Covid Herd Immunity Can Be Reached–And Then Lost
In other news of covid, pandemic research, Cleveland Clinic partners with IBM, T cells fight covid variants, and socio-economic disparities made clearer.
CNN:
It's Possible To Reach Herd Immunity, Then Lose It. Repeatedly. Here's What You Can Do To Help Prevent That From Happening
If you think herd immunity is the finish line to this pandemic, it's time for a reality check. Herd immunity with Covid-19 could come and go, scientists say. Or we might never reach it at all. "There's a lot of things that have to go our way to actually get to herd immunity," said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (Yan, 3/30)
CNN:
Cleveland Clinic And IBM Hope Their Tech Partnership Could Help Prevent The Next Pandemic
After a year in which scientists raced to understand Covid-19 and to develop treatments and vaccines to stop its spread, Cleveland Clinic is partnering with IBM to use next-generation technologies to advance healthcare research — and potentially prevent the next public health crisis. The two organizations on Tuesday announced the creation of the "Discovery Accelerator," which will apply technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence to pressing life sciences research questions. As part of the partnership, Cleveland Clinic will become the first private-sector institution to buy and operate an on-site IBM quantum computer, called the Q System One. Currently, such machines only exist in IBM (IBM) labs and data centers. (Duffy, 3/30)
Reuters:
T Cells Induced By COVID-19 Infection Respond To New Virus Variants: U.S. Study
A critical component of the immune system known as T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the novel coronavirus appear to also protect against three of the most concerning new virus variants, according to a U.S. laboratory study released on Tuesday. Several recent studies have shown that certain variants of the novel coronavirus can undermine immune protection from antibodies and vaccines. But antibodies - which block the coronavirus from attaching to human cells - may not tell the whole story, according to the study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). T cells appear to play an important additionally protective role. (Steenhuysen, 3/30)
CIDRAP:
Study Shows Deeper COVID Impact In Socially Vulnerable Neighborhoods
An analysis of neighborhood-level data in three US cities highlights the racial and socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 positivity, incidence, and mortality, researchers reported today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. For the study, researchers from Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health used data on the total numbers of tests, confirmed cases, and deaths by ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) of residence from Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia from the beginning of the pandemic through early October 2020. (3/30)
In other research news —
Stat:
A CRISPR 2.0 Pioneer Sees Imitation, Not Flattery, In A Competitor's Slides
Last week, the genome-editing scientists behind base editing, a technology dubbed CRISPR 2.0, gathered for an update from the competition. Intellia Therapeutics, a company invested in the classic form of CRISPR, was to unveil its take on base editing, a refined approach to fixing DNA that corrects single letters of the genome without breaking the double helix. The presentation, hosted by the famed Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, sounded familiar. (Garde, 3/30)
Stat:
Most U.S. Universities Get An 'F' On Ensuring Access To Drugs They Discover
Despite large amounts of taxpayer funding, dozens of the largest U.S. universities failed to commit to policies ensuring that essential medicines and health technologies generated by their labs would be equally accessible around the globe, a new analysis finds. Of the 60 universities that were examined, only 22% committed to specific global access licensing strategies and just 12% adopted licensing that places a priority on generic production of medicines for lower-income countries, according to the Universities Allied Essential Medicines, an organization led by medical students who seek to improve affordable access worldwide. (Silverman, 3/30)
