Good afternoon all!
As is my usual practice for diaries like this, I’ve put links to sources at the bottom of the diary. I wish I had better news to report, but when 1/3 of the population supports a political party that cheers reports of falling vaccine rates… yeah. Just gonna leave that thought there.
The Epsilon Variant
The Epsilon variant is currently listed as a “Variant of Interest” by the CDC, which is a step below being a “Variant of Concern.” The CDC had actually downgraded this variant, first identified in California, from “Concern” to “Interest,” but we’ll see what happens as this new information is disseminated.
The new information is a study by the University of Washington that found that the Epsilon variant has three mutations on is spike protein that result in a dampening of the effectiveness of antibodies from current vaccines or from prior COVID infection. This reduction of potency is on the order of 2 to 3.5 times. That’s concerning, because it could mean a sharply reduced effectiveness of vaccination against this particular variant. (Edited to satisfy the it’s/its pedants in the peanut gallery).
From ScienceDaily:
Visualizing these mutations helps explain why antibodies had difficulty binding to the spike glycoprotein.
One of the three mutations in the Epsilon variant affected the receptor binding domain on the spike glycoprotein. This mutation reduced the neutralizing activity of 14 out of 34 neutralizing antibodies specific to that domain, including clinical stage antibodies.
The other two of the three mutations in the variant affected the N-terminal domain on the spike glycoprotein. The researchers used mass spectrometry and structural analysis to find that a part of the coronavirus N-terminal domain was remodeled by these mutations.
The signal peptide cleavage site was shifted in the NTD antigenic supersite, and a new disulphide bond was formed. This resulted in a total loss of neutralization by 10 out of 10 antibodies tested specific to the N-terminal domain in the spike glycoprotein.
The good news, as far as it goes, is that this variant is not very prevalent — it has been found in 34 countries (compared to more than 100 for the highly contagious Delta variant), and currently makes up only a relatively small number of infections overall, which would seem to indicate that compared to other variants like Alpha and Delta, this variant has not improved its ability to infect beyond a possible ability to evade some of the antibodies from vaccination or prior infection by another variant.
Belgian woman dies of two simultaneous COVID variant infections
A 90 year old woman originally admitted to hospital for repeated falls, but who soon developed respiratory symptoms and died, has been found to have been suffering from two simultaneous COVID infections — she was infected by both the Alpha and Beta variants.
While this is the first confirmed case of such a double infection, such things are know to occur with influenza, where a person can be infected by two strains simultaneously. Supposedly there is a paper from Brazil that is yet unpublished that reported on cases of double COVID infections in that country.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine to get another warning label due to rare autoimmune disorder
You may recall that a few months ago, use of the J&J vaccine was paused during a review of a rare but serious blood clotting issue that appeared to be connected to the vaccine. The vaccine now carries a warning label for this side effect, though it is still a rare occurrence.
Now, the FDA has announced another warning label will be attached to the vaccine related to reported instances of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system attacks the nervous system, occurring in vaccinated individuals.
So far, the FDA has noted about 100 cases (out of nearly 13 million vaccine doses given in the US, it should be noted) of this syndrome, which normally affects about 1 in 100,000 individuals annually. The reports show that most cases occurred about two weeks after vaccination and primarily in males over 50 (in contrast to the blood clotting issue, which primarily occurred in premenopausal women).
No similar connection to Guillain-Barre syndrome has been made to either of the mRNA vaccines in use in the US manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer.
The FDA notes that vaccine this is still a very rare side effect (again, this is 100 reported cases out of nearly 13 million doses, or about 1 in 130,000) and that the vaccine should still be considered safe and effective.
While Guillain-Barre syndrome is a potentially serious disorder, most people recover from it.
Israel to begin offering 3rd Pfizer shot to immunocompromised people
Israel has announced that, effective immedialely, immunocompromised individuals are eligible to receive a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster. Meanwhile, Pfizer has promised to deliver new vaccine shipments as soon as August 1st instead of the previously arranged delivery date in September. Israel, like many other countries, is seeing an increase in cases due to the Delta variant. Just weeks ago, the number of new cases in the country had dropped below 200, but now stands at more than 400 new cases per day and there are currently 4,000 active infections in the country.
Edit: correction made to the numbers in the last sentence, I had originally stated that there were 4,000 new cases daily, not 4,000 total infections.
Fauci Speaks
Dr. Fauci made comments ahead of Pfizer meeting with the FDA to discuss booster shots, and said that at the moment booster shots do not appear to be necessary since the vast majority of new cases are occurring among the unvaccinated. However, he did not rule out the possibility that a booster shot may be necessary in the future.
Dr. Fauci also commented on the CDC’s updated guidance for schools, which includes face masks for unvaccinated students and staff, improved ventilation, and social distancing. Fauci commented that schools should follow the guidelines as much as possible, sick students and staff should remain home, and if guidelines cannot be fully implement schools “should still do everything you can with testing.”
