A COVID-19 molecule.
On March 13, 2020, US President Donald Trump issued a state of emergencyin response toCOVID-19, two days after the World Health Organization announced the outbreak could be characterized as a pandemic.
At that time, fewer than 2,000 Americans had tested positive for the virus. Today, there have been 79 million cases reported in this country, and more than 965,000 deaths.
Advances against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have come relatively rapidly: By the end of 2021,multiple effective vaccines had been approved and Pfizer had received FDA authorization for its COVID antiviral drug Paxlovid, which the pharmaceutical company says could cut the risk of hospitalization or death by up to 89%.
Two years on, with a global death toll of more than 6 million people -- and tens of millions more infections and hospitalizations -- scientists are still struggling to understand major aspects of the disease.
With vaccines' protection waning over time and the continuing evolution of variants, health experts expect more booster shots will become the norm.
In aFeb. 16 press briefing, White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said, "The potential future requirement for an additional boost -- or a fourth shot for mRNA or third shot for Johnson & Johnson -- is being very carefully monitored in real-time."
A fourth vaccine shot could be coming as early as fall 2022.
The CDC has updated its guidanceto indicate that some immunocompromised people can get a fourth COVID-19 shot now, while Israel, Germany and other nations are researching the efficacy of a fourth shot for the general population.
Moderna President Stephen Hoge said we will most likely need seasonal COVID-19 boosters, much like we do with the flu, at least to protect those at the highest risk of infection and serious illness.
The first COVID-19 vaccines went into people's arms in the US in December 2020. The two most effective -- from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech-- took a unique approach: using Messenger RNA (mRNA) to teach our cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response to the virus.
While researchers have been studying mRNA vaccines "for decades," according to the CDC, this marked the first time they've been made available to the public. Scientists continue to gather information on how effective they are, and how long until their effectiveness begins to decline.
"We are definitely still figuring that out," Gronvall said. "We're seeing that protection wanes earlier than six months, which is why boosters are being recommended at six months."
In a recentweekly report, the CDC announced that protection against hospitalization from mRNA vaccines dropped noticeably after just four months, even with a booster. When delta was predominant, protection against hospitalization was 96% within two months of a third mRNA shot, but dropped to 76% within four months.
During the omicron variant wave, protection from hospitalization fell from 91% within two months of an mRNA booster to 78% after four months.
According to the World Health Organization, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are far less effective in preventing infection by the omicron strain than earlier COVID-19 variants. Other vaccines -- including those from Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and ones manufactured in Russia and China -- do even less, The New York Times reported.
Still, fully vaccinated individuals are much less likely to experience severe symptoms, hospitalization and death, according to Harvard Medical School, especially if they receive a booster shot.
"It's not a worst-case scenario, where the vaccines are ineffective," Gronvall said. "In lab scenarios, we've seen, vaccines provide less protection. That seems to be borne out in reality, but we can't project yet into the real world."
Our Health & Wellness newsletter puts the best products, updates and advice in your inbox.
Viruses constantly mutate. Sometimes these mutations emerge quickly and disappear, and other times, they persist and create spikes in the rate of infection and disease. In two years, COVID-19 has mutated into five "variants of concern," according to WHO, based on the severity of disease, the effectiveness of medical countermeasures and the strain's ability to spread from person to person.
The alpha, beta and gamma variants were all downgraded to "variants being monitored" in September, with delta and omicron still considered variants of concern. In January, federal health officials declared the omicron variant the dominant strain in the US, accounting for nearly three-quarters of new infections.
Omicron may be less severe than delta, whichdoubled the hospitalization rateof the original alpha strain, but is alsofar more contagious.
By February, the new variant's surge declined, but an even more contagious subvariant -- known as omicron BA.2 -- has been identified. It appears to spread about 30% more easily than the original.
Health officials warn that the longer the pandemic lasts and the longer large groups remain unvaccinated, the more time the virus will have to spread and mutate. While can they map and identify variants, they need time to see how dangerous a new strain is as they gather data on hospitalizations and deaths.
"We're still not great at looking at new variants and projecting what that means in the real world," Gronvall said. "We have better tools [with which] to read genetic material and determine when variants emerge. But we can't read them like a book."
Researchers with the WHO's investigative team arrive at the Huanan Seafood Market on Jan. 31, 2021.
We know the virus can cause symptoms ranging from headaches, chills and fever todisorientation, nausea and vomiting -- and even loss of taste or smell. While scientists continue to piece together who is more likely to get hit with these outcomes, they still lack answers about why some experience serious illness and others don't.
Age is definitely the biggest correlation for severe disease,Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at theJohns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told CNET. "But there have been 29-year-olds who have died, children who have died, when all indications suggest they should have had a mild disease course."
