Dear Carolina Community,
As the fall semester comes to an end, the Carolina Together Testing Program Team would like to share how grateful we are for the efforts of this community to keep our campus safe and engaged during this challenging time. Your consistency has paid off, and our positivity rate continues to hold steady and low. Last weeks positivity rate was 0.25% and 0.21% the previous week. Most of the positive cases have shown mild, flu-like symptoms, and we have had no reported student hospitalizations for COVID-19 this semester.
The Carolina Together Testing Program Asymptomatic and unvaccinated faculty, staff and students are required to test once a week. We continue to recommend that asymptomatic vaccinated students and employees test no more than once a week. The testing center hours will be modified during finals and winter break as follows:
COVID-19 Vaccine Employee Requirement
In accordance with President Bidens Executive Order 14042 and guidance from the Safer Workforce Task Force, the deadline for employees of federal contractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is Jan. 18, 2022. Learn more on the COVID-19 Vaccination page.
COVID-19 Booster Shot
The CDC announced this week that they recommend all adults 18 and over get a booster vaccine to increase their protection against COVID-19. We strongly encourage everyone eligible to receive a booster and to get it as soon as possible. Learn more in this email from Environment, Health and Safety, and Campus Health.
Flu Vaccine
Flu cases are on the rise across the country, and there have been multiple cases on college campuses, including ours. Learn more about the importance of receiving your flu shot and where you can get it.
Our team wishes you a successful finals week. You have worked diligently in your studies and in your efforts to adhere to the COVID-19 Community Standards. It wont be long before you can celebrate your successes and enjoy the winter break.
Sincerely,
The Carolina Together Testing Team
After an opinion column was published by Forbes, glee emanated from people who believed it to prove an often-disproven claim: that COVID-19 vaccines are actually gene therapy.
"Pretty sure I got fact-checked for saying this months ago. Its fine, its just a little gene therapy," tweeted New Jersey gym owner Ian Smith on Dec. 1, sharing a screengrab of the headline of the Forbes piece that read "Yes, The Vaccine Changes Your DNA. A Tiny Bit. Thats A Good Thing."
Smith soon added a "fact-check" to his post that debunked the claim that the vaccine is gene therapy. But not before a screenshot of Smiths tweet and other screenshots of the Forbes headline took off on social media, with posters claiming the Forbes headline provided proof that the COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy and/or alter your DNA.
"WE TOLD YA!" read one published Dec. 2.
The posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
We have repeatedly debunked claims that the vaccines are gene therapy.
In this instance, the article cited was a Nov. 29 opinion piece written by a genome expert, Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering professor Steven Salzberg. And shortly after it was published, numerous scientists weighed in, highly critical of the headline choice and article.
Salzberg, who says he is "fighting the anti-vax movement through my columns," soon changed the headline to read, "Covid Vaccines Dont Alter Your DNA They Help Choose Cells To Strengthen Your Immune Response."
Whats more, a full reading of the article would have made it clear that Salzberg was not suggesting anti-vaccine activists were accurate in their claims that the vaccine alters your DNA or that its gene therapy. Rather, he stated they were wrong and argued in part that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oversimplified its explanation of what the vaccines do.
"Totally different from gene therapy," Salzberg said about the COVID-19 vaccines in a phone interview with PolitiFact. "Apples and oranges. Completely unrelated. The vaccine is not going in and making a change to your DNA."
Salzberg told PolitiFact the original headline was misinterpreted and he changed it within a couple of hours. "I was trying to draw people in with this headline," so that people understand that changes that occur as a result of the vaccines are good for their health, "but the message was lost on some people."
"Its kind of a technical point and I was being perhaps a little too cute," he said.
Vaccines dont directly change DNA
Salzberg told PolitiFact that the point he was trying to make was that in tiny quantities, the mixture of DNA in the body is different after vaccination just as it is different after a viral infection, but the vaccine is not mutating DNA. "But that's kind of a subtle point," he said. "Im just trying to educate people on what immunity is. There is something that had to change. If nothing changed, you wouldnt have immunity."
The article itself makes the case that the vaccines do not alter DNA.
