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WASHINGTON The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic recently reviewed classified U.S. Department of State (State Department) documents that credibly suggest COVID-19 originated from a lab related accident in Wuhan, China. The documents also strongly convey that the Chinese Communist Party attempted to cover-up the lab leak and that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) maintains a relationship with the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) is requesting the State Department rapidly declassify this information and share the truth about the origins of COVID-19 with the American people.
These documents were previously released in an unclassified and highly redacted Freedom of Information Act production, first obtained and reported on by U.S. Right to Know a nonprofit working to expose government failures that threaten public health. The redacted documents showed numerous, highly suggestive subject lines including:
As mounting evidence continues to point to a lab related accident in Wuhan, China as the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, safely removing these superfluous redactions is a step towards transparency and accountability.
We write to you today to request that you immediately take steps to declassify this information such that the American people have a more complete picture of the governments evidence regarding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote Chairman Wenstrup.
View the highly redacted State Department documents here and here.
Read Chairman Wenstrups letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken here.
###
2 new COVID variants called 'FLiRT'are spreading in the U.S. What are the symptoms?
2 new COVID variants called FLiRT are spreading in the U.S. What are the symptoms?
Respiratory virus season may be ending in the United States, but a new group of COVID-19 variants are circulating, sparking concerns about a potential summer wave.
The family of variants, nicknamed "FLiRT," after their mutations, include KP.2, which is now the dominant variant in the United States. In recent weeks, KP.2 quickly overtook JN.1, the omicron subvariant that drove a surge in COVID cases this past winter.
Currently, KP.2 accounts for one in four infections nationwide, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During a two-week period ending April 27, KP.2 made up nearly 25% of cases in the U.S., up from about 10% during the previous two-week period ending on April 13. After KP.2, the next most common variant is JN,1, which accounts for 22% of cases, followed by two JN.1 subvariants, JN.1.7 and JN.1.13.1.
Another FLiRT variant, called KP.1.1, is also circulating in the U.S., but is less widespread than KP.2. It currently accounts for about 7.5% of infections nationwide, per the CDC.
Although cases and hospitalizations are down and the country is in the middle of a COVID-19 lull, the new FLiRT variants are stoking concerns about another wave of infections this summer.
Will there be another COVID-19 surge? What are the symptoms of the FLiRT variants? Are vaccines still effective? We spoke to experts to learn more.
The FLiRT variants KP.2 and KP.1.1 are spinoffs of JN.1.11.1, a direct descendant of JN.1, and were initially detected in wastewater samples from across the country.
The new variants have two additional mutations that set them apart from JN.1 and appear to give them an advantage over previous variants, Dr. Albert Ko, infectious disease physician and professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com.
The nickname 'FLiRT" is based on the technical names for their mutations, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Just like other COVID-19 strains that have gained dominance in the U.S. over the last year JN.1, HV.1, EG.5 aka Eris, and XBB.1.16 or Arcturus the FLiRT variants part of the omicron family.
The emergence of KP.2 and other FLiRT variants is the "same old story," Andrew Pekosz, Ph.D., virologist at Johns Hopkins University, tells TODAY.com. The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates and gives rise to a new, highly contagious variant, which becomes the dominant strain. "The timeline that it happens in, three to six months, is much faster than we see with other viruses like influenza," says Pekosz.
Its still early days, but the initial impression is that this variant (KP.2) is rather transmissible, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells TODAY.com.
The proportion of cases caused by KP.2 is increasing while the proportion caused by other variants is decreasing, which suggests KP.2 has features that give it an advantage, the experts note.
KP.2 looks very similar to its parental strain JN.1, says Pekosz, which is highly contagious. "Except it has these two mutations. ... I think these two mutations together are making KP.2 a better virus in that it maintains its ability to transmit, but also now evades some of the pre-existing immunity in the population, says Pekosz.
Over 97% of people in the U.S. have natural or vaccine-induced antibodies against the the SARS-CoV-2 virus, per the CDC, but this immune protection fades over time.