Scientists are also trying to understand "long COVID" -- a range of symptoms that can begin weeks or even months after a patient is first infected.
The World Health Organizationhas issued a definitionthat includes a laundry list of lingering symptoms that include fatigue, trouble breathing, anxiety, kidney issues, blood clots and "brain fog."
But even now, the condition's cause is not clearly known. And the list of symptoms keeps changing.
"After two years, we don't understand much about long COVID, and don't know its prevalence with omicron after vaccination," Bob Wachter, the chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco,tweeted Wednesday. "It remains a hardship for millions and a lingering concern for me as I think about the prospect of getting even a 'mild' case of omicron."
While some general symptoms, like loss of smell and taste, appear less common with omicron, Gronvall said, "We just don't know if people with that variant will suffer long COVID. We just haven't had enough time to tell."
Experts are still not certain how COVID-19 emerged. The prevailing theory is that it leaped from an animal to a human. The first symptoms of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan among people who either worked or lived near Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, an open-air "wet market" selling fresh beef, poultry, fish and produce.
According to numerous sources, including a June 2021 study in Scientific Reports, the market also traded in exotic animals as pets and food, including badgers, hedgehogs, civets and porcupines.
Others, however, claim that SARS-CoV-2 emerged in a lab-- with a naturally occurring or human-engineered virus infecting a researcher, who spread it to others. While there has been no solid evidence for this, former President Donald Trump and his supporters pushed the lab-origin theory through 2020.
"People are looking to blame [someone]," Gronvall said. "They're not looking for an explanation that is very human and plausible. But there's no virus that's been identified in the laboratory that's at all close to what ended up spreading around the world."
Also, Grovnall said, "There's a lot of people using this as a vehicle for other agendas." However, she said, "certainly the Chinese have been lying" about at least one other thing: Government officials originally claimed that there were no contraband animals present at the market, she said, but researchers looking for a separate tick-borne disease photographed many illegal animals there, "stuffed together in close quarters, in poor health and stress conditions, in the months before cases were identified."
Inspectors at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, which was permanently closed on Jan. 1, 2020.
Because the Chinese government quickly shut down the Huanan market -- and removed all evidence almost as soon as cases of COVID-19 were being associated with it -- researchers are not likely to ever find the exact animal culprit, Gronvall said.
"It wasn't like SARS in 2003, when you had these palm civets there that were all infected and it was a pretty quick thing," she said.
To uncover more about the emergence of COVID-19,President Joe Biden directed the US intelligence community in May 2021 to "redouble their efforts" to investigate the virus' origins.
As we continue into the third year of the pandemic, what we do know is there are many tools at our disposal, including vaccines and antiviral pills, that we didn't have when we first learned of COVID-19.
For more, here's what we knowabout the omicron variant, what we knowabout treating long COVID and whether you can still be considered "fully vaccinated"without a booster shot.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Dashboard Information
The COVID-19 vaccine dashboard is updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 12:30 p.m. To maximize your experience, use a device with a larger screen, such as a tablet, laptop or desktop.
Want to know the latest news on COVID-19 in Kansas? Subscribe to the Weekly Stakeholder Update inEnglish orSpanish.
In the face of a pandemic rapidly claiming lives worldwide, governments, organisations and pharma companies mobilised to provide Covid-19 vaccine doses at a never-before-seen speed and scale. . But while the novel coronavirus has become our most urgent public health threat, other infectious diseases still cause the illness and death they always have, and vaccines continue to be needed.
Covid-19 wreaked havoc on drug supply chains over the past two years, but these challenges have also provided opportunities. The lessons that vaccine companies and health organisations were forced to learn due to Covid-19 from the value of strategic partnerships to the importance of localised manufacturing have equipped them with new ideas and approaches to improving global access to other crucial vaccines, for the duration of the pandemic and beyond.
The interruptions to routine vaccination programmes worldwide due to the pandemic have been significant. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, almost 23 million children missed out on basic vaccinations as a result of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 the highest number since 2009.
From material shortages and insufficient manufacturing capacity to shipping and travel disruptions, the demands of the pandemic exposed existing vulnerabilities in the global vaccine production and supply chain, and highlighted the need to reassess how essential vaccines are made and distributed.
Margo Warren, head of policy at the Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF), says pharma companies had to think outside the box in response to Covid-19.
All of a sudden, they needed to augment supply in a way that was quite unprecedented, and think of solutions for how to actually do this.
At a forum recently organised by Access to Medicine, experts proposed shifting from a just-in-time to just-in-case manufacturing approach as a key step towards strengthening global medicine and vaccine supply.
Its about building inventory reserves making sure that companies can develop plans for stockpiling and expanding communication channels with a large network of suppliers, Warren explains.
