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Friday COVID Wrap-Up

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Friday COVID Wrap-Up

Friday COVID Wrap-Up

Key Points:

Key Points:

  • In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we provide a wrap-up of COVID news and events of the week. Read more below.
  • The WHO is sending COVID-19 aide to India. India is nearing 400,000 daily new cases.
  • In other global news, cases in Europe are declining while cases in Brazil are stabilizing. The P1 variant, first identified in Brazil is starting to become dominant in Brazil’s neighboring countries (including Lima, Peru, and Uruguay). In Lima, Peru, the P1 variant accounts for 40% of infections while it accounts for 75% of all new infections in Uruguay.
  • While we’ve discussed this before, a new manuscript out in Clinical Infectious Disease has determined that the 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally did indeed result in “widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 across the country.” At least 649 COVID-19 cases were identified (including secondary and tertiary spread to close contacts).
  • Two recent studies, reported by CIDRAP, in England and Mexico highlight severe COVID outcomes for obese individuals, even for those who are young adults. In one study, researchers “found a significant link between BMI and age, with higher HRs for hospitalization.” In the other study, due to metabolic distinctions leading to the likelihood of “early-onset overweight or obesity,” “younger Mexican patients were infected early in the pandemic.”
  • New York will fully reopen on July 1st.
  • Disneyland, in California has reopened to visitors. This is a move that California is slowly reopening too.
  • Moderna has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for 3 months and up to 7 months at -4F.
  • Scientific American discusses that “Flu Has Disappeared Worldwide during the COVID Pandemic” and scientists and public health officials think it’s because “measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading also stop the flu.”
  • There is a new experimental design for understanding COVID-19 disease progression and potential therapies, producing and utilizing lung organoids that can be infected with SARS-CoV-2. Read a summary of the study here.
  • COVID Act Now answers some frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine including: What are the ingredients of the vaccines?

Recommendations for Industry

Friday COVID Wrap-Up

As has been discussed this week through TAG’s Key Point summaries and Recommendations articles, there is continued concern around COVID-19 variants, particularly in India which is continuing to set case-rate and mortality records. We are not yet seeing the strain in the US, and cannot be sure whether the country’s struggles are due to a lack of infrastructure or super transmissibility of the variant, but it has now been seen in Israel, so this is an area to continue to watch.

Studies also are finding that healthy lifestyles can have benefits in relation to COVID severity, with those with high BMIs (particularly those aged 20-39) or early-onset overweight or obesity are hospitalized at a greater rate than those with healthier body mass. Continued research is being conducted to establish whether BMI affects vaccine efficacy or risk of post-COVID-19 health consequences.

In addition, the vaccination picture is changing in the US, with shortages no longer being seen, but vaccination rates declining, as vaccine hesitancy continues in certain populations.

In Case You Missed It

  • In Wednesday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed the CDC’s newly published concessions for fully vaccinated people. Read more here.
  • Yesterday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated Americans can be maskless outdoors when doing activities (biking, running) and during outdoor gatherings with friends or outdoor dining at restaurants. However, the CDC continues to recommend mask-wearing when one is in large outdoor gatherings (like concerts or sports events) because there may still be unvaccinated individuals in these circles. The CDC recommends that you continue considering current COVID-19 spread in your community, “the number of people participating in the activity, and the location of the activity.” See the charts of activities considered safe for fully vaccinated individuals both indoors and outdoors.

Friday COVID Wrap-UpFriday COVID Wrap-Up

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