Low vaccination rates and waning immunity create a vulnerable population, which may allow the FLiRT variants to take hold. Only time and more data will tell, the experts note.
Laboratory studies suggest that KP.2 is mutated enough such that current vaccines and immunity from prior infection will only provide partial protection, says Schaffner. "We'll have to see how true that is, but it appears, over time to be becoming a more prominent variant," he adds.
Its still really early in the emergence of KP.2, but I dont think we need to sound the alarm bells as of yet, says Ko.
It's too soon to tell whether the FLiRT variants will cause a summer wave or surge, the experts note. However, it is clear that COVID-19 is still circulating and won't be taking any time off.
"We're seeing these infections year-round, at modulating levels. ... Were probably not at the stage yet where well see COVID go away completely at any time of the year, says Pekosz.
Test positivity, which is an early indicator of case levels, is at 3% as of April 20, down 0.4% from the previous week and a sharp decline from around 12% in mid-January, per the CDC. (The CDC no longer tracks the total number of cases in the U.S.)
"We're not seeing a lot of hospitalizations, and we're certainly much lower than we were in the winter, so I'd say right now we're at a low point, which is reassuring," says Ko.
Wastewater data published by the CDC show that the viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently minimal it was considered high or very high for most of January and February.
"It seems like transmission is pretty low right now, and that makes sense because usually the big peaks are in the winter, when people are inside and in more contact," says Ko.
COVID-19 has caused summer waves in the past, the experts note, which are often smaller than the winter surges. I dont think that well see any kind of massive surge in cases, says Pekosz.
Speculating based on current COVID-19 trends, Ko says, KP.2 may cause a small wave, but not necessarily the large peaks that we saw in the winter again, it is too early to tell.
The seasonality of COVID-19 is something scientists are still trying to understand. But one thing is obvious: This virus is now integrating itself into our population and our way of life, says Schaffner.
There are several reassuring factors, says Ko. First, KP.2 is not a highly divergent variant in other words, it doesn't have a very large number of new mutations that differentiate it from other strains. Second, many people have immunity from recently being infected with the FLiRT variant predecessor JN.1. Last, during the summertime, people are spending less time indoors, which allows the virus fewer opportunities to spread.
Im not expecting a large surge in the summer, but again, we have to be cautious and we have to follow the data, says Ko. We always have to be humble because SARS-CoV-2 has taught us a lot of new things.
It is still too early to tell whether the symptoms of KP.2 and other FLiRT variants are different from previous strains.
The FLiRT variants are probably not going to create very distinctive symptoms. It looks at the moment to follow the other subvariants, says Schaffner.
The symptoms of the FLiRT variants are similar to those caused by JN.1, which include:
Similar to JN.1 and other omicron subvariants, the FLiRT variants seem to be causing milder infections, says Schaffer.
Theres no evidence now that makes us think KP.2 is more virulent or more able to cause severe disease than the prior variants, says Ko.
"Early laboratory studies indicate that the vaccines will continue to provide protection against KP.2 a little less protection, but not zero by any means," says Schaffner.
As the virus mutates, it is becoming progressively different from the omicron strain targeted in the latest updated booster released in the fall of 2023. "We would expect that to happen, and we anticipate the plan is to have an updated vaccine in the fall available to everyone," says Schaffner.
Even if vaccines do not prevent infection, they can still offer some protection by preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and COVID-19 complications, TODAY.com previously reported.
Its still clear that the more severe cases that come into the emergency room predominate in people who either are not up to date on their vaccines or havent gotten a vaccine in a really long period of time, says Pekosz.
Vaccination is especially important for the elderly, says Pekosz, which is why the CDC recently recommended adults ages 65 and older get an additional dose of the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccine.
Unfortunately, vaccination uptake is still poor, the experts note. "The vaccines are still showing signatures of effectiveness, but they're not being utilized anywhere close to the level that they should be," says Pekosz.