The forums speakers also noted that for drugmakers to respond quickly and adequately to future health emergencies, smart forecasting for supply and demand is crucial. In particular, a localised approach to demand planning would help companies to better anticipate need and reduce the risk of shortages, especially in LMICs.
Every corner of the globe has been impacted by the pandemic, but limited access to Covid-19 jabs and disruptions to supplies of other vaccines disproportionately affect those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), for whom the burden of disease is also higher. Of the 17 million children who didnt receive a single basic vaccine dose in the first year of the pandemic, most live in Africa and areas affected by conflict, and lack access to health and other welfare services.
The work to ensure equitable vaccine and medicine supplies to poorer regions has historically been left largely to charitable organisations and humanitarian groups and during the coronavirus crisis, as wealthy countries hoard coronavirus jab supplies and vaccine makers show no signs of considering patent waivers, this remains the case.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance was formed in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the worlds poorest nations. Six years ago, the private-public alliance launched STEP (the Strategic Training Executive Programme) with global transport company UPS, as a means of supporting supply chains in the Global South beyond financial philanthropy. Through STEP, leading immunisation programmes in Gavi-assisted regions receive training and mentorship on managing efficient supply chains from experts in the industry.
In the wake of the pandemic, STEP 2.0 came into being. The programmes second iteration is jointly offered by Gavi, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the United States Agency for International Development, and coordinated by supply chain management organisation People that Deliver.
For Kevin Etter, who designed and developed STEP and now works on the project as a consultant, private-public partnerships like this are key to improving supply chains in LMICs and accelerating access to essential vaccines.
One of the key challenges associated with vaccine supply in LMICs is last-mile delivery, Etter says. The disruptions caused by Covid-19, such as widespread lockdowns, further complicated vaccine deliveries to these regions, and getting shipments back on track is one of STEPs priorities.
The next big thing to tackle is getting these routine immunisation programmes back to where they were before the pandemic, Etter says. Its going to be the job of supply chain advocates everywhere to make sure that this is not forgotten.
Warren at AMF says the pandemic has highlighted the value of industry partnerships and organisations leveraging their networks effectively to create a robust supply chain, and deliver large quantities of vaccine doses to countries in need. In her view, companies need to recognise their own limitations, and how much they can achieve alone when it comes to global vaccine distribution.
Ideas around helping other manufacturers with a strong tech transfer component to develop these new vaccines have been a really important learning from the pandemic.
Efforts to supply vaccines to poorer countries are all well and good, but the fact that 99% of Africas vaccines against all diseases are imported only highlights the fragility of supply chains to these regions. As long as LMICs are dependent on other countries or organisations for essential jabs, their access to them will always be precarious.
Oyewale Tomori is a professor of virology at Redeemers University in Nigeria, and a member of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative. He says Africas reliance on humanitarian groups and donations has brought the continents need for better domestic manufacturing capabilities to the fore.
Every initiative, every vaccine, is being dictated from outside; Africa has not been involved in finding solutions to its own problem, Tomori explains. Were dependent on all those things, so whether were going to survive is based on the shifting interests of the of the people who brought [the vaccines] in.
To ensure secure supplies of essential vaccines, African countries must build the ecosystems for life sciences innovation at home but this, Tomori says, requires government investment.
[In other countries] the government provided incentives, tax waivers and those kinds of things, he says. Thats why we have the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech in India, because they have government support.
The talent is here, the human resources are here, but you need the right environment for them to function.
While LMICs ability to produce vaccines independently is crucial, industry players and organisations are working to assist and empower countries in the Global South to reach this goal.
Last summer, WHO and its COVAX partners established a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in Africa, to boost the development and industrial-scale production of mRNA shots on the continent. Along with the vaccine technology, the facility provides local manufacturers with technical training, production expertise, and any licenses needed to make the shots.
South Africa was the first country to receive a hub; South African biotech Afrigen oversees vaccine development, while the countrys partly state-owned pharma company Biovac provides manufacturing capabilities.
In February, a Covid-19 vaccine made by Afrigen through the tech transfer project became the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale in Africa. WHO has since announced that Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia will also be recipients of the technology transfer hubs, and Afrigen has agreed to begin training companies in Brazil and Argentina.
In the same month that Afrigen produced its first mRNA jabs, German vaccine maker BioNTech announced it would establish scalable, modular mRNA manufacturing facilities in Africa. The companys drug substance and formulation modules, known as BioNTainers, would allow African countries to produce mRNA-based vaccines in bulk and according to their needs.
The BioNTainers, expected to be first installed in Rwanda and Senegal, are not limited to Covid-19 vaccines; BioNTech says its investigational malaria and tuberculosis vaccines could also be manufactured at scale using this technology, following their successful development and regulatory approval.
