About Covid-19
Several articles have been published in the past couple days about vaccine passports:
White House rules out involvement in 'vaccine passports': “‘The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,’ [Press Secretary] Psaki told reporters at a briefing.”
Likely Legal, ‘Vaccine Passports’ Emerge as the Next Coronavirus Divide: “Can businesses require employees or customers to provide proof — digital or otherwise — that they have been vaccinated when the coronavirus vaccine is ostensibly voluntary?
Can schools require that students prove they have been injected with what is still officially an experimental prophylaxis the same way they require long-approved vaccines for measles and polio? And finally, can governments mandate vaccinations — or stand in the way of businesses or educational institutions that demand proof?
Legal experts say the answer to all of these questions is generally yes, though in a society so divided, politicians are already girding for a fight. Government entities like school boards and the Army can require vaccinations for entry, service and travel — practices that flow from a 1905 Supreme Court ruling that said states could require residents to be vaccinated against smallpox or pay a fine.”
Texas governor bans state, some businesses from requiring vaccine passports and
Digital Health Passes in the Age of COVID-19: This article explores the legal, ethical and equity issues of such passes.
CDC distributes $3 billion for vaccine preparedness: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is doling out more than $3.1 billion in federal funding under the last round of coronavirus relief legislation to help states and major cities administer vaccinations to their populations.
In press releases to local media, the CDC said it would distribute tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, based on a state’s population, to prepare for mass vaccination campaigns set to begin this month.”
Army-Developed Vaccine Begins Testing: “The U.S. Army will start testing among adult volunteers an Army-developed Covid-19 vaccine that researchers say may protect against a variety of coronavirus variants.
Army doctors planned to start testing on Tuesday the protein-based shot in as many as 72 adults ages 18 to 55 at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., the institute said. The team will test whether the vaccine safely induces the desired immune response in study subjects.
Initial results of the study could become available by midsummer. If the data are positive, the Army likely would try to join with a drug company to further test and develop the vaccine, said Kayvon Modjarrad, director of the institute's emerging infectious-disease branch.”
If the federal government has the capability to produce a vaccine, what took it so long to start?
FDA grants first COVID-19 antibody green light for at-home, fingerprick blood test: “The COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System, developed by Symbiotica, Inc., is the first home-collected antibody test to receive the FDA’s emergency use authorization, though 75 other antibody tests have been approved for use on samples collected in point-of-care settings.
Once the test is prescribed, fingerstick blood samples can be taken from individuals as young as 5 years old (with help from an adult for anyone under the age of 18). The sample will be processed for evidence of COVID-19 antibodies at one of Symbiotica’s labs.”
Are youth sports an engine of B.1.1.7 outbreaks?: “Officials say they believe transmission may be happening through athletic activities, rather than in the classroom, because some sports such as wrestling, basketball and volleyball involve close indoor contact. They have also wondered whether outbreaks may be triggered by related interactions such as carpooling, sleepovers and team celebrations, when people let their guard down, rather than from the practices and games themselves.”
Why you can’t compare Covid-19 vaccines: The article provides a YouTube video link to explain what is important in evaluating the vaccines.
6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236 379 survivors of COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records: “Among 236 379 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, the estimated incidence of a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis in the following 6 months was 33·62% (95% CI 33·17–34·07), with 12·84% (12·36–13·33) receiving their first such diagnosis.”
The incidences were higher for more severe disease.
Oxford Stops Test Of Vaccine On Youths: “The University of Oxford said it has paused administering doses of the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with Astra-Zeneca PLC in a small U.K. study to test the shot in children and teenagers, pending further information about rare blood-clotting issues in adults who have received it.”
About pharma
MIT team uses machine learning to find nanoparticles with high drug-loading capacities: “Efforts to develop nanoparticle formulations have been held back by the inability to predict which mix of ingredients will have high loading capacities. To address that limitation, MIT researchers used machine learning and high-throughput experimentation to identify effective nanoformulations.”
These formulations can carry therapeutic concentrations of drugs to target sites (like tumors) and may even be able to bypass allergic mechanisms if the patient is allergic to one of the active drug components.
About health insurance
CVS Health affordable housing investments in California surpass $200 million: Just a reminder that insurers are making significant investments into addressing Social Determinants of Disease.
Biden rescinds Medicaid work rules in 2 more states: “CMS sent letters to health officials in Michigan and Wisconsin April 6 withdrawing their approval to implement work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. In both letters, CMS noted that combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, the work rules risk ‘significant coverage losses and harm to beneficiaries.’”
2020 AMA prior authorization (PA) physician survey: Keeping in mind that physicians do not like the PA process, below are some of the findings of this just-published survey:
“94% report care delays
79% report that PA can at least sometimes lead to treatment abandonment
While 98% of health plans report they use peer- reviewed evidence-based studies when designing their PA programs, 32% of physicians report that PA criteria are rarely or never evidence-based”
Read the short article for the rest of the opinions.