All current PCR and at-home tests are recognizing KP.2 and other FLiRT variants, the experts note. (Though if you have symptoms of COVID and test negative, it's a good idea to stay home to avoid potentially exposing other people, TODAY.com previously reported.
If you are using an at-home antigen test, always remember to check the expiration date and whether its been extended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Antivirals (such as Paxlovid) are also working well. ... Theres not any major signals of antiviral resistance in the population, which is a positive sign, says Pekosz.
While it's too early to tell how the FLiRT variants will pan out this summer, people can always take steps to protect themselves and others against COVID-19.
The CDC recommends the following prevention strategies:
Load more...
Scientists have developed a vaccine with a new approach called proactive vaccinology,' which has shown protection in mice against a broad range of coronaviruses with potential for future disease outbreaks, according to a new study published in the journal, Nature Nanotechnology on Monday.
Under the proactive vaccinology vaccine development process, scientists develop vaccines preemptively, often before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges.
The vaccine, 'Quartet Nanocage', developed by Oxford and Caltech, is expected to commence phase one clinical trials in early 2025. However, its intricate design poses manufacturing challenges that may constrain large-scale production.
The new vaccine functions by instructing the body's immune system to identify particular regions of eight distinct coronaviruses, encompassing SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and several strains presently prevalent in bats, which hold the potential to cross over to humans and trigger a pandemic.
The vaccine's efficacy relies on its ability to target specific virus regions shared among various coronaviruses. By training the immune system to combat these regions, it offers protection against other coronaviruses not directly included in the vaccine, including those yet to be discovered.
For instance, although the new vaccine excludes the SARS-CoV-1 coronavirus responsible for the 2003 SARS outbreak, it still triggers an immune response against it.
Rory Hills, the first author of the report, said, Our focus is to create a vaccine that will protect us against the next coronavirus pandemic and have it ready before the pandemic has even started."
Weve created a vaccine that provides protection against a broad range of different coronaviruses including ones we dont even know about yet," the graduate researcher in the University of Cambridges Department of Pharmacology said as quoted in the study.
Another senior author, Professor Mark Howarth, said scientists swiftly developed an exceptionally effective COVID vaccine during the last pandemic. However, the world still faced a monumental crisis, resulting in a significant number of deaths.
We dont have to wait for new coronaviruses to emerge. We know enough about coronaviruses, and different immune responses to them, that we can get going with building protective vaccines against unknown coronaviruses now," Howarth said.
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Ulrike Holzgrabe believes China wouldnt need an atomic bomb to deal a fatal blow to Europe. Just stopping its supplies of antibiotics would also do the trick, the professor for pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry at Wrzburg University in southern Germany told DW.
Europes huge shortage of medical masks during the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the continents vulnerability to ensuring a steady supply of basic medicinal products. In 2020, the European Parliament stated in a report that public health could be a geopolitical weapon that can bring down an entire continent.
The European Union has since attempted to identify the types of medicines it can only source from outside the bloc, notably from China. Holzgrabe said this effort needs to be intensified with a database on which company produces what and who provides the precursor chemicals for drug production.
Establishing a precise pharmaceutical database is where the problem already begins, says Jasmina Kirchhoff from the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne, Germany. Information on the manufacturers of chemicals and other downstream ingredients are well-kept trade secrets, the pharma business expert told DW.
Its critical for manufacturers to keep market advantages secret from competitors, especially in the generics sector. Generics are pharmaceutical drugs that contain the same chemical substance as a drug that was formerly protected by chemical patents.
The success of generic drugmakers depends on low prices, which means that supply chains are often very complex, and making it unclear how many companies in which countries are involved, Kirchhoff said.
Regarding antibiotics, the IW researcher noted that China recognized as early as the 1980s how important it is to have its own antibiotic production. There was massive investment in those factories that could produce at the lowest costs first for the domestic market, and then the surplus output was exported, Kirchhoff added.
In addition to China, which has also become the largest producer of chemical precursor products for the global pharmaceutical market, India has emerged as a major supplier of pharmaceutical products.