Heres how it begins:
"One of the common tropes among anti-vaxxers lately is that the Covid-19 vaccine changes your DNA. Oh, the horrors!
"Do they even know what they mean by that? Almost certainly not. Anti-vaxxers generally have no idea how biology works; often they are so confused that Im tempted to say they are not even wrong. Even when they are right about something, its for the wrong reasons."
Later, the article makes a distinction:
"Its true that COVID-19 vaccines dont directly alter your DNA, and its true that they dont invade the cell nucleus, where your DNA resides. But thats not the full story.
"Remember that the whole point of a vaccine is to prevent future infections. That means that something in your body has to change, right?...
"So back to our original question: does the Covid-19 vaccine change your DNA? Not directly, no. But yes, thanks to your own immune system, the overall mixture of DNA in your body is a tiny bit altered after you get any vaccine. Your DNA is also changed every time you recover from an infection, including the common cold. But the only change is in the DNA of a tiny number of immune cells, which hang around as guardians against future infections. And thats a good thing."
COVID-19 vaccines not gene therapy
As weve reported, the mRNA technology used by the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines does not amount to gene therapy.
Gene therapy involves modifying a persons genes to cure or treat a disease. The COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA.
"It's absolutely incorrect to say that vaccines are really gene therapy," Cindy Prins, clinical associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida, has told PolitiFact. "Vaccines don't make any changes to your own DNA, so they don't edit your own DNA like gene therapy does. They also don't replace any mutated genes in your body."
Our ruling
Social media posts claimed that COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy and a recent Forbes article proves that.
The vaccines do not amount to gene therapy. Gene therapy involves modifying a persons genes to cure or treat a disease. The COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA.
The original headline on the Forbes article said "the vaccine changes your DNA a tiny bit," but was quickly changed by the author, a Johns Hopkins University gene expert, who said it was misinterpreted. He said in the article that the vaccines do not alter DNA and told PolitiFact they are not gene therapy.
We rate the post False.
Relentless pressure to raise vaccination rates in Europe is beginning to bear fruit as governments make delivering more Covid-19 shots the core of their strategies to slow rising infections, but pockets of resistance to the shots mean some countries are leaning toward general vaccine mandates.
So far, Europes vaccine campaign is mainly stick and no carrot. For the past few weeks, authorities have introduced new restrictions, barring the unvaccinated from most nonessential aspects of public life and forcing them to take frequent, sometimes expensive, Covid-19 tests to carry out more activities, including going to work.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) As has been true throughout Americas COVID-19 history, every stateand every county thereinhas its own COVID-19 story, driven by local policies and behaviors.
The United States as of Nov. 26 had reached 776,349 COVID-19-related deaths and 48.2 million COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
As of Feb. 2, more Americans had been vaccinated for COVID-19 than had been infected, and though breakthrough infections are continuing to be studied by the CDC and other health organizations, vaccines have reduced the number of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties with highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Virginia using data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Counties are ranked by the highest vaccination rate as of Nov. 24, 2021.
Keep reading to see if your county ranks among the highest in COVID-19 vaccination rates in Virginia.