From investing in domestic manufacturing to building reliable partnerships, the key lesson pharma must learn from the past two years is to be prepared. Rather than mobilising at the start of a crisis, the industry should have in place the pre-emptive structures and coordinated systems needed to cope with the demands of a global health emergency, should one occur.
Each time there is an epidemic or outbreak, there are a lot of lessons, Tomori says. But the question is, how long do we remember them?
In 2014, Nigeria had Ebola, and we were able to bring it under control in a very short time because a lot of structures were in place. As soon as we were declared Ebola-free, we dismantled all the structures we had so when Covid-19 came, we had to start from scratch.
Etter is optimistic about applying the lessons from the pandemic to routine immunisation programmes: Well be advocating for and working towards shoring up those supply chains, and shifting funding into building on the lessons that we learned about the gaps in them.
There are other disease areas that require attention which could benefit from some of the lessons learned over the past two years, Warren says. Specifically, companies need to focus on forecasting and making sure that last-mile distribution to LMICs is front-of-mind early in the process and, she emphasises, ensuring supply to poorer countries is not an afterthought.
In the context of Covid-19, weve seen some positive examples of companies thinking about this more strategically and earlier on, she says. And Im hopeful that the issues that have been raised about health equity will translate to other disease areas.
Aqueous and Powdered Cleaning Detergents for the Pharmaceutical Industry
Laboratory Informatics, Strategic Business & Technology Consulting, and Staffing Services
Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organisation
PHILADELPHIA -- To help fend off another wave of Covid-19, people will need a fourth dose of vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday.
"Many variants are coming, and Omicron was the first one that was able to evade -- in a skillful way -- the immune protection that we're giving," Bourla told CBS' "Face the Nation."
But protection after three doses is "not that good against infections" and "doesn't last very long" when faced with a variant like Omicron.
"It is necessary, a fourth (dose) for right now," Bourla told CBS.
Currently, anyone ages 12 and up who got a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least five months ago can get a third dose.
Anyone ages 18 and up who got the two-dose Moderna vaccine should get a booster shot six months after the second dose, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And anyone who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should get a booster shot after two months, the CDC said.
Some moderately or severely immunocompromised people who have had three doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines can already get a fourth dose of vaccine, according to the CDC.
But it's not clear if or when the US Food and Drug Administration might authorize a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine for healthy teens and adults.
Kids under 5 might soon be able to get vaccinated
Currently, children ages 5 to 11 are eligible for two pediatric doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine but are not yet eligible for a booster. Pfizer is testing a third dose in that age group now.
And kids under age 5 are not yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine -- though that could change this spring, Bourla said.
Initial trial data in children ages 2 to 5 showed two doses of a smaller, child-sized vaccine didn't give the expected immunity in the 2- to 5-year-olds -- though it did for babies ages 6 months to 2 years.
So Pfizer decided to add a third child-sized dose for children under age 5 in its ongoing trial.
Pfizer should have data on its three-dose vaccine trial for children ages 6 months to 5 years by April, Bourla said.
If authorized by the FDA and recommended by the CDC, Covid-19 vaccines for children ages 6 months to 5 years might start as early as May, Bourla said.
Pfizer and Moderna have said they are working on a vaccine that would specifically protect against the Omicron variant. It's not clear yet if one is needed.
Bourla said Pfizer is also hoping to make a vaccine that will protect against Omicron and all other variants of SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes Covid-19.
The goal is to create "something that can protect for at least a year," Bourla told CBS on Sunday.
"And if we are able to achieve that, then I think it is very easy to follow and remember so that we can go back to really the way (we) used to live," he said.
The-CNN-Wire& 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
Scientists and healthcare officials have developed several pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. For example, wearing facemasks has been one of the most effective non-pharmaceutical measures that have been adopted globally to prevent the further spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and protect individuals from contracting COVID-19.
Study: Maintaining face mask use before and after achieving different COVID-19 vaccination coverage levels: a modelling study. Image Credit: Mr. Tempter / Shutterstock.com
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, most people wore facemasks in the United States. However, researchers observed that this practice relaxed since the spring of 2021, even though the vaccination rates were below that which has been projected to attain herd-immunity thresholds.
In mid-May 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that vaccinated individuals were not required to wear facemasks when they were indoors in public places like restaurants. This prompted both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to stop wearing facemasks, which was quickly followed by a significant rise in COVID-19 cases due to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529) variants.
This surge in COVID-19 cases quickly caused local officials to reinstate facemask requirements in Los Angeles County, California, and Washington D.C. Although various studies have shown that facemasks effectively prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, the use of facemasks in 2021 remained lower than it was in 2020.
