New Brunswick NJ, Johnson & Johnson announced data supporting the use of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot for people previously vaccinated with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
In July, the Company reported interim Phase 1/2a data published in the New England Journal of Medicine that demonstrated neutralizing antibody responses generated by the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine were strong and stable through eight months after immunization.
New Brunswick NJ, people who have had severe or long-lasting cases of COVID-19 are more likely to have high levels of an important antibody needed to fight against future infection, according to a Rutgers study.
The findings were published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Ridgewood NJ, over the weekend, the US FDA renewed its warning that the anti-parasitic animal drug ivermectin should not be used to treat or prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans. The FDA’s message appeared on Twitter with the statement “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” The tweet linked to the agency’s previous statement posted in March 2021. The reiterated warning came a day after the Mississippi State Department of Health issued an alert warning people against using the drug.
New Brunswick NJ, Britain’s Channel 4 did a genuine public service on Sunday with a film entitled “Did COVID Leak From A Lab in China?” Without a VPN, it’s not available in the U.S. so we’ll summarize its findings: A small vocal group of scientists “stepped way out beyond” the evidence to dismiss those who questioned COVID-19’s origins and labeled them as “conspiracy theorists.”
Washington DC, today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.
Ridgewood NJ, on Saturday , we ran a story on the Ridgewood blog on how scientists mishandled and effectively derailed the initial inquiry into the origins of the SARS-CoV2 virus.
Ridgewood NJ, Nicholas Wade, a top science writer who has worked for the New York Times as well as Nature and Science magazines, has a blockbuster piece in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on the origins of the Wuhan virus.
Ridgewood NJ, the CDC now says people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because they are more at risk of serious, prolonged illness. Studies indicate some immunocompromised people don’t always build the same level of immunity after vaccination the way non-immunocompromised people do.
CDC recommends that people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least 28 days after a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Israel , Oravax is testing an oral vaccine in preclinical trials against Covid-19 variants. The vaccine is based on an oral delivery technology that can be used to administer several protein-based therapies that would otherwise be delivered by injection. It targets three structural proteins of the novel coronavirus and should be more resistant to variants. An oral vaccine would be easier to distribute, and people would be able to self-administer it at home. Oral medications tend to have fewer side effects.
Ridgewood NJ, Consensus is forming among public health experts and scientists worldwide: the highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 changed the COVID-19 pandemic, dashing hopes of widespread vaccination creating herd immunity that could protect people from infection and guaranteeing the novel coronavirus will become endemic. While the vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness or death, they do not fully protect the vaccinated from infection. Additionally, people who had previous SARS-CoV-2 infections are not necessarily protected from infection from future variants.
Ridgewood NJ, When President Trump first told the American public that a coronavirus vaccine could come this year — at the time he said possibly before Election Day — Democrats including Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said they would not trust Trump as to any vaccine’s safety.
Ridgewood NJ, despite the data and the real science the Centers for Disease Control recommends that anyone living in a county considered at substantial or high risk for the spread of COVID-19 should wear a mask in public indoor spaces, even if they are vaccinated. These are the counties at substantial or high risk in New Jersey. “It Makes No Sense and the Science Doesn’t Support It” Dr. Paul on New Mask Mandates July 29, 2021
A face mask provides protection to those around you, as well as yourself. Face masks act as barriers for respiratory droplets. Whether you’re coughing and the droplets catch in the inside of your own mask, or if you’re near to someone else coughing and their droplets hit the outside of your mask – it protects both people. Encouraging mask wearing to those who have been vaccinated is admitting the vaccines don’t work .
Concord, New Hampshire , New Hampshire (US) Governor Chris Sununu last week signed into law a “medical freedom” bill that prohibits “any public facility, any public benefit, or any public service” from requiring state residents be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 to receive or access such services or facilities. The law states that “every person has the natural, essential, and inherent right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion by government to accept an immunization.” Notably, the law sets out several exceptions, including vaccination requirements for schools, childcare, county nursing homes, and the state’s mental health system. Additionally, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections may mandate certain medical treatments or immunizations “when a direct threat exists.” The law does not address private businesses. Governor Sununu continues to voice support for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. According to state data, nearly 54% of the state’s residents are fully vaccinated, above the national average.
Ridgewood NJ, Scientists have long known that areas of the brain involved with smell and taste also are involved in memory, thinking, planning, and mood, and public health officials are increasingly concerned about the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on brain function, memory, and cognition, a phenomenon known as “brain fog.” Scientific evidence is emerging that the virus’s neurological impacts are multi-pronged and not necessarily related to “long COVID,” or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).
