When could Australians have access to a new COVID-19 vaccine? | SBS News
On Tuesday, the WHO and EMA recommended an update to COVID-19 vaccines to target the JN.1 variant.
Professor Raina MacIntyre was part of the WHO team which made its recommendation.
Vaccines using mRNA technology can be updated and manufactured in under two months according to MacIntyre and Griffin, but regulatory bodies need to provide the green light, which can lead to delays.
"The speed of the process, from [Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation] recommending it, to [Therapeutic Goods Administration] approvals to roll out is one challenge, which adds to the delay in getting vaccines into arms," MacIntyre said.
Novavax Prepared to Deliver Protein-based Non-mRNA JN.1 COVID-19 Vaccine in Line with WHO Recommendation this Fall.
"Our most recent nonclinical data have demonstrated that our JN.1 vaccine candidate induces neutralization responses to JN.1, JN.4, JN.1.11.1, JN.1.7, JN.1.13.1 and JN.1.16 strains. Our JN.1 vaccine candidate also produces polyfunctional cellular CD4+ T cell responses to a range of omicron strains including JN.1 and JN.1.11. These responses indicate once again that our vaccine technology can induce broadly neutralizing responses against multiple variant strains, including circulating forward drift variants."
JN.1 and JN.1.4 stil dominate the leaderboard, but scientists are especially watching a groiup of new mutations including JN.1.18, JN.1.13, KP.2, JN.1.16, and KQ.1.: https://ibb.co/6RvHcZR
Some of these are moving FAST despite the already-very-fast mutations on the landscape.
Wastewater
We've reached a level of SARS2 material in wastewater low enough to match previous years (2020, 2021.): https://ibb.co/DMyG0k4
CDC
Quite a lot of counties with new hospital admits, especially the Western half of the State. The Southwest corner by Greene Co and from Centre on over to Erie Co and Jefferson are HIGH on the newest chart.: https://ibb.co/m6KYR0Z
The Inpatient Beds chart looks good except for some increases in Lawrence and around Cameron Cos.: https://ibb.co/SPm1wJt
The ICU bed chart looks very good! Most counties are having decreases! However some increases up by Pike Co and significant increases in Franklin and Fulton Cos.:https://ibb.co/sKdK54P
Research
Tuberculosis after recovering from COVID-19 is becoming more common.: https://ibb.co/ZxZ7kHY
Reactivation of underlying pathogens is NOT NEW. We know this factually from the chicken pox/shingles pathogen.
Also, measles is known to reset the ENTIRE immune system and bring protection from everything down to zero, potentially leaving reactivation of underlying pathogens, which is by levels of magnitude more complex than the physical disability it can cause and makes it imperative that you VACCINATE YOUR KIDS.: https://ibb.co/cbFXrRw
Again: NONE of this is brand new, and COVID19 along with other known pathogens, seems to potentially weaken the immune system enough to reactivate underlying pathogens.
Non-SARS2 Pathogens
COVID and RSV thankfully have been downgraded on WastewaterSCAN to "Medium" and "low" respectively.: https://ibb.co/k2SpgLR
However, quite a number of pathogens are still ranking in the HIGH level: FluA, FluB, Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) and the gastro pathogens Norovirus and Rotavirus are still out there.
HMPV often presents with a rash and is related to RSV:
The prevention for all these respiratory diseses is the same!
Be conscious of crowds.
Wear a mask in places with low air filtration.
Keep the air clean!
Stay home if you are sick!
For norovirus and rotavirus, it's important to wash hands with soap and warm water for 20sec.
:ms_arrow_right: DO NOT depend on gloves and hand sanitizer to control Norovirus, the particles are very resistant to alcohol.
H5N1
Nothing above here has scientists sitting up at attention right now except one thing: H5N1 bird flu.
H5N1 has jumped to dairy cattle (after infecting numerous other species such as seals, fox, deer, etc.), has been found in cattle in TX, KS, MI, NM, and now Idaho.: https://ibb.co/1JgGY2v
Before now, almost all transmission was bird-to-other-species. "Cow-to-cow transmission cannot be ruled out" and will be a disaster for the food supply if not controlled.: https://ibb.co/mDKVZ7R
There is resistance amongst dairy farmers in the US and in Europe to get their cattle tested.
The absolute worst case scenario is if it "makes the leap" to pigs. That means, if genetically it mutates (like COVID-19 is doing) to be able to:
---Infect pigs.
---Gain capability of pig-to-pig transmission.
The genetic "leap" from bird to mammals was very large, and will also be the "leap" from cattle to pig.....but the "leap" from pigs and ferrets to humans after that will be really, really small.
This would be the same route the Spanish Flu took 106 years ago: Birds -> pigs -> humans.
It is...really not a good time to consume unpasteurized, raw dairy products.
:ms_arrow_right: I'm spending a lot of words on this because so far, this thing has a 50% kill rate**. That is, 1 out of every 2 people who contract H5N1 will die.
I don't know what else to say. We MUST push for thorough farm testing, biosecurity, and intense transmission research.
Stay safe, I hope you had a GREAT holiday, and don't forget to use some form of source control in your daily adventures! 💐
"JN.1.13 has been increasing in recent weeks, rising from nearly 2% of new cases last month to nearly 11% over the past 2 weeks, according to CDC estimates"
JN.1.11 has totally fizzled out (that's the difference between how it looks in a lab compared to actual infectivity) but there is a new variant that is being VERY closely scoured for by geneticists: JN.1.23 (that's JN One Dot Twenty-Three.)