Recently, researchers have addressed some important questions regarding the use of facemasks, such as whether facemasks should be worn in public indoor locations like grocery stores and public transportation, and for how long this practice should be maintained.
In this context, scientists in a recent The Lancet Public Health study simulated different scenarios using facemasks through a computational Monte Carlo simulation model representing the population of the U.S. and SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Moreover, the researchers performed simulations to compare different scenarios, which included predictions of the outcomes for individuals who wore a facemask and those who did not use a facemask until the target vaccination coverage of 70-90% of the population was achieved.
The current study underscored that COVID-19 vaccination alone is not enough to manage the pandemic. Multiple interventions were required to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2, death, and suffering.
As each intervention including the frequent use of sanitizers, face masks, and social restrictions is associated with different limitations, a combinational effect of multiple interventions could positively enhance their impact and combat the pandemic.
The authors provided strong evidence that showed the use of facemasks is an effective and cost-effective method to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study also revealed that facemasks must be used continuously, even after reaching specific vaccination coverage levels to attain herd immunity.
Continual use of facemasks is important, as virus transmission does not immediately cease on reaching vaccination threshold levels. In fact, facemasks appear to provide additional prevention until transmission gradually recedes after two to ten weeks.
The decline of vaccine effectiveness as a result of the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and waning of immune responses induced by vaccination or natural infection have increased the value of wearing facemasks.
The researchers note that it is not realistic to presume that all individuals with COVID-19 would remain isolated for the full duration of their infected phase. This is because many people do not get tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection, asymptomatically infected individuals might transmit infection unintentionally, or some patients might be tempted not to remain isolated throughout the infected phase. This situation further emphasizes the importance of using facemasks to control the pandemic.
The authors recommend that all individuals continue to wear facemasks, irrespective of their age group or profession. When face mask effectiveness was increased by 10%, a relative reduction of 1720% of COVID-19 cases was observed. Additionally, a significant reduction in the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported.
Although the current model is based in the U.S., these findings can resemble similar scenarios in other countries. Furthermore, all models represent a simplified version of real-life conditions and cannot account for every possible outcome.
In the event that there is a shortage of effective facemasks, such as N95 masks, wearing a regular cloth mask is better than not wearing one, as individuals with COVID-19 are less likely to spread the disease when they use facemasks. Taken together, the researchers suggest the continual wearing of facemasks for two to ten weeks beyond achieving specific vaccination coverages to reduce residual SAR-CoV-2 transmission.
DUSHANBE, March 14, 2022 The Government of Tajikistan and the World Bank signed a US$25 million grant agreement as additional financing to the Tajikistan Emergency COVID-19 Project, which has been supporting Tajikistans efforts to respond to the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. These additional resources will support the procurement and provision of vaccines against COVID-19. The agreement was signed by the Minister of Finance of Tajikistan Faiziddin Qahhorzoda and World Bank Country Manager Ozan Sevimli.
I am very pleased that with World Bank support, we will be able to help the people of Tajikistan access safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 and stay healthy and protected, said Ozan Sevimli, World Bank Country Manager to Tajikistan. This is especially critical as the country paves its way towards a more resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery and economic growth.
Currently about 53 percent of Tajikistans population has received a single dose of the vaccine and 48 percent have received two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated. The additional financing will help Tajikistan close its COVID-19 vaccine gap and meet the recently expanded national target of vaccinating all citizen above 12 years of age.
The additional financing will also cover the cost of vaccine delivery, distribution within Tajikistan, the cost of key consumables (needles, syringes, safety boxes), expansion of the electronic vaccine and COVID-19 testing registration system, as well as the printing of vaccine certificates. It will also help procure COVID-19 tests, additional PPE, and supplies such as medications and consumables for hospitals for COVID-19 patients. Additionally, the authorities will be able to expand their communication activities to address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation related to the pandemic.
The original Tajikistan Emergency COVID-19 Project, with a total financing of $11.3 million, was approved in April 2020, and in February 2021 the World Bank approved additional $21.2 million for the project. These resources have helped strengthen Intensive Care Units in 10 hospitals across the country through equipment, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, and small rehabilitation works. Necessary investments were made to improve oxygen supply in 15 hospitals across Tajikistan to help severely ill COVID-19 and other patients to receive life-saving oxygen therapy. As part of the project, a one-time emergency cash assistance was provided to over 214,500 poor households across the country to mitigate the impacts of food price shocks caused by the pandemic. In addition, 650,400 doses of the Moderna vaccines, procured through COVAX, were delivered in early 2022 and important investments were made to prepare Tajikistan for the broader vaccine rollout. The project also provided one-time emergency support to fill a budget gap for procuring vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) for children. The project continues to provide critical support to strengthen national capacity on COVID-19 communication and public outreach, with 50 journalists and over 490 community volunteers trained so far.
