Shares of Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna were on track for their best single-day performance in more than a year, after an analyst at Oppenheimer issued a rare upgrade of the stock.
Moderna shares dropped 45% in 2023, making the stock one of the years worst performers in the S&P 500. Covid-19 vaccine sales tumbled, and the company incurred significant costs as it shrank its manufacturing footprint in response to declining demand. Moderna doesnt expect to break even again until 2026.
There are early signs, however, that the companys significant investment in its pipeline of mRNA-based products could bear fruit. In mid December, the company reported promising new data on a cancer treatment it is developing in partnership with Merck .
In his Tuesday note, Oppenheimer analyst Hartaj Singh wrote that Moderna could have five products by 2026, and that uptake of Covid-19 vaccines has likely bottomed out.
Singh upgraded Moderna to Outperform from Perform with a price target of $142 in a research report.
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The shares rose 13% to $112.57, making the stock the leading performer in the S&P 500 on Tuesday. It was also on track for its largest increase since Dec. 13, 2022, when it gained 20%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Rival vaccine maker Pfizer was up 3.8% to $29.88.
The upgrade comes amid an increase in Covid-19 cases in the U.S., and the emergence of a new variant, called JN.1, that has raised alarms with public health authorities.
In their note, the Oppenheimer analysts shared a few reasons for the upgrade including more visibility on Covid-19 vaccine sales, a framework for operating expenses. They added that factors in 2024 and 2025 lead them to believe that MRNA could be a five-product commercial company by 2026. The catalysts for this year and next include progress outside Covid-19 including with the companys respiratory syncytial virus and influenza vaccines.
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This is welcome news to investors who saw Moderna stock lose 45% of its value over the past 12 months as Covid-19 vaccine sales waned. The Oppenheimer analysts think sales could hit a low-point in 2024, due to vaccine fatigue and the complexities of the U.S. commercial market but they expect an uptick in sales in 2025 and beyond as education and awareness around Covid-19 increase.
This mirrors a larger narrative on Wall Street that gains may be on the horizon for the vaccine maker. The average analyst price target for Moderna is $126.72, while shares are currently trading hands at about $100, according to FactSet.
Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com
The finding in an international study that Ireland recorded no excess deaths during the core Covid-19 pandemic years might seem puzzling to some.
Research published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Ireland was one of only nine OECD states to avoid excess deaths in the 2020-2022 period. The State registered the fourth lowest rate, behind New Zealand, Iceland and Norway.
The notion that proportionately fewer than expected people died in Ireland during the pandemic might seem counter-intuitive to anyone who remembers those dark days, especially families bereaved by Covid-related deaths.
The first thing to note about the preliminary OECD study is that it is written by uninterested experts working for the Paris-based organisation
Indeed, subsequent studies, many of them based on the rising number of death notices published online, identified a large number of excess deaths during this period. Researchers at Maynooth University found excess mortality in 2020 was almost 40 per cent higher than during the severe flu winter of 2017-18. A study by the Heath Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found there were more than 2,000 excess deaths during the spring and early summer of 2020 and the winter of 2021, the worst periods of the pandemic.
So which take is right? Or could they both be correct?
The first thing to note about the preliminary OECD study is that it is written by uninterested experts working for the Paris-based organisation. There is no attempt to sugar-coat the devastation wreaked by the pandemic in the report, the main finding of which is that an additional 2 million deaths were registered across the OECD in each of the years between 2020 and 2022 when compared to the average number of deaths during the five years leading up to the pandemic.
In 2021, the number of registered deaths across the OECD was 19 per cent higher compared to average pre-pandemic levels.
Irelands total population increased by 8% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, while the number of people aged 65 and over increased by a remarkable 22% during that period
The big difference between this study and others is that it takes account of changes in the population structure of countries in the period under review. Western countries are ageing and Ireland is getting older faster than almost anywhere else.
Irelands total population increased by 8 per cent between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, while the number of people aged 65 and over increased by a remarkable 22 per cent during that period. This is more than double the 10 per cent increase in EU countries.
When account was taken of this change in population structure, Ireland was found not to have recorded an increase in excess deaths over the three years.
Excess deaths refer to the number of fatalities from all causes during a period, above what would normally be expected. It is regarded as one of the best ways to measure the impact of, say, a pandemic, as it catches deaths from all causes.
