Virologists vigorously debunk new study on origins of the novel coronavirus

Jun 09 2020

In the latest development in a dramatic saga about the origins of the novel coronavirus, virologists around the globe have fiercely debunked yet another claim that the virus was man-made. This time, the allegation stemmed from a team of researchers from Britain and Norway, who warned in a research paper that current efforts to make a coronavirus vaccine are likely to fail because scientists have fundamentally misunderstood the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

Source: ABC News

Can a Vaccine for Covid-19 Be Developed in Record Time?

Jun 09 2020

In the history of medicine, rarely has a vaccine been developed in less than five years. Among the fastest to be developed was the current mumps vaccine, which was isolated from the throat washings of a child named Jeryl Lynn in 1963. Over the next months, the virus was systematically “weakened” in the lab by her father, a biomedical scientist named Maurice Hilleman. Such a weakened or attenuated virus stimulates an immune response but does not cause the disease; the immune response protects against future infections with the actual virus. Human trials were carried out over the next two years, and the vaccine was licensed by Merck in December 1967.

Source: NYT

Colorado vaccine bill – SB163 passes state House Health Committee

Jun 09 2020

On June 7, 2020, Colorado’s House Health Committee heard testimony on SB163, a bill to improve vaccine rates. In spite of the pressure and aggressive – and dishonest – tactics from bill opponents, the committee voted to move the bill forward to the appropriations committee, from where it would go to the House floor and, if passed, to the governor’s desk.

Source: Skeptical Raptor

‘The direct result of racism’: Covid-19 lays bare how discrimination drives health disparities among Black people

Jun 09 2020

The disparities have long been documented. Black people are more likely than white people to die from cancer. They are more likely to suffer from chronic pain, diabetes, and depression. Black children report higher levels of stress. Black mothers are more likely to die in childbirth. Those findings are part of a mountain of research cataloguing the complex and widespread effects that racism has on the health — and the medical care — of Black people in the U.S. Those effects stretch back centuries and take different forms, from discriminatory diagnostics to institutional barriers to care, all of which affect a person’s health.

Source: STAT News

Flu Shots Don't Reduce Coronavirus Risk

Jun 08 2020

June 8, 2020 – While influenza vaccinations reduced the risk of catching the seasonal flu in Canada by about 40%, they were found not to have an impact on coronaviruses or other non-influenza respiratory viruses (NIRV). According to a study published on May 22, 2020, ‘these researchers noted that influenza vaccination had no significant effect on any NIRV studied, either separately or in combination.’

Source: Precision Vaccinations

Gov. Jared Polis asks federal officials for help with vaccines, PPE during Colorado’s flu season

Jun 08 2020

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday asked federal health officials for help as Coloradans prepare for the flu season that will arrive later this year, including by making sure there is widespread access to flu vaccines and that health care workers have enough personal protective equipment. While Colorado has taken steps to reopen businesses, churches and restaurants in recent weeks, the approaching flu season has the ability to strain the health care system as hospitals will have to treat patients with both influenza and COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, Polis said in a letter to the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: Denver Post

Bill Would Make Small Changes To Colorado’s Immunization Exemption Program, But Gets Big Push Back 

Jun 07 2020

If Colorado parents don’t want to vaccinate their children, all they have to do is fill out a form and return it to the school. Senate Bill 163 aims to change that -- but not drastically. The legislation would require parents to get a signature from an immunization provider or watch an informational video from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Source: CPR

In Some Nations, Coronavirus Is Only One of Many Outbreaks

Jun 05 2020

MEXICO CITY — A dengue epidemic ravaged Honduras last year, sickening over 100,000 people and leaving 180 dead. As this year began, officials braced for another surge in cases of the mosquito-borne disease and wondered how they would manage with their frail public health system and shortage of trained personnel. Then along came the coronavirus, pitching the nation into a grueling, two-front public health battle.

Source: New York Times

A coronavirus vaccine could require you to get two shots. Here's why.

Jun 04 2020

A vaccine against the coronavirus may not be as simple as one jab and you're immune. There's a high likelihood an eventual vaccine will require a two-dose series, a month or so apart, with the possibility of a booster several years later, adding to the complexity and cost of administration and distribution. Much remains unknown about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Even as physicians scramble to understand the natural history of the disease, scientists around the world are working to find vaccines to protect humanity against the virus. Only now are some of the broad outlines of what immunizations might look like becoming clear.

Source: USA Today

There’s No Home Remedy for Coronavirus Lies

Jun 03 2020

Around the beginning of the pandemic, I started receiving WhatsApp messages from fellow Somalis instructing me to drink warm water, eat garlic and apply black seed oil every day to prevent Covid-19. These are homeopathy remedies familiar to most Somalis. So while the claims were untrue and could provide a false sense of invincibility to those who followed them, they were otherwise benign and I was not alarmed.

Source: New York Times