41 / 50Mark Lagola and Ben Lunsford // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 60.1% (65,713 fully vaccinated) 7.0% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 79.4% (16,798 fully vaccinated) 10.7% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 101 (110 total deaths) 40.9% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 7,691 (8,409 total cases) 31.7% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
42 / 50Jscott // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 62.3% (14,790 fully vaccinated) 3.6% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 85.0% (4,619 fully vaccinated) 4.4% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 131 (31 total deaths) 23.4% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 8,934 (2,122 total cases) 20.6% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
43 / 50Aplomado~commonswiki // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 63.2% (10,587 fully vaccinated) 2.2% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 99.9% (3,831 fully vaccinated) 12.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 292 (49 total deaths) 70.8% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 14,103 (2,364 total cases) 25.3% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia
44 / 50Nicole Glass Photography // Shutterstock
Population that is fully vaccinated: 64.6% (267,173 fully vaccinated) 0.0% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 86.4% (34,705 fully vaccinated) 2.8% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 73 (303 total deaths) 57.3% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 8,588 (35,514 total cases) 23.7% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
45 / 50Idawriter // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 64.9% (305,374 fully vaccinated) 0.5% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 87.1% (42,254 fully vaccinated) 2.0% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 123 (579 total deaths) 28.1% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 12,059 (56,716 total cases) 7.1% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia
46 / 50Acroterion // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 66.1% (21,358 fully vaccinated) 2.3% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 91.5% (7,256 fully vaccinated) 2.9% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 248 (80 total deaths) 45.0% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 12,975 (4,193 total cases) 15.3% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia
47 / 50Alexiskferia // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 66.2% (7,747 fully vaccinated) 2.5% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 90.0% (2,849 fully vaccinated) 1.2% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 393 (46 total deaths) 129.8% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 10,034 (1,175 total cases) 10.8% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
48 / 50Pics2018 // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 69.2% (163,858 fully vaccinated) 7.1% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 77.2% (20,287 fully vaccinated) 13.2% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 116 (275 total deaths) 32.2% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 8,159 (19,324 total cases) 27.5% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
49 / 50Munich // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 70.5% (809,070 fully vaccinated) 9.1% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 84.2% (135,052 fully vaccinated) 5.3% lower vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 102 (1,176 total deaths) 40.4% less deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 8,202 (94,121 total cases) 27.1% less cases per 100k residents than Virginia
50 / 50U.S. Navy photo // Wikimedia Commons
Population that is fully vaccinated: 85.2% (80,433 fully vaccinated) 31.9% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Population over 65 that is fully vaccinated: 99.9% (15,058 fully vaccinated) 12.4% higher vaccination rate than Virginia Cumulative deaths per 100k: 263 (248 total deaths) 53.8% more deaths per 100k residents than Virginia Cumulative cases per 100k: 13,706 (12,938 total cases) 21.8% more cases per 100k residents than Virginia
The Saturday vaccination event will target Doraville's multicultural community, organizers said.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. People who get vaccinated against COVID-19 on Saturday at DeKalb County's pop-up clinic will be given a $100 pre-paid debit card, organizers said. The incentive is also for booster shots.
People can roll up their sleeves at the old K-Mart at 5597 Buford Highway NE in Doraville. Public health officials and fire rescue personnel will administer the shots starting at 8 a.m.
Anyone 12 years old or older can roll up their sleeve, according to county health leaders.
The drive-through event will offer coronavirus vaccines from Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. Federal health leaders recommend booster shots for anyone age 18 and older. Anyone who has previously been vaccinated is encouraged to bring their vaccination card.
The event is meant to target the multicultural community that lives along the Buford Highway corridor, a news release read. Leaders added that pop-up clinics are being strategically planned to improve access to the vaccine.
We have made progress in addressing COVID-19 vaccination equity in DeKalb County; however, we have more work to do, DeKalb County District Health Director Dr. Sandra J. Valenciano said in a news release. The emergence of the Omicron variant is a call to action to our community to not wait and vaccinate.
The omicron variant has beendetected in Colorado, Minnesota and Colorado, according to health officials.
People wait after receiving a shot of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a mass vaccination center located inside a gym in Prague, Czech Republic, March 18, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny
Register
PRAGUE, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Czech Health Ministry is preparing a decree making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for people over 60, as well as workers in critical sectors such as medical staff, police, soldiersand firefighters, news website www.idnes.cz reported on Friday.
The government has been considering compulsory vaccinations due to lagging inoculation numbers compared with west European nations. The country of 10.7 million has been one of the world's worst-hit in recent weeks by a surge in infections.
Some other European countries have begun moving towards compulsory vaccinations, including the Czech Republic's neighbour Austria, which has mandated shots for all citizens.
Register
"It is clear that Europe is turning toward compulsory vaccination against COVID-19. Czechia should take the same path," the website quoted Vojtech as saying.
It said the decree should be published next week, with the vaccine mandate effective from March.
But whether it remains in place long enough to take effect could be in doubt, as the government is due to be replaced by a centre-right coalition later this month following an election in October. The new coalition has been against compulsory vaccination for age groups, and lukewarm on mandatory vaccination for professions.