However, this does not mean there were no variations in the death rate at different points between 2020 and 2022. In Ireland, the adjusted rate appears to have gone up in 2020, down in 2021 and up again in 2022.
If online reaction is the barometer of public opinion, there would appear to be a high degree of scepticism about the Governments assertion that Ireland had a good pandemic, relative to other countries
As the Hiqa study noted, the worst periods of the pandemic were associated with spikes in deaths. In other parts of Europe, but not Ireland, heatwaves in the summer of 2022 led to a surge in deaths.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and his officials were, understandably, quick to welcome the OECDs findings and attribute them to the public health measures taken during the pandemic, notably the widely supported Covid-19 vaccine programme.
If online reaction is the barometer of public opinion, there would appear to be a high degree of scepticism about the Governments assertion that Ireland had a good pandemic, relative to other countries.
The only way of properly answering the questions about Irelands performance during these years may be to start the long-promised review of the actions taken during the pandemic.
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Hospitals across the country are dealing with higher cases of COVID-19, the flu and RSV. The increase is being fueled in part by holiday travel and gatherings. Meg Oliver has the latest.
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In the past four years, the pathogen responsible for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), SARS-CoV-2, has infected more than 770 million people and caused more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide. The severe impact of SARS-CoV-2 is often attributed to its ability to suppress the interferon (IFN) response while simultaneously inducing the production of various cytokines.
This dual action directly leads to a cytokine storm, a critical factor contributing to the mortality of COVID-19 patients. However, the precise mechanisms through which SARS-CoV-2 initiates this cytokine storm have remained elusive.
To address this question, a research team led by Prof. Xue Yuanchao from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with their collaborators, has profiled the SARS-CoV-2-to-host RNARNA interactions.
This study, published in Molecular Cell on Dec. 20, unveils for the first time the molecular intricacies of how SARS-CoV-2 RNA interacts with and stabilizes host mRNAs, ultimately triggering the cytokine storm.
Using state-of-the-art RIC-seq technology, the researchers comprehensively mapped the SARS-CoV-2-to-host RNARNA interactions in infected cells and lung tissues obtained from two deceased COVID-19 patients. Through mass spectrometry analysis of the RNA pull-down assay, they discovered that SARS-CoV-2 RNA forms base pairs with the 3' UTR of host mRNAs and recruits the RNA-binding protein YBX3 to stabilize host mRNAs in A549-ACE2 and Vero cells. Importantly, interference with the SARS-CoV-2-to-host RNARNA interaction or the knockdown of YBX3 significantly reduced host mRNA stability and hindered SARS-CoV-2 replication.
Among the stabilized host mRNAs, NFKBIZ emerged as a key factor in promoting cytokine production and suppressing IFN responses, potentially contributing to the cytokine storm. Knocking down NFKBIZ resulted in a significant decrease in the expression levels of proinflammatory factors such as IL-6, IL-8, and CXCL2, while the levels of type I/III IFNs, including IFNB1, IFNL1, and IFNL2, increased. These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may induce a cytokine storm via stabilized host mRNAs, with NFKBIZ playing a pivotal role.
This research not only sheds light on the regulatory role of RNARNA interactions in the immunopathogenesis of RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, but also contributes to the development of novel strategies to combat COVID-19.
The results open new avenues for targeted interventions aimed at disrupting the specific molecular mechanisms responsible for the cytokine storm associated with severe cases of COVID-19.
More information: Hailian Zhao et al, SARS-CoV-2 RNA stabilizes host mRNAs to elicit immunopathogenesis, Molecular Cell (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.11.032
Journal information: Molecular Cell
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While the entire United States is still reeling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery process has not been even nationwide. Many rural students and communities especially certain pockets are facing multiple crises in terms of educational loss, economic outcomes, unemployment and mental health.
Why Rural Matters 2023, the latest in a series of 10 research reports on rural education, shows that roughly 9.5 million students attend public schools in rural areas more than 1 in 5 nationally. Nearly 1 in 7 of those rural students experience poverty, 1 in 15 lacks health insurance and 1 in 10 has changed residence in the previous 12 months.
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Roughly half of all rural students live in just 10 states. Texas has the largest number, followed by North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia and Michigan. Texas has more rural students than the 18 states with the fewest combined.
In 13 states, at least half of public schools are rural: South Dakota, Montana, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Mississippi and Iowa. In 14 other states, at least one-third of all schools are rural.
