Covid Research Group Loses Funding, May Be Banned Over Reporting Lapses
EcoHealth Alliance plans to contest the ruling by the Department of Health and Human Services. In other news, as funding for pandemic-era initiatives dwindles, the CDC's program to provide uninsured adults free covid vaccines will end early.
The New York Times:
U.S. Suspends Funding For Group At Center Of Covid Origins Fight
The Biden administration, under acute pressure from House lawmakers, moved on Wednesday to ban funding for a prominent virus-hunting nonprofit group whose work with Chinese scientists had put it at the heart of theories that Covid leaked from a lab. The decision, announced in a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services, came on the heels of a scorching congressional hearing this month at which lawmakers barraged the group’s president with suggestions that he had misrepresented work with virologists in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic began. (Mueller, 5/15)
The Hill:
HHS Looks To Debar Group At Center Of COVID Lab-Leak Theories
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic shared the letter signed by HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions Katrina Brisbon to EHA President Peter Daszak. “A thorough investigation determined that there is adequate evidence that EHA has not been compliant with federal regulations and grant terms and conditions, which affects EHA’s present responsibility,” and HHS spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. (Choi, 5/15)
Politico:
CDC To End Program To Vaccinate Uninsured Adults Early
Uninsured and underinsured adults could have a harder time getting the newest Covid-19 vaccine this fall, just as temperatures cool and cases are expected to rise. The CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which provides free updated Covid vaccines to uninsured adults, will end in August, according to the agency. The program was slated to end in December. (Gardner, 5/15)
In covid research news —
Reuters:
AstraZeneca's COVID Prevention Drug Cuts Risk Of Disease In Vulnerable Patients
AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 prevention therapy reduced the risk of infection in patients with weaker immunity in a late-stage trial, meeting its primary goal, the drugmaker said on Thursday. The long-acting antibody therapy called sipavibart showed a "statistically significant reduction" in symptomatic COVID-19 cases among immunocompromised patients, the company said. (5/16)
CIDRAP:
Study: Before Vaccines, 44% Of COVID-19 Patients In ICU Died
A new analysis of pre-vaccine data from scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 18% of hospitalized patients and 44% of those admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for COVID-19 died, with wide variations among different groups. The study was published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases and is based on 2,479,423 cases from 21 jurisdictions with hospitalization information reported to the CDC from May 1, 2020, to December 1, 2020, to create a hospitalization dataset. (Soucheray, 5/15)
Newsweek:
COVID Face Masks Didn't Stop Infections After First Omicron Wave—Report
In a new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, Hunter and colleagues from the University of East Anglia analyzed official data from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics from November 2021 to May 2022 to explore how infection risk factors changed before and after the first Omicron wave. Risk factors included history of foreign travel, household size, employment status, contact with children and wearing a face mask. (Dewan, 5/15)