Just 59.6% of Czechs are vaccinated, compared to an EU average of 66.3%, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Inoculation numbers rose in the past weeks as the government banned access for those not vaccinated to restaurants and other services from November. There have however been public protests against vaccination and epidemiological measures.
An opinion poll by the STEM agency released on Friday showed 19% of the population remained opposed to getting the shots.
It said the public was split 43% to 43% on supporting or rejecting compulsory vaccination.
The Czech Republic has reported 33,450 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, one of the worst rates per capita globally.
Register
Reporting by Jan LopatkaEditing by Alison Williams and Peter Graff
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, Dec. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mongolia is preparing to build on the success of its COVID-19 management policies with an ambitious new budget and progressive initiatives as part of its Vision 2050 reform agenda.
Mongolia's vaccination and booster programme has so far resulted in 66% of the total population, including 91% of adults, being doubled-vaccinated and 21% of the total population, including 35% of adults, receiving their booster. Supported by responsible public health policies, the country is seeing a steady decline in infections. Daily cases in November were down 70% from September and October, falling below 150 per day at the end of the month, with an overall case fatality rate of only 0.3%.
According to the Worldometer reference website, Mongolia ranked 39th out of 224 nations for total cases per million people as of 1 December. Furthermore, the government's decision in June to increase the number of hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients to 23,000 enabled it to hospitalise 27% of its cases, including those at risk of developing severe symptoms, helping reduce the number of fatalities.
These and other steps against COVID-19, which also include a wide ranging MNT 10 trillion (US$3.5 billion) stimulus package credited with saving over 280,000 jobs, have left Mongolia well placed to move past the challenges of the pandemic. The country now looks set to begin realising its Vision 2050 agenda, the long-term development plan introduced by new Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai. As Mongolia marks 100 years of political independence, following the 1921 Mongolian Revolution, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene has positioned Vision 2050 as a chance for Mongolia to achieve economic independence with a diversified economy, improved governance, green development, and improved quality of life among other goals.
Implementing Vision 2050's wide-ranging policies for Mongolia's economic and social development also received a boost in November with the ratification of Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene's 2022 budget, which shows a spending increase of 4 trillion MNT ($US1.4 billion) over 2021.
SOURCE Government of Mongolia
Vials labelled "Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine" are seen in this illustration picture taken May 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
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Dec 2 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has sparked fears that existing COVID-19 vaccines and treatment could be less effective against it.
South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases said early epidemiological data suggested Omicron was able to evade some immunity, but existing vaccines should still protect against severe disease and death.
Here's what companies that make COVID-19 vaccines and drugs have said:
Register
MODERNA (MRNA.O)
CEO Stphane Bancel has warned that COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant. read more
The company has said a new vaccine tailored for Omicron should be available as soon as March. read more
PFIZER-BIONTECH (PFE.N)
"We think it's likely that people will have substantial protection against severe disease caused by Omicron," said BioNTech CEO and co-founder Ugur Sahin.
Lab tests are underway to analyze if antibodies found in the blood of people inoculated with Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine work against Omicron. read more
JOHNSON & JOHNSON (JNJ.N)
J&J said it was testing blood serum from participants in various trials to look for neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant. It was also pursuing an Omicron-specific vaccine and would progress it as needed. read more
The company, however, remains confident in the immune responses generated by its shot against other variants to date in clinical studies, said Mathai Mammen, global head of J&J arm Janssen Research & Development.
ASTRAZENECA PLC-UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (AZN.L)
AstraZeneca said it was examining the impact of Omicron on its vaccine, which is developed with Oxford University, and its antibody cocktail, adding it was hopeful its combination drug would retain efficacy. read more
REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS INC (REGN.O)
Its COVID-19 antibody drug could be less effective against Omicron, Regeneron said.
Based on its study of Omicron's individual mutations, "there may be reduced neutralization activity of both vaccine-induced and monoclonal antibody conveyed immunity", Regeneron said, adding that the analysis included its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, REGEN-COV. read more
ELI LILLY AND CO (LLY.N)
The company, which also makes monoclonal antibody treatment, is working to understand the neutralization activity of its therapies on Omicron, the company told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.