More key findings from this edition of Why Rural Matters:
As post-pandemic recovery continues, states and local districts must reevaluate what it means to provide a public education that meets student and family needs and prepares young people for life beyond pre-K-12 schooling (including college and career readiness and engaged citizenship). These challenges are widespread but are most intense in the Southeast, Southwest and Appalachia. What is needed is the will to address them.
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The results published in Why Rural Matters 2023 make clear that policymakers cannot ignore the difficulties faced by rural schools and the students they serve.
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Keep your mask handy if youre heading to a hospital or doctors appointment anytime soon.
Some Chicago-area health care systems are again requiring visitors to mask up to help mitigate recent spreading of respiratory viruses, mainly influenza, COVID-19 and RSV.
Rush announced a new policy Tuesday requiring patients, visitors and staff to wear hospital-approved face coverings in interactive settings, such as waiting areas and patient rooms. It follows similar mandates implemented last month by Cook County Health and Endeavor Health, which operates Swedish Hospital and eight others in the suburbs.
Dr. David Nguyen, an infectious disease specialist for adults and children at Rush, said the hospital made the change largely due to a sharp increase in flu cases.
The flu is actually what were really worried about, Nguyen said, noting that COVID-19 and RSV are still a concern, but those cases seemed to have plateaued.
He pointed to early in the COVID-19 pandemic when masking and social distancing appeared to have caused a remarkable interruption in flu and RSV, so the new policy aims to account for all those infections.
The number of flu patients admitted to Chicago intensive care units more than doubled from early December to the week ending Dec. 23, and emergency rooms across the state saw double the flu patients in the last two weeks of December, according to the citys Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Chicago hospitals were admitting 30 COVID-19 patients per day as of Christmas Eve, according to the city health departments latest available data.
More than half of Illinois counties are at a medium or high level of COVID-19 hospitalizations under metrics set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including Cook and DuPage.
The several policy moves come on the heels of Illinois Department of Public Health recommendations in mid-December for health care facilities to up their respiratory virus mitigation efforts.
We are most concerned with health care facilities in counties with elevated respiratory virus transmission and hospitalization levels and recommend masking in patient-care areas, especially in emergency departments and areas caring for patients who are immunocompromised, IDPH director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement.
Most of the new mandates are especially enforced in high-risk areas, such as procedural areas, intensive care units and emergency departments.
UChicago Medicine is still adhering to its mask policy adopted in September, requiring all employees, and visitors showing symptoms, to wear masks while strongly encouraging other visitors and patients to mask up.
Northwestern Medicine follows a similar rule, only requiring masks when visitors and patients are showing symptoms such as cough, sneezing, sore throat, fever and runny nose.
Loyola Medicine requires everyone in its facilities to wear masks regardless of symptoms.
Cook County Health also updated its visitor policy last month. It allows two visitors per patient in inpatient units and one visitor per patient in the emergency trauma unit and outpatient areas.
Kate Hedlin, a spokesperson for Cook County Health, said masks are an easy way to reduce transmission.
Vaccines also are an excellent tool for us to reduce hospitalizations, severe infections and death, Hedlin said. Its never too late to get vaccinated.
COVID-19 and flu shots are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.
RSV vaccines are also available for people 60 or older, infants, young children and pregnant women.
Visit boostupcookcounty.com for help finding a vaccine.
California's hospitals are getting busier with more COVID-19 and flu patients, some of whom are suffering from both viruses at the same time.
The simultaneous sickness is another wrinkle in an already hectic respiratory virus season. Although hospitals are not nearly as crowded as during the emergency phase of the pandemic, they are becoming increasingly so with Los Angeles County recently entering the "medium" COVID-19 hospitalization category outlined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first time this winter.
"Some of these patients are testing positive for more than one virus influenza definitely likes to travel with COVID. [And] we're seeing an outbreak of RSV," said Dr. Daisy Dodd, an infectious disease specialist with Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
The viral cocktail could also include coronavirus or flu with RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, simultaneously. Sometimes a common cold virus, like rhinovirus, is in the mix.
Read more: Everyone in California seems to be sick with respiratory illness. Here's why
And it's not just the very young and the very old who are getting hit with a double whammy of disease younger and middle-aged adults have also been afflicted. Dodd said she's seen some patients reporting fevers lasting more than a week.
