Coronavirus Breaking News

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health announced in a statement on July 21, 2021, a 67-year-old man from Riyadh city, Riyadh, was confirmed with MERS. The man's infection is listed as Active.

He had contact with camels, including drinking camel milk.

MERS is a zoonotic coronavirus, and the source of the virus remains unknown, says the U.S. CDC. Most people infected with MERS-CoV developed severe respiratory illnesses, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Unfortunately, many of them have died.

This is the Kingdom's tenth MERS case detected in 2021. From 2012 until July 2, 2021, the ECDC reported 2,591 MERS-CoV cases and 940 associated fatalities.

Countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula that have reported MERS cases include Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

As of July 26, 2021, the U.S. FDA had not Authorized or Approved a MERS-CoV prevention vaccine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on July 22, 2021, it will invest more than $1.6 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support testing and mitigation measures in high-risk congregate settings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and detect and stem potential outbreaks.

This HHS funding will expand activities to detect, diagnose, trace, and monitor infections and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in homeless shelters, treatment and recovery facilities, domestic violence shelters, and federal, state, and local correctional facilities across the USA.

“As we continue the vaccination program to get more Americans protected, it is important that we double down on our efforts to increase testing, especially in vulnerable communities,” commented HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a press statement.

“Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we can make sure high-risk environments like correctional facilities and shelters for those experiencing homelessness have a greater capacity for testing to prevent potential outbreaks and continue our nation’s progress in moving out of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

HHS Frequently Asked Questions are published at this weblink.

After the advice of the Strategic Vaccination Orientation Council and the Scientific Council, the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron announced on July 12, 2021, the establishment of a vaccination booster campaign at the start of the school year in September among people who have been vaccinated in priority from January 2021, which represent the most vulnerable and oldest population.

The French health authority Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) announced on July 16, 2021, 'a first opinion on the evaluation of the clinical relevance of a booster injection in the general population.'

'While it seems very likely that a booster injection will indeed provide a boost effect (whether with the same vaccine, a vaccine using another platform, or even a vaccine suitable for the variants of concern), the data available to date do not allow a precise assessment of the impact or the need for such a booster on the prevention of vaccine failures.'

Based on the data currently available, the HAS, therefore, considers that there is no argument to recommend the administration of a booster dose beyond the people already targeted by government decisions, regardless of the initial vaccines.'

'The relevance of a booster in the general population could be established if a decrease in protection against Covid-19 over time was demonstrated based on vaccine failures observed in real life (and not only based on a drop in the level of antibodies) or if a new variant "resistant" to currently available vaccines emerges in the territory.'

In summary, 'the HAS indicated that there is no need for the moment to propose a booster dose in the general population and that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines must be monitored over time, including on any new coronavirus variants that may appear.'

'Ongoing studies will provide precise information on this point.'

Created in 2004, HAS operated in respect of three values: scientific rigor, independence, and transparency. It cooperates with all stakeholders in the service of the collective interest and of each citizen and promotes the values ​​of solidarity and equity of the health system.

Note: The NYTimes reported on July 23, 2021, 'Pfizer is gathering information on antibody responses in those who receive a third vaccine dose, as well as data from Israel, and expects to submit information to the U.S FDA in the coming weeks in a formal request to broaden the existing Emergency Use Authorization for its Comirnaty vaccine. The U.S. CDC vaccine committee discussed but did not vote on similar questions during its July 22nd digital meeting.

A team of researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study involving camp attendees and their household contacts to assess secondary transmission and factors associated with household transmission.

Published by the NEJM journal on July 21, 2021, these researchers interviewed 224 index patients who were 7 to 19 years of age and for whom there was evidence of a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection based on molecular or antigen laboratory testing.

Of 526 household contacts of these index patients, 46 (12%) of those who were tested had positive results for the virus.

Of the index patients who responded to questions regarding preventive measures, (67%) reported that they had maintained physical distancing and (34%) reported that they had always worn masks around contacts during the infectious period after returning home.

In summary, these researchers say, 'When feasible, children and adolescents with known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or a diagnosis of Covid-19 should remain at home and maintain physical distance from household members.'

The media is reporting Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, chief medical officer of The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, estimated that 83% of Team USA is vaccinated against COVID-19. This rate is significantly higher than the national vaccination rate.

As of July 24, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 48.9% of the US population had been fully vaccinated with an Authorized COVID-19 vaccine.

However, Dr. Finnoff's statements indicated about 100 Team USA members had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of July 24, 2021, there are about eighteen COVID-19 vaccines available globally.

BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. announced on July 23, 2021, that the U.S. government had purchased an additional 200 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, known as Comirnaty.

These doses are expected to be delivered from October 2021 through April 2022.

“As a long-term partner to the U.S. government in the fight against this (COVID-19) pandemic, we are proud of the impact of vaccination efforts across the country. Vaccines have been and will remain critical to protecting lives against this devastating disease,” said Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer, in a related press release.

“These additional doses will help the U.S. government ensure broad vaccine access into next year.”

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, based on BioNTech proprietary mRNA technology, was developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. BioNTech is the Marketing Authorization Holder in the European Union and the holder of emergency use authorizations or equivalent in the United States (jointly with Pfizer), Canada, and other countries in advance of a planned application for full marketing authorizations in these countries.

Massachusetts - based Moderna, Inc. announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited have agreed to purchase and distribute an additional 50 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine (TAK-919) and its updated variant booster vaccine candidate, if authorized, to begin delivery in 2022.

This new supply agreement is in addition to the prior agreement for 50 million doses in 2021, resulting in a total of 100 million doses for Japan.

Moderna is responsible for the manufacture and supply of Moderna’s vaccine candidate, and Takeda, with the support of the MHLW and Moderna, is responsible for all import, local regulatory, development, and distribution activities in Japan for these additional 50 million doses beginning in 2022.

“We thank the MHLW and Takeda for their support and for partnering with us to bring our mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to Japan,” said Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO, in a press release.

“We remain committed to making our vaccine available around the world as we seek to address the pandemic.”

On May 21, 2021, the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection (TAK-919) was authorized in Japan.