As part of efforts to boost the domestic pharmaceutical industry, the German government adopted a strategy paper in December 2023 identifying three key areas to be strengthened. The goals include, first of all, unbureaucratic approvals for clinical trials with medicinal products. Secondly, easier access to health data for research purposes. And finally, incentives for setting up more manufacturing sites in the country.
Germany is still a major player in the global pharma market and home to leading companies such as Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck Group. However, they are strong in the market for innovative, patented medications but weak in the generics market, said Holzgrabe, adding that generics production in Europe is hardly profitable due to low profit margins.
But generics are crucial for public health care in general, as they cover about 80% of basic medication needs, including many antibiotics.
Bork Bretthauer criticizes the governments strategy to boost domestic investments with subsidies. The CEO of Pro Generika a German nonprofit that regularly commissions scientific studies into health policy and the pharma sector told DW that Germany needs a different pricing system for drugs.
We dont need zombie factories in Europe that need to be permanently subsidized, he said, adding that Europeans must be willing to pay higher drug prices.
In the summer of last year, the German parliament adopted legislation aimed at incentivizing the German pharma industry to reshore production or at least stop relocating abroad, with higher drug prices. The law was also a result of drug shortages and supply bottlenecks that had emerged during the global pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is a major healthcare policy change because Germany had sought to keep public health costs as low as possible until last year.
Previously, drugmakers were forced to offer statutory health insurance companies their medications at capped prices. So prices were fixed for about 80% of medications, including generic drugs, meaning that only the most cost-effective drug firms could make a profit.
Under the new legislation, insurance companies drug tenders for specific active ingredients and off-patent medications must also award contracts to a European company.
Ulrike Holzgrabe believes the legislation is a step in the right direction, but fears it will come to nothing because there is simply no European production left, especially in the generics sector. Jasmina Kirchhoff says the law has at least helped prevent more production from moving abroad.
Wolfgang Groe Entrup, managing director of the Association of the German Chemical Industry (VCI), thinks higher drug prices are inevitable if Europe wants more security. But production in Europe will never be as cheap as in Asia, he said in April. The German pharma industry, in particular, would suffer from excessive bureaucracy, skilled labor shortages, high energy costs, and crumbling infrastructure.
Holzgrabe shares this view, adding that Chinese drugmakers, by contrast, benefit from lower labor and energy costs and cost-free land allowances from the government when they establish production facilities. Moreover, they dont have to comply with environmental regulations as strict as those in Europe.
All of this, she said, would make it difficult to bring pharmaceutical production back to Europe so that independence from China wont be achieved.
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Joint Commission Begins Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program
The Joint Commission is launching the Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program to standardize staff training and patient care practices at rural health clinics nationwide, according to Modern Healthcare. Effective June 3, 2024, through June 3, 2028, CMS approved the Joint Commission to serve as an accrediting body for rural health clinics that request Medicare program participation. The program, which will open to applicants sometime this summer, is intended to help clinics in rural, medically underserved communities improve the quality and safety of primary care and personal health services. More specifically, the new program includes standards for rural clinics to follow when it comes to medical error reduction, emergency preparedness, and health information and medication management. Those looking to receive accreditation must also adhere to specific requirements, like identifying performance improvement priorities, implementing fire safety procedures, and conducting staff competency assessments.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently launched the largest-ever study of cancer risk and outcomes in Black women, according to USA Today. This study was initiated to explore why Black women are more likely to die of cancer and to die faster than non-Black women. To conduct this study, the ACS aims to enroll more than 100,000 Black women aged between 25 and 55 years who are cancer-free and follow them over 3 decades. Participants will first be asked to fill out an initial 15-minute questionnaire, followed by an hourlong, more detailed questionnaire about their lives, family histories, and mental and emotional health. After, the participants must take a 30-minute online follow-up survey every 6 months for the next 30 years. The ACS chose to launch the study after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted health disparities by race.