"Now it seems like everyone has this hacking cough that doesn't want to go away," she said. "It's making them fairly sick and ... it's not very gentle."
For many of the patients who need medical attention, "they're miserable. No doubt about it."
It's hard to say why doctors are seeing a number of viral co-infections this winter, experts say.
"Is it that one lowers the immunity and allows them to catch the other one easily? Don't know the answer," Dodd said. "But we're seeing a lot of 'double whammies' going around."
Read more: A new coronavirus variant may be behind California's COVID rise
L.A. County's entry into the "medium" COVID-19 hospitalization category has prompted local public health officials to order hospitals, nursing homes and any other inpatient facility to require healthcare employees mask up while in patient-care areas. Visitors to those facilities are also required to mask up in the same areas.
When a county enters the "medium" COVID-19 hospitalization level, those at high risk of getting very sick should wear a high-quality mask such as a KF94, KN95, or N95 mask when indoors in public, the CDC says.
The agency also says that those who live with, or have social contact with, someone at high risk should consider getting a rapid COVID test before meeting with them, and consider wearing a mask when meeting with them indoors.
A negative rapid COVID test result helps reduce, though does not entirely eliminate, the risk of passing along a coronavirus infection. There is a chance that a single rapid test may not detect an infection in its initial stages.
Multiple tests over a time period, such as over two or three days, can be helpful, "especially when the people using the tests don't have COVID-19 symptoms," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Read more: COVID, flu, RSV on the rise in California. Is another 'tripledemic' coming?
More infected people are being admitted into California's hospitals. For the week that ended Dec. 23, 3,279 coronavirus-positive patients were newly admitted statewide, up 14% from the prior week and the highest weekly tally in 10 months.
New hospitalizations remain considerably lower than last winter's peak, however. And a number of hospitals are not seeing signs of a COVID-19 surge in their intensive care units.
"Our ICUs are busy, but they're not overwhelmed with COVID," said Dr. Tevan Ovsepyan, medical director of the hospitalist program at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
Still, the sickness season continues apace. California's level of flu-like activity which includes nonflu illnesses such as COVID-19 recently rose to "very high," one of the worst levels as defined by the CDC, for the first time this winter.
Ovsepyan said that at his hospital, there was an uptick in coronavirus-positive patients about a week and a half ago that has tapered off as of Friday. But, he said, "I don't know what the future will hold, because ... we have New Year's ... and people are getting together. So I'm sure we'll probably see a little uptick."
Other areas in California that are in the CDC's "medium" COVID-19 hospitalization category include the four-county area around the state capital Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties and several counties in the rural north: Butte, Tehama and Glenn.
The rate at which lab specimens are coming back positive for the coronavirus and flu is continuing to rise in L.A. County. For the week that ended Dec. 23, the most recent available, 23% of specimens tested at surveillance labs came back positive for flu, a jump from the prior rate of 18%. As for COVID-19, 12% of specimens are coming back positive for the coronavirus, an increase from the prior week's 11%.
RSV, which can cause severe illness and death, especially among babies and older people, has plateaued at a high rate countywide, with 10% of specimens coming back positive over the most recent week. The positive test rate has stayed within 10% and 15% in recent weeks, a relatively high rate compared with the prior six years, but still below last year's terrible RSV season, when the positive test rate exceeded 20%.
For the week that ended Dec. 4, L.A. County averaged five COVID-19 deaths a day, up from an average of two in mid-November, though still below last year's numbers.
Read more: COVID-19 and flu cases are rising in California. How bad will the holiday uptick be?
In terms of severe illness and deaths, hospitals are in a better place than the terrible first winter of the pandemic and the initial Omicron wave the year after.
"Omicron was just horrible. It was a terrible time, because we were just overwhelmed with COVID-positive then, and people were sick," said Ovsepyan, who is also chair of the hospital medicine department at Facey Medical Group, which has outpatient clinics in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Simi valleys.
Ovsepyan urged people to be responsible and stay home if sick.
And if you must leave the house and go anywhere there's a crowd and have symptoms such as sniffles, "wear a mask," Ovsepyan said.
"With time, people have had this COVID fatigue, and the fatigue of masks. That's all reasonable," Ovsepyan said. "But it's still a virus. It still causes illness. It'll be harmful for our frail patients, our elderly or people with co-morbid diagnosis ... those are the people who end up getting hospitalized."