Currently, the World Bank is financing 25 projects in Tajikistan totaling at $1.39 billion. Since 1996, the World Bank has provided over $2.44 billion in IDA grants, highly concessional credits, and trust funds for Tajikistan. The World Bank is committed to continuing its support as the country strives to improve the lives and meet the aspirations of its young and growing population.
World Bank Group Response to COVID-19
The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response, increase disease surveillance, improve public health interventions, and help the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank Group has committed over $157 billion to fight the impacts of the pandemic, the fastest and largest crisis response in its history. The financing is helping more than 100 countries strengthen pandemic preparedness, protect the poor and jobs, and jump start a climate-friendly recovery.
PRESS RELEASE NO: 2022/ECA/68
From Wednesday, kids in the 12-14 age bracket will be able to get their Covid-19 vaccines as the Centre decided to expand its inoculation drive. We take a look at who are eligible for these shots and what vaccines will be used to inoculate the kids.
Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis
Who are eligible and when will they get their shots?
The Health Ministry announced that those born in 2008, 2009, and 2010, i.e, those who are above the age of 12, will be eligible for their Covid-19 vaccines from March 16.
Currently, the population above 14 years of age are being administered Covid-19 vaccines under the ongoing inoculation programme.
Which vaccines will be used for this age group?
According to the Health Ministry, Corbevax, that is manufactured by the Hyderabad-based Biological-E, will be used to inoculate kids in this age group. Corbevax is Indias first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine. On February 21, Indias drug approval agency granted emergency use authorization to Corbevax for the 12-18 years age group.
What is the technology that Corbevax has been built on?
Corbevax, a protein sub-unit Covid-19 vaccine, is one that is built on the traditional sub-unit vaccine platform. Instead of the whole virus, the platform triggers an immune response by using fragments of it, like the spike protein. The sub-unit vaccine contains the harmless S-protein, and once the human immune system recognises it, it produces antibodies, such as white blood cells, that fight the infection.
Corbevax includes antigenic parts of the virus to trigger a protective immune response. The antigen has been developed by the Texas Childrens Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development and in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicines integrated commercialization team.
Newsletter | Click to get the days best explainers in your inbox
On March 1, 2022, the EEOC updated its guidance on religious accommodations to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. While the guidance states that job applicants and employees have a right to request a religious accommodation from an employers COVID-19 vaccination requirement under Title VII, the new guidance answers many questions specific to COVID-19 vaccination requirements and specifically addresses how employers should evaluate an employees religious objection to the vaccine.
The full updated guidance is available here.
How do employees request a religious accommodation?
Employees must inform their employer of their request to be exempt from the employers COVID-19 vaccination requirement on the basis of their religious observance. When making the request, employees do not need to use any magic words, such as religious accommodation or Title VII. The employee only needs to explain their religious objection to the vaccination requirement.
The guidance states that as a best practice, an employer should provide employees and applicants with information about whom to contact and the proper procedures for requesting a religious accommodation. The EEOC included a link to its own internal workplace form, which its employees can use to request a religious accommodation.
How should an employer evaluate an employees request for a religious exemption to the employers COVID-19 vaccination requirement?
The guidance states that an employer may make a limited factual inquiry and seek additional supporting information from the employee regarding the employees request for a religious accommodation if the employer has an objective basis for questioning the religious nature of the request or the sincerity of the employees asserted religious belief. If an employee does not comply with an employers reasonable requests for verification of the sincerity or religious nature of the request of a professed belief, practice or observance the employee risks losing any subsequent claim that his or her request for a religious accommodation was improperly denied.
Similarly, the employer may ask the employee to explain the religious nature of their belief. This is especially helpful in situations where the employees asserted religious belief is nontraditional or unfamiliar to the employer. However, the employer should not automatically deny a request or assume that it is invalid simply because the employees asserted religion is nontraditional or unfamiliar to the employer.
The guidance further states that Title VII does not protect social, political, or economic views, or personal preferences. Accordingly, an employee who makes a request purely based on a social, political or economic view or based on a personal preference would not be entitled to a religious accommodation. The guidance states that other nonreligious concerns are not protected such as a concern about the possible effects of the vaccine. Employers should be cautious with this approach and should note that there could be overlap between a religious belief and a nonreligious view and that such a belief may still be protected under Title VII.
May employers evaluate whether the asserted religious belief is sincerely held?
Yes. While the guidance states that the employees sincerity in holding a religious belief is typically not in dispute, there are certain factors that may indicate that the belief is not sincerely held. These factors include:
No one factor is determinative and requests should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
When would a requested accommodation constitute an undue hardship?