Dr. Fauci also lamented the fact that failure to fully meet President Biden’s vaccination goal was an applause line at CPAC.
Speaking of CDC guidelines for schools...
Stores are starting to announce their “Back to School” sales, and indeed we are about halfway through summer break at this point and most schools will be back in session in about 6 weeks, give or take.
The CDC has updated its school guidelines which include the following:
- Vaccinated staff and students no longer need to mask or socially distance
- Desks ideally should be spaced at least 3 feet apart
- Masks for unvaccinated staff and students are unnecessary in most outdoor situations such as recess, but may be needed in lengthy, crowded situations such as in the stands during sporting events.
- Ventilation and handwashing remain important.
- Keeping student groups small, however the CDC does not recommend separating vaccinated from unvaccinated students.
- Testing remains important, however the CDC says vaccinated individuals do not need to participate in screening.
The CDC does emphasize, though, that schools should do the best they can with what they have.
Also, the CDC did not recommend mandatory vaccination in order to attend classes in person, feeling that this is a local and state policy decision. Yesterday, in an appearance on Meet the Press, Dr. Fauci said the there should be more local vaccine mandates.
France reimplementing restrictions, announced mandatory vaccination for some workers as Delta surges.
In the face of growing case numbers due to the Delta variant (daily cases having doubled from a low of 2,000 to now 4,000 in just a few weeks) , France has announced new restrictions, allowing only vaccinated individuals to go to bars, theaters, amusement parks, trains and domestic flights. It also applies to visitors to hospitals and nursing homes. France also will be reinforcing border restrictions and quarantining unvaccinated visitors arriving from countries considered “at risk.”
President Macron also announced that vaccination of health workers and other employees of hospitals and nursing homes will become mandatory on September 15th. Currently, less than half of health workers in France are vaccinated.
NYC sees 32% increase in case numbers, mostly in neighborhoods with low vaccination numbers
NYC reports a 32% uptick in new cases and notes that 6 out of the 10 neighborhoods with the lowest vaccination rates are the source of most new cases. The Delta variant is now tied with the Alpha variant as the prevalent strains impacting the city.
Missouri now 2nd per capita for new infections — and lowest in vaccination rates
Like the header says. Meanwhile, health officials are making heroic efforts to educate the public and get people vaccinated, but much of it seems to be falling on deaf ears. In June, the Missouri legislature debated a bill that would squelch vaccine mandates for hospital staff.
Meanwhile, contact tracers are running into significant resistance, with one health official saying tha about half of those called “do not answer their phone or refuse to give us information.” In Jackson County officials are trying to track an outbreak tied to a camp hosted by Crown Pointe Church, only to receive silence in response to repeated requests to the church for a list of camp participants. The church is disputing this report and claims that its parent organization provided the requested information.
And now, state officials are in the interesting positions of advocating for a $5 million ad campaign to improve vaccination rates while also asking elected officials to minimize their comments about the spending in public meetings due to anti-vaccine sentiment possibly turning the campaign into a hot-button issue.
The latest numbers
The 7-day moving average of new reported cases in the US is 15,497. On June 20th, the 7 day average was 11,455, which was the lowest 7 day average since March 25, 2020. Since June 20th, the number of new cases has been on a slow but steady rise.
New deaths have remained relatively stable, with a current 7 day average of 156 deaths per day. The low point was 150 per day on July 6th (the lowest 7 day average of daily deaths since March 24, 2020). In general, the death trend has been downward though it seems to have leveled off over the past week or so. The official CDC total COVID-19 death count since the pandemic began currently stands at 604,710.
As far as vaccines, the US is currently at 55.5% of the total population having received at least one shot, and 48% are fully vaccinated. 67.7% of adults 18 and over have received at least one shot, 58.9% are fully vaccinated.
Sadly, new vaccinations are trending down. Because of delayed reporting, the 7-day average trendline stops at July 7th currently, but at that time was just 420,746 doses per day, the lowest average since January 1st of this year.
Females continue to outpace males in getting vaccinated. Currently 50.2% of eligible females are fully vaccinated, compared to 46.1% of males. This is some improvement over the past, though.
Sources
Delta Plus, Kappa, Lambda, Epsilon: What are these coronavirus variants, can vaccines fight them, and other queries answered
Epsilon variant mutations contribute to COVID immune evasion
Covid-19 Epsilon variant and how it dodges body’s immune response, vaccine effectiveness
A Woman Died Of COVID After Contracting 2 Variants At The Same Time, Researchers Say
FDA to announce new warning on J&J Covid vaccine related to a rare autoimmune disorder, report says
Pfizer, Israel agree: New COVID vaccines coming August 1
Vaccinated teachers and students don’t need to wear masks, CDC says in new school guidance
France Reimposes Restrictions as Delta Variant Spreads
NYC Sees 32% Increase in New COVID Cases as Neighborhood Concerns Mount
‘Like we’re on an island’: How Missouri’s inaction allowed delta variant to spread
CDC COVID Tracker