A recent study estimated that the HHS COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved $732 billion by preventing illness and related costs during the Delta and Omicron variant waves, with a return of nearly $90 for every dollar spent, according to CIDRAP. HHS launched its We Can Do This campaign in April 2021 to boost COVID-19 vaccine uptake through more than 7000 television, radio, digital, and print ads in 14 languages; the campaign especially targeted those reluctant to receive the vaccine and those among high-risk populations. The researchers estimated that the campaign encouraged 22.3 million Americans to complete their primary COVID-19 vaccine series, which prevented nearly 2.6 million infections and 244,000 hospitalizations.
This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
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The virus behind COVID has mutated again, this time producing variants nicknamed FLiRT, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported.
The variants are appearing in wastewater sampling, the CDC said, and case monitoring suggests that between April 14 and April 27, one FLiRT variant called KP.2 made up about a quarter of new COVID-19 cases.
That puts KP.2 ahead of the prior dominant strain, the JN.1 variant, which now makes up about 22% of cases, according to the CDC.
Speaking to WebMD, Dr. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, said the FLiRT variants display some concerning changes. One is alterations in the virus' spike protein, which the virus uses to invade the body and trigger illness.
That type of change worries experts, who point to waning vaccination rates among Americans. Since September 2023, just 22.6% of Americans have gotten themselves an updated 2023-2024 COVID vaccine, the CDC said.
It's possible that even folks who got the latest COVID vaccine aren't well-protected against JN.1 or the FLiRT variants: One preprint study released this week from researchers at Harvard University suggests waning effectiveness against those strains. That study has not been peer-reviewed, however.
"We've got a population of people with waning immunity, which increases our susceptibility to a wave," Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo, told WebMD.
As to symptoms, folks infected with the FLiRT variant are displaying much the same symptoms that were seen with JN.1:
The CDC stressed that not everyone will have any or all of these symptoms, since COVID illness varies in severity and symptoms from person to person.
More information: Fanchong Jian et al, Humoral immunogenicity comparison of XBB and JN.1 in human infections, (2024). DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.19.590276
A new group of COVID-19 variants are circulating in the United States, sparking concerns about a potential summer wave.
The family of variants, nicknamed "FLiRT," after their mutations, includes KP.2, which is now the dominant strain in the U.S. Last month, KP.2 quickly overtook JN.1, the omicron subvariant that drove a surge in COVID cases this past winter.
Currently, KP.2 accounts for one in four infections nationwide, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During a two-week period ending on April 27, KP.2 made up nearly 25% of cases in the U.S., up from about 10% during the previous two-week period ending on April 13. After KP.2, the next most common variant is JN,1, which accounts for 22% of cases, followed by two JN.1 subvariants, JN.1.7 and JN.1.13.1.
Another FLiRT variant, called KP.1.1, is also circulating in the U.S., but is less widespread than KP.2. It currently accounts for about 7.5% of infections nationwide, per the CDC.
Although cases and hospitalizations are down and the country is in the middle of a COVID-19 lull, the new FLiRT variants are stoking fears about a possible wave of infections this summer.
Scientists are warning that KP.2 and KP.1.1 may be better at evading the immune system due to their spike protein mutations, and that waning immunity and poor uptake of the latest COVID-19 vaccine have created a more susceptible population.
Will there be another COVID-19 surge? What are the symptoms of the FLiRT variants? Are vaccines still effective? We spoke to experts to learn more.
The FLiRT variants KP.2 and KP.1.1 are spinoffs of JN.1.11.1, a direct descendant of JN.1, and were initially detected in wastewater samples from across the country.
The new variants have two additional mutations that set them apart from JN.1 and appear to give them an advantage over previous variants, Dr. Albert Ko, infectious disease physician and professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com.
The nickname 'FLiRT" is based on the technical names for their mutations, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Just like other COVID-19 strains that have gained dominance in the U.S. over the last year JN.1, HV.1, EG.5 aka Eris, and XBB.1.16 or Arcturus the FLiRT variants part of the omicron family.
