumptions about the coronavirus and common colds that are not known yet, but a take-home message is “the critical need for broad-scale vaccination may wane in the near term,” said study author Ottar Bjornstad, who teaches entomology and biology at Penn State University.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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