1. Where things stand While India, parts of South America, and other areas of the world are experiencing another wave of COVID-19, the U.S. appears to be treading water with new cases and continuing a downward trend in deaths. According to The Washington Post's tracker, the seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths was 765 on Tuesday, a slight uptick from the weekend but a rate last seen Oct. 20. A running count by economist Patrick Chovanec put Tuesday's seven-day average at 748, the lowest rate since Oct. 17. While deaths have declined 2 percent in the past week, hospitalizations rose 2.6 percent and new cases were up 11 percent, the Post reports. Some parts of the U.S., notably Michigan, are faring much worse, with per capita cases up 18 percent to a new high and deaths rising 32 percent. Overall, 563,449 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. And 122.3 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 75.3 million people — or 23 percent of the U.S. population — fully vaccinated. [The Washington Post, Johns Hopkins] 2. Pfizer asks FDA to authorize vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 Pfizer announced Friday it submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech for use among adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15. The request came after the companies said a phase 3 study showed the vaccine, which has already been approved for those 16 and over, to be 100 percent effective in this age group. The companies also said the vaccine demonstrated "robust antibody responses, exceeding those recorded earlier in vaccinated participants aged 16 to 25 years old, and was well tolerated." Pfizer's goal, it said, is to make the vaccine available to adolescents between 12 and 15 before the start of the next school year. [NBC News] 3. Regeneron says antibody cocktail reduced risk of symptomatic COVID-19 Regeneron announced Monday that its monoclonal antibody cocktail reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection by 81 percent in a phase 3 trial. The trial consisted of 1,505 people who lived in the same household as a person who tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous four days. Regeneron says it will ask the FDA to expand the emergency use authorization given to the antibody cocktail, which is now used for high-risk people infected with COVID-19. "These antibodies may be particularly useful in individuals who are not yet vaccinated, and may also have potential in those who are immunosuppressed and may not respond well to vaccines," Dan H. Barouch, the trial's co-principal investigator, said. [The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal] 4. GE aims to develop a microchip that can detect coronaviruses General Electric is developing a new sensor which could detect the coronavirus and other viruses in the air, on a surface, or on someone's breath, Fast Company reports. The National Institutes of Health awarded the company a two-year research grant to work on the project, which will build upon two papers published by GE's principal scientist, Radislav Potyrailo, and his team. The sensor that would detect the virus would be a microchip "smaller than a dime," Fast Company reports. Potyrailo is hopeful about the long-term prospects of the project, but he acknowledged the system is difficult to build because it needs to be small enough to keep larger contaminants like pollen out, so only the right particles are detected. If a prototype is available in the next couple of years, GE envisions the sensors in grocery stores, hotel rooms, and perhaps even within individuals' phones and watches. [Fast Company] 5. Israel may have already achieved COVID-19 herd immunity, experts say About 56 percent of Israel's 9.2 million citizens are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and another 15 percent have recovered from the disease, putting Israel squarely in herd immunity territory, Israeli public health experts tell the news and travel site Israel21c. Herd immunity, or the point at which enough people in a population have developed antibodies to a disease that non-immune people are protected, is estimated to kick in at about 65 percent to 70 percent with COVID-19, explained Dr. Eyal Leshem at Israel's Sheba Medical Center, the country's largest hospital. "We're seeing a decline in the number of cases now despite the return to mass gatherings and schools following the third lockdown, because most of the people the infected person will meet are immune by now," Leshem said. Israel has an aggressive, very successful immunization program, but children aren't yet vaccinated and neither are all adults, so it isn't out of the woods entirely. [Israel21c]
Source: here
Following on from one of the themes I commented on in the National Geographic article, the solving Covid series this week indicates that Israel may be close to achieving herd immunity. About 56 percent of Israel's 9.2 million citizens are fully vaccinated and another 15 percent have recovered from COVID-19. The article summarises a global round up of further waves of infections and mortality rates. On completion of a Phase III study in 12-15 year olds, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was found to be 100% effective. Pfizer is now seeking emergency approval for use in this age group from the FDA. In other technology development news, General Electric are in the later stages of development of a sensor which can detect COVID-19 in the air, individual’s breath and on surfaces. This may make following clusters much easier in the future. - Doctor Donald Greig