MERCK & Co Inc (MRK.N)
Merck's experimental COVID-19 drug, molnupiravir, which it is co-developing with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, should have similar activity against any new coronavirus variant, a company executive said. read more
NOVAVAX INC (NVAX.O)
May begin commercial manufacturing of a COVID-19 vaccine tailored for the Omicron coronavirus variant in January next year, while it tests whether or not its current vaccine works against the variant. read more
GILEAD SCIENCES INC (GILD.O)
Gilead has said it believes its drug - Veklury or remdesivir - will continue to be active against the Omicron variant. It plans to conduct laboratory tests to confirm its analysis.
GSK-VIR BIOTECH (GSK.L), (VIR.O)
Laboratory analysis of the COVID-19 antibody therapy GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is developing with U.S. partner Vir Biotechnology (VIR.O) has indicated the drug is effective against the new Omicron variant, the British drugmaker said. read more
Register
Compilation by Manas Mishra, Oishee Majumdar and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Could this be the last weekend with a closed Queensland border?
If current daily vaccination rates are a guide, Queensland is about six days away from hitting the Premier's border-opening target of 80 per cent of people aged 16 and overbeing fully vaccinated.
The take-out: This could be the last weekend with the COVID curtain at Coolangatta.
Nothing seems to be diverting Annastacia Palaszczuk from lifting the border gates when the statewide mark is hit in time for the school holidays,even though at 80 per cent there are many who will be unprotected when COVID-19 arrives.
By Friday77.7 per cent of the Queensland population aged 16 and over were double-vaccinated 3,195,634 people out of a cohort of 4,112,707. It means almost a million people are not fully protected against COVID-19.
And that's just in the 16+ group. Just half of 12 to 15-year-olds have been fully vaccinated and children aged 11 and under are not yet part of the rollout.
There is also still a serious discrepancy in vaccination rates across the state. While the Brisbane City Council area is already above 80 per cent double dose for16+, Isaac Regional Council area hasn't hit 50 per cent.
Health MinisterYvette D'ath is particularly worried about the fate of First Nations Queenslanders, revealing just 33 per cent have had their first dose.
When the hard border comes down, authorities are convinced COVID-19 will come across, and quickly. Both the Acting Chief Health Officer and the Health Minister said as much yesterday.
South Australia is the perfect test case for Queensland. Like the Sunshine State, it had enjoyed long periods without a case of community transmission. Then,on November 23, just shy of 80 per cent double-dose, it opened its borders to New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.
There were jubilant scenes at Adelaide Airport as families and friends reunited and travellers streamed over the border by road. The first case of COVID arrived 24 hours later.
A week later, South Australia was dealing with its first cluster, sparked by a school reunion where former premier Jay Weatherill became infected.
MsD'ath also points to Victoria, where thousands of people have been infected in the latest outbreak, and more importantly, 538 have died.
The pace of vaccination has slowed in Queensland through the month of November, even with the enticement of an open border within close reach, but it doesn't appear to be driven by vaccine hesitancy.
The Melbourne Institute surveys the Australian population every two weeks to gauge vaccine hesitancy and in their latest results only 6.1 per cent of Queenslanders declared they were "not willing to be vaccinated". Five per cent said "don't know", for a combined 11.1 per cent hesitancy.
It is the highest result in the nation, but it has fallen dramatically and steadily from a high in May of 43.3 per cent(25 per centnot willing; 18.3 per centdon't know).
Oddly, while hesitancy is falling, and vaccination rates rise, the number of protesters turning up to so-called freedom rallies has increased.
You might remember the images of a man riding a horse through a protest on the NSW-Queensland border at Tweed Heads in August. The crowd that day was estimated at about 1,000. Last weekend, a rally at Kurrawa Beach drew 2,500 protesters.
Perhaps the impending deadline for vaccine mandates is galvanising opposition, or maybe protest groups are becoming more organised.
The events seem to be unifying disparate groups;anti-vaxxers, anti-lockdowners, COVID sceptics, sovereign citizens, libertariansand others.
Whenever you get large, organised groups of people you attract politicians courting their vote, especially with a federal election in sight.