The emergence of KP.2 and other FLiRT variants is the "same old story," Andrew Pekosz, Ph.D., virologist at Johns Hopkins University, tells TODAY.com. The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates and gives rise to a new, highly contagious variant, which becomes the dominant strain. "The timeline that it happens in, three to six months, is much faster than we see with other viruses like influenza," says Pekosz.
Its still early days, but the initial impression is that this variant (KP.2) is rather transmissible, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells TODAY.com.
The proportion of cases caused by KP.2 is increasing while the proportion caused by other variants is decreasing, which suggests KP.2 has features that give it an advantage, the experts note.
KP.2 looks very similar to its parental strain JN.1, says Pekosz, which is highly contagious. "Except it has these two mutations. ... I think these two mutations together are making KP.2 a better virus in that it maintains its ability to transmit, but also now evades some of the pre-existing immunity in the population, says Pekosz.
Over 97% of people in the U.S. have natural or vaccine-induced antibodies against the the SARS-CoV-2 virus, per the CDC, but this immune protection fades over time.
Low vaccination rates and waning immunity create a vulnerable population, which may allow the FLiRT variants to take hold. Only time and more data will tell, the experts note.
Laboratory studies suggest that KP.2 is mutated enough such that current vaccines and immunity from prior infection will only provide partial protection, says Schaffner. "We'll have to see how true that is, but it appears, over time to be becoming a more prominent variant," he adds.
Its still really early in the emergence of KP.2, but I dont think we need to sound the alarm bells as of yet, says Ko.
It's too soon to tell whether the FLiRT variants will cause a summer wave or surge, the experts note. However, it is clear that COVID-19 is still circulating and won't be taking any time off.
"We're seeing these infections year-round, at modulating levels. ... Were probably not at the stage yet where well see COVID go away completely at any time of the year, says Pekosz.
Test positivity, which is an early indicator of case levels, is at 3% as of April 20, down 0.4% from the previous week and a sharp decline from around 12% in mid-January, per the CDC. (The CDC no longer tracks the total number of cases in the U.S.)
"We're not seeing a lot of hospitalizations, and we're certainly much lower than we were in the winter, so I'd say right now we're at a low point, which is reassuring," says Ko.
Wastewater data published by the CDC show that the viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently minimal it was considered high or very high for most of January and February.
"It seems like transmission is pretty low right now, and that makes sense because usually the big peaks are in the winter, when people are inside and in more contact," says Ko.
COVID-19 has caused summer waves in the past, the experts note, which are often smaller than the winter surges. I dont think that well see any kind of massive surge in cases, says Pekosz.
Speculating based on current COVID-19 trends, Ko says, KP.2 may cause a small wave, but not necessarily the large peaks that we saw in the winter again, it is too early to tell.
The seasonality of COVID-19 is something scientists are still trying to understand. But one thing is obvious: This virus is now integrating itself into our population and our way of life, says Schaffner.
There are several reassuring factors, says Ko. First, KP.2 is not a highly divergent variant in other words, it doesn't have a very large number of new mutations that differentiate it from other strains. Second, many people have immunity from recently being infected with the FLiRT variant predecessor JN.1. Last, during the summertime, people are spending less time indoors, which allows the virus fewer opportunities to spread.
Im not expecting a large surge in the summer, but again, we have to be cautious and we have to follow the data, says Ko. We always have to be humble because SARS-CoV-2 has taught us a lot of new things.
It is still too early to tell whether the symptoms of KP.2 and other FLiRT variants are different from previous strains.
The FLiRT variants are probably not going to create very distinctive symptoms. It looks at the moment to follow the other subvariants, says Schaffner.
The symptoms of the FLiRT variants are similar to those caused by JN.1, which include:
According to the CDC, the type and severity of symptoms a person experiences usually depend more on a persons underlying health and immunity rather than the variant that caused the infection.
Similar to JN.1 and other omicron subvariants, the FLiRT variants seem to be causing milder infections, says Schaffer.