This variant has an absolutely astounding ACE2Binding ability (which means it's easier to "stick" to lungs) + very good escape rate (which means it looks different than anything else before it and the body isn't sure how to react to it).: https://ibb.co/B45zX5B
It has already been found on 3 continents (South America/Brazil, North America/California, and Asia/India) and also in Canada/Alberta. it's now being tracked on Rajnarayanan's Tableau chart for the US.: https://ibb.co/xMwRyyC
This also has so much binding ability, it has the most potential to even "spend" some of its infectivity on other mutations that will benefit its children, sacrificing it for more severity or more innate infectivity....which would be very bad.
The good news is that this variant has only 2 differences between it and what we're already dealing with. Despite the very good ACE2 binding, XBB.1.5 vaccines and prior infections with JN.1 should hold against it at least a little while.: https://ibb.co/42D30fZ
(Note: don't get infected to prevent infection. That's silly. There's NO sure way to know if you were infected with JN.1 unless you get your case sequenced. Get vaccinated and use source control. That's smart and NOT silly.)
Wastewater
Wastewater SARS2 material is rising in the US again. Not a good sign.: https://ibb.co/DGx889k
Regionally, all regions except the West are starting to tick upwards again.: https://ibb.co/dtKpRsK
In PA, the 5 stations that report to Biobot are showing very volatile elves, but Chester, Lackawanna, Luzerne, and MontCo are handling it. :canparrot: GOOD GOING. Source control keeps those numbers down!!!: https://ibb.co/JxZX7YC
BucksCo is on an uptick, now above national averages. Please be cautious and keep working at it for Spring!!! 💐
The PA DoH Wastewater dashboard reflects these rising levels, with levels especially rising in Monroe County. PLEASE USE SOURCE CONTROL. Wear a quality respirator, clean the air with MERV-13 or HEPA filters, and STAY HOME if you are sick!: https://ibb.co/DwtcNgd
Year-Over-Year
Want to remind everyone that this year has the highest national wastewater numbers of all COVID years at this time.: https://ibb.co/WP98zxT
(I changed the color of the 2024 year because the original color used to represent it was...pretty unseeable.)
MORE people are getting infected/reinfected more quickly, and you can see the general trend is for the absolute baseline rising throughout the year.
This is in addition to, on WastewaterSCAN, high levels of other respiratory pathogens like RSV, FluA and FluB and the gastro-disturbing (and just gross) Norovirus.: https://ibb.co/ggyxfBt
Wash hands to prevent especially non SARS pathogens.
🌊👍🌊
Wash fruits and veg too before you eat them!
🌊🍎🥒🌊
Guys, this is us on our way to a high tide that will never drop IF we don't use source control.
But if we do, we can prevent life, learning, and financial loss going into spring and have a LOVELY and healthy new season soon! 💐
Health officials have reported another rise in confirmed cases of the new JN.1 Covid variant in Ireland.
"There have been 832 COVID-19 cases confirmed as infected with the JN.1 lineage to date in Ireland. Of these cases, 269 (32.3%) were associated with outbreaks in hospital or healthcare settings.
🇦🇺 Australia: Why this COVID variant is making hospitals full in NSW, QLD and VIC.
"Pirola can infect cells in the lower lungs and can enter cell membranes more efficiently than other versions of Omicron, leading to increased hospitalisations, a study by Ohio State University found."
🇺🇸 US: A doctor has warned of the concerning effects of the Covid JN.1 variant as it rips through younger demographics and increases hospitalisations across the US.
"Unlike previous strains, JN.1 has been associated with quicker progression to severe respiratory symptoms, even in younger populations. This rapid onset challenges our healthcare systems, pushing them towards the brink of overload." - Dr. Veronika Matutyte
"The Covid JN.1 strain is not just another variant; it represents a significant shift in the pandemic's landscape. The immediate risk of JN.1 lies in its heightened transmissibility and potential for severe illness." - Dr. Veronika Matutyte
🇦🇺 Australia: "More than 100 Victorian nursing homes are battling COVID outbreaks, as the state faces a worsening wave of the highly contagious new strain JN.1"
In PA,, a little slower pace but it's still at over 28% of leaderboard share.: https://ibb.co/sCmQtbH
In NY/NJ, JN.1 at over 45% of share and this is only going to go up when kids go back to school.: https://ibb.co/DkJbCXs
Please take this highly evasive, transmissible variant seriously. The latest XBB vaccine will help sorta-ok-marginally against severe disease and health care system strain but this variant is many, many mutations away from anything we currently have, so source control is best.
Wear a quality RESPIRATOR. This is increasingly VITAL as it gets colder, making leaving windows open less ideal.
Nationally, most of the contiguous States are at VERY HIGH levels. We in PA are in more moderate levels of SARS2 spread and it will be more important than ever to practice source control against JN.1 to maintan this. It will prevent straining health care systems from not only increasing FluA, FluB, etc. but also people that just didn't care to get vaccinated.: https://ibb.co/RCYyNY3
Please get the XBB version ASAP if you didn't get one.
In PA, numbers match national levels so there's no real difference here. The last 2 weeks are shaded grey as they are incomplete, so the massive dropoff in wastewater on the end there is not due to declining levels but rather data gap.: https://ibb.co/FJK3BxN
PLEASE NOTE that we are in the midst of the SECOND largest increase in wastewater SARS2 material, and even if cases aren't reflecting this in data, those cases are still out there.
Try to go virtual if you can. Crack open a window. Practice SOME form of source control until the Spring!
If we all work together we can prevent life, learning, and finanical fallout in the next few months! :canparrot: :canparrot: :canparrot:
Stay safe from COVID and also that wacky storm coming our way tomorrow! ❄️❄️❄️