Read more: New COVID vaccines are here: Now's the time to get one, officials say
People might initially shrug off a little sniffle or a tiny sore throat. But that can be the beginning of a full-fledged viral illness, and it would be "fabulous" if those who feel that start wearing a mask as soon as possible to protect others around them, Dodd said.
"Probably 95%, if not more, of respiratory infections, you feel it in your throat to begin with," she said.
It's likely a combination of factors that has led COVID-19 to be less deadly than it used to be, including protection provided by vaccinations and lingering immunity from infection, as well as the development of anti-COVID drugs that can be taken after infection.
But health officials worry about the lackluster utilization of those drugs, as well as lagging uptake of the latest COVID vaccines. The CDC urges virtually everyone age 6 months and older to get a fresh COVID-19 vaccination this winter, as well as the seasonal flu shot.
Read more: COVID-19 vaccines easier to get in L.A. County; shots are free at all public health centers
RSV immunizations are also available for babies, those who are pregnant and people age 60 or older.
Officials urge more widespread use of antiviral drugs such as Paxlovid that can reduce symptom severity and the risk of hospitalization and death. They're best taken early on, but many people aren't doing so, or their healthcare providers aren't prescribing them.
"There is an ample supply of COVID-19 therapeutic agents, but they have been underused," the California Department of Public Health said in a health advisory. "Lack of familiarity with new medications ... and the misperception of drug scarcity have contributed to low treatment rates, including reports of eligible patients ultimately being denied treatment."
California still offers a free telehealth service through Sesame Care, where sick people can talk to a healthcare provider by phone or online and get a prescription, if eligible. (A copay might be needed to pick up the prescription.) That service is available to Californians age 12 and up, regardless of insurance status, until February, by calling (833) 686-5051 or visiting sesamecare.com/covidca.
L.A. County residents can do the same by contacting the countys Public Health Call Center at (833) 540-0473, which is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The county says free and low-cost treatment is available for eligible patients, including those who are uninsured or on Medi-Cal.
A program funded by the National Institutes of Health, featured at test2treat.org,gives adults who test positive for COVID-19 or flu free access to telehealth care and treatment. That program is expected to run through the early summer. Adults who arent positive can still enroll to get free tests shipped to them if they are uninsured or underinsured; on Medicare or Medi-Cal; or in the healthcare system of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Indian Health Service.
The U.S. government is also allowing residents to order free at-home COVID tests through COVIDtests.org. People are able to order four free at-home tests per household. And if they didn't already place an order between Sept. 25 and Nov. 19, they're eligible for two separate orders of four tests.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 3, 2024 15:05 IST
UK health authorities have identified new symptoms associated with the latest Covid-19 sub-variant, JN.1, which include anxiety and trouble sleeping.
Previously, symptoms linked to JN.1 were mostly limited to upper respiratory tract infections, such as fever, cough, sore throat, body ache and runny nose.
However, recent data from December 2023 by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed two new symptoms: trouble sleeping and anxiety.
Read More
Over 10% of individuals with Covid-19 in the UK consistently reported anxiety or excess worrying since early November, as indicated by the ONS winter Covid report.
The most common Covid-19 symptoms, based on the data, include runny nose (31.1%), cough (22.9%), headache (20.1%), fatigue (19.6%), muscle pain (15.8%), sore throat (13.2%), trouble sleeping (10.8%), and anxiety (10.5%).
Notably, the once-common symptoms loss of taste and smell are currently reported in only 2 to 3% of UK cases.
These findings coincide with a global increase in Covid-19 infections, with the WHO reporting a 52% rise in new cases over the past month.
In India, there were 573 fresh cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours, with a total of 197 cases of JN.1 reported in 11 states.
The majority of JN.1 cases exhibit mild symptoms, and severity is seen in less than 10% of cases, particularly in individuals with pre-existing health conditions. The overall fatality rate is less than 2%, and deaths are infrequent, with most patients recovering at home.
JN.1, a descendant of the Omicron lineage, was first detected in September in the US and has spread to over 40 countries. It has been classification as a variant of interest (VOI) by the WHO.
The variant, derived from BA.2.86 (also known as Pirola), carries an additional L455S mutation in the spike protein, increasing its transmissibility.
Health experts have urged people about wearing masks, frequently washing hands and avoiding public gatherings to avoid infection.
