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Round-up of Covid-19 news.

Posted on 20th July 2022

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Show all posts in this thread (Covid-19).

It has been several weeks since I posted and Covid-19 news, so there are a lot of things to report.

Rises In Infections

Many countries are seeing another wave of infections.

This article on The Times reports on the summer rise of Covid cases in Germany.

This report on Sky News describes the situation in the UK, where the number of cases rose by 43% to 1,415,600 in the second week of June.

Travel Restrictions

This article on the BBC (from the 10th of June) reports that the USA has dropped its requirement for air travellers to be tested before being able to fly. US airlines have also dropped their mask requirement.

Canada has rescinded its vaccination mandate for air travellers, according to this BBC report from the 14th of June.

This report on Schengen Visa Info lists the EU countries which have retained their entry restrictions for the summer: France, Malta, The Netherlands and Spain. It describes the restrictions in each of these four countries. It also explicitly lists the countries which have lifted their entry rules.

Long Covid

This article on the BBC reports on a study which found that Omicron is less likely to cause Long Covid than other variants of the virus.

This report on Fortune lists 6 groups (although there may be more) of people who are at higher risk of developing Long Covid:

  1. Those who've had repeat COVID infections, regardless of severity;
  2. Those who had a high viral load during their COVID infection;
  3. Those who harbor dormant Epstein-Barr virus (the virus that caused mononucleosis/glandular-fever - once you've had it, it remains on your body forever);
  4. Those who have autoimmune antibodies circulating;
  5. Those who had neurological symptoms during their COVID infection;
  6. And those who haven’t been vaccinated.
Reinfection

The Daily Beast reports on a study of Covid-19 which shows that with each reinfection, you are likely to get sicker, and suffer more side-effects than the time before. This is not good news, given that the Omicron variant seems able to overcome the body's immunity from vaccination and having been previously infected, so reinfections are now very common (The Conversation reports that "reinfection will be part of the pandemic for months to come").

Vaccinations

Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are working on Omicron-specific vaccinations, and have begun trials. This article on USA News reports that the trial of the Pfizer/BioNTech Omicron-specific vaccination is proving to be more protective against Omicron. I expect the Moderna trials to show similar effectiveness.

Also, Pfizer/BioNTech is about to start testing a universal coronavirus vaccine: one that would protect against not only Covid-19, but also potentially MERS, SARS, the common cold and a number of other viral infections, as reported here on The Jerusalem Post.

This BBC report describes a study which showed that taking a short break from the immune-suppressive drug methotrexate directly after getting a Covid booster shot improved the effectiveness of the vaccination.

Novavax’s vaccine, which has already been authorized in more than 40 countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the EU and Australia, has been shown in a study to provide good protection against the Omicron variant, as reported here by New Atlas.

This article on the Toronto Sun reports that Canada now requires all citizens to get a Covid-19 booster every 9 months. This is in line with Covid vaccination validity regulations in the EU.

This report on Medical News Today describes the results of a study showing that the BA.5 and BA.4 Omicron subvariants are over four times as resistant to mRNA vaccines, as produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. If you are due another booster shot, you should try to get either Novavax or a new Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine (when the become available).

This report on Cleveland.com describes a study showing that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunisation may provide a degree of protection against Covid-19; there is also a possibility that the Tdap vaccination (against Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) provides similar immunity against Covid-19. This may explain some of the variability in the severity of illness from Covid infections.

Testing

The situation regarding Covid-19 tests is rather confusing. On the one hand, Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT, also known as lateral flow tests) have been reported as being more accurate than PCR tests. This article on The Atlantic, however, reports on a growing problem with RAT: that, at least with the Omicron variant, tests can yield negative results for two or three days after symptoms appear, before one gets a positive test result.

Side-Effects

New Atlas reports on a large study confirming what I have previously written in this blog, shown by previous studies, that there is a big increased in the risk of heart disease and diabetes for several months after a Covid-19 infection.