One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts physically attended the Kurrawa rally, Liberal Democrats Senate hopeful Campbell Newman was at a rally against mandatory vaccines on the Sunshine Coast the next day, and United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer has been using his considerable advertising spend to cheer from the sidelines.
By the time Scott Morrison pulls the trigger on a full federal election which must be held before the end of May COVID-19 will have arrived in Queensland, barring some sort of miracle.
Modelling commissioned by the state government predicts the peak of infections will happen around August, but by the time the polls close we will have an insight into two things: how big an impact COVID-19 is likely to have on Queensland and how politically influential the anti-vaccine/freedom rally movement has become.
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Scientists at Pfizer's research and development laboratories in Groton, Conn., worked on the COVID-19 pill called Paxlovid. Stew Milne/AP hide caption
Scientists at Pfizer's research and development laboratories in Groton, Conn., worked on the COVID-19 pill called Paxlovid.
Two new drugs are awaiting authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for treating patients with COVID-19, and both may be effective against the omicron variant.
One is made by Merck, the other by Pfizer.
The Merck drug has been in development for years. When the pandemic began, Pfizer's drug didn't exist. The story of its development is another example of how COVID-19 has sped up the drug and vaccine development process.
Pfizer wasn't starting exactly from zero. Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief scientific officer, says that during the SARS outbreak in 2003, company scientists had begun to search for ways to combat that coronavirus.
In particular, they looked for proteins crucial for the virus to replicate once it infected someone.
One viral protein they focused on is called a protease. "We have learned that protease is a key regulator for the virus to unleash its machinery and hijack the human cells," Dolsten says.
Pfizer scientists thought if they could find a compound that would disrupt the protease, it would essentially stop the virus dead in its tracks.
That search petered out when the 2003 SARS outbreak passed. No disease, no market for a drug.
But Dolsten says the knowledge that was gained convinced them that a protease inhibitor would work to corral the coronavirus causing COVID-19.
They made computer models of the viral protease protein and assembled drug candidates that might block it.
"We actually had to design and synthesize some 600 unique chemical compounds," he says.
That was just the start. They had to test each compound to see how well it prevented the virus from infecting cells in the lab. Then they had to determine whether it would do the same thing in animals infected with the coronavirus. They also needed to find a candidate that would remain in someone's body long enough to have the desired antiviral effect. And they wanted to do all this fast.
"We put in place some very aggressive timelines where we made all of this happen over four months to come down to the optimal medicine," Dolsten says.
In the end, the drug developers had a candidate they thought would work. They mixed it in a pill with an old drug called ritonavir that extended the action of the protease inhibitor.
This past July, Pfizer began a study of people infected with the coronavirus who were at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. Half got the drug, called Paxlovid, within three to five days of the onset of symptoms, half a placebo.
Dolsten says the study was halted early because the drug appeared to be working. He says there was nearly a 90% reduction in hospitalization among people taking the new drug, "And 100% protection against death."
A similar analysis for the Merck drug found it lowered the risk of hospitalization or death by 50%. In a subsequent analysis presented to the FDA, the risk reduction fell to 30%, however.
One good thing about these drugs is that because they're pills, they can be taken at home, unlike some current therapies that require an infusion.
Because Pfizer's pill isn't affected by changes in the spike protein, Dolsten says he expects the new drug will work equally well against any variant of the coronavirus, including omicron.
Although Pfizer has not yet published details of its study, researchers seem impressed.
"I think this drug along with the drug from Merck are both very promising antivirals that, as we had predicted early in this pandemic, work when given early in the infectious course," says Stanley Perlman, a microbiologist at the University of Iowa, where he's been working on coronaviruses for decades.
Perlman adds that the key to preventing damage from a coronavirus infection is to stop it from replicating and spreading throughout someone's body.
Protease isn't the only viral protein that might lead to a viable treatment.
"I think there's several other targets in how the virus reproduces," Perlman says. "But the most important thing to think about for all of them is they almost all have to be given very early after infection to really have a role in helping prevent people from progressing to more severe disease."
And since it looks like we'll be living with COVID-19 for a while, drugmakers have an incentive to develop other kinds of drugs to treat the disease.