(With inputs from news agencies)
Published By:
Daphne Clarance
Published On:
Jan 3, 2024
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The Himalayan nation of Nepal is all set to destroy four million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, procured from China in April 2021, according to a report inEpardafas. Sinovac's destruction has been necessitated on the recommendation of the vaccine advisory committee which said the China-made vaccine is not fit for use as a booster dose as well as a regular dose.
The vaccines were procured from China during the peak of the first wave in 2021. However, they have been sitting in central storage of the Health Services Department for over 2.5 years now.
Dr Abhiyaan Gautam, the head of the vaccination branch under the Ministry of Health and Population, Family Welfare Division, said the technical limitations of the vaccine prevented it from being utilised.
Nepal received two shipments of four million Sinovac vaccines on April 25 and 27, 2021 but the majority opted for the likes of Moderna, Covishield and Pfizer.
The vaccine advisory committee recommended that it should not be used for booster doses, but we could not administer Sinovac even as a first or second dose," said Dr Gautam.
Watch |Gravitas: China's ambassador to Nepal foul mouths India
While the vaccines remained unused, the Nepalese government attempted to return the consignment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs took several diplomatic initiatives but each time, Beijing refused to take back the vaccines. To cut losses, Kathmandu attempted to sell the vaccine to other countries but even then, the strategy failed.
"Three or four times there was a diplomatic initiative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take back the vaccine. But tireless efforts for one year were not successful," added Dr Gautam.
It was during former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's reign as the prime minister that Nepal bought the vaccines from China. There was furore surrounding the decision with many within the party criticising Deuba for picking China, notorious for producing sub-standard vaccines.
Also read |China Covid outbreak: Experts urge caution on use of Sinovac nasal spray
Notably, in February 2021, leaked documents of correspondence between Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu revealed that Beijing had put pressure on the Himalayan country to accept its COVID-19 vaccine without its efficiency and efficacy being established.
(With inputs from agencies)
The Provincial Public Health Laboratory of Sudurpaschim has requested the Province Health Logistics Management Centre for kits for polymerase chain reaction tests and antigen tests, as it is short in both.
Officials said testing people suspected to have the coronavirus will be halted both in the laboratory and at border points if kits are not immediately supplied.
We do not have any kits to carry out polymerase chain reaction tests, said Jharendra Bahadur Singh, information officer at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory of Sudurpaschim.
PCR kits supplied to us in the past have expired and health desks set up at border points only have around 200 antigen test kits, which is sufficient only for a day if there is a high flow of people returning from India.
Officials at the Ministry of Health and Population said that most polymerase chain reaction testing labs throughout the country lack the kits and even the health desks set up at the border points are short of a sufficient number of antigen test kits to test people returning from India.
Also, most laboratories lack trained human resources to carry out testing, as the lab technicians hired during the coronavirus pandemic were laid off following the decline in new cases of infection.
Concerns are growing about the spread of a new sub-variant of coronavirus in the country, as neighbouring India saw a surge in new cases of coronavirus infection and also witnessed an outbreak of the sub-variant JN.1 in several states. Every day, thousands of people enter Nepal from India.
India on Tuesday reported two new deaths and 573 new cases, according to media reports. The southern neighbour confirmed 197 cases of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 as of Monday. Outbreaks of the new sub-variant have been reported from 10 statesKerala, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Goa and Karnataka.
Singh said swab samples of nine people returning from India, who tested positive for Covid-19, have been sent to the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu for a whole genome sequencing test.
Whole-genome sequencing is a comprehensive method of analysing the entire DNA sequence of an organisms genes. Researchers believe that whole-genome sequencing of coronavirus helps track the severity and properties of the virus.
The World Health Organisation has classified JN.1 as a separate variant of interest given its rapid spread around the globe. The UN health body, however, said that based on available data, the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low.
Health authorities in Nepal say they are closely following developments in the southern neighbour.
Several countries, including China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, have reported upticks in new coronavirus cases.
The JN.1 strain, first detected in September in the United States, is a descendant of BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant of the Omicron strain of Covid-19.
Virologists and infectious disease experts have asked Nepali authorities to step up vigilance as any virus variant or disease seen in any part of the world can easily enter the country due to the continuous movement of people.
We should start preparing for any untoward situation. For that, surveillance measures should be stepped up, said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital.