Under Title VII, an employer may deny a request for an accommodation when the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer. Accordingly, before denying a request for a religious accommodation, the employer should assess whether the employer can reasonably grant an accommodation such as remote work or reassignment. The guidance includes a list of possible accommodations that an employer may want to consider for employees requesting a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
However, an accommodation that would require an employer to bear more than a minimal cost is an undue hardship. The guidance expressly states with regards to employees who are unvaccinated against COVID-19, that a cost to consider would include the risk of the spread of COVID-19 to other employees or to the public. Other cost factors include:
The guidance further states certain considerations that are relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic when an employee is requesting a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement. These include:
The guidance clearly states that the employer does not have to grant all requests for a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement merely because it grants one request. Whether the religious belief is sincerely held and whether the accommodation would pose an undue hardship should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. The guidance also states that an employer who grants a request for an accommodation may later re-evaluate the request based on a change in circumstances.
[View source.]
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of March 14, 2022, there are currently 1,244 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been 10 deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 6,559* deaths attributed to COVID-19.
*A previously reported death during December 2020 of a 47-year old female from Kanawha County was determined to not be a COVID-19 associated death. Removing this death reduces the cumulative death count by one.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 58-year old female from Cabell County, an 81-year old female from Monongalia County, a 61-year old male from Preston County, an 89-year old male from Lewis County, a 60-year old male from Cabell County, a 78-year old male from Cabell County, an 82-year old female from Lewis County, an 87-year old female from Lewis County, a 79-year old male from Taylor County, and a 90-year old male from Monongalia County.
With a heavy heart, we share this solemn news of more lives lost to this pandemic, and extend our sympathies to the families affected, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Please schedule your COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot today to prevent further loss of life.
CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (9), Berkeley (49), Boone (8), Braxton (16), Brooke (15), Cabell (45), Calhoun (12), Clay (4), Doddridge (1), Fayette (46), Gilmer (5), Grant (6), Greenbrier (32), Hampshire (8), Hancock (8), Hardy (4), Harrison (47), Jackson (10), Jefferson (20), Kanawha (65), Lewis (2), Lincoln (11), Logan (13), Marion (66), Marshall (44), Mason (25), McDowell (35), Mercer (60), Mineral (7), Mingo (21), Monongalia (63), Monroe (8), Morgan (2), Nicholas (22), Ohio (10), Pendleton (2), Pleasants (3), Pocahontas (4), Preston (28), Putnam (34), Raleigh (156), Randolph (9), Ritchie (10), Roane (7), Summers (13), Taylor (13), Tucker (5), Tyler (5), Upshur (26), Wayne (9), Webster (25), Wetzel (20), Wirt (0), Wood (48), Wyoming (28). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
West Virginians ages 5 years and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Booster shots are also available for those 12 and older. To learn more about the vaccine, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.
Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Mason, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tyler/Wetzel, Upshur, Wayne, and Wood counties.
Barbour County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Community Market, 107 South Main Street (across the street from Walgreens), Philippi, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVBBC)
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Berkeley County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Airborne Church, 172 Creative Place, Martinsburg, WV
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM, Shenandoah Community Health, 99 Tavern Road, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Boone County
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Boone County Health Department, 213 Kenmore Drive, Danville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Braxton County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Braxton County Memorial Hospital (parking lot), 100 Hoylman Drive, Gassaway, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=Braxton)
Cabell County
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Marshall University Campus (parking lot), 1801 6th Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Cabell-Huntington Health Department (parking lot), 703 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Clay County
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Clay County Health Department (parking lot), 452 Main Street, Clay, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVClayCounty)
Fayette County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Fayette County Health Department, 5495 Maple Lane, Fayetteville, WV
Gilmer County
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Minnie Hamilton Health System (parking lot), 921 Mineral Road, Glenville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMHCT11)
Greenbrier County
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM, State Fair of WV, 891 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVGBC)
Hampshire County
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hampshire Memorial Hospital, 363 Sunrise Boulevard, Romney, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Hancock County
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM, Hancock County Health Department, 100 North Court Street, New Cumberland, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Jefferson County
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Lewis County
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, City Parking Lot, 95 West Second Street, Weston, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavLewis1)
Lincoln County
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Lincoln County Health Department, 8008 Court Avenue, Hamlin, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Logan County
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Old 84 Lumber Building, 100 Recovery Road, Peach Creek, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Tracy Vickers Community Center, 68 Boise Street, Chapmanville, WV