Theres no evidence now that makes us think KP.2 is more virulent or more able to cause severe disease than the prior variants, says Ko.
"Early laboratory studies indicate that the vaccines will continue to provide protection against KP.2 a little less protection, but not zero by any means," says Schaffner.
As the virus mutates, it is becoming progressively different from the omicron strain targeted in the latest updated booster released in the fall of 2023. "We would expect that to happen, and we anticipate the plan is to have an updated vaccine in the fall available to everyone," says Schaffner.
Even if vaccines do not prevent infection, they can still offer some protection by preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and COVID-19 complications, TODAY.com previously reported.
Its still clear that the more severe cases that come into the emergency room predominate in people who either are not up to date on their vaccines or havent gotten a vaccine in a really long period of time, says Pekosz.
Vaccination is especially important for the elderly, says Pekosz, which is why the CDC recently recommended adults ages 65 and older get an additional dose of the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccine.
Unfortunately, vaccination uptake is still poor, the experts note. "The vaccines are still showing signatures of effectiveness, but they're not being utilized anywhere close to the level that they should be," says Pekosz.
As of April 27, 2024, only about 22% of adults and 14% of children have reported receiving the updated COVID-19 vaccine released in September 2023, according to the CDC.
All current PCR and at-home tests are recognizing KP.2 and other FLiRT variants, the experts note. (Though if you have symptoms of COVID and test negative, it's a good idea to stay home to avoid potentially exposing other people, TODAY.com previously reported.
If you are using an at-home antigen test, always remember to check the expiration date and whether its been extended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Antivirals (such as Paxlovid) are also working well. ... Theres not any major signals of antiviral resistance in the population, which is a positive sign, says Pekosz.
While it's too early to tell how the FLiRT variants will pan out this summer, people can always take steps to protect themselves and others against COVID-19.
The CDC recommends the following prevention strategies:
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
Test for COVID-19 if you have symptoms or an exposure.
Stay home when you are sick.
Return to normal activities only after you have been fever-free and symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours.
Practice good hand hygiene.
Improve ventilation.
Wear a mask in crowded, indoor spaces.
Practice social distancing.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Scientists have developed a vaccine with a new approach called proactive vaccinology,' which has shown protection in mice against a broad range of coronaviruses with potential for future disease outbreaks, according to a new study published in the journal, Nature Nanotechnology on Monday.
Under the proactive vaccinology vaccine development process, scientists develop vaccines preemptively, often before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges.
The vaccine, 'Quartet Nanocage', developed by Oxford and Caltech, is expected to commence phase one clinical trials in early 2025. However, its intricate design poses manufacturing challenges that may constrain large-scale production.
The new vaccine functions by instructing the body's immune system to identify particular regions of eight distinct coronaviruses, encompassing SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and several strains presently prevalent in bats, which hold the potential to cross over to humans and trigger a pandemic.
The vaccine's efficacy relies on its ability to target specific virus regions shared among various coronaviruses. By training the immune system to combat these regions, it offers protection against other coronaviruses not directly included in the vaccine, including those yet to be discovered.
For instance, although the new vaccine excludes the SARS-CoV-1 coronavirus responsible for the 2003 SARS outbreak, it still triggers an immune response against it.
Rory Hills, the first author of the report, said, Our focus is to create a vaccine that will protect us against the next coronavirus pandemic and have it ready before the pandemic has even started."
Weve created a vaccine that provides protection against a broad range of different coronaviruses including ones we dont even know about yet," the graduate researcher in the University of Cambridges Department of Pharmacology said as quoted in the study.
Another senior author, Professor Mark Howarth, said scientists swiftly developed an exceptionally effective COVID vaccine during the last pandemic. However, the world still faced a monumental crisis, resulting in a significant number of deaths.
We dont have to wait for new coronaviruses to emerge. We know enough about coronaviruses, and different immune responses to them, that we can get going with building protective vaccines against unknown coronaviruses now," Howarth said.
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Published: 08 May 2024, 11:27 AM IST