Marion County
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Dunbar School Foundation, 101 High Street, Fairmont, WV
Mason County
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Krodel Park, 1186 Charleston Road, Point Pleasant, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavCOUNTY12)
Mineral County
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Potomac State College, Church McKee Art Center, 101 Fort Avenue, Keyser, WV
Mingo County
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Matewan Volunteer Fire Department, 306 McCoy Street, Matewan, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMGC)
Monongalia County
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM, WVU Recreation Center (lower level), 2001 Rec Center Drive, Morgantown, WV
Monroe County
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Appalachian Christian Center, 2812 Seneca Trail South, Peterstown, WV
Morgan County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, The Blue (of First United Methodist Church), 440 Fearnow Road, Berkeley Springs, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavMorgan1)
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, War Memorial Hospital, 1 Health Way, Berkeley Springs, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Ohio County
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Ohio Valley Medical Center (back parking lot at the top of 22nd Street), 2000 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Putnam County
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Putnam County Health Department (behind Liberty Square), 316 Putnam Village Drive, Hurricane, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Raleigh County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department, 1602 Harper Road, Beckley, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavBeckleyRaleigh)
Randolph County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Randolph-Elkins Health Department (parking lot), 32 Randolph Avenue, Elkins, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVRDC)
Ritchie County
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Ritchie Regional, 135 South Penn Avenue, Harrisville, WV
Taylor County
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Grafton-Taylor Health Department, 718 West Main Street (parking lot at Operations Trailer), Grafton, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Tyler/Wetzel Counties
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wetzel-Tyler Health Department, 425 South Fourth Avenue, Paden City, WV
Upshur County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Buckhannon Fire Department (parking lot), 22 South Florida Street, Buckhannon, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVUSC)
Wayne County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Wayne County Health Department, 217 Kenova Avenue, Wayne, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Wood County
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Vienna Baptist Church, 3401 Grand Central Avenue, Vienna, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavWood1)
Please check with the testing site, DHHRs social media pages and the COVID-19 website https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx for any last minute cancellations, and to find other free testing opportunities across West Virginia.
CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohios COVID vaccination campaign like much of the United States has dramatically slowed in recent months. However, the state hit a milestone this past week. About 70% of Ohioans older than 12 years old have at least one vaccine shot.
That figure stood at 70.1%, as of Saturday. When factoring in Ohioans ages 5-11, the figure is 66%, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That is a 0.3% and 0.2% increase week-over-week, respectively.
The vaccination news is just one more bright spot in Ohio, as its other relevant COVID-19 numbers like cases and hospitalizations keep dropping.
The number of reported coronavirus cases in Ohio in the last seven days continues to shrink, down more than 2,000 week-over-week. As of Saturday, that number is 4,380, compared to 6,504 on March 5. Put another way, the figure is a decrease of 32.7% from last weeks total. The seven-day average of cases has subsequently dropped, from 929 to 626. That average hasnt been that low since late July 2021.
The nine consecutive weeks of falling case numbers mean the 21-day average also keeps falling, down to 933 from 1,347 on March 5. The last time the 21-day average of cases was lower than 1,000 was early August 2021.
Additionally, daily COVID hospitalizations in the state keep sliding. Week-over-week, the count was lower on Saturday (631) than it was on March 5 (843); thats a decrease of 212 patients.
The daily patient count for those being treated for COVID-19 in the ICU also steadily dropped over the past week. It was lower Saturday (120) than it was on the prior Saturday (172). Thats a difference of 52.
According to the Ohio Hospital Association, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is down 22% over the past seven days; down 60% in the last 21 days and down 90% in the past 60 days. As for COVID-19 ICU admissions, the figure is down 21% over the last seven days; down 64% in the past 21 days and down 90% in the last 60 days.
As of Saturday, 1-in-29 patients hospitalized in Ohio is COVID-positive, the Ohio Hospital Associations data shows, and 1-in-25 ICU patients is COVID-positive.
The weekly reported COVID death count has not consistently fallen, like case and hospitalization figures have. However, in the past four weeks, only one week has seen a report of higher than 1,000.
This week, 392 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Ohio. In the prior four weeks, the count was 438, 1,087, 488 and 788, respectively.
Its worth noting that the death figures often lag for weeks or even months. Ohio reports COVID-19 deaths twice per week, on Tuesday and Fridays.
Starting Monday, the Ohio Department of Health will stop updating its COVID-19 dashboard daily and instead post weekly updates each Thursday. The head of the health department, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said last week that officials will continue to monitor the numbers, as well as coronavirus in sewage which can indicate if a spike is coming and could increase reporting if cases or hospitalizations increase.
Read more on cleveland.com:
Most of Ohio goes green on new CDC COVID-19 map; meaning no mask recommendations
Northeast Ohio enjoys second mild flu season in row; COVID-19 measures also slow spread of flu
Gratitude is a daily ritual: Greater Clevelanders reflect on COVID pandemics silver linings after 2 years
